Regulus

Light filtered into the den, making it all but impossible for him to stay asleep. Red light filtered through his lids, and finally, he relinquished the battle and opened them, squinting against the brighter rays. He could have snuggled his face into one of his sisters, or his mothers belly fur, but, instead, he felt the thrum of excitement; starting at his nose, and ending at his tail and toes. He hoisted himself up, up onto still stubby puppy legs and paws too big for his body and shook himself, deep sapphire blues blinking away that last bit of groggy sleepiness. This was not a time for sleep; This was a time for exploration. And who better to do it than himself, the mightiest of explorers? Regulus carefully crawled over the tangle of sisters and legs and tails, until he was free, then glanced over his shoulder to make sure his escape had gone un-noticed. Thus far, it looked like everyone was still asleep. His fathers russet mass behind his mothers silver and black, and then his two sisters. Zuriel and Faite. A grin crossed his muzzle, his tail beginning to whip side to side, before he turned and charged out of the den, skidding to a halt as the wide world engulfed him. His eyes went wide. It was huge; even bigger than he was. The morning sun caught his fur in a soft halo of red. He lifted a paw, looking at himself, and quickly tumbled off balance, rump and left hip plopping onto the ground, right hind stretched out in a decidedly undignified manner. He?d never really taken the time to see how different he looked from the rest of his family. Under the light, it was beyond difficult not to notice. A bird fluttered by, intent on caching seeds and nuts for the winter, and his differences were forgotten as easily as the river carries a leaf away. Speaking of leaves. He pounced! The dry willow leaf crackled pleasingly. ?And the mighty explower defeats anover enemy!? His young voice was laced with an accent reminiscent of his mothers, plus the slight imperfections that came with young age. Wind caught another leaf, scuttling it over the stone, and he pounced that one, too. ?Take that! And that!? All worry about waking anyone up had been forgotten in the ?battle?, so busy was the red pup with fending off the horde of leaves. He pounced and barked, growled and yipped, and pounced some more. Leaves crackled, some disintegrated. Many got away, just ahead of his front paws.

He watched the young pup just a few feet away from behind a willow he had been resting beneath, the young boys actions and words bringing a low rumble fro his jaws but muffled. Children were beautiful little treasures, so delicate and full of life. Though this one did not have the safety from a large pack any longer, Deviant knew that the group of Valhallans here would fight with everything they had to protect him, his siblings and the others residing within the willows. One thing that intrigued the aging man was this one's pelt, a bright blood red unlike any of the wolves here. It was odd to think he was blood related, but even if he wasn't, the man was sure he would be treated as if it was. The child was attacking the leaves, bouncing and yipping, pawing and running. With a smirk Deviant would pick himself off and give a small shake, dismissing his coat of dirt and crunched up leaves before padding towards the young lad. "Why don't you pick on someone your own size."" He barked, tail swinging calmly behind him and a light chuckle escaping his jaws. Golden eyes stared down at the boy, friendly, warm. "What's your name little guy?" He questioned curiously, head tilting to the side as he tried to think who had a litter of pups recently. "normal. speech. thought. you." Awesome image by KatG6 <3

She could not even consider leaving her den until another sibling had done the same. Still, Faite could not deny that she was curious about the place that their father sometimes vanished to - and the place that strangers sometimes appeared from. She was curious about everything, about her sister and her brother and about her parents, but especially about the strange place beyond their den that comprised the Rest of the World. It was lucky for Faite that she had been dozing only lightly when Regulus took his first steps outside the den. His first words reached her ears and she flicked them drowsily, making a few sleepy noises and curling up tighter, tail tickling her nose. As his voice grew louder, Faite slowly began to realize that he wasn't anywhere nearby - it didn't have the slight echo that she had come to associate with voices at all! That was what truly woke her up, and Faite was on her paws in an instant. Still half-asleep, she padded towards the entrance of their den, sticking her nose into the bright sunlight and blinking repeatedly as she yawned. Blue and gold gaze locked on her brother, and Faite wagged her tail a little in greeting. She was half-ready to say something to draw her brother's attention towards herself when Faite noticed the massive stranger. He wasn't as big as her daddy, maybe, but he was far bigger than Faite or Regulus, and the little girl squeaked softly, freezing in her tracks. She was barely outside of the den, standing on unfamiliar ground and entirely unsure how she ought to react to this unfamiliar figure. Who was he? What did he want? "Burn Baby Burn"

Zuriel had been sleeping soundly up against her sister when Faite suddenly got up, making the gray pup stir. The girl blinked open her mitch-matched gaze, and lifted her head sleepily to see that their brother was gone and her sister was standing at the entrance to the den with her head sticking out. Curious she pulled herself up onto her thin legs, wobbling a little bit before finally stabilizing her little body so that she could teeter over to where her sister was standing. Sticking her head out beside Faite's she squinted into the sunlight, spotting Reg's bright form along with a big male she hadn't seen before. "Who's tha?" she whispered, leaning her muzzle toward Faite's ear, her gaze curious while it stayed locked on the stranger. Her ears flicked back, listening for their parents, wondering if they would wake up with all the commotion. Speech Thought Others

