Since I owe you a thread. :3 (Note: John Stuart Mill is amazing ♥)

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They were growing. During the days following her puppies births, it seemed as though every aspect of her life was intertwined with them. Her thoughts, her emotions, her words, her love -- it was all for them. All four of them, each and every one of them. They had already grown so much, already began developing both their personalities and their minds. To help them along, she had started reading them stories as soon as they could hear, and long before then. She had a few books she and Kieran had found when they had explored the human city, and a few more from her trips to Halifax. Some books were stories with pictures of ducks, cows, geese and cats, while others were science books that explained why plants grew. She had read the book about the farm animals twice already today, which was proving to be their favourite.



They could sit still for only so long, and before Tayui knew it, Attila had organized an unarmed rebellion, and had led the three other puppies away, to the entrance of the den. Claudius turned around and whined pitifully, baby blue eyes watering. "Can we go outside?" he asked at last as Attila swatted him with his paw. Claudius whined once more, glaring at his brother. Tayui frowned, shaking her head at Attila, and began to re-iterate why it was bad to hit one's brother. Attila stared blankly. Tayui sighed, then nodded, and picked up a large fur with her teeth to drag it to the entrance of the den. The snow had begun to melt, but it was still rather chilly outside. She knew one of the puppies would be glad to have something dry to sit on after they were covered in snow. All four puppies waited patiently and followed her out the den, having been lectured once already about running outside where she could not see them. Once she emerged from the den, she dropped the fur on the ground, then sat down beside it. "Stay where I can see you," she warned them, and was rewarded with a chorus of "We know", before the puppies set off to play.

Lannen was tired of living his life at a constant crossroads. But he felt as though he was standing at one with each new sunrise. The white male stretched, letting his back bow and stretch as he let sleep fall away from him. Life in AniWaya was pleasant, but often quiet. He found that he left the borders more than he stayed in them. He felt the briefest flash of guilt at that.

Although AniWaya was not like the pack from whence he came, he figured that he should still exercise some responsibility and help out where he could. The truth was that lately he was feeling pretty useless. He hunted for himself, walked the borders from time to time, and kept the peace as much as possible. It wasn't like belonging, at least he didn't feel like he did yet. But that took work, and he'd have to put the effort in.

AniWaya wasn't like home to him yet, but it could be. He just had to allow himself to feel that way. Then he could dedicate himself, his time, his resources to the tribe with his whole heart. He missed doing that, and being part of something bigger than himself. The white wolf woke determined this morning to make this new life work out.

It was freezing as he stretched his legs, walking about and letting sleep fall from him. He felt strength in his bones, and knew it was time for him to emerge from metaphorical hibernation. He scouted the borders, taking his time to familiarize himself with every scent, cataloging the unfamiliar ones in his head so he could identify it later.

His tail began to wag as he turned inland, catching a scent that filled his soul like a morning star. There were children here? He had had no idea! The male turned in the direction of the scent and continued on his way. He found his target and stood at a distance, observing brotherly interaction. He just sat to watch, not wanting to interrupt their play.

And then his wooden brown eyes wandered for a moment and then stopped. And he was stunned, blinking as the image of the pretty female came into view. W-o-w. Smiling widely, he approached the puppies and woman slowly. "Hey," he said.

It had been ten minutes, and so far, none of the puppies were crying or complaining, which was a welcome change. For the most part, it seemed as though Claudius was the one who was usually doing the crying (and some of the complaining), and it seemed as though Attila was usually the reason for it. Today, all four puppies seemed to be doing fine. Claudius had joined his sisters and they were rolling around in the snow, while Attila was watching them with a particularly strange glint in his eyes. Tayui frowned, and was about to call the boy over to play with him when she saw another wolf come into view. Like Tayui, he appeared to be of arctic or tundra wolf descent with a nearly pure-white pelt. She tilted her head, watching as he approached, wondering who he might be. She glanced from the male, to her puppies, and back again, glad to see he was moving slowly and keeping his distance.



"Hello," she replied, eyeing the male. "Who might you be?" She had never seen him before, but assumed if he was this far into Aniwayan territory he must belong here. At least he smelled like he belonged here, and she could tell he had been around for about as long as she had. "I'm Tayui Aston," she said, offering a small smile, almost in reparation for her suspicion.

He had never heard a name like hers before. Tayui. It was strange and beautiful. He found that it suited her. He repeated the name in his head, testing the flavor of it. He wanted to say it aloud, but restrained himself. It was just this side of exotic, syllables he had never thought to form before. After a moment, he decided that he liked it very much. The white wolf smiled her way. "My name is Lannen Haddix."

Although his eyes didn't stray from her, his ears perked at the sounds of the pups at play. The way she watched them, so protectively, it was obvious that she was their mother. And puppies didn't grow from the ground, which meant that this female more than likely had a male in her life. He was surprised to feel a surge of jealousy.

