Stone Circle visitation rights

It'd been a few days since the pups were born and Nikai had kept a respectful distance. But it was hard to resist visiting to see the pups and he wanted to help Valette where he could. He'd brought some food the other day but he hadn't managed to spare a glimpse of the pups then. Nikai had made a quick patrol to make sure the borders were safe before going for a hunt. He'd caught nothing more than a scrawny rabbit but at least he had something to give to his mother.

Upon his approach to the den Nikai chuffed at @Valette, a muffled sound through the rabbit in his mouth, and then he dropped the food by the den's entrance. He lowered himself, laying down on the ground by the den's entrance in hopes he would be able to spare glances at his baby siblings.

Valette lifted her head when she heard someone approach her den. She often heard others go past her den, probably to check up on her. She liked the thoughtfulness but the female wasn't that keen on having the others too close to her small babies.

Her ears perked up as the chuff, plus her nose caught the smell of fresh blood. She slowly uncurled from around her young and moved more into the entrance, her head coming from the den a bit. She smiled softly when Nikai was there with food. He was a good son.

Valette reached for the carcass, some glimpses of the small bundled behind her. Her hazel eyes were alert, she would not let Nikai get any closer. Her eyes warned him for that briefly. She hadn't even let Zeke meet them. He was so big and she was afraid he wouldn't be gentle enough.

Valette soon appeared to take the food and Nikai could get a quick glimpse on the pups. Ears perked forward as he looked at them, missing Valette's social cue in the process but it didn't matter, because he had already deduced from how tiny they looked that he shouldn't get too close.

"They're so tiny," Nikai said in awe at the miracle of life. "When will they be big enough...?" He didn't specify what for, because it seemed clear to him that he meant being able to see them up close. He had never seen pups before and he hadn't thought they would be so small. He had no clue how long it took for them to grow.

Valette stripped down the meat. She stopped briefly when Nikai asked a question. She was pleased to see that he kept his distance. She nodded in agreement when Nikai told her that they were tiny. They were. She didn't want anyone to come too close to them yet. "In about ten days or more they will open their eyes and started to crawl better," she spoke. "It shouldn't be too long before they can play around in the den and they are less vulnerable."

She took another bite from her good, grateful that she had such good pack members taking care of her. "Do you remember anything from when you were little?," she asked curiously. "Or do you only remember Easthollow?"

Ten days had never seemed like such a long time as it did now, but Nikai knew it'd be over before he knew it. He would just make sure to keep taking care of Valette and bring her enough food when others couldn't. Before he knew it, he'd surely be playing with his baby siblings.

Valette's next question came as a surprise to him. To be honest, he didn't remember a lot from when he was young, but he did remember having a mother. "Not really," he said. "I mean, I wouldn't know where I lived before Easthollow." He only knew there was a place because he'd heard, not because he remembered. "Sometimes I dream about my..." It felt weird calling her that, but he couldn't find a different word in the one second pause. "... mother, but I don't remember her well enough to know that it's really my mother or just something my brain made up." Nikai sounded disappointed about that. He wished he knew what she looked like. There was another thing that he wondered suddenly. "How did she die?"

Valette had just been curious what Nikai knew and what he didn't. The female wasn't bothered when he called his own mother also 'mother'. Valette gave him an encouraging nod. She saw Nikai as her own son and she would always be his mother. She was confident enough that Nikai thought the same about her. Plus, she wanted to be respectful of Althaia. "She was a very tiny gray colored female. She had always been quite skinny and lean when she was with us. She also had these green eyes. Kind of like yours!," she spoke with a smile.

Her levels of happy energy faded a bit when Nikai asked about how she died. "It wasn't a pleasant death. You might not want to hear that, I'm sorry. I just want to be honest towards you. She had been running from someone, we still don't know who. But her past caught up with her and she was murdered. We were afraid he/she/it/they would come back for you and Keoni, but that they never did," she explained. She offered an apologetic smile at Nikai. "It was really upsetting because she loved you two very much. So when you were without a mother I made sure you wouldn't miss any of the love you might have gotten from her," Valette added.

Hope you don't mind a puppy cameo!

She remained oblivious to many things - to sights, and sounds, and the heavy conversation that murmured above her sleepy little head. But the waking child knew one thing as she roused that hour: the Giant Warmth moved, unalarming to Clary until something different, and somehow familiar, touched her nose, along with the sting of a metallic scent that sometimes clung to the Giant Warmth.

But her curiosity rested on the thing that smelt of the Giant Warmth Herself, and if anything held a semblance of Her scent, Clary didn't question her right to discover what this other thing was. With unrefined movement and as much as her stubby legs could propel her, she paddled against the ground to scoot herself closer, with nose sniffing and snuffling about to discover this new thing that, for all she understood, was for her to explore.

