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 Posted: Wed Jun 02, 2010 10:14 am
 Terreis had been busying herself with as many duties as she could get her paws on lately. But sadly this pack just didn't seem to have as much to do as her old one did, so to make up for the lack of duties Terreis did the only thing that made sense to her, and that was doing all her duties twice a day. Two border checks couldn't hurt right. But even with all these extra duties to keep her occupied she still couldn't escape her family. So having recently completely a check on the far eastern border Terreis was on her way back to the dens and to her sons and mate.
Though on the way she decided it was probably best if she came back with some food for the pups, perhaps that would be one of the first steps to showing Derecho and the pups that she was trying to make an effort. So she had taken the time to kill 5 plump rabbits, one for each pup. It had been a bit challenging at first to try to carry them back, but once she managed to grab them just right - by the ears - the job was that much easier.
Upon reaching the dens she spotted some of her sons out playing, a few weren't in sight but that didn't concern her too much, as they may be resting in the den. Eyes roamed over the present pups for a few moments, she didn't speak to them, asking them how their day was or anything else that would resemble motherly love - that would come later, when she was more comfortable around them. Instead she dropped the rabbits into a pile and simply said. "Eat."
Glancing around she didn't see Derecho. While she knew he wouldn't abandon the pups she did wonder where he was, he could be off attending to his own duties, maybe resting or well who knows after that. With a shrug Terreis padded a ways away from the pile of rabbit carcasses and laid down.
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Posted: Fri Jun 04, 2010 11:07 am
 Apollo was somewhat surprised to see thier mother - she'd been gone for a while now and he' halfway come to think she wasn't coming back. Starting slightly he blinked at her from where he'd been lounging in the shade and then looked at the rabbits.
Apollo might have kept quiet if he knew how much his mother was trying in her own way to take care of them, maybe even to love them but he didn't know any better and he certainly wasn't about to lie and eat when he wasn't hungry. "Father already fed up" He told her bluntly though there was nothing cruel in his voice - a mere statement of the facts that he was too young to realize might be hurtful or annoying.
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Posted: Fri Jun 04, 2010 11:12 pm
 Balios emerged from the den upon hearing his brother's speech, eyes bright and ears perked up in excitement. "Hello, Mother," he said, with the sort of stiff formality that one could come to expect from the young diplomat -- at least, as often as he remembered.
He bounded up to meet her partway, stopping a few strides beyond his brother's place in the shade, and smiled. "I could eat again," he said, glancing back a little worriedly at Apollo, thinking it may not be a good idea to risk making Mother angry -- not when there was a chance she might up and leave them again, and who knew for how long this time? "...And if you don't, then, well...." His eyes light up, a wide smile upon his maw as a brilliant idea occurred to him, "Well, then we'll just give your rabbit to Father."
He looked back up at his mother eagerly, perhaps searching for some praise for his enthusiasm.
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Posted: Sat Jun 05, 2010 4:38 am
 Corinth was hiding out in the den, in the shade - out of the sun and out of the way of the others. He'd been trying to 'practice' hunting earlier versus a grasshopper, but the little insect had leapt around, leaving him wheezing and miserable - he couldn't even catch a bug!
A sigh became a sharp intake of breath, though, when a familiar scent came wafting in. The young, dark-faced male nearly tripped over his own paws in the scramble to get outside - mom was home! He skittered, claws scraping, into the bright sunlight, and nearly knocked into Balios who'd gone out just before him.
He stood blinking for a moment, before he could see the scene just outside the family's den - mother was home and she had brought a brace of rabbits! Every time she left he was worried that she wouldn't come back, worried that they had driven her away, but here she was and his heart climbed back out of the pit in which it had been most of the day. His little stomach, free from the worry a last, rumbled when the scent of rabbit finally caught up with his nose.
Mother was such a good provider, such a wonderful hunter! "Thank you mother!" he smiled, happy but nervous, trying to keep his posture that of a good, strong, warrior son but ending up with his tail managing only half mast and then flagging lower when he didn't actively think about it. He shuffled towards the rabbits and dragged one near to her side, half laying across it with his forelimbs - he didn't always get his fair share of food, with four other hungry brothers, and he wasn't going to let mom's gift be taken away from him!
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Posted: Sat Jun 05, 2010 8:05 am
Eyes narrowed at Apollo and she could feel a growl threatening to come out, but with a lot of effort Terreis held it back. "Of course he has." She snapped at him. He always found a way to annoy Terreis, mainly by his ways of always telling the truth. She knew that Apollo would not lie even if it meant saving himself from a savage beating. But she wouldn't do that - not this time at least. After all Terreis was trying to be a good mother.
Her eyes shifted as one of her other sons came out of the den. This one was smarter than Apollo - if only in the sense as to not decline the food she had gathered for them. "Then eat." She told Balios simply, for Terreis did not care to know any details of why he did or didn't want to eat again. They were pups after all, and from her limited knowledge of them pups were almost always hungry. She also did not care of what became of the rabbit that Apollo should be eating, them could eat it between all of them, or let Derecho eat it, or hell even just let it slowly rot away.
