Ruthgar watched the sun rise on the first day of winter, and felt his heart ache painfully. He had been dreading this day since the day he saw the blind squirming bodies of his three sons minutes after they were born. They had all reached their first year and where finally their own men. He sighed, filling his lungs with frozen air that bit at his face then tilted his head back in a calling howl.

The animals he had persuaded chittered and shrieked in the wicker cages he had held them in, although Ruthgar could hardly hear them. He was far away, thinking of the time he had spent with his boys, and how few times there had actually been in spite of how much he wanted there to be more.  He swallowed hard and closed his eyes, before fixing a stern look on his face. He couldn’t get emotional, he needed to be tough, tough like he wanted his boys to be, but the pain of what was going to happen as soon as his sons arrived clawed and tore at his heart mercilessly.

speech Thought

Wandering through the orchard, Amos reflected on how the trees had seemed so mach taller and bigger when he was small. They were still both of those things, but as he aged the impressiveness of them seemed to wear away until his appreciation for their superior size was simply a dull impression of a feeling at the back of his mind, no longer worth giving much notice to. Sighing, the boy wandered through familiar paths at an easy walk, in no rush to be anywhere as the chilly breezes that heralded the first breaths of winter nipped at his nose. His breath was visible as he strolled along, and that breath caught in his throat momentarily at the sound of his fathers call. What was this?

Making his way over on the now long legs reminiscent of his mother's, Amos pondered what this could be about. Nothing in particular came to mind right off the bat, so he decided to simply wait and see when he arrived. It didn't take long, since he'd been wandering so close by. The boy made short work of the walk to where his father stood, trotting swiftly through paths he knew better than he knew himself at this point. When he finally caught sight of Ruthgar, Amos eyed the older man quizzically, clearly unable to decide what to make of this strange sight. He'd expected to see his dad, but he couldn't have predicted what the man stood next to - several interestingly fashioned cages that appeared to have animals of some sort in them. Or at least he assumed thats what was in there, since he couldn't imagine any other reason for them to be making noises at him.

"Whatchya got there, da?" the yearling asked, brow quirked and a lopsided grin overtaking his features.

(sorry for the wait, it's finals week .-.)

you want me to change
but all I feel is strange

Spring and summer had come and gone, and now fall was doing the same as it gave way to winter. This was only the first year Torryn had been alive, but even he could tell there was a rhythm and cycle to it all. But that seemed to make things even more boring, to be honest. It would be much more fun if one day was rainy and cold and the next was blistering hot. That would keep him on his toes. But that wasn't the way nature worked, unfortunately.

He had faint memories of the chill of winter, from the earliest days of his puphood. He liked it, probably more than any of the other seasons. He liked the way his fur got longer and made him look at least a little bit bigger and more intimidating. He liked sleeping in a warm den while blustery winds whistled and howled outside. Torryn liked to appreciate the little things. Not much else seemed to bring a smile to his face anymore. He was never the cheerful, bubbly type, after all.

Even so, the howl that met his ears today was enough to pique his interest. Their father wanted his sons to meet with him, and it sounded important. Flicking an ear with curiosity, Torryn trotted in the direction of the call, arriving a minute or two after Amos. And... what on earth was going on. Beside their father sat strange cages, from which came an even stranger assortment of noises. "What's going on?" he asked, frowning in confusion.