The day had finally arrived. After several weeks of watching their little family grow from wolf nuggets squealing and nursing at Briar's belly to slightly less little pups with their own characters and personality, the time to set the five new members of the Carpathius family loose on the world was here. Artorias had sent word throughout the Hallows letting the pack know his children were being set free from the alphas' chambers today so everyone could keep an eye out on them and say hello to the new little lords and ladies of the castle. The new father was equal parts excited and overjoyed as he was nervous and worried. He just reassured himself that his children would be fine, and that they were bouncy and durable, as he had seen them take a number of tumbles about the bedchambers without breaking. They were ready to be let out, and as much as the overprotective father wanted to keep them safe forever and always, he reminded himself that everything would be fine.

"All right, little ones, it's time!" Artorias called to his horde of rambunctious puppies as he stood beside the large double mahogany doors that had kept them penned in since their birth. A large azure paw rested on the handle, ready to unlatch the doors and set them loose on the castle. A bright, fatherly smile painted his face while loving amber eyes swept over each of his five children in turn. "Now, remember the ground rules. No running or fighting on the stairs. Remember your manners when meeting pack members. No going higher than the third floor. And stay within the castle walls for today. There's a lot to see and do here, and once you get used to it, then we or the rest of the family can start exploring the pack lands with you." Artorias waited until he had heard a verbal agreement from all five of his children, giving Dusk a direct look in particular as if to say 'I’m watching you today, missy!'.

Once he'd gotten what he wanted, the Aegis waited for his Queen to join him at the doors, and then, with a beaming smile, he pulled them open to let the puppies run out into the halls for the first time, unleashing the newest Carpathians onto the unsuspecting world. "Okay, let's go explore your home! We've got family waiting to see you downstairs!"

OoC: assume everything happening here is day one so the pups only need to stay inside the castle walls for this thread during their first time exploration

"Carpathius Family"

Today was the day! They were officially big kids and could leave the tiny, smothering chambers that they'd been born within. I mean, yeah... the rooms weren't that small, but Dusk needed bigger things. She needed excitement! The little inkblot was the first one awake, fire opal eyes wide and ready. She sat at the door, which she made a point to peek out of as often as possible during her days of seclusion. She knew the look of the hall outside and so, when her dad finally opened the doors, she was ready.

"Dadda, Dadda, Let us out! Let us out!" Excitement thrummed through the tiny shadow and she bounded around her father's thick forelegs, rubbing against him and nipping his shins playfully here and there. It was no secret that little Dusk was a spunky thing. Endless energy, endless curiosity, endless everything. She had a difficult time listening to the rules that her father laid out, but she thought she could figure it out. Shouldn't be too hard right? Maybe? Eh...

Back and forth from one front paw to the other, tippy tap, tippy tap, Dusk couldn't contain her excitement. Artorias pushed open the doors and the pup crowed with delight, tipping her head back in a tiny, baby howl before rocketing down the hall, little claws scraping on the stone as she made a beeline for the very stairs that she wasn't supposed to run on. Or at least she thought she wasn't supposed to run on them. Maybe?

"Dusk Carpathius"

It’s time. Lyssie blinked away weariness as she picked her chin up off her paws at the masculine tones of her father’s voice- just in time to witness Dusk come to a screeching halt at the door where Da stood. With an all encompassing yawn, her lips rested in a sleepy grin as she pushed herself to her paws. On clumsy limbs that were growing faster than she could master, she happily bounded over in pursuit of her shadowy sister. Once she crossed the threshold, she sunk to her haunches, play blue eyes fluttering as she looked up to Artorias, who was in process of laying the ground rules for their very first day out in the castle. As the anticipation built, she couldn’t help wiggling in place as the excitement coursed through her entire being. And by the time he was finished, she was wide awake. When he was done talking, she quickly murmured in agreement. “Yes, Daddy.”

The moment the doors were opened, Dusk darted out in front of her. Talyssa felt compelled to chase her sister, and started to do so. But after taking only a few strides, she came to a halt. Casting a quick look over her shoulder to ensure that Momma and Daddy were coming too.

Thorn hadn’t slept much, having known what tomorrow would bring but he did get a few hours of rest.  He had woken up to see Dusk at the door waiting eagerly for the door to be open.  It was like the gateway to an entirely new large realm.  Thorn understood Dusk’s excitement, his heart ached to see that door open as well.  