This whole trying out the family thing would be a lot easier if Derecho was around. This point was driven home even more when another of her sons came out of the den. Corinth, the smallest and weakest of the five, looked much the same as when she had left. Terreis watched him in silence as he picked out a rabbit and dragged it over to lay beside her. Without even thinking about it Terreis got up, moved a few feet away and sat back down. Okay bringing her sons food was one thing, and something she could handle, but having one so close well she just wasn't ready for that.
Her attention turned back to Apollo, and while she sometimes hated his truthful ways it would serve her well right now. "Where is your father Apollo?" She questioned him knowing that he would have to tell the truth. Iolaus had been laying in the shade just beyond Apollo when their mother came back. And while he was quite excited to see her he knew it was best to not rush forward and greet her, that would likely only driver her away....again. So instead he took his time getting up, giving his muscles a stretch before making his way towards the pile of rabbits. Though he was certain to deliberately bump Apollo on his way. "Don't make her mad." He whispered to his brother and then trotted over to the pile of rabbits. True, father had fed them already, but he was a growing pup after all and even if he wasn't feeling particularly hungry at this very moment he knew that eventually he would be.
So he picked out a nice looking rabbit and carried it back to the shade where he had been laying. With their mothers attention currently focused on Apollo he didn't need to worry about doing something wrong just yet. But just to be certain he started to chew on the rabbit, perhaps not as enthusiastically as he should be.
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Posted: Sun Jun 06, 2010 4:49 am
Apollo merely blinked at his mothers narow eyes look - he never understood why simply telling the truth could get everyone so riled up - would they rather he lie to them? That didn't seem even remotely proper. Perhaps it would become clear as he grew..maybe it was one of those 'you'll understand when your older' situations, which seemed to be his fathers favorite response when questioned about his mother. "I don't care" He told Balios when his brother threatened to give his rabbit away - he really wasn't hungry and didn't see the point of eating when he wasn't.
He certainly didn't see the point of Corinth's excessive pleasure - Apollo knew very well that they had been well fed only a short time ago. All his brothers seemed hell bent on lying however. Oh well. "She doesn't like you lying next to her!" He snapped at Corinth - which Apollo knew the quiet pup ought to know already, he didn't understand why he continued to try and be close to her when she so obviously disliked it. It just made him feel worse and despite his ill sounding words Apollo hated to see Corinth disappointed. If only he would just stop trying!
"Father is speaking with Grand mother" He told Terreis as she asked after Derecho "He said he would be back shortly" which coming from Apollo meant that was exactly what Derecho had said upon leaving. Iolaus' bump as he passed by made his sigh slightly. He hadn't done anything to make anyone mad! He'd just stated the facts.
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Posted: Sun Jun 06, 2010 4:29 pm
Balios bit his lower lip, a twist of anxiety in him. Well, that wasn't going well at all! Sighing, he tentatively grabbed his rabbit -- and then, because he felt responsible for Apollo's rabbit, took it as well.
Things had been going well enough before Mother re-emerged, he thought, and was not at all pleased with the realization. He glanced around, wondering where Tantalus had gotten off to, and then shrugged to himself. Why was everyone always so angry? Balios didn't see much point in any of it...but, well, perhaps it was genetic. Mother and Father were always angry, after all.
"Corinth," he said, words muffled through the rabbits he was carrying. "Here. Keep this." He dropped one of the rabbits at his brother's paws. "For Father. Or you can eat it, if you're still hungry."
Pleased enough with the arrangement, he took his and wandered a safe distance from his mother -- not keen to aggravate her any further -- and settled down next to Apollo, rabbit between his forepaws. He looked at it contemplatively, as though perhaps expecting it to get up and begin dancing, but said nothing further to his family.
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Posted: Sun Jun 06, 2010 6:24 pm
Corinth winced as his brother's recriminations about bothering their mother rung in his ears. His ears flattened and he gnawed harder on the leg-bone his jaws were wrapped around, almost cracking the bone with puppy-sharp teeth. Apollo's words touched deep inside the little male, making a lump form in his throat which he tried to force down with more mouthfuls of rabbit - not understanding his brother's 'good' intentions.
" 'Kay" he mumbled, as Balios dropped the second rabbit in front of him, his brow creased as he tried to stop himself from instantly tearing into it out of sheer uneasiness at the tense family dynamic around him. But no, it was for dad and he surely liked presents from mom just as much as he did, right?
His eyes moved again to Apollo, brows knitted, as if waiting for his brother to make another cutting jab at him. When it didn't come instantly, he went back to chewing on the scraps of the first rabbit and subtly trying to watch his mother. Maybe if he caught her a rabbit, one day, she'd eat it and maybe even not move away from him...
