Naiche wanted to have more time with his boy.  He got to see the kid during the day if he stopped to visit or to go off with him but at some point the day ended and Arcturus had Asla’s den to go and Naiche had his own.  It didn’t feel right.  Naiche should sleep where his son slept.  Naiche wanted to wake up in the morning and see his kid there.  Funny how less than a season ago he wasn’t even sure if he wanted a child and now Naiche’s thoughts were on getting more time.  Would Arc really understand that Naiche loved him when he didn’t live with the boy like Asla did?  Yes, he was damn well jealous.   Naiche had spent the mid-day hours working but the sun was no longer at the very top of the sky and in two hours or so the first signs of light fading would start to show up.  The wolf ran in the direction of Asla’s den.  Naiche kept his senses sharp on the lookout for his son.  Asla was fine with Naiche asking Arc if he’d like to spend nights occasionally at his den and how he hoped the boy would like the idea!  Maybe he’d prefer to be with mom and sister?   Pan was riding on him as he frequently was and there was a new addition now.  An owl flew along in the sky.  It landed in a small tree as Naiche passed by, “tooo earrrrly,” the owl offered its opinion which Naiche ignored.  He had needed a bird and the owl had been the best one he had found.  Sure, it could talk but it wasn’t overly chatty.  Mostly he now had something that could travel far faster than Pan in case of emergency. "Naiche" || "Owl"

Arcturus loved to go out and explore and find trouble turning the day, but as soon as the sun got past the halfway point in the sky he knew he had to go back home. He was adventurous and some might say overly energetic, but he knew what the rules were and he'd still be good and follow them. He was always home before it started to get dark - which was part of the reason why he was always up and about at the crack of dawn. If he was only allowed to be out while the sun was up then he was going to take advantage of every minute of it! Usually he was used to coming home and finding either Tira or his mom here or both or sometimes neither, but today he was surprised to find his father there waiting on him. It looked like he had just gotten there, but still, he was excited to see the similarly golden furred man there.

"Hi, dad!" he exclaimed, giving his dad a grin as he trotted up to him, Ashur somewhere behind him. The feline didn't pause though, he just slinked past the group and into the den, clearly tired from following the pup around all day. He looked up at Pan that was riding on his father's back and gave him a grin as well, adding, "Hi, Pan!" He dipped his head even farther back, spotting the owl that was perched in a tree above them. "Hi, Owl!" With all his greetings done he looked back to his father and said, "What're you doing here?"

"Arcturus Fatalis"

And there came his son!  Naiche had seen that kid as a tiny thing and now, well, he was still small but he was growing fast! He gave the boy a big grin as he spotted him and the greetings were tossed around.  Naiche had never been the sort to keep pets but Pan had been a gift from Sirius that he had come to care for and the owl seemed a necessity now that he had kids he wanted to keep an eye on! The owl, whom Naiche did seem to just call owl offered a soft trilling whoo back in greeting, apparently it only felt like talking to complain on the hour today.  Naiche imagined the night bird would have to get used to earlier hours. Pan waved his clawed hand to the boy always ready to be a friend. “Arc,” Naiche lowered his head a bit to be on the boy’s level, “I came to check on you.  See if you were upsetting Satira again or finding some other form of trouble,” the words offered with amusement.  The boy would be a fighter for sure in Naiche’s mind.  “Well, that and to see if you wanted a change of view for a night.  Want to stay at my den for the night? In the morning when I go on patrol you could come along as well.” Naiche lifted his head up and sat down while he added, “After all, patrol will help build up endurance which you’ll need to be a great fighter and hunter.  So it's fun and rewarding.” Naiche offered the boy a playful grin and wink, “So, what do you say?” "Speech"

Arcturus couldn't help the mischievous grin he gave his dad when he mentioned upsetting his sister or getting into trouble, his white-tipped tail wagging in response. "I only bothered her a little this morning, I promise!" As long as his father considered flicking her floppy ears around until she tried scratching his nose a little that is. His head tilted to the side with a little curiosity started talking about getting a different view for the night and listened to his offer to stay with him for the night. He didn't really have a reason not to he supposed and he did like the idea of getting to go on a patrol in the morning! He wouldn't even have to bother Ashur in the morning to go out on his early morning explorations, he'd have his dad with him. That seemed pretty great!

His dad didn't have to add the extra convincing of telling him how doing a patrol helped build up endurance too since he had already pretty much decided he was going to go, but he liked anything that was going to make him a better fighter and hunter too! "Sure!" he agreed pretty easily, nodding as well. He glanced back toward the den for a moment before he looked back up at his dad, saying, "Do I need to tell mom? Or does she know? Should we go now?"

