Neverwinter Forest susuwatari

@Eshe and @Scimitar are welcome as well!

It had taken the young cub little to no time to adjust to his new surroundings. Memories of his life prior to his birthing hadbeen repressed and had been replaced by the everything that he had experienced thus far which, hoenstly, was not much. The cub spent a majority of his time either feasting or napping. When he wasn't occupied by such tasks, he often found himself exploring the proximity of the nest, his mothers side, and his brother. Much more of his attention had been given to his mother as she bore the thing he desired most-- food. Sleep had come to him as a side-affect of over feeding and before succumbing himself to his nap, he had scooted himself to lay closer to his brother. They were just close enough to so that their soot and dust hued hairs mingled. Though he had not previously paid much mind to his brother after the hubub of their birth he had decided that he wanted to cuddle.

A yawn slipped from his lips as the young boy woke from his nap, his limbs reaching in every direction as he stretched. Settling back at his brother's side, the lighter of the duo rolled himself onto his belly and let out a another yawn. Once he had shaken off his sleepiness, the boy twisted himself so that he laid his head upon the length of his brother back, burrowed his wrinkled snout into the soft fur, and began to gum at the delicate hairs as if to say, "Hi brother!"

There was little rhyme or reason to the inkblot’s life thus far. All in all, it seemed to be a great deal of cause and effect. When startled from slumber by the press of his stormcloud brother, the wee soot sprite instinctively turned his head, the infinitesimal triangles of his ears straining forward despite his inability to hear. The world was a strange and nonsensical place — all smell and taste and touch — and at the sensation of a warm dampness nestling into the fragile nape of his neck, the inky brother trembled minutely and flipped himself onto his back quite by accident.

With babyish indignation he filled his brother’s gummy mouth with his tiny forepaw, flailing blindly as he attempted to flip himself back over. Though he lacked the vocabulary to convey his feeling, this creature beside the soot sprite — brother — was already a bright star in his sightless sky. Warm in a different way than their mother, comforting and true, when the dusty tumbleweed was not nearby, a feeling of wrongness lingered. Tiny grunts of effort stuttered from the inkblot’s muzzle as he rolled himself onto his side like a fluffy sea cucumber with a toothpick at each corner for legs. The flip completed, he swung his head blindly about. With his nose and gums he sought his brother, peeping a plaintive cry without ever realizing he was doing so. Where are you? Where are you?

There was a moment of peace in which the youngest of the two princes mouthed at his brother’s nape. His brother’s presence was a constant in his life and something that he cherished. Wriggling and rolling had rarely separated the two and whenever that happened Rannoch felt as if a piece of him was missing. Just like his mother, his brother was a crucial piece in the puzzle that was his young life. Eshe was the sun of his life and Cypress the moon. Both were as equally important to his existence and both provided him with different comforts that only they could provide.

He felt himself grow heavy as he mindlessly chewed and he almost was lulled into gentle comforts of a nap. But, suddenly, any hopes of a nap were shattered. His brother reacted suddenly, sending a rounded paw into Rannoch’s mouth. Surprised wrinkled the young child’s face as he discovered the new body part. This appendage certainly felt weird to the boy, but there was something almost enjoyable about having the other’s pups paw in his mouth. He continued to gum at it, curious to know if anything would come from the appendage. He was growing hungry and despite the lack of the aroma of milk, he wondered if it were possible.

He did not have too much time to ponder this. Just as quickly as he had gotten his brother’s paw it was taken away. A sense of panic overcame the boy as both the paw and his brother’s presence was taken away from him. He let out a frail wail in that moment as he swung his head about. Though the world was still dark, he felt as though this might help him in his searching. Unfortunately, his hopes for finding his brother did not come with success. Such failure brought him to the next thing he knew how to do-- scoot. Doing so, the baby dragged himself across the floor, bringing himself closer to his brother with each jerked motion.

It was fortunate that the soot sprite and the dust bunny were as tiny and bumbling as they were; the feeling of aloneness that wrought such fear in their little hearts bade them to rush one another like a pair of overzealous mountain goats. Both of them swinging their heads to and fro like wayward metal detectors, it was inevitable that their swaying skulls connect with a soft and harmless tok! Perhaps prelude to an undercurrent of stubbornness that might one day thicken his skull, Cypress Benvolio Frostfur didn’t seem to feel the thump of his brother’s head against his own. All he felt was the triumph of being together once more.

It must be confessed that his tiny body trembled with relief as he coiled tightly around his brother, both puppies curled tip to tail like a fluffy version of the ouroboros. The soot sprite was the yin to his pale brother’s yang — although they would grow naturally apart as they aged and matured, for now they were two peas in one little pod. Solicitous, Cypress opened his seeking mouth and closed it affectionately on his brother’s tiny origami triangle of an ear. Without teeth, he still tugged lightly as though to encourage Rannoch to follow him. Of course, he didn’t have the mindset yet to plot and plan — but as he wormed his way further away from Eshe, his squirmy body seemed to imply, “We’re blowing this popsicle stand, Noch!”

