His internal alarm woke him without external prompting just before the sky began to lighten with dawn, and Apollo came awake all at once. He didn't experience any disorientation from awakening in a new den, but he lay there for a long moment in the darkness with his eyes open, allowing himself to adjust to wakefulness. Finally he came to his feet, stretching carefully as he did so. At five he was still at the peak of his life, but there would come a time when his body began to fail him. He saw no need to hasten that time by neglecting to care properly for the mortal vessel that he inhabited.

With his lean form as limber as it could be made within the confines of a cave, he padded out onto the ledge that ran along the exterior of his den. In one direction it led off towards the top of the canyon only to taper off into nothing before it reached the rim. Careful leaps could bring someone who knew the path to another series of ledges that would allow access, but only someone familiar with it could do so. The other direction led in a series of switchbacks towards the canyon floor, meandering enough to take some time to reach his den from the bottom though he could, in a pinch, get down to the bottom quite quickly by simply dropping from ledge to ledge. It was ideal for his purposes, and would be comfortable enough with the addition of some pelts. Even if he would have to trade with outsiders to obtain them - he did not know if any of his kin had made it a point to learn the trade of a huntsman in enough detail to properly preserve a pelt, and he certainly didn't want the stink of pelts going bad to linger in where he needed to sleep.

Today he was in no particular rush and it was still dark within the canyon, so he took the easy, gentle switchbacks to the canyon floor. He thought he might take the morning as a sentry patrol before beginning to seek out more of his kin to reacquaint himself with them and get a sense of where their ranks stood. For now, however, he set himself upon a wide, flat rock to continue stretching, while also allowing his senses to keep a watchful guard on the canyon around him.

Ashiel was struggling to will himself to move. He could see the sky lightening on the horizon as he peered out from his den but he just couldn't bring himself to get up. Ashiel rolled onto his other side so that he was staring at the darker part of the den. He'd been in a mood and he was still sore from his last little excursion. Ashiel had been testing his bravery and while he was cave exploring with Lydia he'd been trapped in a cave-in. He blamed Lydia for it. He wanted to explore alone but she just had to tag along and he only went into that cavern because he was trying to get away from her and as a result he'd gotten hurt. It wasn't bad but he'd been wounded none-the-less. As a result… Lydia was gone. His mother wouldn't tell him what had happened to her and Ashiel told himself she was just some useless mortal who'd die anyway but all his life she'd been there and now she wasn't. Ashiel didn't care for change. He didn't like change in general. Ashiel rolled over once more. Finally he hauled himself to the feet to go get a drink. His mother expected him up before dawn and he was always the last one out of the den. She'd chewed his ass out after the rescue. He was almost a yearling and still acting like a pup, whatever that meant. Ashiel was working his way down to the river that flowed at the bottom of the canyon when he saw one of his family members stretching up on a flat rock. Ashiel padded over toward the other. He couldn't remember which relative this was. "Good morning, what are you doing? Are you going on patrol? Can I join you?" "Talk" "You" Think

Another form joined his in the canyon's shadows before padding over to his rock. It was the work of but a moment to place the figure as Pyralis' son. Not because he knew him yet, but he was aware of the two new litters and the look of him made him likeliest to be Pyralis'.

"I am stretching. When you reach my age it begins to become much more difficult to react quickly and decisively without putting undo stress on these mortal forms unless you prepare yourself beforehand. I have no wish to ever find myself a burden upon our family because I failed to take care of myself." If that time came, he vowed to himself, he would either find a way to continue to be useful despite the misfortunes of a mortal form or he would throw himself from a cliff. Either way, he would not give Amon cause to regret him as a brother.

Apollo concluded his stretching and slipped down from the rock with a grace that belied his size, a size that he could see this boy would easily share, and likely surpass once he began to pack on muscle. Apollo tilted his head consideringly at the child. It would do a great deal of good to begin to get to know his newest nieces and nephews. He had been sadly remiss in doing so as well as he should have with Amon's first litter, and had already been absent for much of the newest pups' lives. Perhaps this was an ideal time to begin.

"I do plan to patrol our lands. I am only recently come here and have done little to acquaint myself with the area. You, I dare say, have spent a great deal of time here growing up? Perhaps it would indeed be more productive were you to join me in my patrol and introduce me to the territory."

Ashiel continued to regard the man with curiosity as he mentioned that he was stretching. He explained the importance of such actions in older age but Ashiel didn't think the man old. If he did that would mean his mother was old and for some reason that just didn't quite mesh in his head. The man stated that he was going to patrol the lands and then invited Ashiel along. His mood immediately perked up. "Yes, I would love to. My name is Ashiel, son of Pyralis. What's your name and how are you related to my mother?" So many relatives were showing up so quickly that it was difficult for Ashiel to really know who they all were and what they meant to him. He moved to stand next to the man. "Do you want to patrol the canyon floor, the walls or the rim?" There were many levels to the canyon and it sometimes made it difficult to maneuver but that same difficulty could be a bane to the unfamiliar hoping to catch them by surprise. "Talk" "You" Think