Swiftcurrent Creek :'(

I'm honoring Rebel's request re: Paar and Durn. I made some other, fairly significant assumptions. If they're not all right, please just let me know and I will be happy to make changes! <3

@Scimitar @Bazi @Trajan @Julius

When Scimitar offered to play with the puppies a while to give Paarthurnax some time to herself, all but one seemed happy to take him up on his offer. For reasons unknown, Durnehviir just would not cooperate; she insisted on clinging to her mother's side. So the Alpha male and the three young brothers left their girls behind, heading to a clearing half a mile away with the promise to return in a few hours with some lunch in hand.

Only, when the party of four arrived back home, something was wrong, very wrong. Relonikiv bumped his head into the back of Scimitar's leg, then peeked around it with a squawk of, "Wha?" He saw the signs of a scuffle: the disturbed earth, the smears of blood, the tufts of fur. He trotted toward one of the latter, sniffed it and sneezed. He looked up at Scimitar as if to ask, What does it mean?

"Mama?" he then queried, holding his head and body low as he crept toward the den's mouth. He poked his little golden head in there but it was empty; neither their mother or sister was in there. Backpedaling, Relonikiv looked at Scimitar again and asked a bit more plaintively, "Whir mama? Whir thithy?" His bewildered, blueish silver gaze then fell to his brothers' faces, waiting for someone, anyone, to provide an explanation.

Scimitar was soon becoming a father figure to Julius. While he hadn't liked leaving his mom and sister behind, the temptation to play was too strong. Had he known they would've disappeared, he would've stayed with them. The largest pup had grown territorial of his family. Even though he wouldn't have stood a chance in a fight, he would've done it anyways to protect his family.

With the empty den in front of him, he silently stepped up next to Relonikiv's side. Julius let out a small whimper, looking around for them. They couldn't just disappear, and the idea of them leaving them was so unbelievable that it couldn't cross his mind.

Bazi departed the den after several unsuccessful attempts to coax Durnehviir away, offering Paarthurnax a consoling smile before she went. The pups were several measures beyond a handful now, and their long-suffering mother looked like she needed a few moments to catch her breath.

With three boys to look after, she didn't rate Scimitar's chances of being able to procure lunch, and headed off on her own to take down a contingency plan.

When she returned several hours later to bring the group to the kill, bright-eyed and still mildly blood-soaked from a successful hunt with several other pack-mates, the others were already at the densite.

But Paarthurnax was conspicuously missing.

And there was.. was that blood?

Bazi's breath caught in her throat. For a moment, all she could hear was the rush of hot blood around her ears and the erratic pounding of her heart somewhere deep inside her chest. And then she moved.

"Kids," she barked, a little too sharply, striding in between the pups and the entrance to their now empty home. Gently, she pushed each one back against Scimitar's sturdy legs, stepping carefully around the evidence. "Should I take them?" she whispered up at him, showing in her eyes what her voice did not betray.

It tok a pack to raise a litter, and words could not be truer with the four Paarthurnax had brought in to the world. Luring the boys out for the better part of the morning in order to offer their mother rest, Scimitar had been unable to coax Durnehviir from her mother's side. Determining that three was better than none, the cinnamon wolf had lead them out to unexplored areas in their eyes, teaching them a few of the things the world had to offer.

Lunch was almost a futile effort. The boys had been excited about rounding up a rabbit, and while the little animal had easily outran them, they had seemed to have fun despite their best efforts. With a few laughs, Scimitar had promised that once they were bigger, the hunt would be easier.. and without any other sign of potential prey, the Alpha had begun to lead them home, keen that he would instead bring some of the cache to the family.

It was quickly obvious to him that something was very wrong -- but his heart would not link together what his mind was trying to tell him. The silence seemed plausible -- Paarthurnax had likely taken Durnehviir on her own excursion.. but then why did his heart began to clench in his chest?

He stopped then, feeling a pup thump in to his ankle, though he paid no heed. Every part of him was on alert, and yet nothing made sense -- the blood before him sure as hell didn't make sense, and as if coming through a fog, Bazi was suddenly there, asking him if she should take the kids. Only when Relonikiv began to move forward.. to poke his untainted little muzzle in to a hole that could very well mean nothing more than danger did Scimitar snap back to focus, and loping forward quickly, his muzzle would round forward to herd the boy back t the rest of the family, his paws careful to not step in the blood. Panic flashed in his eyes as he sought out Bazi's gaze, and bending his muzzle down, he smoothed his nose against all three boys, hoping to bring forward some form of reassurance. "Yes," he murmured, the words dry on his tongue.

