Baldur had broken away from the group, seeking to clear his head a bit. Everything was still so confusing to him and he had yet to find the answer to the most important question. What did he want out of life? What was he going to do with his life? What made him matter? The large brute sighed as he continued his trek up the mountains side. How did one even start answering that? He supposed the big question was whether or not to join a pack. But now that he was free from his father and uncle it was hard to imagine what joining a pack might be like again. Fitting himself into the structure and rules that had been partially responsible for breaking his family. Baldur paused as he noticed an entrance to a cavern and he realized as he looked around that this place was just like home. Brow furrowed he entered the cavern, navigating around the formations and moving deeper and deeper until finally he stopped. He was tired?. so tired?.. -----------------------------dream/memory sequence start---------------- Baldur woke with a start and a sneeze. A light shiver ran down the spine of the three month-old pup as he realized he was outside on his little patch of dirt. Hmph, he'd been kicked out of the den last night again. Wincing he stretched and turned to look at the bite marks that fell across his hips from where his mother had pitched him out and frowned for a moment before grinning. Scars attracted chicks right? And he liked eating the occasional bird so it was all good. He just needed to learn to be a bit more wary of Loki's 'lessons'. Bitch was apparently not an ok word to call one's mother and was in no way interchangeable with femme, fae, she, or woman. Well now he knew. He flinched again, sore all over and set to stretching, ignoring the injuries as he scrambled on top of a rock, splaying himself over it in the sun. Ahhhh?.. now this was the life. One of his ears twitched and he turned to look back at the den entrance. The morning sun was barely risen and he was ready to go and play. Weth was probably still sleeping. Ugh?.. he wished everyone would just wake up all ready. He'd have gone crawling him to wake them up himself if his father didn't have a terrible temper when roused unreadily from his sleep. His mother was a bit of a grumpus in the mornings too. Suddenly his ears flicked forward, little head raising as he saw something waddling toward him. It was a large bird with a long neck and it paused to gaze over at him, head twisting and tilting as it looked him up and down. With a honking shriek it charged and Baldur let out a yell, scrambling off the rock?. "KILLER BIRD!"

wounds so deep they never show, they never go away

Exhaustion made her body heavy, and her bones ached from the long trek through the desert this morning. Grumbling quietly to herself, the ebony bitch curled up under a bramble thicket, where no one could easily disturb her, and she slowly drifted into the warm embrace of slumber...

The young girl was bored, the rest of the family was sleeping, which left her only able to lay in her bed and play with her toes. Not as much fun as one would think. Pouting in annoyance, she jumped up and waddled over to where Loki slept, and started jumping on him, chewing on his ears. Rolling over, the bigger male shoved her a good four feet away with a haphazard swipe. Hanging her head in defeat, she plodded to the entrance of the den just as her brother cantered right into her. The two of them tumbled into the den again as the angry goose went parading right past. Giggling, she kicked her pale brother off of her. "Baldur! What are you doing?" She half growled, half snickered quietly. Standing up, she shook out her fur and pounced on her brother. She had somehow ended up lying across his back, with her paws dangling from each side as she nibbled on the fur of his flanks. Her little tail wagged back and forth as she nearly squealed with the joy of having someone to play with now. But what had Baldur been doing outside?... The thought went unanswered as she tumbled off of her brother and somersaulted across the dirt floor of the den. Lying on her back, she gazed at her brother with twinkling eyes and waited for him to respond.




"Speech"

like moving pictures in my head, for years and years they've played

Baldur barreled right into his sister Weth and the pair went rolling right back into the den. He landed right on top of Weth, fur standing on end turning him into a little snow-colored puff ball. She giggled and playfully kicked him off with a little puppy snarl. "Baldur! What are you doing?" "Weth! There was this huge bird! And it came after me and?" And it was gone. Baldur frowned, hoping she'd seen it. He wasn't crazy! There really was a giant monster bird that only moments before was intent on devouring his fleshing and laying him out as an egg. Before he could quite recover from his scare, Weth pounced! "Ah Weth! No fair!" Baldur flopped down spread eagle on the floor as his sister nibbled at his flanks, her little tail wagging across the top of his head right between his ears. She hit a ticklish spot and Baldur squealed, body contracting instantly as he squirmed. "Ahahahaha! Weth! Th-that tickles!" He flinched suddenly as he struck his left hip against a rock. "ow?." Weth had already vaulted off him, scrambling across the den floor before skidding onto her back. It was a challenge for sure! Baldur's tiny muscles tensed, his fur frizzing up again. In his mind he looked intimidating, a fierce and mighty warrior rather than an uncoordinated, overgrown dust bunny. Baldur sprang forward intent on nibbling his sister tummy and tickling her with the ferociousness of?. of an angry goose! A squeaky puppy growl of excitement burst form his lips as he leapt. He dimly heard a snort but ignored it. Most of the family were pretty heavy sleepers.