Since dad hadn’t let them out as soon as their eyes had opened Thorn had helped himself to crawl under the large bed, his paws played with the curtain for a moment, trying to ignore the gums demanding he chews on something to soothe them. Jerking his head over he chomped a couple of times on the bedpost with his pointy puppy teeth, then attacked the curtain once more.  Dad then said the all-important words, ‘it was time’!

Thorn shoved himself back out from under the bed, a thrilled look at dad as Thorn ran up to sit pressed up next to Dusk.  He was sitting still, but his muscles were tense, rolling his head up and eyes back to watch dad coming up.  It took dad forever to move!  At least when Thorn was in a hurry, still he waited as patiently as the blue pup could manage.  Thorn soaked in dad’s words, nodding, “yes daddy.”

The door was opened.  Dusk’s howl was thrilling and Thorn yipped excitedly and ran out after her, mouth split open in a wide grin following her with boundless joy.  Then the stairs came into sight and he almost slowed down remembering dad’s rules but Dusk was still running! Thorn growled as he pushed himself forward with an effort to go faster to get closer to Dusk.  Once close enough he stretched out his neck, chomping into Dusk’s tail to try and stop them both from going forward.  With her tail in his mouth, his words came out a bit slurred, “Dad said..”

That was as much of the warning as he got out.  Dusk had already been too close to the stairs and Thorns lunging in for the surprise grab hadn’t helped matters.  Refusing to give up his hold two pups ended up going down the stairs.  It was true neither one ran down the stairs either, so they did not disobey dad.  The two tripped and fell and rolled from the top bottom of the stairs.  After the first two steps, Thorn had klonked his muzzle and lost his hold on his sister's tail.  She was free.

At the bottom Thorn would land with a slide, butt having reached the bottom before his face so that he was looking back along the path they rolled.  The idea of going after his sister swam in his mind even as he worked at getting rid of the dizzies from the roll. After a few second recalling to see what had become of his sister.

(got ok to pp dusk and him tumbling)

"Thorn Carpathius"

Briar stood back a bit and watched with a little grin as Artorias roused their pups and declared it was finally time for them to go out and explore the world. She loved their excitement and she lingered with wistful happiness while their father laid down the ground rules for their first time out in the castle. Of course she was thrilled to see their personalities start to develop, watching them become full fledged individuals right before her eyes, and seeing them blossom from these tiny, squeaky pups into this was mind blowing. But there was also a twinge of longing and wishing she could keep them small and keep living this perfect dream of being with them like this forever. It felt like this had all gone so fast and she was going to blink and they would be adults with families of their own.

Fighting back her own turbulent emotions, she took a breath and grinned as she came to join Artorias at the bedroom doors and she helped pull the opposite door open along with him, releasing their children out into their home for the first time. A huge grin pulled across her lips and she chuckled as she shook her head at Dusk made the most adorable puppy howl to declare her departure before their little ball of black fluff took off like a bolt of lightning. The other pups followed, including Thorn who seemed just as eager to run after his sister, and Briar waited a moment to make sure Talyssa, Bramble, and Ciaran followed suit. The bedroom felt so strangely quiet and empty without their constant tumbling and playing and she glanced back at the space for a moment before turning her gaze to Artorias, giving him a happy, if slightly emotional and nervous smile, before leaning over to give him a quick kiss.

Briar went to follow after their energetic children then, finding Talyssa waiting for them in the hall. She smiled to her sweet girl and dipped her head to nuzzle the tan and cream pup lovingly. "We're coming, darling! Keep going!" she insisted with a little chuckle, giving their daughter a gentle nudge to continue on after their siblings. She arrived at the stairs just in time to see Thorn with Dusk's dark tail in his mouth just a beat before the two of them went tumbling over the edge and down the flight of stairs. Briar gasped and chased after them, bounding down the stairs a couple at a time and arriving down at the bottom almost at the same time as the two pups. Quickly she helped them both back up, her paws patting over them and tipping their heads up so she could check their eyes and faces quickly. She sighed and give them both a little smile and a shake of her head. "Please be careful, you two. Now, get out of here before your dad gets here to scold you."

"Carpathius Family"

Her wiggling dark brown nose snuffled around the room, preoccupied with finding something to get into. With her front half hidden beneath a pile of furs as her tail wagged behind her, Bramble heard the call of their father for their attention. Attempting to stand, nearly getting wrapped up in the furs, she managed to escape its clutches just in time to watch her father smile brightly at them. The girl couldn't help but smile in return, just as excited as the rest of her siblings to finally be allowed outside the mahogany doors.