In Long Lake, he had known his fair share of the game of love and heartbreak - but it had never really touched him that way. He knew women, loved women, couldn't get enough of women. But he had never been entirely particular, or jealous. It was an uncomfortable feeling.

He couldn't smell a male anywhere around, but shrugged at it internally. There wasn't anything to stop him from talking to her, getting to know her. She seemed nice enough. The only other female he had met around here had been Ember, but she hadn't stricken quite a chord with Lannen the way Tayui had. He smiled, thinking on Leland and his lady troubles. It seemed they were catching, or that the women of AniWaya were particularly lovely. "I've been part of the tribe for a short while. Have you been here long?"

Your kiri-tar is smokin'! ;D

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There was a pause. He inhaled, exhaled, glanced, moved, felt, paused, and -- the wind -- spoke. She smiled, nodding slowly watching his eyes as they watched her. A deep, cherry crimson. The colour of endurance and thought. A different kind of crimson from the blood that spilled out of wounds. They were blood, yes, but the kind of blood that powered your body, the kind imbued with life. Not death. Wounds bled death. Bodies imbued life.



Her smile widened.



She could see him thinking, could see the different emotions as they passed through his eyes, then faded just as quickly. She saw him watching the puppies and chuckled quietly to herself. These four young children had brought so many new faces into her life and reunited her with others. Ember had been the first to see them and the first to congratulate Tayui. Aurèle had seen them, made her acknowledgements in her own, twisted way, and Dawali had dropped by as well. And now, this pleasant fellow would be brought to her with her children. Her children. Not ours. She could greedily hold them close and defend them from the realities of the world until they were old enough to do so themselves. There was no we, us, or ours. She had no need for the male that fathered them, but she would not hold it against him, either. Things like this happened. Wonderful things like this.



Her smile widened once more.



She glanced to Lannen -- Lannen Haddix he had said -- noting how he had shifted his gaze from the puppies to her. I've been part of the tribe for a short while. Have you been here long? Tayui nodded quickly in reply, pausing to affirm the location of each puppy, then looked back to the male to reply. "I've been here for some time. Not since the beginning. Ayegali and her family came here and established the tribe. I found them only a few days before then and I've been here ever since." It was a lovely place, one she certainly did not mind raising her children here. She had her friends -- Ember, Pilot, Dawali -- and her family -- the puppies and Aurèle, who came by every so often -- food and comfort. Perhaps something was missing. Perhaps not. Even if there was something missing, she could not pinpoint what it was. She was surrounded by so many, but wondered -- just for a moment -- if there was something more.

Short D:

Lannen nodded, listening to the woman. He found even the sound of her voice to be appealing. It wasn't like the whisper of the wind, or the sound of thunder in a storm, but just as captivating. She had the kind of voice that made him want to stop a minute, really listen, and consider what she said. There wasn't any sort of profound quality to her words, but he found himself at attention, ears up to capture every sound.

He was glad that he did. He knew little to nothing of the tribe he was now part of, and had never heard Ayegali's name before now. He had believed that Dawali had been an originated. And perhaps he was, but Tayui didn't mention him specifically. He wondered momentarily on the male, and decided that he would seek him out soon. To thank him, and to learn from him. He didn't really know, but he figured he should do something soon.

She flicked her eyes to the puppies every so often, and he smiled at that. "How old are they?" he asked, casting his eyes to the young ones.

She could feel the tide. It was inching closer and closer, darkening the sand and then-- receding. Each time it came, it left, over and over again. Clockwork. And each time it came, it brought something with it. Each time it left, it took something away. She could feel the water tugging at her as the conversation shifted, pulling her into a new direction, taking her into the water, submerged. Lannen spoke, his words acting as the waves and his voice the undertow, pulling her with him. She smiled in reply, pausing, allowing the shift in the waters and the conversation. The puppies had moved farther away from Tayui and Lennen and closer to a large oak tree. It towered above them and the four of them were staring up at it at the moment. She chuckled when she saw one fall backwards, rolling into one of her siblings with a pronounced oomph. The puppy stood up, unharmed, giggling madly. Tayui sighed. Noir was alright.



Since they were so young, they were still trying to figure out the concept of a strange thing called 'walking.' Since they were luperci children, they developed a few weeks faster than most wolves did, but they were still puppies nonetheless. They couldn't talk yet and still hobbled around on their short, stout puppy legs -- some better than others -- but they had already become interested in the world around them.



Tayui turned to Lannen, her smile still evident. She chuckled, glancing one last time from the puppies and back to the male. "Just over a week old," she replied. "But it feels like a lot longer. They're already managing to walk, some better than others," she noted with a chuckle.