Blackfeather Woods I don't know where the lights are taking us

For family please, since others aren't yet allowed in the den -- @Potema @Damien @Meldresi @Bane

Hawarrrawooooo!"

From the moment Cicero had heard other wolves howling, he began practising his. There was a broad smile on the pup's face, as there usually was — one could only guess why everything seemed like a reason to smile, laugh or grin for Cicero — and he let out chortled giggled in between his practise howls.

Since the children weren't allowed to leave the den yet, Cicero performed his (rather loud) practise smack dab in the middle of the den. It was very likely that he was keeping his family awake, but those sort of things did not matter much to Cicero. Even whenever his siblings would be rough with him or get annoyed at him for being noisy, Cicero simply smiled or laughed at them.

And so, he continued his amused howling practise in the middle of the den, with little notion of what time of day it was, considering he had only seen the outside of the den alongside parents. "Awawawrroooooow!"

*steals for myself*

All of her pups had something off about them. Damien never learned how to whimper, and the only noises he ever made were growls. Potema was always turning her head in various directions, her ears perked as if she was listening to something, but there was usually nothing there. And Cicero....laughed. At everything. No matter what the circumstances, her little jester was always giggling about something, and if he wasn't laughing, then there was a smile plastered onto his face. Meldresi was worried that it would be stuck on his face. Not that it would be a worry, for that smile could be quite terrifying if he showed it to the right people.

Currently, he was howling. It was off pitch and warbling, too loud for such an enclosed area. Meldresi winced, her ears dropping. "Cicero, stop." She muttered, the volume too low for Cicero to be able to hear over his howling. When another howl exited his mouth, Meldresi raised her voice slightly, and inflected it with a harsh and commanding tone. She hadn't yelled at her kids yet, but a sharp tone and the occasional cuff was enough to discipline them. "Cicero I said, stop."

I supposed we've been officially named?? :o

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That little bastard. There could be nothing as annoying as his brother, Bane was sure about that, and he knew pretty much everyone else agreed with him. There were times when Damien actually liked him, he was fun to play with, but had never lasted long enough.

Naptime was precious to the eldest son. Everyone was aware of that. But for some reason, almost every time Damien closed his eyes, his brother managed to destroy his dreams even before they started. This time wasn't different. Damien would've sang along had he been in the mood for howling, but it just wasn't Cicero's lucky day.

The first howl jerked the charcoal cub awake, and his cold gaze fell upon the mad brother. The second howl was even louder, and Damien, irritated, was starting to charge towards his brother to seize him down when Mother's thunder-like voice made him skid to a stop. That was new. The shadow boy, with his tail between his legs, looked back at mother, fear showing vividly in his big silver eyes.

The thought that his howls might awaken his family did not occur to Cicero. It was instinct that drove him, the instinct to learn vital skills to survive. When he noticed that mother was awake, Cicero proudly turned in her direction, eager to show his howls off, yet unaware that his behaviour was not approved of. However, his brother soon came into view, who seemed ready to wrestle. Cicero was always ready to wrestle, another instinctive reaction to hone skills, even if his brother was rough when they played.

However, before his brother reached him, there was a harsh voice from his mother, telling him to stop his howling practise. Like his brother, this caused Cicero to instantly halt his tonedeaf howls and tuck his tail between his hind legs as he looked at his mother.

Yeah, they were one month old last week so Meldresi named them then I suppose behind-the-scenes

Her sharp tone had garnered the attention of both sons, placing a rarely seen expression on the three silver and one orange eye. Fear. A powerful thing to harness and control, and the sooner they knew about it the better. Meldresi sighed, then aimed a cuff at Cicero's head. "No howling in the den. Do you hear me, Cicero? No howling." She hissed.

Knowing that the pain would create some kind of crying or overall sadness from Cicero, or maybe the both of them, Meldresi thought of something to do with them to expend this energy they had bundled inside them. Perhaps take them outside? She had only done that once or twice with all three, showing them the world just outside their den, something which included their father. But maybe, she could bring them out again to play a game. The mother rose, and headed towards the exit, pausing and looking back at the two. "Come." she commanded before exiting.