He squirmed blindly into the unknown, heart thumping as he drove himself in the direction that he hoped that he would find his brother. Each second that he was apart from the soot sprite seemed like an eternity and the young dust bunny felt the creeping suspicion that he might never see his brother again. He couldn’t even fully comprehend what such a thought meant, but all he knew was that he did not want that to happen. Thankfully, as the two were reunited, these suspicions suddenly vanished. His heart leapt as the familiar smell of his brother overcame him and his tail tipped happily as he felt Cypress wrap his body so that the brothers were coiled together. All Rannoch could feel was bliss in that moment and he hummed happily as he settled contentedly in his brother’s embrace.

The brother’s next adventure was not that far off and Rannoch was drawn to attention as he felt his brother’s gummy grasp on his ear. He followed blindly as he was beckoned with a tug. Though a sense of curiosity settled on his mind, the young prince didn’t question his brother’s motives-- after all, how could he? Instead he wriggled after Cypress, gurgling as the two drove themselves further from their mother and into the unknown. Blindly following his brother as the duo embarked on their next adventure.

Intrepid.

Cypress and Rannoch had no reason to fear the wide and wondrous dark — all around them were the familiar smells of Eshe and Scimitar, and although the world was to them a sea of blind silence, that, too, spoke of familiarity. It was all the Neverwinter princes had known, after all. As long as they were together — ah, that was the caveat! — they were invincible.

Distraction was a double-edged sword; after they had traversed perhaps a foot if one were being generous, the soot sprite abruptly stopped and snuffled his dust bunny brother. “What were we doing again?” his body language seemed to question, and before the pair traveled any further Cypress remembered quite suddenly that brothers were really quite warm, soft creatures — and a contented yawn split his blunt puppy muzzle as he closed his mouth to nurse instinctively on his brother’s nape. Life was good. All was well.

The little raven popped his head up quite suddenly then — calling to mind a certain waistcoat-clad gentleman rabbit holding a pocket watch who had just remembered something very important that he’d forgotten. Unwittingly worming back the way they came, Cypress resumed the Long Journey with frequent checks to be sure Rannoch was with him every step of the way.

Wiggling and wobbling brought the prince's an admirable distance from their mother, at least an admirable distance for such young boys. He paused as he did and tipped his head, as if he too had lost the reason why they were wriggling away from their mother. Retuning his brother’s sniff with a gentle nudge, Rannoch paused briefly as he allowed for himself to linger in the comfort of his brother’s coat. Even as his brother began to suckle at his nape, he remained as he was and echoed his brother’s yawn with a yawn of his own.

As Cypress was brought to attention, Rannoch perked suddenly as he sensed the sudden urgency in his brother’s being. He followed as he was urged to do so, squirming to keep up. He continued until he met with the furry wall that was his mother, squeaking as his nose made contact with the delicate hairs of her underbelly. Scooting back, the boy swung his head about once more, searching blindly from his brother. He knew that his brother was near, but his exact location was a mystery to him. Tipping his tail the boy turned to his left and extended his neck, hoping that his brother would materialize out of the darkness and appear at his side.

just a cameo -- u guys can skip me <3

Eshe watched her sons wriggle and writhe and adore one another and love her and love their father. Though so early on, she was begrudging to let them too far from her side at all--what if they get hungry?? how many times do they eat?--Scimitar was the best at alleviating her worries. Eshe had learned which cries were hungry cries and which cries were 'I'm a little cold' cries and which cries meant they needed assistance in releasing their bowels. Though Scimitar himself likely knew the difference between the cries now himself, too, she couldn't help but pipe up what each cry meant as they sounded off. She was more than a little excited for her little angels. To know them and to love them was her greatest pleasure. The men in her life were the most brilliant, and she thanked her lucky stars night and day.

As they scooted away from her, Eshe frowned. What did she do? Did they know what they were doing? Did she teach them the way without force, so that they would automatically know they detested being away from her...? Just as she was about to decide, no, how can they know! I will save them, my precious little baby boys, they were inching toward her. Too slow, she decided, as she gently plucked them upward one at a time, putting them against her belly and placing them side by side. She exhaled a warm breath of air over them before she crooned a little song to them, that always seemed to help them settle and nap:

On the day that you were born,
The angels got together--
Decided to create a dream come true... she sighed against them, looking at the little angels and quieting for a moment before she sang the song to completion: So they sprinkled moondust in your hair, and golden starlight in your eyes of... pause, we'll know sooooooon.... their eyes had not yet opened!

Why do birds, suddenly appear,
Every time... you are near,
Just like me, they long to be, close to you,

She paused to give them both a gentle, soft kiss to their brows, before finishing quietly,

Aaah, close to you...
Aaaaahhh, cloooseee to you...

She'd sang herself tired, she did! And so she curled around her boys to take a little snooze herself, a little smile on her face as she snuggled close to her boys.

