The day was here. His little rugrats were big enough to begin their first day of explorations. The over protective, over the top Warlord had spread out his companions and a few wolves throughout the nearby territories to keep an eye should any of the beans scamper off. It had been easier to keep a companion on the pups 100% of the time when there had only been three. With his three companions, Zee’s toucan, Morts Kea, and Az’s bat all on duty, he was sure they would match this round as well. The pups would be well watched, well having some freedom to explore and learn. With Zee at his side, the Warlord opened the doors to the den wide. “Alright. Little ruffians. Go explore, someone will be within calling distance at all times, and no leaving the pack lands today. There will be plenty of wolves about today to teach you things and play, any questions?” he might sound as though he was schooling an adult wolf, but he was grinning, and bent down to touch noses with each pup before they were allowed to pass him and Zee into the Big Outside World. "Zee" & "Sirius"

The day had come for the little ones to leave the safety of the den, a day Zee had handled once before but it was bittersweet regardless. She already missed them, even when they hadn’t yet left. On Asla and Indigo’s first day they’d nearly drowned themselves mere hours after they’d found their freedom - this time Zee and Sirius’ companions were around to ensure that a similar misfortune wouldn’t come to any of these five. She was bound to get gray hairs soon, the only benefit being that any stress-grown hairs of her own would hide in her pelt much better than any of Sirius’ ever could. Sirius’ instructions were clear and Zee gave her very best ‘yes, listen to your father’ nod as he spoke. “We’ll be right here if you need us.” She added, having every intention of remaining as close to the ocean as possible to head-off any misguided attempts of underage swimming. “Look after each other, and be home by sunset.” The last thing she needed was a midnight search party brought together because one of her pups decided to pass out in the long grass rather than come home to bed. "Speech"

Weaving her way between her Da's long legs, Ophie was the first pup to rush out of the den. Her parents had a lot of things to say, probably very important things, but they went in one ear and out the other as the little Fatalis stared up at the sky with wide eyed awe. It was almost too much to take in; the sounds and smells, the vastness of it all. The den was all she ever knew and a soft, hesitant, part of her almost wanted to crawl back inside and leave adventuring for another day. But if her parents wanted her to go outside and have fun then...well she felt like she didn't really have a choice. She knew it'd make herself the odd one out amongst her sisters, and brother, and that wasn't a very nice thought at all. She turned a little, taking in sight of her parents once more as they watched over their little family. Their smiles were bright and wide, the thought of making them sad made her chest hurt in a real bad way. Like one of her siblings had stepped on her a little to hard during a play fight.

Instead she smiled so wide her lips ached as she flashed the whites of her puppy teeth.

"BYE!" She yelled as loud as her lungs would allow, before she turned to run off somwhere, wherever her little paws took her.

Technically the sun was up. It was up somewhere or she wouldn't be able to see the dark form of the clouds streaking across the mottled sky that was just barely tinted with the firs rays of morning light. The horizon bore a soft peach color and Gossamer scooted from her mother's side toward the den entrance to get a better look. The trees and grasses were still dark silouettes but there was a gentle breeze and a myriad of new scents. She didn't go all the way outside but today was the day they'd get to go exploring. Of course she wasn't quite sure what qualified as 'day' but if 'day' was when the sun got up then it was time to go outside!

Gossamer scrambled over to her mom, seeking to snuggle up to the woman's neck. "Mom? Mom, it's day time, can we go outside now?" Her ears flicked forward as she waited for a response. "Mooooooom" She wrinkled her nose and sighed. Was mom really that deeply asleep or was she purposely being ignored? With a dramatic sigh she flopped down where she'd originally been sleeping and waited for the sun to hurry up.

——————

At some point she'd fallen back asleep but the minute they were allowed out she dashed after Ophelia with a cheer. She bounded through the green grass, enjoying the texture before something bright and yellow caught her attention. She wandered over to the little fluffly flower (dandelion). She bent down and sniffed at it for a moment before deciding that the only real way to tell what it was would be to stick it in her mouth. She immediately bit down on the flower then wrinkled her nose and spat it out. Ok, that was not food. "Mom! Mom, what are these for?" She pointed at the flowers.

The excitement of going out today wasn’t enough to keep Kotori from sleeping in.  The young pup was all about playing hard and sleeping deep.  He was also a dreamer and with notions of running out to explore his feet had kicked several times that morning from some action-packed dream. Once Kotori decided to wake up though it didn’t take long.  One deep yawn, a single black and then he had rolled to his feet with that bright shimmer of excitement in his eyes.  The pup, a mix of softer chocolate with dark fudge-like markings sat impatiently listening to his dad’s speech.  Dad’s serious tone was kind of watered down by the smile on his face.  Mamma added to be home by sunset.  That sounded like a long time at least!  How long did it take for sunset to arrive? Being the boy it was, of course, his job to go out first, right? It was that thought that had him charge for the exit, only to see two of his sisters get out before him.  Ears pinning back at being beat he stepped outside, looking about with that look that just bespoke ‘wow’ with the brightening of the eyes, the pricking of those small ears, and his weight shifted towards his front legs as he tried to decide what to do with all this new freedom. He took some high step trotting looking the direction Ophie ran off to, and watching Gossi eating a flower, “what’s it taste like?” The boy’s tail tip would twitch this way and that as his mind tried to process all that was new.  The idea of running off with Ophi to keep her out of trouble presented itself as possible, but he kind of wanted to know what the yellow flower tasted like and to see what Briar was going to do. Hm, he wanted to explore!  The brown pup wanted to explore with a companion just to protect them, not because he didn’t want to be alone.  It was a big difference that no one should question. Talk

Walk | "Talk" | think

Briar waited not so patiently as her father laid the ground rules and her mother seconded them, shifting eagerly from paw to paw while she waited for the world to be opened up to them. Once the door to their den was opened up she gave a huge puppy grin and hurried up to the door right behind her other siblings, but made sure to return the boop her father gave her to his much larger nose and gave her mother's leg a nuzzle before darting out into the open. Her wide, turquoise eyes looked all around the open area of the plains and her tail was wagging so hard that her whole butt wiggled in the process. She didn't know where to start! There was all kinds of grasses and plants and stuff to look at and- was that a bug?