Sleep was something slightly difficult for Newol to come by, right now. This was to blame on the very large deal of things on his mind that he carried with him to bed at night. His one greatest comfort being the creature which he got to lay beside. Everything seemed to pile on top of him now that he was back here among his family again. For one, he knew them so softly. By face and name alone. This time he wanted to really get to know them. Especially his siblings. And then there was the fact that he was in this forest again. Three nights, Newol had spent here after the collapse of Valhalla. And three nights, he'd bellowed into the sky anger and fury. Wanted nothing more than to go and rip a bloody hole in the face of Alacritis. Then, he'd moved on. Settled down in the Eastern section. And settled down good. He'd found home up there in those mountains. Made a Den for himself in the Singing Caverns, way back in the Mountain's Deep. A cave that was difficult to get to, with a pool of transparent, crystal blue water in it's center. That place had been a safe haven for his soul. The world couldn't touch him way back in there in the mountain's deep. And his den had been open to all too. That cave something he considered a sanctuary. He would have shared a meal with even his worst of enemies inside it's stone walls. And that right there was among the list too. Food. Newol had developed a monstrous appetite for fish living in the East. Salmon in particular. All these things piled together where causing some difficulty for him to adjust. It just seemed like every time the poor boy got himself settled, he had to move again. But he was not going to stay that far away from his family. Not after the hell they'd been through. Not this time. Not after the Hell he'd been through. But, he was better for it. Because there wasn't an adjustment big enough or difficult enough to keep him away now. Especially with the birth of his sister's pups. His nephew and two nieces. He recalled his early memories. A rag tag group of Misfits had surrounded him for what brief time he'd been allowed in that desert. From what he knew, it took a tribe. It took a tribe to raise a child. And he intended to be there to help in any way he could. Such where the thoughts that bounced through his head on this morning as he made his way across the short distance to Surreal and Falk, his brother in law,'s den. It was early and he had no intention of interrupting their sleep. But keeping an eye on the area never hurt anyone. Plus it was something for him to do. Something to allow him to distract himself from his mind. And as he made his way along, a scent filled his nose. As he focused more closely one scent became four. And all four of them familiar. Three of them painfully so. This brought haste to his stride, wanting to be sure that his kin was safe. As, the fourth he knew was familiar, but he couldn't remember just why that was so. Finally, the four bodies fell into view, and at once he recalled the fourth scent. A man by the name of Deviant Black. Newol had shared a fish with him once on the beach, some time ago shortly after the collapse of Valhalla. All the same, caution was something he was very strong on. The difference between friends and Family was many. His stride slowed to a calm step as he approached. He walked up with a very faint smile, directing his gaze to the other man. A small nod of his head in greeting. Then, in turn, he inspected each of the three children with his gaze as he positioned himself between his nieces and Deviant. His back to the two girls, he spoke. "Good morning friend. Nice to see you again." He then dropped his gaze to the large red pup still in front of him. Looking at the boy, no, His nephew, brought caused the smile on his face to grow just a little larger. Just as calmly as he had addressed the other male, he spoke the child's name. "Regulus." Scraping the ground before him with his paw, he quietly and calmly beckoned the child to him, somewhat pleased by how naturally his protective instincts came to him as he settled on his rump. Then again, it was probably a good thing too. Surreal would have his head if he let something bad happen to these children. "Burn Baby Burn"

Golden eyes would catch something nearby moving and suddenly stop, head swung around and he would focus on another pup standing in what he would assume was their den entrance. Sister? The large man would flash her a friendly smile, tail continuing to wag in a rhythmic swing. He might be large but he considered himself to have a friendly appearance, somebody you could get along with easily with little to no issues. Another pup appeared beside the other, whispering something in her ear which brought a smirk from the man. They were smart for being so young, knowing not to just come running out and asking a complete stranger questions. Head turned once again, his golden orbs falling upon an approaching figure, a male that he had run into not long after Valhalla had fallen. Brown with darker markings and scars across the muzzle, Neowl. A dip of his head would be returned to the man, watching as he placed himself between the kdis and Deviant before verbally greeting him. The larger man chuckled with a small shake of his head, incredibly amused by this action but holding back on showing how much. ?Easy kid, I've had fourteen children and help Imena and Cael with theirs. If I wanted to harm them I would have already done it rather than be friendly with them.? His tones still held their friendliness as he said this. Regulus, so that was the red one's name. Interesting one. "Regulus, ey?" He spoke to himself, glancing over to the two girls in the den entrance before sitting back on his haunches. "I'm a friend young ladies, I've been the one patrolling the place to make sure you guys are safe. It's okay to come out." He tried to encourage them, letting them know the place would be safe for them to explore. So with that said and done he turned back to Newol and grinned, laying a foreleg over the other. "It's been awhile since I last saw you, what have you been doing?" "normal. speech. thought. you." Awesome image by KatG6 <3

