Redtail Rise XX

for Thursday's Dawn (@The System) and/or @Thursday Evening! also tagging @Sunday Morning for join/visibility <3

augur returned to the den.

his children were still growing. he was careful not to come so close. 

the man snuffled loudly at the denmouth, eyes adjusting as he searched for their little forms.

Her eyes opened in the early hours of the morning, but her vision would not become clear for many days. Everything around her was a dark, blurred mess, but she could see! There, her mother's slumbering form, bright in the darkness of the whelping den. And there, her brother. Thursday's Dawn let out a little gurgle as she rolled over and got to her feet. Her legs were not yet sturdy enough to support her in a stand, and she stumbled, tripping over herself.

Then, a noise from the opening of the den, a strange snuffling that instantly drew the girl's attention. She began to make her way, crawling towards the sound.

thursday evening spends much of his time sleeping and when he is not sleeping he is sure to be greedily filling his belly; the simplicity of his existence.

something was different though as he awoke from his most recent milkdrunk nap. the peep of his eyes; as unfamiliar as the grogginess that plagues him.

there had been an easiness to routine; built in the eleven days since his birth into the world. eat, sleep, poop, pee, get bathed.

the hazy shadows of still developing eyesight was not apart of his routine and thursday evening lets his displeasure be known to all inhabitants of the den seconds after his father's call into it — went unnoticed in the life altering discovery thursday evening was presently going through, choosing not to accept it as quick as thursday's dawn has.

they moved like little tubers.

augur was perplexed and amused and mesmerized. anyone coming across the den would find the great clawan seemingly wedged into the doorway, which gripped his muscular shoulders. his tail beat upon the ground outside, raising small clumps of dirt.

first the girl approached. and then the boy shouted from within. augur trembled with excitement, ears laid back. he reached to sniff at the daughter that new snow had birthed. the man smelled of earth and trees and meat and wild things. he shared this with her in a chuff.

Her labor had not been an easy one. She was recovering, though more tired than she was used to. She slept contentedly in knowing her man was nearby, and that her cubs as of yet could not get very far without her knowing. But up until now, her slumber had not been very deep; she was easy to wake, and so her rest was not what it ought to be. 

It caught up to her the previous evening. Sunday Morning slept so deeply not even the sound of her own soft snore startled her. Sunday slept and slept and slept. It was only the new noise of her daughter (as good as a cry to the new mother) that caused her to rouse… no, not only, a true cry came them from her son—her head flew upward and she blinked several times. Disgruntled, Sunday Morning sought the girl who was not presently latched to her side as Thursday Evening was. 

But she had not made it very far. Sunday found her having squirmed only but a few even inches away. Other sounds; the beat of her mates tail, and the feral sounds that they two spoke to one another, the language of their kind. Looking to Thursday Evening, seeing him alright (and sniffing him several times for good measure to be certain), she settled. 

Sunday Morning crooned her understanding; someday, Thursdays Dawn would understand, too. Sunday Morning would let her squirm a little further forward so that he could see her small, beautiful little face that endeared the she-wolf to their cubs at once. But then she would gently reach to pull her daughter toward her side, to accompany her larger brother. 

It was at that moment that Sunday Morning saw something different. With her sons face pressed against her stomach, she had not seen it upon him, but she gently nosed him then. Yes, him too; four soft blue eyes. Sunday Morning’s own tail beat against the earth as she gently cleansed their faces to remove any of the residue there. 

And then she shared the wondrous news with a happy whine to her mate, and a soft series of barks. Even if Thursday Evening did not know it yet, he would come to see someday (perhaps once his vision cleared) that this was a good thing.

The smells that came from the man at the den opening were interesting, many scents she had never smelled before, but she would not remember them. As her mother swept her back, she gave a soft whine, but ultimately she would be drawn to her mother's milk, the safety of her warm belly, where she would feed, then fall asleep.

Last from me <3

their eyes were open! they looked at him.

his lips shook. his jaws were loose with an excited noise. his tail wagged faster behind him, waving up a cloud of dirt now! he touched each of them, one at a time; nose to nose, exchanging breath.

and then they folded away, back into new snow's warm embrace. he too pulled away.

but augur was pleased, and licked what part of her pelt he could reach, eyes still slitted and joyous and paws reaching for her as well.

at last he would retire back to his place as sentinel, ears twitching at each sound which came from the den.

This thing between they two was an easy thing. His joy brought hers near to its peak. It was difficult to remain still as she shared in his elation with whines and whimpers of her own, several whistle notes sounding as she shifted her weight. Sunday was mindful, all the while, of their cubs. When she shifted her weight, none of it bore onto them (though one might have been removed from a teat... if such happened, they were quick to latch upon her again!).

Her eyes closed as he bestowed his joy upon her, lips upturned in a canine smile as she huffed happily into the air. Sunday Morning made no protest, the thoughts filling her ones that were happy, and warming. She took care to get her own licks in, and when he departed to stand on guard again she licked her chops and placed her muzzle over one foreleg.

But her own good mood was too great, and she could not yet sleep. He would hear her taking care of their cubs, grooming and tending to their needs. Marveling more at their growth. To him, she would recount the most momentous of observations. Which, in truth, was most everything; all these things firsts for them all!