Small, clumsy steps announced the departure of the pup from the whelping den; her eyes gleaming bright aqua as she peered up into the sky. So life. That's what this was, living, breathing; fun times with her siblings. Some of them were jerks though. She probably was too, but she only knew her parents and the few other family members that had visited in the time since their birth. So. No frame of reference there. Not that she knew what that was anyways.

But now... their time to explore and experience life outside the den. They were allowed some extended time out, not too far without an escort of course. She had watched a few siblings trickle out of the den, while she remained inside- satisfied by the embrace of her mother and the warmth there... But her curiosity eventually got the better of her. She wandered, taking in all the smells of the great territory she was born into. Safety was only a call away; so she did not fear whomever she might run into. All the while the girl did not have much of an expression on her face, being more reserved in the emotive department. Estie came to a stop when she happened across some flowers, sticking her nose into one; promptly eliciting small squeaking sneeze that burst out from her little frame. Annoyance crossed her soft puppy features, a paw moving to stomp the flower with the tiniest little grin - flashing needle sharp teeth in the process.


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Revenant hadn't exactly been expecting to be stepping back into a brotherly role when he had come back to Ashen to visit his mother and father, but after discovering the new surprises they had for him and his mother's pleading look for him to stay around for a while, the young brute relented. And so he had become a brother again—not just a brother, but a big brother. Responsibilities and all and such... ugh, what a wonderful surprise... Still, as the litter of nine was still very little, there wasn't much trouble they could get into just yet. They mostly toddled about, sometimes tumbling over each other, sometimes trying to scrap in the way babies could attempt to be violent, but mostly just existing. Gods, was this what he and his brothers were like when they were little?

While trying to do the whole bonding thing with the little chubby nuggets, Revenant noticed one of the pups wandering out of the den on her own. This wasn't a problem exactly, not since they were old enough to explore Ashen on their own now at least, but knowing how overprotective Aliana was of them, Rev decided that he'd rather not have anything bad happening to the kid on his conscience—at least not if he could be responsible for it. Following behind the girl—which one was this one again? There were so damn many...—Revenant watched as she wandered south from their rocky home towards the massive lake at the heart of Ashen. Spring had brought about the thaw of the snow and ice, revealing fresh buds of flowers poking out to greet the sun. He watched as Estie went to sniff a few, sneezed, and then smashed them down with a grumpy pout on her lips. Her temper tantrum earned her a hearty laugh from her big brother, shooting a toothy grin at the violent little munchkin. "Better watch out, we've got a badass over here!" he teased her. Gods, they were such ridiculous little things, weren't they?

"Revenant"

The traitorous flower paid for its slight against her nose. The sneeze had hurt a good bit, actually. As she stared at the crumpled plant below her toes she wondered if she should take one of the non-crushed ones back to mother upon her return. Maybe ma will like it. But Barghest’s brief anger, as miniscule as it was at her age, earned her a laugh from a source she was shocked to see had probably been trailing behind her the whole time. Well, That or he was magic- but it was rather easy to sneak up on a child her age. Her small ears pinned back for a moment as she jumped to round on the intrusion to her exploration, stumbling a bit on the landing when her eyes fell on the imposing form of one of the older siblings that visited from time to time. Her aqua eyes, to which he shared the color of in his own gaze, focused on Rev-reva-something as he teased her; the toothy grin he flashed subtly mirrored on her childish face as she piped up. “What’sa badass?” The girl, as close in resemblance to their mother without being a tried and true copy, echoed his word back to him; genuinely curious as to what it meant.

She ambled towards him, excited to be in the presence of her elder brother. Mother loved them very much, and in turn Estie was quick to express that in the happy sparkle of her eyes. She was young, and did not know hardship or peril; so it was easy to be cheerful with simple things like attention. “Y’think mama would want a flower? I didn’t like that one, though. So not that one.” She craned her skull back and shot as venomous a look as she could at the crumpled, sad flower on the ground. It’s only crime being too pretty not to smell.
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