Nikai nodded but didn't elaborate whether or not Valette's description of his mother was like what he imagined her as. He instead waited to listen to the story she told of his mother's death. It was weird to listen to it in this way, like someone listening to a story that wasn't linked to them at all, and at the same time with the anticipation that the story was very real and posed a very real threat to them, too.

The threat was long gone but he felt grateful that Valette and Steady had protected him and Keoni from it when it was still so very real. And that they had taken the pair of them in, of course. "I wonder who did it," Nikai said, his words not particularly malicious or vengeful; it was long gone and he didn't know the situation. He would've loved to have known his biological mother better, but things were as they were now and he was grateful for what he had. There was only curiosity left for the ending of the story he had been told, now. "I guess we'll never find out." And that was that.

Nikai's attention was stolen by one of the little pups wriggling around in the den; he could only see a glimpse of it from the corner of his eyes and chuffed shortly to bring it to Valette's attention in case she wanted to put it back further to the back of the den.

Valette nodded with compassion. She wondered that herself as well. Though selfishly she was glad that the murderer hadn't come back to kill Keoni and Nikai. They would probably never find out. The blood of Althaia's body had mixed with all the scents around, and over powered all others. It was not something she wished to see again. "No, as unsatisfying as it might be," she admitted to him.

Valette ear turned to inside the den as she heard some movement. She also noticed that Nikai was distracted and chuffed. There was one fluffy potato that found her little legs to crawl better. It was far too cold outside of the den for the newborn. Valette's mother instinct instantly hit the alarm button. She picked up Clary and moved her back deeper in the den where it was the warmest. Valette nudged the other two as she placed their sister with them.

The mother curled around them. She had the feeling that the little gray female was going to be an explorer just like her. "Nikai, you can come and have a look. But not too close, okay?" Valette rather stayed with them to give them warmth and milk. She didn't want to leave them alone for too long. By her belly where three little babies. Two gray and one dark in color like her. Steph often blended in so well with her fur Valette had some panicked moments thinking she lost her baby.

Clary moved with a vigorous crawl, and her breath puffed out from the greatest effort she'd given yet. The strange scent of the new thing drew near - but so did the scent of the Great Warmth, and Clary kicked the ground harder - determined, but not fast enough. Great jaws scooped her up, and Clary fell limp as the ground disappeared from beneath her paws. Again. The Great Warmth always carried her the same, and she knew the cool surface of the den would return to her before long.

Sure enough, her paws touched down. She let her body slide against the ground and slipped in place between the familiar scents of her brother and sister. The warmth embraced her, but her mind frisked about. She sure couldn't get away now, but Clary popped her head up as high as she could and, with eyes still closed and ears still folded, moved her head and sniffed about in search of the new scent again.

Nikai had expected that this meant visiting hour was over, but after Valette scooped the pup back into the den she actually invited him to have a quick look at them. She warned not to get too close and he nodded with a concentrated look on his face as he crawled onto his belly to have a look inside the den. "They're so tiny," he noted as he looked at them, understanding full well why this meant that he couldn't be close to them yet. He was too afraid he'd break them, anyway. "I can't wait 'til they're older so I can play with them and show them the world." From the entrance of the den Nikai dreamily stared at his baby siblings. He'd wanted so badly to leave Easthollow for some time now, but somehow now that he was looking at his baby siblings he knew that whatever exploration he had planned could wait a bit longer.

Valette liked that Nikai showed the respect and gentleness they needed. She nodded in answer. They were really tiny, even though it didn't feel that way when they were born. "When they were born they were even tinier," she spoke softly with a fond smile on her maw. She glanced at Nikai. "Soon. I hope that they go exploring soon and meet the rest of the pack. It is of importance. They will also learn things from you by playing with them." S

Nikai would be of great help to socialize the pups in the right way. Valette didn't know that Nikai was itching to leave. She thought he was here to stay, and it seemed that for now, unknowingly to Valette, that he would stay. "I bet they will love their big brother," she smiled at him.

Nikai smiled softly as Valette said that they should be played with a lot when they grew a little bit older. Soon. He really hoped that they'd love him, and he would try his best to play with them a lot. Maybe take them exploring when they grew older, if they were interested in the great outdoors too. Maybe it'd keep his itching paws from wandering.

"Thanks. I hope so. I'm gonna go patrol now," Nikai said and he nuzzled Valette's face before he took off again, towards the borders. He wanted nothing more than to keep his new siblings and his mother safe, so the best way to do that seemed to make sure the borders were safe at the moment.

Valette nodded when Nikai said goodbye. "Thank you for helping out," she spoke just before he left. That reminded her that she should have a rest. She wanted to watch her babies all the time but it wasn't something her body could handle. She needed her sleep. She grabbed Clary and placed her by her other siblings. Hopefully, she would rest as well.