wounds so deep they never show, they never go away

Her brother's squeals faded from her mind as she giggled, she was having a lot of fun now. Her brother fluffed himself up into something resembling a bunny in the winter, and pounced on her. His high pitched growl left his lips as he leapt, landing on her and nibbling on her exposed ebony tummy, tickling her nose with his fluffy ivory ears. Her high pitched peals of laughter, echoing through the cavernous room, awoke one of their uncles. "Get out of here, brats! Some of us are trying to sleep!" He snarled, glaring menacingly at the dueling duo. Grinning devilishly, she scrabbled at her brother's belly with her back feet and batted at his head. "Come on Baldur! Uncle Vili is going to beat on us if we don't get out!" She yipped, squealing loudly with glee. A chorus of wakeful groans arose in the cavern, and she kept trying to force her brother off of her. Getting angry now, she snapped her needle like teeth at her brother, thoroughly annoyed now that he might be the reason she paid for being loud. Wiggling with agitation, she managed to slip out from under him and fled the den. Scrambling out into the open, she tumbled into the growing light of dawn and onto the lush grasses outside. "Gosh, everyone's so grumpy this morning!" She exclaimed irritably, sending a quick glare behind her at the cave. She hated it when they didn't appreciate her waking up before twilight for once, because either way everyone complained about her sleeping habits. "Come on, we'll go on an adventure! If they want us to go away, we'll go away." She quipped snarkily, parading in the direction of the lake with her head and tail high. If her family wanted her out of their hair, she would get as far from their hair as she could. They would regret being mean to her soon, they would be begging her to come home soon! Mismatched optics gleaming mischievously, she trotted towards the large body of water a few miles ahead, since it was always offering cool things to occupy her time with.




"Speech"

like moving pictures in my head, for years and years they've played

And the mighty hunter pounced upon his prey, deadly teeth seeking out the belly. Playfully Baldur nibbled on his sister's belly, more to tickle her than do any lasting damage. He'd never hurt Weth, not ever! Well? except sparring sometimes. If neither of them drew blood, father would draw it from them at his leisure. Victory! Baldur grinned at his sister's squeals of laughter and the suddenly a roar erupted. Get out of here, brats! Some of us are trying to sleep "No!" Baldur cheered back at his uncle. He was winning and he wasn't ready to leave yet. Besides it was morning bright and early and Baldur was wondering why they weren't out there marching around like idiots anyway in another of father's stupid drills. Baldur suddenly flinched as Weth bit down a bit to hard and scrambled out from under him. "Wait for me!" he yelled as he scrambled after his sister, just barely dodging his uncles half-awake swipe. The rush of it all! Nothing was ever going to hold them down. Panting he scampered up next to Weth and nodded. "I know! They're usually dragging us out at the crack of dawn." Baldur was neither a morning creature nor a night owl and most of his family had the frustrating habit of being one or the other and dragging him along in any way they saw fit. "Come on, we'll go on an adventure! If they want us to go away, we'll go away." "Aye!" Baldur fell in step next to his sister. They were headed to the lake, a favorite place for the duo to get into trouble and play pretend. "We should bring back a frog for mama!" Scrambling up a nearby boulder he looked around for a moment then scrambled back down, nose to the ground before he bounded ahead. "What do you want to do at the lake Weth?" She always had the best ideas, well most of the time. A lot of the time they got into trouble but as long as it was together Baldur didn't mind all that much. It wasn't like when Loki got him into trouble.

Uphill struggle, blood sweat and tears

Tyr had spent the morning on a non-productive hunt. Tired, sore, and still hungry, he'd found a temporary den to hole up in while he rested his leg. Sleep was slow to come, but eventually his breathing did slow, and his bicolor eyes drooped closed. He began to dream, dream of happier times...------------------------
The tiny red and black puppy was sprawled out in his usual sleeping spot, though as was often the case he wasn't sleeping. He had a hard time staying asleep, sometimes, which the pain in his leg. Loki just told him to stop being such a big baby about it. Uncle Ve had told him that he could take care of it for him, but the way he'd giggled had made Tyr a bit nervous so he'd said no thanks. He'd actually been dozing when there had been some loud noises and he'd seen Baldur go running back into the cave chased by a big noisy bird. Tyr had wanted to go see what it was, but he'd stayed put. Dad had told him not to go in the cave, ever ever, and Baldur's mom had yelled at him last time he'd gotten close enough to look in.

So, Tyr just rolled over onto his fluffy little patchwork back, all four paws wiggling in the air. His weird leg was shorter then the other ones, and he wiggled it a bit to watch it. Loki said his weird leg was why no one liked him. Loki seemed nice though, when he wasn't saying mean things like that. And Baldur seemed to like him so maybe Loki was wrong. But the leg was pretty weird.