Regulus

Well, what do ya know? As soon as his oversized puppy paws had crumpled the last leaf in sight, and he felt a thrill of victory rush through his veins, a big pile of them rose up from the ground like some monster from a scary story. Regulus fell back with a yipe, tripping over his paws before a deep voice rumbled above him. It sounded like a wolf? He lifted wide sapphire eyes and stared. This wolf was even bigger than his Papa. He looked around. Where was the leaf monster? Of course, there hadn?t been one, and while to his alarmed puppy mind, the big body rising up, with leaves stuck to its fur had seemed a big pile, there weren?t many. Of course, Regulus wasn?t aware of that yet, so remained wary and on guard. The big wolf asked his name and the red pups eyes turned back and up to him. ?W-W..? He paused, trying to get that tricky ?R? sound to work. ?W-Rrregulus.? And just like that, his wary demeanor was blasted away by delight at managing the noise. You had to watch out for those ?R?s; they could be really sneaky and hard to catch Just then, Faite and Zuriel came out of the den. Regulus switched from delighted to protective big brother in one big bounce; after all there was a leaf monster out there, and who knew what horrible things it could do to them all. He drew himself up and backed up until he was in front of his sisters, deep sapphires looking around for said monster. Instead, a brown wolf with green eyes came over. This wolf greeted the big wolf after looking at Regulus and his sisters, and plonked his rear down between the red pup and company and the big wolf, then greeted Regulus. The pups head cocked. The expression was a good example of the ?And you are?? phrase. Thus far, Regulus hadn?t been introduced to his uncle Newol yet. He was certainly going to have an easy time saying his name. Regulus cast a glance at his sisters, backing up a few more steps until his rump was nearly touching them and regarded the world again for that leaf monster. He figured the two grown ups would start talking soon enough, and they generally seemed to forget about pups being present at those moments. So he would concentrate on protecting his little sisters.

and whenever the sun came out, we played . At Zuriel's appearance, Faite leaned slightly against the silver form of her sister, a small smile crossing her delicate features. Her answer to the other girl's question was nothing more than a small shrug, communicating the fact that she didn't have the faintest of ideas as to what was happening or who this stranger was. He smelled faintly familiar, but Faite had not explored enough of the lands around her den to recognize it properly. Another wolf appeared, another adult, and Faite shied back a little, rather nervous in the company of two strangers. Still, she remained quiet, gaze flicking from Regulus to the two grown ups and back again. They didn't seem to mean any harm - in fact, both of them seemed like they knew each other. And if her mother and father allowed them this close to the den, they probably didn't mean any harm. As Faite reached this conclusion, she stepped carefully from the shelter of Zuriel's form and padded forward, head tilting back to look at the two males. "I'm Faite." Her voice was soft as she looked at the adults, head tilting slightly to the side. Who were they? What relationship did they have to her family - the black one said that he had been patrolling the area to keep them safe. Did that mean that he was family too? She padded a few more steps forward, until she had bypassed Regulus as well, curious enough that she forgot her fear. They were all so interesting looking! They looked nothing like her siblings - the brown one kind of resembled her father, she supposed, but that wasn't exactly true. Could they be family, then, if they didn't look anything like herself or her parents. But then what would that make Regulus? He looked nothing like her parents. Hmm. "Burn Baby Burn"

this was as good a place to fall as any , When Newol had left, Serra had considered allowing him his peace and not tracking him down. However, it was too pleasant of a day to not share it with her dearest companion, and the early morning air was crisp and cool. This was the kind of day that Serra did not want to spend sleeping in a warm den - no, this was the kind of day that was perfect for wandering, for walking until the cool no longer felt cold and instead her body would be pleasantly warm from the exertion. Well proportioned legs carried the slate wolf smoothly across the ground as she tracked Newol's scent. It was easy to follow for one as attuned to it as she, and she padded along in no particular rush. Before long, she could also pick up the scents of four others - none were particularly familiar to the woman, though three carried the scent of pups and the other seemed to be an adult. With nothing else to go off of, Serra simply shrugged and continued onwards, drawing to a halt only when she spotted Newol. With a nod towards the male that laid on the ground, Serra padded up to her mate, glancing curiously at the three pups that stood in various places around the small area. "Well, hello there," Serra spoke to the pups with a flick of her tail before glancing up at Newol, nudging him lightly with her shoulder. "Burn Baby Burn"