Arcturus' blue eyes peeked over his mother's back, spying on is smaller sister with a mischievous look, only the very top of his head with the fluffy, bushy, puppy fur stuck up around his face able to be seen. It was still pretty early in the morning and he was the first one awake which worked out for his plan perfectly. With a wiggle of his butt he leapt over his mom's back and pounced on Satira with a cackle of laugher, wrapping his legs around her neck and nibbling at her soft, floppy ears. He knew it'd just make her squeal and tattle and complain, but that was half of the fun. Eventually he'd let her go, but not till she was wriggling and swatting at him to make him. He gave a toothy grin, the sharp, pokey beginnings of his fangs showing as he chuckled.

With his sister annoying complete - for now - he rolled back to his paws and gave himself a shake, unknowingly making the extra fluffy fur around his neck stand up even more ridiculously. He bounced over to their mother, bumping his forehead against her cheek and nuzzling into her neck. "We get to go out today, right, mom?" he asked excitedly, giving her cheek a sweet lick. He didn't really understand the whole emotions thing yet, but he knew their mother didn't seem to smile or play or stuff like that like they did, but snuggles and stuff seemed to help so he tried to do as much of that mushy stuff as possible! He liked making her smile a lot.

"Arcturus Fatalis"

Sweet dreams of running through sunny fields and cool streams and shady forests played behind Satira's eyelids as she slept, her little paws giving the occasional twitch or kick while she ran through her fantasies in worlds described to her by her mother. A bright sun shone overhead and a gentle breeze rippled through her tri-toned fur. Songbirds sang somewhere overhead and she could hear gulls crying closer to the sea. Everything was beautiful and peaceful and perfect.

Then all of the peace was disturbed as the world literally vanished in a flash of color when a sudden weight landed on top of her, ripping the little girl from her tranquil slumber with a squealing scream as she immediately launched into fight or flight mode. Her instincts chose fight, and Satira began to squirm and struggle against the weight holding her down from behind with little paws wrapped around her neck. She felt sharp needle-like teeth chewing at her flopping ears and knew instantly who the aggressor was. "Arcturus!" she wailed, frustration and grogginess heavy in her sweet voice. Her tiny paws swung wildly to try and connect with him, but being behind her, all she did was turn into a flailing ball of fluff sputtering angry puppy sounds at her irritating pest of a brother.

He eventually let her go after much wriggling and squirming, but by then he'd had his fun. Growling in the least threatening manner possible, Tira took a swipe at Arc's rump with her tiny feline-like claws, then tried in vain to smooth her floofed up and messy fur and sleepily stumbled back over to where their mother was still asleep. She snuggled in close to Asla's side while Arcturus made a nuisance of himself, resting her head into mom's soft fur and warmth while she tried to go back to sleep. "Mama, can we kick Arc out of the den and go back to sleep please?" she grumbled as she curled up into a little donut ball of silky puppy fluff, her pale blue eyes hiding away behind her eyelids once more.

"Satira Fatalis"

Children... were a lot of work. Aslatiel felt spread thin, especially with her strange new sense of emotion. The cream and grey woman felt sad almost constantly. Not just sad really, but overwhelming sense of hopelessness and dread. It was difficult to shield the pups from it, but she tried oh so very hard to do so. Many nights as she lay curled around them, Aslatiel cried. She tried not to, but there was just so much... ugh. The woman couldn't even explain her feelings. Why was she even feeling anything? Asla had never been the emotional sort. Nothing short of anger, anyway. This new crying and feeling horrid thing... it wasn't her. Late into the night, Asla had finally fallen asleep. After what seemed like only a few hours, the high pitched voices of her children pulled her from that sleep. Arc nuzzled into her cheek and Tira expressed her desire to go back to sleep. Swirling purple eyes opened and Asla raised her head, looking down upon the pair. She was still struck by how beautiful they both were. She had made these two, glorious creatures. Yes, Mo and Naiche had helped, but these were her children. At first, she hadn't felt any love for them. As the days and weeks passed, however, Aslatiel had become quite attached. With Tira curled at her side, Asla reached out with one paw, scooping Arc in close to her. The woman began cleaning her son's face and ears. He asked if they were going out today and Asla gave a soft rumble in her chest. "Yes, we'll go out today. Let your sister get a bit more sleep. In the mean time, we can have breakfast." Rising, Asla moved out into the main chamber. She pulled a dish from the shelf and began tearing up some leftover venison from the previous nights meal using her kitten claws. The small bites would be easy for the pups to consume. Placing the dish down before Arcturus, Asla laid down on her belly. "So, what would you like to do today?" Forcing her small smile to widen, Asla questioned her son. She wanted to support their curiosity, their love for naps, their everything. Despite what everyone may have believed, Aslatiel was turning out to be a loving, supportive mother. "Speech"

Arcturus stuck his tongue out at his sister when she made a comment about kicking him out and going back to sleep instead, not that she really saw it since she closed her eyes to go back to sleep. He nearly went to jump on her again, but mid pounce he felt a paw scoop him up and suddenly he was being groomed and licked by his mother, cleaning all around his face and ears. "Mooooooom!" he fussed and squirmed against her grooming, the licks tickling him and making him grin and giggle involuntarily. Finally she relented and answered his question about them going outside, agreeing that they would go out but they could have breakfast first while Tira kept sleeping. His gray ears perked at the idea of eating and he nodded eagerly, finding his way back to his paws and giving his dark blonde fur a good shake. Throughly distracted from annoying his sister, he left the sleepy ball of fur behind and hopped down from the furs they were laying on to follow their mother out to get the food she promised.

