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 Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2011 3:56 pm
Brutus's ears pricked forward curiously, eyes bright with wonder. What was a father? Was it the monster? "Are you the monster? Can we play? Canwecanwecanwe?" Oh, Brutus wanted so very much to play! Wouldn't the father play with him? "What's a real family? Is it like if it's not maple leaf?" See, Tasso? Hadn't he said it wasn't majinary? "Told you there was a monster!" Bouncing on up out of the den, he went nose to nose with the strange creature, wondering why it was that it looked so much like a wolf! Oh, this was very exciting. "Can we play? I want to play."
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Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2011 4:18 pm
(for the moment going to just assume Layla is out scouting and hasn't picked up any trace of Ralastor yet)
Nox opened a bleary eye and there was a FACE looming in the entrance, He yelped and scurried to the back of the den, before changing his mind and charging forwards, snapping at anything in his way .. He knew it wasn't mom and it scared him a little, sharp little teeth gnashing at any fur that came close as he tried to dart out of the den... "momomomomomomomomomom" he mumbled quietly, shaking his head in his confusion as he snapped.
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Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2011 6:28 pm
"I'm not a - " Ralastor started to say, when a rush of tiny puppy teeth crashed against his front legs. A quiet growl sprang up in his throat and he reached down to try to pick Nox up in his jaws. Meanwhile Tasso stared at him wide-eyed, riveted to the spot. He was pretty clearly another wolf - and not mother - and big enough to eat them. Mother was gone. "This isn't no game," she hissed at Brutus, unable to take her eyes away from the great black beast that had descended on her panicking brother.
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Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2011 6:44 pm
That scared Brutus, more than anything else. Having his sister tell him it wasn't a game made him serious. He drew back with a low whine, tail between his legs. "What is it Tasso? What is it?" If it wasn't a game, what was it? He didn't understand. Confusion had his ears back, low against his head. What did it mean that they weren't playing, and that Nox was biting on this father? Oh no! The father was grabbing Nox! Letting out a series of puppyish barks, Brutus tried to scare the monster-- the father away! "Nox! NOXNOXNOX! Mommmmmy where'd you go?" He had just wanted to play. Was it wrong to play? Was he being bad? Brutus did not like to be bad, even though he wanted to play at night. A confused, worried whine sounded in his throat again.
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Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2011 2:04 pm
Layla's ears twitched, she was out of hearing range of the small pup noises but her fur prickled and she began heading for home, not hurrying but not going too low either.
Nox felt himself grabbed and froze, he went limp in his fathers jaws, as he would have done had he been picked up by his mom, a high pitched whine emitting from his mouth in fear, the big THING had him, Brutus was worrying now and crying for mommy and Tasso was SERIOUS .. well that wasn't always too different but still Poor simple Nox was confused, scared and he desperately wanted his mommy.... but, there was an almost familiar smell about the wolf that held him, he smelled a little like Brutus and Nox did, strange as it was, they smelled like mommy too but still, this wolf smelled a little bit like them too and he stopped the noise, trying to turn his head to look at Ralastor.
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Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2011 2:30 pm
Pleased that the pup didn't fight him, Ralastor turned to leave the den. Around the bundle in his mouth that was his own child, he uttered one muffled command: "Come." In shock, Tasso glanced at Brutus, up at Nox, up more at her father, and then back at Brutus again. When the adult started walking away carrying her brother, a silent determination came over her. "Lessgo, Brutus," she whispered, her voice shaking, and then followed. She couldn't just leave Nox all by himself, but she couldn't leave Brutus by himself either - and besides, going with the big, frightening wolf by herself was out of the question. They had to stay together and trust that their mother would find them.
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Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2011 2:48 pm
This was a game that Brutus had never played before, and he didn't like it. He didn't like it 'cause Nox was grabbed, and Tasso was going. "Do we hafta go? Mommy's s'pposed to come back. Mommy isn't home," whined Brutus. He didn't know what a father was, but he knew a father wasn't mommy, and mommy fed everybody, and Brutus was hungry, and couldn't they stay? Whining, he hunched down, ears flattened against his skull, tail firmly between his legs. "But Tassssooo, mommy isn't home yet." He didn't like the way the father was talking, it was scary and it wasn't fun, and he just wanted to play. Couldn't they play instead? He took one tentative step forward, reacting to Nox's distress, and Tasso's shaking voice. "I don't like this game, Tasso."
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Posted: Fri Apr 01, 2011 3:31 am
Nox looked down at his brother and sister, his eyes grew wider when he realised that the wolf-that-smelled-like-them was taking him out of the den, Nox wagged his tail, he never got to go outside the den without his mommy, she said it was because he kept forgetting where home was. "Brutus, Tasso! LOOK!" he said almost excitedly "I'M GOING OUTSIDE!!" his tail oved so fast it was almost a Blur,
Layla's fur just wouldn't stop prickling, it made her on edge but she got distracted along the way home by rabbit scent, remembering her promise to Tasso, she took the slight detour to hunt briefly, though the rabbits were a little tricky so it took her longer than she wanted.
