Neverwinter Forest avalon

Let's enjoy the beginning of Autumn with a puppy hunt and a chance to get the pack together! To keep things moving I am having the first round of this hunt end on September 18th! Also, this is NOT MANDATORY by any means at all-- just for fun! Anybody is welcome to jump into this, but it will be the puppies doing the hunting! @Scimitar @Eshe @Cypress @Pasha @Lucy @Allure @Astra @Kaskara @Dublin @Eimear @Szabala @Rian

The night was new as three figures slipped silently through the evergreens. Little noise was made as these figures quietly made their way from the family den towards a clearing that Rannoch had found just the other night. It had been a magical sight-- the clearing was large enough to comfortably accommodate more than a handful of wolves and within the clearing was a sight that Rannoch had never seen. This clearing was home to bugs that he had never seen before. They twinkled in the darkness and danced upon both the air and earth. Did he have a name for such creatures? No. But he was very eager to show off his discovery to Lucy and Cypress. Nothing else had really crossed his mind since he had seen the sight and this clearing was all he had talked about in the days that followed the first sighting.

Magenta streaked against a periwinkle backdrop as the sun set and such a sight could be seen overhead-- the perfect backdrop for the fun that was sure to happen. As he slipped between two trees, Rannoch smiled as he entered the clearing and paused. “Guys,” he whispered, throwing a glance to the two raven-haired children that flanked him.  “We’re here.”

He was taken aback by the the sight, speechless as he watched on. Fireflies danced about the clearing, their lights sparkling in the setting sun. Knowing that he could not keep this sight to just himself, the child then lifted his chin and called out to the pack, inviting them to join him the the clearing to see what he was seeing.

Very short posts to get all of my threadlogs up to date. ♥ I am sorry for the lack of quality and length.

The Frostfur boys and their blue-eyed princess had grown incredibly close despite the short time they’d known one another, and the stalwart guardians of the forest had taken it upon themselves to afford Lucy the greatest protection they could offer. As they approached the clearing, Cypress circled around so the inky girl had one soldier at each shoulder, and he cast over her slim shoulders a glance of silent communion with his brother. The tableau was so beautiful that at first, Cypress couldn’t muster a single word. Then, “Whoa,” he breathed, shaking his head with his muzzle parted in wonder. As Noch lifted his voice in song, Cypress did the same, a playful buffet of his nose to Lucy’s shoulder encouraging her to sing along. He tipped back his head and set his call upon the wind, his voice tangling lovingly with his brother’s.

Dublin stepped out from behind a tree. He had been attempting to find some nice grass to roll around in, but he recognized his cousin, Rannoch, and started following. He didn't know the other two pups. He gave them a small 'woof' in greeting. He wagged his tail, and followed after Rannoch and the other pups, but asked Rannoch a question "Is this a Cypwess?" He remembered when they had met, Rannoch had described a Cypress to him. The little prince glanced at the other wolf pup, "And who is this?"

When Dublin had escaped the den, he had probably thought the rest of them were asleep. Eimear had always been a light sleeper; she was a jumpy little thing, and feeling the subtle movement of her brother as he snuck out for a midnight dirt-roll was enough to return the sleeping girl to wakefulness. She squinted after him at first, wondering if it was the daytime already — but there was dark, and lots of it. And she couldn't very well let her brother walk off in to the dangers of the dark by himself! So she got to her paws and (rather meekly) followed after him. A brief glance was tossed back at her sleeping parents, but in the end Eimear decided it would be more trouble to wake them than to just follow Dublin.

This is how the nervous little girl found herself wandering in the dark. It was easier than she anticipated to track her brother, he was slow and not very stealthy, but every strange shadow or slight shiver of the trees made Eimear duck her head, or stare doe-like at the obscurity. When she came to a final halt she was right behind her brother, and nearly squished him with her chest against his hip; the sound of his voice startled her — and then, peering over his head, she saw the collection of strangers.

Dub, shhh! She tried to dissuade him with some hasty mumblings, but the boy was off to investigate, and Eimear was struck with indecision. Follow? Protect her brother? Or run back home to her parents and face their wrath? It was long past bedtime, they shouldn't be out here! With a nervous little sigh Eimear charged after Dublin, but she shrank back a step and felt her ears crease back against her head when she spotted Rannoch, and her eyes roamed across the faces of the others.

Rannoch had been eager to share with them his great discovery. There was a hush surrounding what the surprise was, but the shadow had followed after him and the inky form of Cypress with quick steps and an intense expression on her features. Lucy's nimble shape was able to keep up with the boys without issue. The forest had started to become second nature to the soot child. She did not struggle against their terrain as she had when she'd first arrived. It was almost safe to say she had become proficient in the wood. Whether she knew it or not, the Blackthorn child was adapting. 

Rannoch led them to a stunning clearing, and as the blue eyed girl peered through the brush, her gaze caught fire in the glimmering lights. She was mesmerized. They danced about with a bobbing flutter of their wings. Cypress uttered a single word of shock and nudged against her, but she was already lost. It took a few stretching moments before she realized they were calling for others and the raven haired boy had been encouraging her to join. She lifted her muzzle upward and elicited a yip of excitement. It wasn't long before others began to arrive and take interest. 