His mind refused to lead to the possibilities of what this meant -- surely, it could not mean his best friend was gone. Brutalized. Her daughter nowhere to be found.

Trajan did not want to leave his mother's side but he grudgingly allowed the agouti Alpha to lead him and his brothers away from the den. But when they returned home, the oldest brother sensed something was wrong. He stepped forward, nudging both Relonikiv and Julius on the shoulder as if trying to reassure them. His blue gaze drifted to the den mouth and wondered where was his mother and sister? Where were they? They couldn't just vanish after all.

"Mama," The silver boy spoke, looking up at the adults, demanding for an explanation that would reassure both he and his brothers.

No explanation was forthcoming. Scimitar and Bazi both looked stricken and a bit preoccupied. The latter hissed something quietly to the former, to which he replied affirmatively. Relonikiv joined Julius in whimpering, his lower lip starting to quiver. His eyes began to blur with tears borne mostly of confusion. He took a step toward the empty den, only to shrink away. He sensed something, something horrible.

"Whir mama?!" he begged again, louder this time, momentarily forgetting about Durnehviir as the loss of his dam eclipsed that of his sister. His wail still ringing in everyone's ears, he flung himself at Scimitar's foreleg, hugging and burying his face into it. The normally happy-go-lucky puppy was anything but as he sobbed into the Alpha's fur and murmured, "Wan' mama!" over and over.

Not only was part of his family gone, but it was upsetting the rest of his family. While he couldn't know or understand what happened, Julius could sense it was causing unease. Instead of voicing his own complaints and unease, he silently went to each brother in turn. To each he gave a few affectionate licks to try and reassure them. The situation seemed so much worse when everyone was unhappy!

Next, he tried to grab Aunt Bazi's attention. Julius bumped against her hind leg. Should she turn to look at him, she would be met with his pleading gaze. He wanted her to fix the problems, for her to making his mother and sister to come back, as well as make everyone happy again.

All of the asked for their mama. Relonikiv broke down almost immediately, and she could almost see Trajan disappear into himself. She felt Julius near her hind leg, and turned to look into the very face of dashed dreams. They sensed it - without perhaps understanding what the blood and fur meant, the three brothers instinctively knew that something wasn't quite right.

Bazi shifted around and bent to grab Julius gently by the scruff of the neck, depositing him gently at the side of his wailing brother. She flashed Scimitar an apologetic look - but Relonikiv had chosen him to cling to, and she wasn't going to be the one to pry a wolf pup away from his Alpha. "No, I'll go," she murmured up at him, giving Trajan a soft nudge to the shoulder before righting herself and reversing several paces, testing the air with her nose. "I'll be back soon."

No 'I'll find her'. No 'I'm sure she'll come back'. These were not promises Bazi wished to make, because she knew she would break them. With a lung-full of chilly air to power the initial, she set off south to begin the ultimately futile search.

Slight PP, happy to change.

Relonikiv was quick to press in to him – the boy usually sought comfort from the alpha male, and Scimitar would truly have it no other way.. except at that very moment, he could barely reel in his own emotions. Bazi insisted she go look, and as the boys wept for their mother in the fear of the unknown, all he could do was look helplessly at her and give a brisk nod.

He could not soothe their fears – could not tell them she was okay. They were not at an age to understand what evil meant, or the possibility of death.. but they somehow sensed that something was very wrong.

Bending his muzzle down to smooth his nose over Kiv’s head, his eyes sought out Trajan’s – the most collected of the boys. Nudging the tawny pup pressed to his fur then just as he broke eye contact with Trajan, Scimitar shifted forward, nudging Julius as well. Rounding the up as best he could, the Creek Alpha began to nudge them in the direction of the widest part of the Creek – and further from the den and the scent of blood. “Let’s go play in the Creek. Bazi is going to go look for your mom, okay?”

He could not tell them that it didn’t look good – and he felt his very own chest constrict with the thought that Paarthurnax would not be coming home, where she belonged.. or her daughter. For now, he could distract them, perhaps.. and he could only pray that Bazi would bring back good news, and they would not have to tell the trio that their mother would not be returning home to them.

Concluding!

The youngest of the three boys was far too busy sobbing to hear Bazi's words or notice as she took off to search. He wailed right through Scimitar's suggestion of a distraction... though he followed obediently when the stricken Alpha male began to lead him and his brothers away from the scene. Relonikiv didn't look back at the bloodied den; he looked only at the ground, still sniffling, tears sliding off the tip of his nose as he skulked miserably behind Scimitar, Trajan and Julius on either side of him.