He fidgeted and shifted back and forth from foot to foot while she ripped the venison up into little pieces, his little white tipped tail wagging like crazy while he waited not so patiently. Of course he was still respectful like she taught him and waited until she placed the dish down in front of him, grinning up at her brightly. "Thanks, Mom!" he told her before digging into his breakfast, chewing up the little bites of venison with his sharp puppy teeth, gripping the pieces between sharp claws to keep them in place. Sometimes his slowly emerging saber teeth made him chew weird or made his mouth sore, but today was okay. His blue eyes looked back up at his mother when she questioned what he wanted to do today and he hummed for a second, his little brow furrowing in thought. Maybe it was just because he was eating so food was on the mind, but he eventually replied, "I wanna hunt things like you! A whole deer!" His chest puffed out with confidence when he said it, as if he really thought he was big enough already to go hunting a big buck all on his own.

"Arcturus Fatalis"

Satira gave a few sleepy grumbles while Arcturus made far too much noise for this early in the morning. He was so rambunctious always and just wanted to fight and wrestle all the time! It was obnoxious on a good day, and outright irritating when she was sleeping. The sleepy fuzzball had just been settling back in next to mom when she felt her mother shift to get Arc some breakfast, leaving her to fall into the warm hollow left behind. Frustrated blue eyes slowly peered open and glowered at the disappearing form of her golden brother. Now not only had he woken her up, he'd taken her source of warmth as well. Dang it, Arc, revenge will be mine! The little girl gave a sleepy yawn and stretched her stubby limbs out, nestling back into the warm furs where her mother had been laying moments before. Blue eyes closing once more, Tira drifted off for a few more minutes of sleep before she'd be forced to get up and join her brother in their first excursion outside.

"Satira Fatalis"

They left Tira behind to sleep a little longer while Arc scarfed down his breakfast. His enthusiasm for everything physical was terribly endearing. When he admitted that he wanted to hunt down a whole dear, Aslatiel laughed softly, her purple eyes sparkling with true joy. "You're not quite big enough for deer yet, but we can hunt something if you'd like." The woman gently ran a tickling set of toes up her son's ribcage. "You shouldn't hunt something that could squish you until you're bigger and you've had a lot of practice." She admired his drive though. Asla had been killing things larger than herself from an early age. No doubt Arc would be the same. A few more minutes was all that they would wait for Satira. As the girl ate breakfast, they would be forced to wait for her, so it was only fair. "Satira, come have some breakfast. We have a long day." It was Asla's intention to take the pair out on a small patrol. She'd had a little device crafted for the pair if they got tired. There was a small set of baskets by the door. One would hang on either side of Aslatiel's body, connected by a broad swath of skin that would cross her back and spare it from pain. The pups would each have their own basket to sit in and watch the world go by. They would need it eventually, but she knew that they would push themselves. they were her children, after all. "Speech"

Arcturus of course disagreed that he wasn't big enough to hunt down a deer, but he'd never talk back to his mother. He certainly knew better than that. Her toes on his side made him giggle and squirm away, laughing and grinning brightly as he nodded with understanding to her warning that he shouldn't hunt something that could squish him till he had more practice. He was going to do lots and lots of practice so that he could hunt down really big stuff like his mother and be the best hunter ever - maybe even better than her one day! Just maybe though, it was hard to imagine anyone being more skilled and awesome than his mother.

He looked back at Satira as their mom called her over to come have her breakfast too just as he was finishing up his. He waited not so patiently for her to finish, occupying the time he had to spend waiting by practicing his hunting crouch and "sneaking" up on his mom's tail, hopping forward to "catch" it over and over again. He better start practicing now if he was going to get good enough to hunt something really big that could squish him, right? He kept glancing toward Satira while she ate, silently willing her to eat faster so they could go outside finally!

"Arcturus Fatalis"

Once more, Satira's sleep was disturbed, but this time it was by mom. Grumpy blue eyes peered open from beneath her paws, little irritated noises coming from the gremlin fluff ball. Arcturus she could yell at and complain, but she couldn't do that with mom. If Asla said it was time to get up, it was time to get up, no matter how early and how much she didn't want to. Unfurling with a sleepy yawn, Tira gave a long, languid stretch of her pudgy puppy body and then all but tumbled out of the sleeping alcove to where Asla had prepared some shredded meat for breakfast. As she ate, the girl began to progressively become more and more awake, sitting up straighter and looking around more alert. She was a Fatalis princess after all, she couldn't be seen hunching over her food like a half-dead zombie. She had appearances to keep up!