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Damien glanced over at his brother. He realized that Cicero too had been take aback by their mother's sudden burst of anger. Would he cry? Would he laugh? It was never a certain thing with Cicero. But what was certain was that Damien wasn't sure what to do now. "Muma...?" the pup questioned. She had never gotten so angry with him for trying to attack one of his siblings. Now mommy was angry because of him... :(

Suddenly, mommy got up and headed towards the den's exit. Was she leaving them again? "Come." she commanded, and Damien understood what was going on. She was taking them outside again. It wasn't a common thing to happen, but the pups always enjoyed their time when it happened. The charcoal pup's tail went into 'helicopter' mode, swaying back and forth, and every other possible direction in joy. But before following mother, Damien went over to Cicero to finally give him one nice tackle followed by a warning growl. Ain't nobody mess with my naps. Then, with his nose in the air, the shadow pup went after Meldresi, unsure about whether brother would follow.

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His mother spoke again, although Cicero did not know what any of the words meant, besides his own name. He knew she spoke to him because she mentioned his name; of the other words, he only knew that he had done something wrong, because she spoke like he had done something wrong. When she physically reprimanded him, Cicero pressed himself to the ground and he let out a short yelp, as though hoping to avert his mother's reprimand. However, once it was too late, all he did was giggle and coo, as if he had not just been afraid of what was to come.

His mother departed from the den, and Cicero watched her. He didn't know the word she spoke, so he just sat there and watched. Damien seemed excited, his tail wagging, and then threw Cicero to the ground in a tackle. Cicero yelped, but when his brother growled at him, just chuckled.

Damien followed their mother, which lead Cicero to believe they were supposed to come. He got up, shook the dirt from his fur, and followed brother and mother out of the den. Normally, they weren't allowed to come out; only when their mother told them to, so Cicero enjoyed the opportunity to see bits of the outside world, considering he, like most pups did, craved to see and explore it.

No need to match the length!

She was pleased to see that they were learning; words, tone, manners. Even if Cicero didn't fully understand what she had said, he at least got the message, which is all she needed for him to know.

Meldresi sniffed the air, detecting Bane's scent around the perimeter of the den. He was absent at the moment, but it was reassuring to know that he was there.

The mother turned her head back to the den, seeing the little black pup Damien slip out, his stubby tail waggling uncoordinatedly. There was something adorable about when they did that, mainly because of how disproportionate that tail of theirs was. Meldresi waited after leaving the den, watching the entrance for a while to see if Cicero would follow his brother and mother, which he did. Potema did not come out, for she was sleeping all the while. Remarkable, but she let her be.

When both boys came out, looking at her expectedly, Meldresi mused for a bit, wondering what they would do. They were starting to be weaned, and ate the chunks of meat she brought with her, as well as drinking her milk, but Meldresi was curious. What would they do in the face of real prey?

It was a tactic that cats used to teach their kittens to hunt: catch a small bird or rodent, and bring it, alive, to the children, then let it go and see what happens. The priestess decided to use that tactic and see what her boys would do. Barking a command for them to stay, Meldresi trotted off into the undergrowth, hoping that this prey of hers would be close.

It was in the form of a squirrel, digging in the ground for its cache, that she found her victim. It nearly escaped her, since she was still chubby and slow from giving birth and laying in a den 80% of the day, but she grabbed it by the tail, holding it firmly in her jaws as she returned to her sons, dropping it in front of them, and biting hard into its hind leg to give them an advantage. She stepped back then, and watched them.

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The world outside was wonderful. A white blanket covered every inch of the floor, it was cold and soft, but it was really hard to walk on it. The eldest son tried to move a little faster by jumping his way through the snow, and he managed to keep close to mommy, he was actually going to catch her with his next jump, but she barked for them to stay put. Damien obeyed, not without putting on a very displeased face, and waited until either brother caught up or Mommy came back.

It was Cicero who got there first, not too long after mommy told them to stay, and when he did, Damien took advantage of the non-supervised time and pounced over to try and tackle his brother once again, this time as a game. He wanted to wrestle for a while.

When mommy came back, Damien sat up and looked up at her. She brought a something-really-fluffy back with her and dropped it in front of the cubs. Damien looked at his brother for a second, narrowing his eyes in a playful grin, challenging him to get the prey first and then jumped quickly to take the squirrel by the neck. He would then shake brutally until the neck cracked, that if his brother didn't get there first.