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Posted: Fri Apr 01, 2011 7:28 pm
Ralastor smiled around the pup in his mouth, pleased by the reactions of his three children. At least two of them seemed perfectly easy to fool - that girl pup was being awfully quiet, and he didn't like that, but at least she was following. Deciding to see if he could manipulate them, the adult male set Nox down on the ground and turned to look at them. Tasso stopped and sat down. Maybe he'd changed his mind and would let them stay? But no.
"We're all going to go on an adventure. I'll keep you safe, and there's a wonderful surprise waiting for you when we get there. We'll even have a race - whoever gets there fastest will be the winner." He had no experience in speaking to children, but these ones seemed excitable and hoped this would encourage them to move quickly away from their mother.
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Posted: Sun Apr 03, 2011 8:16 am
"Is mommy coming with us?" Brutus asked, tail between his legs. His ears couldn't quite decide what they wanted to do, swiveling this way and that as he listened for any sign that their mother was returning. Nox was down, so... so maybe they didn't hafta go anywhere. "Tassoooo..." He was confused. He didn't understand what they were doing. It was a big no no to be out of the den like this. Mommy didn't like it if they were out of the den. The race sounded like a game, though, and Brutus liked games. His little tail wagged sluggishly, ears shifting forward and up at the notion of getting to play. But then he remembered that mommy wasn't back, and couldn't play, and his ears flattened, and he whined.
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Posted: Sun Apr 03, 2011 10:14 am
Nox perked up a lot, forgetting his earlier panic. "A 'Venture?.. TASSOOOO ... We're gonna go on a 'venture!!" now Nox WAS Excited! An adventure was something Tasso and Brutus played at, he was usually left to play by himself "...'venture, 'venture, we're goin' on a 'venture!" if his tail was a blur before, it was barely visible now, his body wriggled in excitement, ears twitching wildly.
A race? ooooh that sounded fun, Nox tried to get himself ready and he stumbled over his paws, banging his nose on the ground. "Ow ow ow ow ow" he whined, scraping his paw over his hurt, tears springing into his eyes.
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Posted: Mon Apr 04, 2011 12:29 pm
When Nox fell, both Tasso and Ralastor immediately went to him. The little pup's hackles raised and she tried to stand between the big wolf and her brother, who she was in charge of until mommy came back.
"Calm down," the adult grumbled, "I said I would protect you. I just want to make sure he's okay so we can go on the adventure and get to the big surprise." Tasso wavered uncertainly between being excited by the prospect of genuine adventure and being afraid of this stranger who was here without mother around. "Mom said to stay here," the pup declared, although her tone betrayed uncertainty.
"I'm your father," Ralastor retorted, a bit roughly. "It's the same as a mother, but a boy." He was suddenly struck with an idea. "Your mother and I know each other. I can prove it. I know just what she looks like. She's almost as big as me, but a light white, cream colour. And her eyes are..." oh, crap. He struggled to remember what colour her eyes had been. "Blue," he guessed, hoping he was right.
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Posted: Tue Apr 05, 2011 9:08 am
Mommy's eyes weren't... blue, whatever that was. Mommy's eyes were like Brutus was. They were like Tasso's eyes! "Nah uh! ... What's a blue?" He wasn't so sure that this monster/father knew who mommy was. "Oh oh! I know! What if we wait 'til mommy comes back? Mommy will know." Mommy always knew, didn't she? Brutus's tail wagged fitfully, and he bounced around in an excited circle. This was a very fun game, he decided. If they could just get mommy home, then mommy could tell everyone who the father was. There was one thing that Brutus knew, and that was that there couldn't be boy mothers. Mommy was a girl, so other mommies had to be girls, too. He had apparently missed the implication or the statement that a father was like a mother. As far as he was concerned, the big wolf was just being silly, that was all.
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Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2011 4:08 am
Nox glanced up at Tasso and the stranger wolf that-wasn't-that-strange .., rubbing his nose with his paw, he stood straighter something in his eyes hardened as he smelled his own blood. His own hackles rose and a lip lightly curled "a Father?" he questioned, his voice not quite so soft and innocent now. He turned to his sister and his brother and smiled a little but not in the same way as he usually did. "He knows mother, and he smells like us ... I'm going with him" he said and turned his back, heading towards the entrance. "Her eyes are only sort of blue" he added over his shoulder. Small drips of blood trailing him as his nose bled, he didn't bother to clean it up.
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Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2011 10:39 am
"That settles it, then," Ralastor said, ignoring Brutus entirely. He began to walk along with Nox, hoping the others would follow. Tasso stared after them, looking back and forth between her brothers and the den where mother had told them to stay. As she was turned away from the others and opened her mouth to protest again, suddenly she felt herself picked up by the scruff of her neck. Immediately she fell limp, as was instinct.
Now carrying the girl pup and walking side by side with one male, Ralastor suspected the other would follow along willingly enough. He picked up his pace to a businesslike trot. It was time to go - no more playing around. They needed to get as far away from Layla as possible and meet up with Dumaka, who had been ordered to wait for their arrival.
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