"Arcturus Fatalis"

“I already spoke with your mom.  She didn’t have any issues with it.”  It was both a relief and exciting his son had agreed with the idea.  Visiting the kid to give time during the day and then go off and sleep in his own den seemed to make the boy more Asla’s than being theirs.  This would help balance it out more in his own mind whether or not it mattered to Arcturus. “My den’s not as fancy as Asla’s but it's still nice.” It had been given to him by Tam.  Apparently, the den passed along from general to general.  “My den’s near the river further north and west.” Naiche turned to head towards the den.  “I get up about the same time the night's darkness starts to fade off, a few minutes before the sun peaks over the horizon most of the time.  You’ll want to be awake and alert then, is that going to be overly early for you?” Naiche glanced down to his son with a hint of a grin there.  No sympathy, if it was early for Arcturus he would get a taste of what his sister went through and get woken up by Naiche. The earlier work started the more time there was to find more work to be done after all.  Well, it was true enough until the pups were born at least.  Now it was find enough time in the day to get enough work done and have time with the kids.  Either way, there was no reason for any responsible wolf to sleep overly long.  Life wouldn’t give you any more years just because you wanted to sleep in longer.   "Naiche"

As soon as he heard that his mother already knew and had agreed he hopped up, ready to go. All he really needed to know was that he had his mother's permission and then everything else was easy. He shrugged when his dad told him that the den wasn't as fancy, giving him a grin. "That's alright! I don't mind!" He didn't care about fancy stuff as much as Tira did. As long as it was comfy for sleeping he supposed that's all that really mattered. They started off toward the den as his dad explained its general location, Arc nodding with understanding. He wasn't allowed to go all that far from the den still, but he had cross crossed back and forth across the territory a bunch already so he more or less knew the lay out of things. Just knowing that it was by the river helped him get an idea of where they were headed.

He grinned back at Naiche with a nod at the mention of getting up early, his tail wagging. That was a little earlier than even he liked to get up usually, but that was better than trying to wait on the others to get up like he did now! Tira slept in way more than him usually which is how he almost always managed to snag Ashur to go on adventures before she could. "That's fine with me! What are we gonna do tomorrow?" he told him, assuring his father that he'd get up whenever he wanted while also already looking forward to whatever his father had planned. More fighting training? A patrol? Exploring? He was eager for it all!

"Arcturus Fatalis"

The day was coming to a great close with Naiche having his son by his side.  It was still amazing to think of himself as a father or how much being a father meant to him.  He hadn’t wanted to be a dad but, that had ended up the moment he had seen his son for the first time.  Naiche would die a million times over for the small pup traveling along with him.  Naiche’s main goal use to be making sure he was always at his best so he could support and protect the pack in all ways possible.  Now his main goal was to give Arc the best chance for a great life he could have and to always be there for him. “Oh, tomorrow we are getting up nice and early.  We will be patrolling the border and then if you still have enough energy we can go out of the pack lands and do some sparring on some different terrain and some general exploration if you like after that.”  He’d keep Arc busy until the kid gave in.  Admittedly maybe they would do a shorter patrol.  Taking Arcturus outside the border just for him to fall asleep before they got home wouldn’t do well.  How much energy did he have? “Has mom taken you outside of the pack lands?” Naiche wanted to give the boy some ‘firsts’ so that meant knowing what all he was missing out on.  There was a big wide world out there and he was far too young to have seen much either way.   Speech:"Live to fight" Think

Arc grinned eagerly when his father described what their day would entail tomorrow. A patrol around the border and then they'd get to go out of the territory for a spar! He couldn't think of a better way to spend their day unless there was some hunting involved or maybe if Tira was there too, but he wasn't picky! When he asked about if his mom had taken him out of the territory yet he could honestly shake his head and say, "Nope! Not yet!" He didn't mention that he had technically gone past the border with Tira just a little bit, but that wasn't what he asked! He had asked if his mom had taken him out of the territory and that much he had at least told the truth about.

When they got to the den he hopped inside and plopped himself down onto the furs inside, snuggling into them contently. Oh! If he was here he got to be with Pan! Pan wasn't as snuggly as Tira and Mom, but he liked the little pangolin. "Pan! Come lay with me!" he insisted with a grin, his tail wagging against the furs behind him. He looked to his dad next, waiting for him to lay down so he could find a place next to him like he always did with his mom and sister.

"Arcturus Fatalis"

Good! Naiche’s tail wagged just a bit on hearing he would be the first to take his son off the pack land.  It was a first he would be the one to experience.  Had Naiche known of Arc’s time off the land it would of meant a lecture for Arc but certainly not surprised Naiche.  Neither Asla nor Naiche had been wired to play things safe so how could he expect their kids would?  Already he felt it would be a work to keep them in line long enough to survive to adult hood.   "Well, better get some good rest tonight.  You'll need all your energy to get through tomorrow.  Hope you're up to it." The last comment was thrown out as a challenge.  Who didn't enjoy a good challenge? Pan tottled to where Arc lay down to lay beside him, the pangolin’s long tail wrapping around the young pup.  He wasn’t exactly soft and cuddly but his loving personality and gentle demeanor made up for it. One clawed hand came up to give the boy a gentle pat on the head. Naiche watched in amusement at the picture of pangolin and pup and then met with the expectant look on his kid’s face.  Naiche stepped over near the to lay down beside his boy.  Asla had taught him about cuddling with another wolf but now Naiche got his first taste of having his small son’s body as what was next to him.  It was a strange new and wonderful thing.  Not that Naiche would ever admit to anyone about how sappy he could be at a melting heart from something simple at having his child next to him.  Naiche lay down so his front shoulder would be next to the boy’s head.  Naiche lay his head on his paw’s turned sideways getting a nice view of pup and pangolin next to him.  Hopefully, Pan didn’t move about in his sleep. "Naiche"