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Damien seemed very at ease outside, and Cicero followed him out of the den. He watched their mother as she walked off, with Damien in tow, until she barked for them to stay. Cicero’s ears flicked back and forth ununderstanding as he stood just outside the den, not sure what the point to their mother’s departure was, or what she wanted him and Damien to do in her absence.

Cicero plopped down onto the ground to sit, his tongue lolling from his mouth as he looked around. Just as he was looking the other way, his brother pounced him, and Cicero let out a surprised yelp before erupting into giggles as his brother threw him to the ground. Enveloped in the play with Damien, Cicero tried to bite his brother and flailed his paws through the air as he tried to get Damien to get off so that he could get the upper hand.

Before Cicero managed to actually get Damien off, their mother returned. The play was instantly interrupted as their mother brought something back and, after biting in it, offered it to them. It seemed to be alive. Cicero stretched his neck forward to observe what had been brought by them, waiting to see if it would move. However, before it had a chance to move and pique Cicero’s interest and instincts by doing so, Damien pounced on the creature and started to flail it around.

Even though Damien’s quick response meant that the creature could not move by itself for much longer, and soon died, it still moved through the air, calling for Cicero’s instinct. He let out an excited ”Bawr!” as he jumped forward and grabbed the tail end of the squirrel, starting a tug-o-war with his brother, who still had the neck end of the squirrel in his mouth.

Damien leapt upon the squirrel with playful ferocity, grabbing it instinctively by the neck and shaking. Shaking and shaking and shaking, until Meldresi's ears detected the familiar crack of bone. Barely a month old, and Damien had broken an animal's neck. The priestess smiled at her son, sitting down and making a comfortable space for herself as she watched their sadistic play.

Cicero didn't attack while Damien was killing the squirrel, but he did leap onto it soon after it had perished. The mottled boy grabbed its tail, insuating a tug-of-war with his brother. Who would get the carcass she could not say. It was possible that Damien would win it by sheer strength alone, but she sensed some cunning in Cicero. All she could do was sit back and take this time to relax.

Sorry for the wait! D: I'm back now and ready to get things rolling :P
EDIT: Iris I love your avatar :D

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Next thing he knows, Cicero joined his game and tugged from the other end of the creature. Damien responded doing the same while jerking his head from side to side in an attempt to snatch the toy for himself. It was a game, in part, but Damien really wanted to shred the animal on his own. He pulled harder and harder, pushing forward with his disproportional paws to release the toy from Cicero's jaws. This only caused the muscles of the squirrel to yield, tearing the head apart from the rest of the body and making Damien fall on his back with the smallest piece of the toy. That wasn't going to be good for Cicero.

"Naaaaaw!" Damien screeched and got up again, looking totally displeased by the amount of toy he had between his jaws, and with a growl he charged for Cicero one more time, spitting the bloody squirrel head aside.

Thank you :-)

With ferocious 'grrrrmbrl' sounds that, considering his size, probably just looked cute, Cicero tugged the tail end of the squirrel, trying to take the toy from his brother, driven by instinct. When the squirrel teared and his brother fell backward, so did Cicero. With a surprised yelp, he flung backwards and flopped down on his butt. The squirrel was released in surprise and flung over Cicero's head. He looked over his shoulder to watch it — but it didn't seem to move anymore, so it didn't hold much interest right now — when he heard his brother's disgruntled shout.

"Baw!" Cicero shouted in return, a huge grin on his face. He could see his brother was angry, but didn't back down. Before he knew it, he was bowled over by Damien, and Cicero, oddly, just laughed while he was knocked to the ground again. If Damien would pounce him, he'd try to get loose, but if Damien didn't pounce him he would get up and try to tackle Damien.

Meldresi laughed at how adorable the scene was. The squirrel's body could no longer resist the force of two pups pulling in separate directions, and therefore, it ripped. Cicero got the body, and Damien the head. The more spoiled of the two, obviously Damien, was not pleased by the portion difference, and the two set on each other, fighting.

The mother pulled the torn carcass of the rodent away from the tumbling brothers. She began to chew at it's body, tenderizing the meat. They would be hungry afterwards, and it seemed only fair that they got to tear at the blackfurred creature after working so hard to "catch it".

