SKILL : - - - ( 1 / 5 )

It had been scarcely twenty-four hours and, in Aisling's opinion, that was long enough.

This was a reasonable timeframe for newborn pups to be big enough to play - her mathair had told her they were too small for now, but that was a whole day ago (it was not). Surely they were now entirely mobile and could see and hear and use their stubby legs to join her on adventure. To bribe them, just in case they might get homesick, she brought a collection of flowers and a shiny rock she found - once they saw what they were missing, they would be overcome with delight and thirst for the outside world and she would have several new friends to share the earth's bounty with.

That was the plan, anyways, and she saw no room for errant hitches. It would go flawlessly.

The tenderheart trotted over to the den occupied by Fiadh , Dimitri , and their smorgasbord of children with her tail waving so fast as to be a near-blur. She lowered herself onto her belly outside the den, poking her muzzle just past entrance so her round eyes could peek into the depths with a hopeful glint. Aisling could detect the notes of milk and newness that emanated from the den, but it did not quite register that there were no pups within that were anywhere near her size.

Can they come out an' play? Aisling asked brightly through her offering of flowers and the singular rock, her tail thumping the ground as she awaited the certain "yes" she knew would follow.

Being a parent is already killing them.

The first night, Dimitri had to step out to perform a ritual. It had been compulsory; if they hadn't, every baby would die. And yet, they felt awful for leaving.

They completed the ritual three times, and since haven't slept.

Each noise feels wrong, anxiety inducing. The girls are so small and fragile. They could scream, if it wouldn't wake them, and so they keep their mouth wrenched shut.

Exhausted, but still wired, Dimitri notices Aisling and recognizes her as one of Fable's. Had it been anyone but a member of Avon, they might have pounced. Instead, they creep from the darkness, trying to force their voice to be gentle.

"They're not ready to play yet." Do they sound unhinged? They need to get a grip. They reach over and run their paw over a rock, then pat it three times. "But they will be, in a few weeks. I.... I will make it so."

Skill: N/A

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Lugh heard distant clamor days earlier. A soft hum of conversation between voices he did not recognize, and now there was a new scent—something milky, soft. The young boy could only ignore his curiosity for so long. The façade of feigned detachment was bound to be dropped sooner or later, as the flame-furred pup bounded across the clearing towards the big strangers and his niece.

He stopped a few strides away, warily watching the lanky, gray-furred wolf. 'Can they come out an' play?' Play? Lugh's ears perked up, he took a few steps closer. The big wolf had their paw resting on a rock. Aisling was eager—and, as much as he tried to hide it, so was he. Another step. He craned his neck to see into the burrow, and there lay...

The smallest bunch of pups he'd ever seen. Just about the size of a medium-sized potato. Lugh's nose wrinkled. Play?! Are ye mad? They can't even walk yet, Aisling! He chirped, scowling in confusion and unconcealed disappointment. Watching the army of ants march into the mound of dirt was slightly more interesting than these fuzzy masses.

Though they were kinda cute. Lugh canted his head aside. Who're they? He looked up at Dimitri, head still tilted. Who're you? There was a slight hint of scrutiny in the boy's mosaiced eyes. I haven't seen ye 'round. He puffed out his chest in an act of valiance. This was his land, him and his mama and... these weirdoes, that apparently were his extended family.

Fiadh, compared to Dimitri, was as relaxed as can be.

Sure, she wished she had her mother, aunts, and sisters here with her, sharing the load and passing the pups around whenever one of the dams got too antsy. It was a loneliness she didn't expect to feel, with the bundle of 6 pawing their soft little claws into her stomach to push the milk out, with Dimitri fretting about as if their pups would fade.

Fiadh knows it happens, she's already prepared herself for it, but if it happens then it happens and she has one less mouth to raise. After all, they can always make more later, that was life. Sometimes they're just not strong enough to live.