A cricket hopped away from the group and into the grass and it immediately stole her attention while one of her sisters called to their mother about some kind of flower and another just yelled her goodbyes before she took off to explore. Briar dropped down into a very wiggly and unbalanced version of a hunting crouch and started stalking after the cricket in question that was currently lingering right at the edge of a thicker patch of the tall grasses. She got a couple of feet from it before the jumpy insect hopped away again and for a little bit she entertained herself with just running up to it and getting into her crouch again in a vain attempt to catch the darn thing.

With a hop her front paws landed on its body and she felt the bug crunch under her paws, her feline claws finding purchase on the insect that she had hunted. Her huge grin returned at her little victory, her tail wiggling again. However, as soon as she lifted her paw to check out what had happened to it, she realized that the bug had left a fair amount of gross guts and stuff on her paw pads. Her smile dropped off of her face immediately and her ears folded back against her head. It was so yucky! "Dad!!" she squealed, turning to run back to where her parents were standing. She sat down in front of Sirius with a pout and lifted her front paws to show him the terrible bug guts that were stuck to her paw pads and the fuzzy fur that grew between them. "Daaaaad it got its guts all over meeeee," she whined, her wide eyes insistent that he fix it right away.

Ari had woken early when Gossy had tried to weedle their mother into taking them outside, and while Gossy gave up to go back to sleep Ari tried to keep herself awake so that when they were let out, she would be the first out of the den. It almost worked, too, but she fwll back asleep not long before their father came in. So instead of being alert and ready to sprint out the door when he opened it, she was still waking up and groggy. She heard his speech, but they were just a bunch of words without any meaning (luckily, she retained enough of it to remember later so that she wouldn't accidentally get in trouble). She yawned and wobbled to her feet, only to be nearly bulldozed by an avalanche of larger littermates as they broke for the door. It took a second and the sight of Briar's tail disappearing to realize that she had lost her chance and was now dead last, and that woke her up immediately. "Hey no fair no fair!" she squalled, charging out the door after them.

She paused outside the door to evaluate her options. Squinting against the bright light, she could see Gossamer and Kotori staring at something on the ground, Ophelia disappearing somewhere else, and Briar chasing a bug. All very interesting and she couldn't decide what to do first, until Briar came up crying about bug guts. She perked up with interest and crowded up to Briar. "Ooooooooooo cool, lemme see!" What did bug guts look like?

The pups scattered for the door faster then Sirius could say 'attack!' He half expected to get mobbed by the passing pups. His boop was returning only by Briar, and he gave his Zee look-alike an extra special wag of his tail. Pivoting on the spot, he followed the pups with his eyes, staying near the den entrance. Placing a paw over his Wife, Queen and Mother of his kids he looked across at her and gave her a grin of sheer joy and love. Interrupted only by the cry of Briar who came running back to them. His companions had already scattered across the vicinity, picking pups to stalk and keep safe under their watchful eyes.

He lowered his head to Briars paw and gave it one through lick, wiping the guys from her fur with the motion. Instead of swallowing the mess, he stuck his tongue out further, in front of Aris inquisitive eyes. His own dancing with amusement as he held the awkward pose, allowing his little purple-black girl a chance to examine the mess. From this vantage point he could clearly see the white score across her eyes. A mirror of the Fatalis birthright. His tail was still swaying happily behind him. The Warlord was exactly where he wanted to be.

While they'd done this once before, Zee couldn't help but be surprised by the intensity of five ridiculously stir-crazy children with boundless energy as they were given their freedom at last. They scattered near instantly, and Zee almost moved to stand to instinctively follow them outside when her husband's paw came atop hers and she let out a small steadying exhale. It wasn't long before one returned, and the horned queen grinned at the discovery of her speckled daughter. "It's a flower, Goss." She told her with a chuckle. "Many of them can be used for medicines, and some of them are not good to eat. It's not the best habit to get into." More lethal outdoor things to add to the worry-list now - it appeared she had a herbivore. "Ask your aunty Io, she can explain to you all the ones you can and can't put your mouth on." Healing had never been Zee's specialty, but thankfully she had her sister-in-law to fall back on. "Speech"

Ophie skittered away, only to come hurdling back when she realised her siblings hadn't followed suit. The idea of exploring alone wasn't nearly as appealing and she soon found herself hiding in her dad's shadow, between his legs, as he watched over his brood. He seemed really happy and was smiling so much that she couldn't help but do the same. Minus the pointy teeth. There was so much going on Ophie wasn't exactly sure what she was supposed to do next, her siblings seemed to be having a ball and so by extension so was she but- hmm. Maybe she could see why her parents had made them wait for this day, it was a little daunting now she took the time to think about it. But again, none of her siblings seemed bothered so she had no choice but to follow suit.

"Who wanna play tag!" She cheered, stepping out from her dads shadow with a demanding stomp in her paw steps.

And then just to be a pest she skittered over to Briar and gave her sister's tail a sharp tug with her puppy teeth, as though to proclaim she was it.