Some time had passed and now the pups were old enough to make it outside. Being the protective mother that she was, Tenshi was unsure. She watched the door from where she lay on the floor with the playing pups. Their energy was boundless and overtook the room. A deep breath and quickly, Tenshi gathers up each pup that wished to go into a reindeer-skin wrap that hung over each of her sides and carried them outside. Making her way through the warm summer air down to the valleys below, the mountainous woman deposited them safely onto the grass and wild flowers.

"Do not leave my eyesight," her voice is stern, but motherly. Those bright blues hesitating on each pup so they understood her clearly. She had brought with her both Kita and Fuji, her snow leopards, and Vidarr's dogs, Fisk and Kanin to help her watch the group. The companions lingered on the outskirts of the valley, just in case they were needed there or elsewhere. It definitely took a village to wrangle such a lively bunch. With her words settled, she plops down onto the dewy grass and stretches out.

"Speech"

This time, they weren't just going outside, but far enough away that their mother had to carry them. Steig spent his time wriggling and trying to smack and chew on whoever was unfortunate enough to be placed next to him. When mother finally let him down though, he wriggled as quickly as he could to get out of the sack and ran full tilt across the field of flowers. He could see the snow leopards knowing look, but it didn't deter him from tucking his head and charging to see just how far he could get before they would intervene.

A soft Oof left his chest when he collided with a plush flank, and his green eyes snapped up with a glare. No fair! But maybe someone would be down for a tussle instead?

Another trip outside! But this time, they were going somewhere far, far away, so far that mom had to carry them in her travel bags! Hal didn't much care for being scooped up like a sack of potatoes and deposited in the bags like groceries, but if it meant he got to go see more of the mountain, then he'd grumble and bear it. And grumble and bear it he did, only occasionally trying to clamber out of the bags before an observant snow leopard would run up and nudge him back in with a warning growl. Ever the fighter, Hallvarðr would growl back, but settle in with a pout. They'd better get wherever they were going soon or he was gonna start biting ears and noses.

Eventually the trek down the mountain arrived at one of the Maw's many valleys, this one filled with a field of summer wildflowers. Hal looked around at all the colorful plants for a moment, taking in all their many varieties while Tenshi let them down. He hopped out of the bag and rushed over to the nearest flower, sniffing and batting at it with a curious paw a few times before he decided he was bored with it. Flowers and plants were boring. Tenshi gave her stern warning to stay within eyesight, a warning that Hal heard but hadn't decided if he was going to heed yet, and flashed his mother a sweet smile, complete with a tail wag and everything.

Left to their own devices, Hal quickly snapped the stem of the flower and went around to a couple more, gathering a flower of different color each time until he had a small bunch in his tiny snout. Carrying his mini bouquet back to Tenshi, he hopped up to place his paws on his mom's shoulders and presented her with the flowers, scattering them all across her forelegs. "These are for you, Mama!" the boy declared proudly, all smiles and tail wags. He might not have cared for the flowers, but girls liked flowers, right? Plus maybe they'd make a good bargaining chip to keep him out of trouble which he most definitely was not planning on doing immediately after this, no sir not at all!

an outing with Mother should be cause for excitement, but as Styrmir sits nestled in the leather bag, a strange restlessness descends over his mind. at first it’s simply an irritable niggling, the faint impression that he’s forgotten something important. it’s not exactly a foreign sensation to the young boy; he’s spent a few nights grappling with this very feeling, tossing and turning as his thoughts writhe. sometimes a terrible sense of dread grips him, and he’s only able to shake it by sitting upright in bed and counting the sleeping bodies around him, ensuring each sibling is exactly where they should be. sometimes he has to count them multiple times before he can sleep, just in case he’s gotten it wrong.

and now the feeling nags at him as he slips from the bag, staggering a little as his large puppy paws find stable ground. he can’t quite explain it, or comprehend it, but something heavy and unpleasant and it sits in the pit of his stomach like a boulder. all he can discern is that it feels distinctly…wrong. perhaps it is an impending sense of trouble brewing on the horizon, visible only to him? the thought is bothersome, but try as he might he just can’t seem to flick it away. although he too itches to explore (he is just a boy, after all) he can’t bring himself to let his littermates out of his sight, like if he takes his eyes off them something bad will happen. you’ll never be able to keep them all safe. the thought flies into his head, mocking and derisive. it doesn’t sound like his voice at all.

he turns to look at Mother, a woman he already admires so much, with a tiny frown marring the fur between his brows. it gives him a comically stern look for such a small pup. “mama, do you think it’s safe?”

The jostling of puppies in the bags strapped over Tenshi didn't bother Lumine as much as she thought it would. Though she was the smallest pup of the bunch, that didn't bother her either. It was easier to pick on her siblings and snuggle up with them. Easier to get her way when she's the smaller one. Adults take pity on her when they see her struggling to keep up with the longer legs of her siblings. That much is obvious as Tenshi releases them from the grasps of the bag into the lush valley around them. She sees Steig take off at full tilt and decides to take off after him. Eating up the ground as fast as her too-large paws can take her, she stumbles over rocks and smooshes newly bloomed wild flowers beneath her. Everything around her smelled fresh, clean, sweet. Distractions all around. A barely cloudy sky, a wind that skirts those clouds across, not quite threatening rain, but it's there. Birds flutter, calling to their friends. Other creatures she doesn't have names for peer from the shadows of the trees. Hesitant to venture out into a valley full of wolves that warm summer afternoon. These observations take up her attention and suddenly she is barreling right into Steig's butt. A yelping oof leaves her lips as she falls back onto her own rump. Shaking off the dirt, she looks up to see one of the snow leopards staring back at Stieg with an equally stern glare. "You think we can take 'im?" Lumine whispers loudly to Steig with a growing smirk on her pale lips. Though there were plenty of brothers and Runa to tangle with, the idea of taking down one of mother's companions with Steig was a growing curiosity and challenge in her young puppy mind. LUMINE TRYGG

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Of course she was excited to get to go out of the den again, even if it meant that she had to endure being scooped up into pouches and carried all squished up next to her siblings. Luckily she got put in the same pouch as Lumine and Styr so at least she avoided whatever was going on between Steig and Hall which meant that her ride down into the valley was a pretty peaceful one spent with her golden paws dangling over the lip of the pouch so she could see out easily. The moment that they were placed down on the soft ground some of her siblings went running off despite their mother's stern warning and the fact that their mother had brought four companions with her to keep them reigned in. Really, sometimes she wondered whether or not any of them had any brains! If they were going to get into mischief this was clearly not the opportunity to do it.

Who did have the right idea, it seemed, was Hall who she spotted quickly running around and picking a small bundle of flowers. She picked up on what he was up to well before he ran over to present them to their mother so she followed in his footsteps, finding her own patch of flowers to gather from. She made sure to keep an eye on Hall so that she could ensure she was picking more flowers than he was by at least one and once she was satisfied she bounded over and dropped her own collection of blooms on their mom's paws as well, standing next to Hall with a bright grin. "So are these!" she declared, her tail wagging fast behind her. This was sure to earn them some brownie points, right?!

"Rúna Trygg"