The feel of being picked up and moved around had initially been a disorienting, discomfiting experience that caused the soot sprite to peep his confusion — but perhaps the spirit of Peeping Tom lived within the Neverwinter prince, for when Eshe plucked him gently from the earth a thrill of emotion he would later understand as excitement or joy rippled through his tiny body. Without any true understanding of his feelings, he burst into a fit of wriggling as he piped up with an entirely new sound — it wasn’t a cry of distress or hunter, but rather a whiny bit of babyish burbling. This would later mature into a giggle, but for now it was merely a very odd noise unlike anything he’d created before. Immediately searching for Noch, and comforted by the way they were so neatly parallel parked, Cypress thrust his nose out in Noch’s general direction. Soon it would be time to feed again, but for now he comforted himself with the nearness of his brother and mother.

The sensation of having nothing underfoot was a new sensation for the baby. He stiffened was he was brought into the air, his limbs froze and his head sun as he was relocated. Eons seemed to drag on as he moved, but in reality it was mere seconds that he was moved. As he was placed against his mother’s belly he settled instantly and exhaled heavily, glad to be on solid land. Instinctively, the youngest of the duo began to nose blindly at Eshe’s belly, his tummy rumbling gently as the smell of milk overcame him. He was just about to latch onto a nearby teat as Cypress trusted his nose in Rannoch’s direction. As the other baby made contact with Rannoch’s shoulder, Rannoch’s concentration on mealtime wandered astray. He swung his head so that they could lay cheek-to-cheek. As the silver of his fur mingled with his brother’s inky fur, the child’s tongue snaked out to lay a kiss on his brother’s nape. He was surprised of the sensation that came with burrowing his tongue in his brother’s coat. So, instead of returning his tongue to his mouth, Rannoch allowed it to linger.

Cypress waited.

The touch of Rannoch’s tongue on his nape was an unusual sensation, but the soot sprite paused in anticipation nonetheless — was he going to be picked up? Cypress enjoyed being picked up — had he been born human, he would have loved being thrown into the air, having constant faith that he would be caught and cradled by his beloved father. That being said, he didn’t feel airborne right now. He thrust his paws experimentally against the solid ground beneath him, but they had not the strength to bear him up — they splayed awkwardly out to his sides, and he remained on his belly like a tiny, shell-less turtle.

Now the dampness was beginning to feel unpleasant, and he squirmed in Rannoch’s general direction, thrusting his paws out toward the dust bunny in mute protest. Snuffling around, rooting about with his blunt puppy muzzle, Cypress found Rannoch’s foot and latched on like a cartoon dog latching onto a dog catcher. He gummed at his brother’s foot experimentally — blep! blep!

He was frozen in that moment.

Not quite remembering why he had extended his tongue to his brother in the first place, the prince stayed as he was. He was only jolted back into attention as his brother dropped. A mixture of confusion and worry overcame him and his brother vanished into nothingness. His head swung as he attempted to find his brother and he let out a squeak, as if he were attempting to call out to the deaf child. “Are you there, brother?” he wanted to voice, but couldn’t comprehend just how to say or truly express his concern.

Loneliness and concern quickly subsided as he suddenly felt something sucking on his toes. The sensation was… weird, but oddly calming all at the same time. With a tipping tail, the boy reached down so place his nose upon his brother’s crown and inhaled heavily. Ah, brother! He then turned his attention to his brothers flopped ear and latched on, tugging slightly as he marveled in the glory of their reunion.

It was the first of many scuffles the boys would have, though in the months to come the battles would end in scrapes and bruises — perhaps even scars that would serve as the catalyst for fond anecdotes when adulthood came. Chattering all the time, the shadow-wrapped Frostfur filled the air with babyish grunts and moans, prelude to the growling and howling that lay only weeks away in his future. Brother was a thing to be treasured — a word he did not know, but a creature whose presence he perceived as an unequivocal certainty. Only days old, still Cypress would feel his world was drumming to the wrong beat if Rannoch or Eshe ever truly left his side.

Although his strongest link was, like Rannoch’s, to mother, it was perhaps fate that the other two puppies in the litter had died. The soot sprite would become that much more attached to the dust bunny, and that much more loyal to Eshe and Scimitar.

Like fawns who learn later the solidity of father, Cypress was still growing to understand the puzzle piece that was @Scimitar. As ruling alpha, Scimitar’s responsibilities took him away from the densite more than the Frostfur patriarch probably would have liked — but although the turquoise-eyed male was at times called away from his family, the tenuous relationship between father and sons would one day harden into something forged from stone. For now, it was hard to hold on from one thing to the next as the boy’s growing brain tried to compensate for each new understanding. He knew hunger now, and let fall from his mouth his brother’s toes with a soft blep. “Oo-foo-foof,” he snuffled, nosing about for Eshe and the buttery sustenance he knew awaited him. His infinitesimal paws thrust decisively forth as his too-heavy head swayed to and fro, with frequent pauses to rest.

Fading!

Roughhousing soon turned into a game of follow the leader as Cypress broke away to seek Eshe and her milk. He scooted behind dutifully, his tail tipping as their mother’s aroma became more apparent. As her smell grew stronger, his hunger grew stronger. They would eventually find what they were seeking and indulge in a feast fit for royalty. Eventually they would curl up together as sleep would overcome the two children and from then naps would occupy them until much later that afternoon. Remaining intertwined even after they woke.