His ears pricked up at the sound of two of his foster siblings' voices coming closer. Baldur was coming back! He rolled back over to his paws and scrambled out of his shelter. The other pups were heading away from the cave, toward the lake. Dad wouldn't be able to know about it if they played together at the lake. "Hey guys, wait up!" he called out in his tiny puppy voice. He bounced after them awkwardly, tiny puppy tail wagging at five hundred miles a minute. "Can I come too? I promise I can keep up. Pleeeease?" His mismatched eyes blinked up at his larger half-siblings pleadingly.



"Speech"

Nothing to gain, everything to fear

wounds so deep they never show, they never go away

At her brother's recommendation that they bring back a frog for their mother, a dark snicker left the jaws of the dark pup. Her tail would give a few wags as she nodded in agreement. That would be lovely... When he asked what she would be wanting to do, the young girl shrugged as she walked. "I think we should find somethin' cool that everyone can be jealous about." She giggled, fair wiggling with the mirth of the moment. She was enjoying the feeling in her chest that was growing as she plotted her revenge against her mean family members. A familiar colour splotched figure hobbled up behind them, begging to come with them. The little wraith would stop, turning around to look at the smaller boy. "Yeah, I guess so.. but you have to keep up! We wanna get there before they can come find us!" She yipped playfully, giggling. She didn't mean to be mean to the little two toned boy, she was just being playful, in her eyes. Turning back around, she began trotting towards the lake. It shouldn't take long to get there, by the looks of it. However, her little puppy legs would make it take longer, and they might not even make it by the time their family realized they were gone. Mismatched eyes gleaming with pure joy, she laughed as she trotted. "Guys! If they come after us, we should run in all different directions! That would be funny!" She yipped, bouncing up and down with excitement. It would be funny to watch her relative scrambling to chase the little bundles of fur zipping about every which way, she would love to see them chase her. Looking over her shoulder at her brothers, she waited for them to offer opinions.




"Speech"

like moving pictures in my head, for years and years they've played

Excitement bubbled up in Baldur's little chest. Yea! They'd find something super cool, like a rare stone or a weird bone. Maybe it would even impress their older siblings too. "Sounds good to me! I can hold my breath a whole two minutes now! Maybe there's something in the lake." Baldur was still working out the whole swimming thing but he could sink well enough and as long as his feet were on the ground he figured he'd be fine. "Hey guys, wait up!" Baldur turned with a grin to see his half-brother Tyr. Tyr was perpetually kicked out of the den and occasionally the two would sleep together on the nights Baldur was kicked out as well. Baldur didn't know what Tyr had done that was so awful he was never allowed back in the den and he didn't smell too terribly bad so that wasn't it either. He supposed father had probably explained why once but he must not have been listening as he was want to do when ever father started going off on. Baldur nodded at Weth's reply. "Sure, you can come Tyr! But yea, we gotta be quick. Uncle Vili has a viper up his butt this morning, but hopefully he went back to sleep." Baldur bounded ahead and the circled back to walk next to Tyr before skittering up toward Weth again. He was a bundle of energy and couldn't wait til they got to the lake. Guys! If they come after us, we should run in all different directions! That would be funny!" Baldur let out a laugh. "Yea, that could be funny to watch 'em try an figure out who to go for? though?. if Vili, Ve and daddy go after us there's three of them and three of us." He frowned. It was no fair being outnumbered. "I wish Hodr wasn't still asleep! Then it would work." Baldur half considered turning around and throttling his mismatched twin awake but it wasn't worth the risk of getting caught. Baldur paused as he peered at an odd creature shuffling through the woods. It looked like a large rat with a smashed tail. His ears flicked forward. "What the heck is that!" He bounded over toward the beaver, tail wagging lighting in curiosity but the rodent mostly ignored him and as he batted at the creature.

Uphill struggle, blood sweat and tears

Tyr beamed at his bigger half-siblings delightedly. "Thanks, guys!" he squeaked, his tail giving another burst of speed. He had to sprint - as best as he could with short puppy legs and a limp - to catch up to them, but Tyr didn't mind. He was just excited that they were letting him come along at all. He'd only gone a short ways when his bad leg caused him to trip and go rolling, but the russet-and-black fluffball was back on his feet and bouncing after Weth and Baldur with nothing more than a startled squawk.

"That sounds like a great idea!" he giggled, at the age when he'd agree with anything his older siblings said, though the idea of trying to run away from his dad was scary enough to make him shiver.

Baldur was off and running again, this time after a really weird looking thing with a flat tail. Tyr hesitated a little, wanting to hang back but not wanting to look like a wimp. That thing looked dangerous though, with those big teeth sticking out of his mouth. "Are you sure that's a good idea, Baldur? It looks kind of weird." But as Baldur batted at it, his anxiety to show his foster littermates that he wasn't a baby got the better of his anxiety about the ugly critter, and - getting a bit carried away about it, though that was partly because he wanted to live up to his namesake - he ran forward all in a rush to sink his little puppy teeth into the flat tail. "I got it!" he squeaked through clenched teeth.



"Speech"

Nothing to gain, everything to fear