He had found great delight in seeing his little siblings. He had been allowed unrestricted access to them. His parents knew he was gentle, and he doubled as a babysitter when they needed a quiet moment alone. He was super careful with them, lying down low, and gently flicking his wings, like a manta underwater. He let puppies climb on his wings, and then slide down to his back as he gently raised them. He also loved to keep his claws tightly sheathed, and tickle little bellies. They were, beyond a doubt, adorable. Today, they would be allowed out of their den for the first time. Mortis was one of the wolves that stood nearby, his Kea already in the air, picking a wolf to follow more closely. She and Azure’s bat would be taking turns keeping a constant eye on a pup over the next few months. His leopard was at his side, lounging in the sun as he waited to see which direction a puppy had taken, and see if he could invite them over for games or training. He knew that just like him and his litter, these pups would be learning the basics of fighting carefully and slowly over the next little while. "Speech"

Walk | "Talk" | think

Now that the issue of the bug guts on her paws had been taken care of, Briar set out to see what other less messy things she could get into. She thought about seeing what Kotori was up to and partnering up with her fellow horn-wearing sibling, but then her turquoise eyes landed on her older brother and that seemed waaaay more interesting and exciting. Not that she didn't like playing with Ko too, but Mo had wings and they were so cool! Plus, she saw her litter mates all the time. She could go exploring with Ko later.

She hopped her way over to where Mortis was standing and beamed up at him with her big puppy grin. "Hi, Mo!" she greeted happily before coming over to plop herself in-between his front paws and lean into one of his much larger legs. He was so big! Just like dad! She wondered if she'd get to be big like them too and if her horns were going to be big like mom's! "Whatcha up to, Mo?" she questioned as she peered up at him curiously, her expectant gaze just waiting for him to offer her some kind of fun activity or game or something like that.

Kotori had found a bird earlier in the tall grass.  He had been the proud hunter to try and catch the bird, only to find the black bird had friends and the cluster had chased him in the end.  How embarrassing.  The dark and light brown pup had even managed to grab one in his mouth, after all it had come right at him.  The cost had been two more pecking at him so that Kotori had dropped the unharmed bird and fled.  All he had to show for it was a couple tiny feathers that stuck to his gums.   Panting and looking for a spot to rest he spotted Mort a ways off.  How could someone not sport Mort? Their big brothers were just as huge as dad.  Kotori bet it would be great when he was that tall.  No doubt in the young boys mine that he would eventually be just as great.  It had to be awesome to have wings.   Oh! Kotori spotted Briar below Mort.  Her form next to his did a great job of showing their size difference.  Briar’s gaze was focused on Mort, so maybe he could sneak up on her! Kotori worked at swiping a feather off his muzzle but all it did was stick the feather to his paw.  Crouching down low Kotori started to slink forward, trying to stay out of Briar’s sight, his tail wagging high and proud as he tried to keep behind her.  He looked up at Mort with a pleading gaze hoping his big brother wouldn’t give away his pouncing plan. Closer, and closer before he would go for a running charge, ready to tackle her unless she got out of the way.

“Hey little thorn” he said in return, grinning down at the little Zee-look-alike. He gently scooped her closer as she flopped in front of his paws, fanning her wings over like an umbrella. “I was thinking of a game we could play, if you’d like?” he suggested. Eager to explain his idea to the pups.

He spotted Kotori next, coming up as sneakily as he could on his sister. The boy grinned, and said nothing, tilting his head further down to Briar, wondering if the girl would notice her brother. “If only I knew where your siblings where, this game would be most fun with at least two” he admitted.

Walk | "Talk" | think

Briar giggled happily as Mortis made an umbrella for her out of his wings, the dark feathers looking so pretty and cool all around her. Her expression lit up at the suggestion of a game and she grinned up at him in response, her head nodding eagerly. "Yeah! A game!" she exclaimed as she got back to her paws, doing a little hop in the mean time to swipe at his feathers. Her sharp claws caught onto one of them, but they passed right through the feathery bits of them without catching on anything substantial. She was about to question him to see what kind of game he had in mind when he told her that they would need more siblings to play the game he had in mind.

As if on cue, her brother came barreling out of what seemed like no where and his black and brown form ran right into hers. She squeaked as she was knocked off of her feet and fell to the ground, but she immediately went into retaliate as she called out, "Hey! No fair!" She wrapped her forelegs around his neck and grappled onto her litter mate, bumping her head against his playfully as she went to get her payback for him knocking her over.