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The thing was, that the black furred pup was already in the air, going straight at his brother. He landed right on top of him and struggled to keep him in the ground, but his brother's efforts were being efficient, because soon after, Cicero broke loose, and Damien rolled over in the ground away from him with a sharp "Argh!". He got up as quickly as possible and went for his right ear. If he caught it he would try to pull his brother's head to the ground once again.

As Damien pinned him to the ground, Cicero struggled to get loose. Soon he was successful, managing to get his brother off him. Cicero noticed, once free, that the squirrel was gone. He looked around for it, but didn't see it (failing to notice that his mother had it). Just as Cicero decided that he was going to return to the den in lack of playtoy to fight over, he was once more pounced by Damien.

With a surprised high-pitched yelp, Cicero was pulled by the ear and dragged down to the ground. He struggled for a bit, but every movement he made just made his ear hurt more. Cicero decided to go for the easier solution, and rolled onto his back to submit, allowing his brother to win the fight.

The fight ended quickly. She looked up from her monotonous activity, seeing Cicero pinned to the ground by his brother, his ear in Damien's mouth. The priestess left them there for a moment, wondering how Cicero would manage to get out of it, if he could. After waiting, Meldresi barked softly at them.

She grabbed Damien by the scruff lightly and pulled him off of his brother, placing him a few inches away. "Food. Here." She said, shaking the tenderized squirrel carcass to garner their attention.

Super sleepy... sorry if it is a bit weird and short :s

Damien had won the battle! It was so gratifying when Cicero rolled to his back in submission, when he acknowledged his inferiority and weakness. But suddenly he was being pulled away from his brother by mommy [size=x-small](what a party pooper...)[/size] and the excitement was replaced by confusion and a mad-sad face.

Just a moment after, the dead squirrel's body was being shaken in front of them, drawing all of Damien's attention from his brother and instantly, the shadow pup got up and raced to take a big bite of the rodent again.

By the time that their mother pulled Damien away from him, Cicero had already forgotten all about losing the fight. Even submitting was just an instinctual reaction to losing a battle, where he did not want to be harmed and thus surrendered. The child got up, shook the dirt from his fur, and then galopped over to their mother, who had been tenderising the squirrel carcass for them.

Cicero did not really understand what to do with the food. He stared at his mother's face, as though expecting her to chew the food and then spit it back at him, but that didn't happen. In lack of getting food handed to him, Cicero just pounced on the squirrel again, sinking his teeth in part of it, as far away from Damien as he could manage. A small piece of the tenderised squirrel fell off, and Cicero rolled backwards with it. "Oof," he babbled to himself and then he settled on the ground to nibble on the piece of squirrel he had conquered, now small enough for him to recognise it as food.

Do you guys want to wrap up yet?

Meldresi laid her head on her front paws, her body half curled around the carcass and her sons as they nibbled at the carcass. It would be the first of many bodies she would bring whole back to the den, instead of regurgitating up chunks from food in the cache. Soon enough, they would be old enough to hunt on their own, and Meldresi would have a special ceremony just for them to commemorate their first kill. But that was weeks in the future. For now they were still little balls of fluff to her that sapped the energy out of her like vampires. Meldresi's eyes slowly closed as she drifted off into a light sleep she was certain would not last for long.

Yeah! Last post from me :)

As mommy slept, Damien kept on gnawing on the carcass, too focused to even care about his annoying brother any longer. The body was still warm and the blood that flowed through it's veins was still liquid, staining the pup's face with red. Oh there would be a lot more of that in the future. But until he made his first kill all of it would come from those little gifts mommy brought them. And he would enjoy them.

When the interest in the squirrel faded away, and tired of chewing, the charcoal pup waded to his mother's side and curled his body against hers. Sleeping was just as important as brawling for the eldest son, and he took every opportunity he got to do it.

i'll archive (:

Cicero grew tired faster than his brother. While still nibbling on the piece of squirrel he had taken from the larger carcass, Cicero let out a long yawn. Then he started to fall asleep, the piece of food still in his mouth, while he drooled on the squirrel-bits. His eyes slowly started to drift shut and Cicero drifted off to sleep, tired from a day's play.