Satira ate her breakfast and ignored her brother's antics, grooming her paws once she'd finished with a few small licks. Today was their first day they got to go outside and see the world with mom! Satira shook her fur to fluff it up a bit and then tried to smooth it to the best of her ability, but the downy puppy fur had its own ideas, and Tira still ended up looking like a tan and white cotton ball for the most part. "Where are we going today, Mom?" she asked as she bounced eagerly over to the entrance of the den, looking back at her family with an energetic wag of her tiny tail.

"Satira Fatalis"

With Tira finally awake and eating, the excitement in Arcturus bloomed. She understood the excitement of getting out of the den and remembered her own excursions not all that long ago. It reminded Aslatiel just how young she was. Freshly two years old. Two children. No mate. High ranking. Hard working. She'd accomplished a lot in her short time in this world. It didn't make her happy though. The closest that she came to happiness these days sat right before her in the forms of the two small pups that shared her blood. Only when she was with Tira and Arc did she feel a little like herself. They wouldn't understand the sadness that she herself didn't understand, so there was no reason to show it to them. As Satira ate, Asla fiddled with the basket harness, making sure that it was well made and secure enough to hold the pair of pups. As she tightened the straps, she carefully shifted her tail, playing into Arc's hunting game. She had a notion that he would be a very sufficient hunter simply by the amount of times that he actually caught her tail in his little kitten claws. Aslatiel was glad that both of her children had inherited those claws. When her daughter was finished eating and came to join the group, Asla scooped the girl close and gave her face a few licks, helping to right the wild fur. She also gave one floppy ear a little nuzzle. "Today we're going on your very first patrol. All wolves of the pack are expected to run the perimeter of the pack lands to make sure that our territory is safe, that no predators have crossed over, and to mark our borders so others know where it lays." The pups would be expected to run patrols themselves when they were older. They wouldn't run them alone for quite some time though. Now was as good a time as any to get them used to the process. Swirling purple eyes shifted from one pup to the next. "Would you like to walk for now or ride in the basket?" She would let them choose. In the basket they would be able to observe the world around them with ease. On foot, they would be able to feel the well worn path that the Armada wolves ran daily. Either way, she knew they would both end up in the basket before the day was through. "Speech"

Arc finally gave up on his game of catching his mother's tail when Tira asked what they would be doing, pulling his attention up to his mother with curiosity. He wiggled excitedly at the idea of going on a patrol, taking in her explanation about how that was something they would have to do as a member of the pack like a sponge. He loved all of the lessons she taught them and he took them all in carefully, not wanting to forget a single thing. It sounded like they were going to get to see a lot of the territory all at once for their first time out of the den and that was probably the most exciting part. Not only did they get to go outside, but they were going to get to go all around the pack too! "I want to walk!" he insisted with a firm nod, already on his feet and shifting from paw to paw with excitement. He wanted to do a real patrol just like his mother, not just go sightseeing! He waited impatiently for them to get going, lingering just inside the entrance of the den.

"Arcturus Fatalis"

When Asla informed the pair that they were going on their first ever patrol, Satira couldn't help but feel a touch of excitement. She was finally old enough to go outside! It might not have seemed like much, but it was one small steps closer to freedom and getting to meet other wolves and do her own thing, so she relished in it. Plus getting to actually be a part of the pack was thrilling too! She wasn't nearly as outwardly enthusiastic as Arcturus was, bouncing around like a yellow chinchilla on cocaine, but she never was, being a much more subdued personality than he was. She still beamed with bright eyes, her tiny tail wagging so fast in made her ears bob. Their mother gave them the option of walking or riding in the baskets, and Arc immediately declared he would be walking. "I'm walking too," she said with a determined puff of her chest. Anything her brother could do, she could do, and with more grace and style! The tiny little poofy potato of a wolf scampered her way towards the entrance of the den, already smelling the cool, crisp air of early morning waiting for them.

"Satira Fatalis"

Of course they wanted to walk. Asla slid into the basket harness anyway. She'd put a little wrapped package of lunch within that they could share later. The excitement in the pups was evident and, without making them wait any longer, she pushed aside the fur that covered the doorway and motioned them out into the world. She'd allowed them into the mouth of the den, of course, but never out of it. Not until she was sure that they were strong and healthy enough. The day was mild and warm. The sun wasn't terribly bright thanks to the big, white clouds that lazily floated through the sky. A gentle breeze ruffled the tall grass and send the blades sliding against one another with a constant, soft whisper. It was a good day to bring her children out into the world. "Now stay in my line of sight." She wasn't the most strict of parents. They would want to explore and she would let them bound ahead a bit to do so, but they would never go out of sight or they would go into the basket. Asla kept her pace slow, stopping often as they inspected this and that. She answered the many questions that they threw at her and took it all in stride. It was kind of funny. She'd had pups out of a sense of duty, but now that she'd come to love them, she believed that she might very well be a good mother after all. "Speech"