Hushed Willows come to me, my sweetest friend.

It was a silly thing that she brought to them; something that they could easily have strode out from the Crook and have obtained for themselve. But Harlyn suspected that her children had never before looked upon such an apparently inane object with such potential. It was a lesson in observation and imagination that she was eager to teach them, and so it was with a mouthful of long, limp willow branches that she approached the open expanse just outside of the Crook, smiling and wagging her tail in anticipation.

Harlyn dropped her bundle at her paws and gazed towards the darkness of the wide den. She suspected her children would be within its depths as they seemed to be reluctant to venture outward from it. She barked for their attention, calling @Silas, @Pippin, and @Larkspur to her. In truth, her invitation was an open one to all from the old to very young to come out and forget their hunger and misery for a moment. To play, to smile, to run as though there was no stress or harship to consider. There was only the moment.

His explorations were usually brief and not wide-ranging into the depths of the new home, but often he found himself tired anyway. A consolation was that he was eating just a little better than before, and he had some semblance of a routine returning to his days, but Silas just didn't have the energy to do very much else yet. Especially on most days, so, he was usually in the vicinity of the Crook somehow.

He wanted to be more. His family deserved it.

With sleepy eyes, he blinked and uncurled his long legs at the sounds of his mother's voice. A moment after he was pulling himself up, out, and towards her summons with a soft chuff of love and adoration. He moved to lick her chin meanwhile, curiosity began to slowly overcome his bleary expression.

Larkspur had always loved naps: morning naps, afternoon naps and evening naps. Ever since the locust swarm and the start of the famine, she had slept more than usual, although often it was quite fitful. Sleep had eluded her altogether the first few days in the Marauder's Keep. But eventually her exhaustion caught up with her, even as she began to accept her family's fate and settle into the willow woods. She resumed her previous napping schedule, with a few extras sprinkled here and there due to sheer lack of energy. There was still very little to eat, so it seemed wise to conserve energy this way. Plus, there was the added bonus: sleep was a temporary respite from all her worries, a blissful stretch of blankness where everything simply ceased to exist.

She was drifting when Harlyn returned to the mouth of The Crook and summoned all three of her children. By the time Spur came around, Silas was already stepping out of the den to greet their mother. Spur smacked her dry lips together and sleepily pushed upright, then rose onto all fours. She blinked her big blue eyes several times as she became more and more aware of her surroundings. Casting a look around herself, she tiptoed from the cavern and hastened to stand beneath Harlyn, gazing up at her mother with bleary fondness to match Silas's. Her pink tongue darted out to kiss her dam's chin.

Hope you dont mind Grace jumping in :3

Grace was limping her way back towards the Crook after a walk, finding herself lonely and wishing for contact of her packmates. Outside, however, she found three of the newest Marauders. The mother and two of her pups were greeting one another, and it suddenly made the yearling wish for her own gentle mother. Approaching slowly, hesitantly, with a shy smile on her muzzle, she wondered if she too could join in whatever fun they'd be doing. It wouldn't replace Hope, of course, but maybe this could take her mind off other things. 
        "H-Hello."
The russet girl had grown both mentally and physically since joining Warbone, even if she was thin and hungry now, but even that confidence hadn't been expanded to strangers. It was still hard for her to be social to newbies, but damn was she trying. One day, these wolves could be considered family to her just like the others of the pack.

absolutely! :D anyone else feel free to hop in still!

 

Silas came first, followed shortly by Larkspur. Harlyn smiled at the sight of them, but inwardly grieved for the downcast manner in which they approached. The famine would have been hard on them even in the best of circumstances. It was cruel that they'd been torn from their home, cast out into a harsh, terrifying world, and had their loved ones ripped away on top of everything. The guilt that had nearly consumed her on their journey threatened to make itself known then, but the Druid cast it aside as she reached to embrace them. They were safe now. It was time to move on.

It was not lost on Harlyn that Pippin had failed to appear, and worry immediately gripped her again. He had not spoken a word in so long and his lethargy had long ago grown alarming. She watched for his shape appeared at the mouth of the Crook, but was distracted when someone approached from behind instead. Turning, she regarded the newcomer with open warmth, happy at the opportunity to get to know another of her new pack mates, and also to allow her children the same opportunity to bond with another outside of their little family.

"Hello," Harlyn greeted the girl kindly, pausing for a moment before the name came to her, "Grace, have you met my son and daughter? This is Silas and Larkspur. Kids, say hello?" She was such a mom.

"We were about to have ourselves a game if you'd like to join us?" she grinned even as her belly made a sudden wrench of aching hunger. The force made her want to heave, but she swallowed and wagged her tail, barely even flinching.

His sister followed him, it seems, and at first, he's absorbed enough in the warm glow of familiarity that he didn't realize the other wolf's approach right away. When he did, he stilled beside his mother and then deferred immediately. His ears fell back but he still made sure to listen, just in case. But he soon saw that his mother greeted her warmly, so that helped in relaxing him just some. 

It didn't stop him from slaying his ears and licking his lips in some shade of embarrassment when she asked they say hello, though. He probably would have anyway, somehow, but something about it happening this soon didn't sit well when he was still feeling shy about many of these new faces. Silas tried to straighten himself up proper, then mustered a small "Hi." as promised. Better than nothing? He wagged his tail a bit afterward to soften it, since even to him it felt awfully flat, if it mattered at all. He would just need a bit of time to warm up to Grace properly. For now, this was the best he could do and an apologetic glance away affirmed this as loudly as his silence could.

Silas was mainly interested in the game his mother spoke about, so he waited patiently to find out more on it.