Hell if she'd tell Dimitri that though, they worried too much as it is and....she didn't want Dimitri to go through that. They were already having a time of it, Fiadh wasn't even sure if Dimi had slept, hell knows she herself had been woken up from the squealing bundles, having to move the golden one away from the black one when the bigger pup tried to suckle the other's leg. Ksyusha and Sasha she had to remind herself.

But morning came, and a little voice came from the entrance of the den, Dimitri going out first to greet her before another of the pups showed up. Been 'round plenty kiddy she called, stuck in her nest by the feeding pups. Y'ain't lookin' her tone was bright, friendly. Can't play yet, but give it a week an' they'll be waddlin' 'round. C'mon in fer a look if ya want

They're just kids, after all.

SKILL : - - - ( 1 / 5 )

This wasn't going at all to plan.

Aisling wore a pout as Dimitri explained the children weren't yet ready to play and she would have to wait weeks to play with them. That was basically an eternity and she was sure she'd be old and decrepit by the time they were developed enough to use their paws - if she hadn't simply wasted away. Despite her disappointment, she remained polite even as the pall of youthful sorrow opened up around her. Okay... she conceded.

I've never seen a baby before, Aisling reasoned as she turned to Lugh, ears sliding low in the face of his correction. She knew she had been a baby wolf before, but she hadn't been able to see anything as small as the potato-like pups that lay within the den. Fawns were so big and walked immediately when they were born, all wobbly legs and gawky - why weren't wolves like that?

She brightened considerably as Fiadh began to speak, beckoning them in to visit with the newest guests on Avon soil. Can we, really? she pipped, tail swaying rapidly as she gently placed the flowers and stone at the mouth of the den. Ever so slowly, she crawled with small motions into the mouth of the whelping den to get a closer look at the six pudgy bundles that smelled of newness and milk breath. The scent itself evoked an olfactory familiarity, but it wasn't something she could crystallize entirely.

They're so small, Aisling observed in a tone somewhere between wonder and confusion. Will they always be so small?

Maybe they were some kind of wolf who stayed miniature - Aisling hadn't ever seen puppies before, and had long forgotten the early weeks of her own growth that seemed to be blotted out as her brain developed and renovated the space for knowledge and memories that better served her for survival and the creation of bonds.

She wouldn't have let the children in, honestly, but Fiadh's the one feeding them. That means Fiadh's word is final, isn't it? Still, Dimitri watches anxiously and keeps her eyes locked on Aisling's feet. If the girl gets too close, she'll gently move her back. Gently. Gently. She makes a point to make it gentle and not to give into the rattling demon in the back of her skull saying that she should do worse, much worse, if even a hair on the pups' hide gets hurt.

Because that's a demon talking, and this is Fable's daughter, and she wouldn't intentionally hurt the babies. She might accidentally hurt them, and that means gentle corrections.

Dimitri doesn't know how to talk to kids, honestly. She's not really sure how she's going to talk to her own children. If they're anything like her, these girls will all be hosts and magicians in enough time. And as for Aisling and Lugh, well, might as well be honest. "Don't get too close. They're very fragile." She even positions herself close to Lugh and Aisling in case anything does happen. "All wolves are that small, you know. Even your mother was that small once. Fiadh and I, and you two, too." She forces a smile. "They'll be as big as you some day."

Skill: N/A

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Lugh watched as the babies nursed against Fiadh. A stranger, another stranger, and their kids—what could be more... uninteresting? Still, he knew his manners from what Mathair had always told him, and he bit his tongue and looked up at the tall, nameless man. Why're ye pettin' a rock? Lugh chirped, tilting his head.

He interrupted his own question without awaiting an answer, turning to Aisling and gently shoving her with his shoulder. Don't be daft! They can't always stay that small. Then they wouldn't be able to do anythin' at all. He spoke matter-of-factly, his nose held high as though he were some higher being, which he most certainly was not.

The fiery boy stood and tilted his head. The stranger, the tall one—the... father? Mother? Guardian? Of the young babies. She looked down at them with skepticism. Lugh took it upon himself to take a step back and glared at Aisling with an expression to implore her to do the same.