Pushing off the furs and scrambling over to where Artorias and Briar stood, Bramble quickly sat her haunches down and peered up at them as her father gave clear instructions to stay out of trouble and mind their manners. Nodding diligently as ever, she felt her body wiggle with excitement as the tap of her own front paws clicked against the smooth stone. As the doors began to open, Bramble tilted her own tan muzzle back to let out a crooning puppy howl of excitement.

"Hey, wait up!" She squealed as she raced out after Dusk, Thorn, and Talyssa, she skidded out of the doors and fought to keep traction against the smooth floors. With Dusk and Thorn quite a bit ahead of her, she watched as they quickly tumbled down the stairs. "Oh no!" Bramble gasped as she raced over, right past Talyssa, and teetered over the edge of the top stair. Already their mom was down there, helping pick them up, so she felt a wave of relief that they were okay!

Looking down the stairs herself, Brambling took a deep breath. They sure looked really daunting... She'd never seen stairs before! And they were potentially dangerous! Glancing back over her shoulder toward her other two sisters and Artorias, Bramble wagged her tail hesitantly before putting her attention back on the task at hand. Make it down the stairs! One paw after the other, appearing rather clumsy and awkward, Bramble took the stairs slowly and cautiously. Going down these things was a lot different than running through the hall.

Bramble Carpathius

Today was the day!” he raced out of the den a beat behind his siblings. Pausing for a moment to examine the hallway with its doors and scents and glass windows. He raised his nose to the air, sniffling loudly as he took everything in. but the stairs! The stairs! That's where the true adventure awaited. He started to bound towards them with Dusk and Thorn tumbled down them. He raced to the start of them and looked down, his eyes following the forms of his siblings and his mother as she raced down to check on them.

He wrinkled his nose in amusement. That had to be some sort of record, right? Breaking the rules five seconds after they were delivered. Shaking his head, he hopped down the stairs himself. He skirted around the forms of his rising siblings and took off like a rocket into the castle whole. His siblings' tumble had given him a head start to find the exciting things first!


"Speech"

As soon as the doors were open, Artorias watched all five of his eager little fuzzballs go tumbling out into the expansive hallway of the castle for the first time. Dusk howled her joy and off they went, yipping and yapping while they rushed down the hall and out of sight. Art chuckled and followed after his children, seeing that only Talyssa had stopped to wait for him and Briar. She was such a sweetheart. The dire wolf approached his little girl and craned his neck down to nuzzle her forehead, giving her rump a little tap with his paw to encourage her forward. "Go on, Taly! I'm right behind you. " From up ahead, the sound of some sort of calamity coming from the stairs caught Artorias' attention. Concern furrowed the wolf's brow, keen ears picking up the sounds of tumbling, followed by the distinct lack of excited puppy voices. Oh boy... he thought with a heavy sigh. What had his children gotten up to already?

Making his way down the hall, the Aegis turned the corner to find Bramble waiting at the top of the stairs, gazing down them with a look of shock and worry on her face. Amber eyes rolling, Artorias came up to his second daughter's side and peered down the steps. At the bottom, Briar was already getting Thorn and Dusk up while Ciaran just zipped past them. At least he had taken the stairs properly. Art softened his gaze while he looked down at his sweet Bramble, a flick of his head motioning her down the stairs. "C'mon, we'll go down together," he reassured her. He let his daughters take their time navigating the wide staircase down to the bottom, following at their side with each step they conquered. If they were to stumble or fall, he would be there to catch them before they ended up like their siblings at the bottom.

Once they had made it down, Artorias turned a stern gaze down to Thorn and Dusk. He didn't know which of the two had disobeyed his one rule first, but it didn't matter. The two had been each other's instigators since the day they were born. "Too late," Artorias remarked when Briar tried to usher their pups along before he got there. Turning his pointed gaze from one pup to the other. "Don't make me have to keep you two in time out while the others play." Art wanted to afford his children all the freedoms and liberties to explore their home and learn as much as he could, but he was not afraid to lay down the law and be the strict parent if he needed to be, and gods knew Dusk and Thorn tested him sometimes. "Now no more roughhousing near stairs. Any stairs. Understood?"

"Carpathius Family"