The little triad was approached by a vaguely familiar stranger (Spur had seen her around The Crook). Now fully alert, Larkspur naturally pressed herself closer to her mother's shoulder, though she was no longer small enough to fit beneath Harlyn's body. She sucked in her bottom lip as she eyeballed the unfamiliar she-wolf. There was absolutely nothing threatening about her. In fact, she appeared shy and when she greeted them, she stuttered. A wondering light entered little Larkspur's eyes.

"Hello," she echoed quietly, ever obedient, trying to coax her cheek muscles to work her mouth into a small smile. She was about halfway successful and soon dropped her gaze before lifting it to peer sideways at her mother and Silas.

Harlyn seemed happy enough she was there, but the puppies both looked a little sceptical of the hobbling young girl. Grace didn't come any closer, curling into her self slightly, but she did manage to keep the smile on her face even if it faultered a bit.
           "I-If theres room.... W-why not?"
The stutter of her speech rose anger in her, seething internally after realizing it hadn't vanished. A nervous tick, apparently, and it was one that bothered her. 
Still the young girl didn't move forward, watching curiously from where she was three yards away.

Her kids were obedient to her request, and Harlyn gave them both an approving smile. Both greetings were quiet and shy and accompanied with smiles and tail wags that seemed to be a struggle to accomplish. It wasn't exactly what she had hoped for, but it was suitable. She could require propriety, but confidence was a different matter.

Harlyn looked to Grace as the girl responded. There was a tremor in her voice, but she thought little of it except for a brief flicker of pity. She nodded eagerly to confirm that there was plenty of room in the game, then stepped forward to take up the willow limbs between her teeth again. Without a word, she darted a few yards away from the wolves that had gathered to her, spun, and dropped down onto her elbows with her haunches raised in the air behind her in an inviting play bow. She waggled the long, limp limbs towards her companions in an effort to tempt them into trying to take the branches from her. Her hope was that it would work without her having to explain, but she would simply have to try harder if that didn't happen to work out.

Grace did not come closer, so Silas worried for a beat that there may be an extra moment of tension because she seemed nervous about them too and their weeny greetings probably didn't help much. The stutter in her voice led him to believe that, anyway, and deep down, he was glad she stayed where she was for now. He had no real reason to feel that way beyond his own shyness.

But, his bright eyes turned towards his mother's motions for a welcome distraction. She brought his attention to the branch, and when it shook in her jaws, he watched the ends of it sway much more than any normal twig would. It took him a moment of observation to get the gist of this, or rather, he paused before he eventually gave into what was only seemed right in face of a invitation like that. He pounced forward, teeth first, into the floppy pieces of tree and chomped at the twigs at the end of it. Some broke, others swayed just out of his reach.

Their pack mate's stuttering drew Larkspur's eyes back to her face. Her lips pressed together as she wondered why she talked that way. Was she simply nervous? Or was there something wrong with her mouth? Not sure if it would be polite to ask—and quite frankly lacking the nerve anyway—Spur kept her pondering to herself, until Harlyn's playful actions scattered the pup's thoughts entirely.

She held still, watching as Silas sprang toward the branch to engage their mother. She shot a shy glance at Grace, then decided she felt comfortable enough to bound to join her brother, their shoulders knocking together as she, too, snapped her teeth at the flailing bough.

The yearling accepted the looks she got and kept still, watching as Harlyn snatched the branch and pranced about with it. Her bow was understood, but Grace stayed back and watched as her two babies lunged forward and took part. A few moments passed where the russet girl held her breath, deciding if she wanted to join or not. 
Eventually, a surge of puppy like energy overtook her charcoal paws. A playful growl rumbled through her chest, and with a smile she too came forward. A little slower, thanks to both nervousness and her gimpy leg, but she took a branch a few over from the little ones and snapped at the smaller parts to weed out the twigs she couldn't actually hold onto. A giggle built in her throat, spilling over, and Grace relaxed a little bit to have fun.

For a moment, Harlyn fear that her efforts would not work. Perhaps she would need to pause to explain what she intended for them, but her kids at least caught on quickly enough. She grinned as she whipped the branches just out of their reach,then above their heads and this way and that. She felt their teeth clench upon the boughs and snag, but tugged them away quick as she could so that she could keep the game going.

She was delighted when Grace joined as well, and woofed through her clenched teeth to entice them further. After a moment, she darted past the three of them to spin and face them again from another angle. She whipped her head to tap the branches lightly across Silas's, Lark's and Grace's heads, giggling softly.

Before too long, the girls joined him and Silas eventually brightened, encouraged by the company of his sister and packmate beside him. It came surprisingly easy, especially with his mother's comforting presence so nearby as well, and Silas enjoyed it now that the play was in motion. He occasionally yipped merrily and continued to snap his teeth at the branches, with or without them actually being within reach.

When Harlyn spun away from them, he pounced after her with his tongue lolling. He tried to jump up, towards the dancing twigs, but struggled to get the right angle and momentum with them continually in motion. Still, he wasn't going to be discouraged by that, and kept pestering it again and again so long as it still dangling invitingly around him.

I think Stevie plans to PPC Harlyn, so I figured I'd fade this for us? :)

Between the game and her mother's and brother's presence, Spur forgot to be leery of the stranger among them. She was too busy trying to snag the branch while avoiding getting smacked in the face, which was proving quite a conflict of interest. But Spur couldn't resist as Harlyn teased and taunted them with the branch. Although she didn't actively think about it, the little girl was happy for the distraction, however brief, from the heaviness of the rest of her life.

But reality caught up with them eventually. Larkspur flopped to the ground, panting and boneless with exhaustion, her stomach pinching with hunger. As soon as she caught her breath, she slumped sideways, eyes drifting partially closed. Despite how bone-tired she felt at the moment, the corners of her mouth twitched into a slight, weary smile. If Harlyn had set out to give herself and the others a momentary break from their hardships then, well, she had succeeded.