A young boy seemed to take interest in her first, and the shadow of a girl shrunk sheepishly behind the shapes of Rannoch and Cypress. The stranger seemed gentle enough, but she was fearful of deceit. 

SOrry guys i was having computer issues. I'm back though now hopefully for good. :( I am so sorry.

Kieran had seen his two children leave the den and with a gentle growl to his wife and other remaining children, he followed behind them. Irritated that they would go out in the dark, but also curious as to what caught their attention, he followed behind them at a small pace. He waited in teh clearing and watched with attentive eyes as they met the other pups. He wasn't sure if they would notice him, and he didn't mind if they did, but for now he would just watch from a distance and wait and keep them safe.

*ROUND 2!* Thank you all for joining! This round will end on *Steptember 25th!* No posting order. @Cypress @Lucy @Dublin @Eimear @Kieran

He waited silently as his cry faded in the distance, his eyes bouncing about the clearing before them as he waited for others to arrive. As Dublin arrived, and he offered the trio a woof, Rannoch turned his attention to his cousin and smiled at his arrival. “Dub,” he greeted warmly, his tail wagging as he took a step towards the darker wolf. To his question, he nodded. “Yes, that’s Cypress! And the other girl is Lucy-- she lives with us.” Upon introducing each of the puppies, his attention had turned to them both as he respectively mentioned them. Emiear was next to come onto the scene, following after her sibling with vigor. He watched on quietly as a sense of unease came upon her. He frowned at this, offering a wag of his tail in greeting to his pale cousin.

Once all of the puppies were settled in the clearing, he looked about the ground and smiled. “Thanks for coming, guys!” He said, his gaze sweeping around the gathered group. “I wanted to show you guys this place because it’s pretty and I thought it would be fun to catch ‘em.” Rannoch was a puppy that enjoyed the simple pleasures in life; it did not take much to hold his attention, either. “So, I was thinking that we could see who catches a firefly first.” He wasn’t quite sure how they would do it, but he pushed aside such thoughts at the prospect of this fun opportunity.

Without another word, Rannoch yipped happily as he pranced deeper into the clearing. His attention turned skyward as he watched the fireflies dance overhead. Without any warning, the child crouched to the ground and then lurched himself into the air, his jaws opening while he jumped. In an attempt to catch one of the fireflies, he chomped down as he began his descent towards the ground. Though he did not catch a firefly, he still smiled towards the group and urged them to join him with a yip

Eshe, recovering from her ailment, simply howled from her sickbed to inform her son of it. She was glad to hear him rallying the pack together, and though she wished to be there, her paranoia that she would get he and the young ones ill was the decider that this day, she would not join them. A cough imbued with phlegm hacked out of her before she lay her head down to rest.

explainin her not bein' here! xox

One ear caught voice of Eshe -- who sounded terrible. While the girl did not consider herself close to her enthusiastic step-mother, she did take responsibility for the boys partly herself, and with her own call to her father, assuring him he should remain by his mate's side, the bi-toned girl ambled off in the direction of the kids, wondering what shenanigans they were up to.

She found the boys -- as well as the dark girl, Lucy, who she had not formally met yet, and two of her cousins. She maintained her distance, not wishing to interrupt their antics, and striding up to sidle along the side of her uncle, Allure greeted Kieran with a nudge to his shoulder, casting him a gentle smile.

Though the strangers that surrounded her were a constant reminder of the fear that flooded her system. She was enraged by the longing that she felt to run away from them and to find somewhere new once more – where no one would know who she was. They were dreams of fancy, though; those that allowed her to change her name and live in a far off land. Lucy knew that she could not leave behind the wolves who had saved her life. If anything, she thought of taking them with her. Surely Cypress would journey across the earth, from home to home, for as long as they wished. They would come up with aliases for each other so that they would never be the same person in one land as they were in the next. The more she thought about it, the more foolish she felt. She had a home and a family, and the world was too vast for her to venture. For the time being, she should focus on the time that she had.
 
Rannoch seemed to round them up and speak to them as though he were already leader of the forest. The shadow thought that he would make a noble alpha, if that were his intention. She wondered if he wished for her to remain there, in the forest, with him. Glancing toward Cypress, the blue-eyed jackdaw offered a small sort of smile. They were going to chase fireflies.
 
As soon as the festivity had begun, she nudged the raven boy with her muzzle and darted toward the flickering lights that captivated her so.

Dublin had ignored the words of his sister, but he tried to make sure she felt okay with them being here, even if she didn't like it. Tehy would have fun! And there was the other girl. Lucy. Dublin didn't know what to think of her. While Dublin smiled kindly and politely to Lucy, as his parents had taught him, she still seemed a bit afraid. This did not matter to Dublin, who kept his friendly face on, even if the other wolves didn't like him.

He yipped eagerly as Rannoch suggested fireflies. Fireflies were his favorite, they shined, and it excited him to think that, if he chased hard enough, he could shine just like a firefly, and Mama and Bala and Mear and Rian would be so proud of him!

Once the game was announced the others quickly followed suit in an attempt to catch the fireflies. With the adults watching on, the children played to their heart's desire as they were bathed in the moonlight and glow from the fireflies.