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Posted: Tue Jun 08, 2010 7:30 am
Eyes glanced between the four present pups. There was one more who hadn't shown himself yet, be it that he was sleeping in the den or perhaps with his father, Terreis supposed if there was no sign of him in a while she should look for him. This was certainly as awkward as she knew coming to the family would be. Perhaps if she put a little more effort into it, they wouldn't all be sitting there quietly. But how? Terreis wasn't exactly an expert on raising pups. So far she had done a pretty bad job of raising her sons for far.
If only she could go and ask her mother how she had loved and raised Iosef equally to his sisters. Iosef, he would be coming to visit the pups soon. Perhaps she should tell them that. It would be a good way to break the silence. "Your Uncle Iosef will be visiting sometime soon." She announced but didn't expand on that, only because she figured the pups would have the same reaction about his slave status as their father would.
Iolaus chewed at the rabbit for a while watching in silence the exchange between his mother and Apollo. Hopefully his brother wouldn't say anything to cause her to leave again. If he could just keep his mouth shut until father arrived then perhaps she would stay for now. Even though Iolaus was pretty certain she would never completely stay, but even if she stuck around for a couple of days or maybe even a week or two it would be a good start.
His ears perked up at the mention of this uncle coming. He hadn't heard much about him, only that he came from mothers old pack and was a...oh what was that rank called. Slave? Yes that sounded right, a slave. There were so many questions he wanted to ask her about this Iosef but best not to right now. "I can't wait to meet him." He somewhat mumbled into his rabbit.
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Posted: Wed Jun 16, 2010 9:10 am
Apollo surveyed his siblings for a few moments, he thought abut saying sorry to Corinth for snapping at him...but Balios had already soothed him somewhat by giving him the second rabbit so he didn't really see the point there and Corinth was looking like he wanted to eat it rather then save it for their father. He had to give in a bit and give Corinth an apologetic look when he eyed him again and looked like he expected another reprimand.
"Is he on his way now?" He asked his mother after a few moments - Apollo wasn't sure how far away his mothers old pack was but Apollo disliked statements like 'soon' where was the accuracy in that? Soon could mean practically anything. Derecho was surprised to see Terreis as he came over the rise to their den and saw her sitting with the pups - well most of th pups, Tantalus was missing but Derecho wasn't to worried about that the den area was safe he doubted the little fellow had wandered to far. It didn't seem like he was missing anything anyways - given the level of tension brewing under the surface, he wished Terreis could just be comfortable around her sons - but she was always so very tense and unsure. It saddened him greatly but he was going to try and keep such feelings underwraps for the sake of the pups and his mate. "Terreis" He greeted her warmly before moving to greet the boys with small licks and nudges. "I do hope your all being good?" He asked them all.
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Posted: Wed Jun 16, 2010 5:26 pm
Balios perked at mention that his uncle would be visiting; though of course he'd never met Iosef, the very notion of additional family intrigued him. "That will be very nice," he said, in his over-serious manner. He began to say something else, but was interrupted by the appearance of his father.
"Father!" He leapt to his paws, tail wagging behind him and a wide grin across his maw. "We've been very good, father. Mother caught us all rabbits and there's one for you, too!" He glanced over his shoulder at Corinth, not sure if his brother had eaten that one yet. "Or, well, there was one. But you can have some of mine if you need."
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Posted: Thu Jun 17, 2010 8:57 am
Terreis shifted her paws slightly. "No, he won't be here for a few days. That is when he is given leave from his duties." She let her eyes sweep over the four pups and was about to say something else when Derecho came into view. Oh thank the gods, she was saved. Things would be less tense with Derecho here. In fact she would already feel her muscles relax a bit. "Derecho." She said smiled at him, and watched him greet each of the pups. Terreis wished she could be even half as loving as Derecho was with their sons, perhaps with time she would be.
She turned her attention back to the pups, mainly Apollo but she addressed them all. "And I expect you boys to be on your best behavior when he gets here. Iosef won't be able to visit very often." With that said she looked back to Derecho, curious as to what he and his mother had talked of.
Dropping his rabbit at the appearance of their father Iolaus let his tail wag happily as his father gave him a lick. "We've been good." He told him, confirming Balios' words. Iolaus chance a glance over at his mother, who looked oddly relaxed, must be father's presence that had caused that. But then he turned his attention back to his father. "Have you met Uncle Iosef yet?" He asked curiously.
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Posted: Thu Jun 17, 2010 11:20 am
Uncle Iosef? Sure he'd vaguely sorta heard of the wolf, but he'd never met his uncle. There was an undercurrent in the tone his mother used when talking about Iosef which made Corinth think that she didn't like her sibling or somesuch. Maybe it was something else. The pup didn't, or couldn't, comprehend the idea of slavery even though there had been whispers of it amongst his brothers. It was something he had not, in his short life, yet experienced - within or from outwith.
The look from Apollo soothed a little of the hurt he had been feeling, but Corinth instantly felt guilty again as his father arrived - just when he'd been contemplating eating the rabbit which had been left for him. He got to his feet, dragging the small prey-animal, and pulled it over to his father. Dropping the rabbit at Derecho's feet, he looked up at his father. "Mom brought this!" his tail wagged a little at the thought that he had been strong enough to share a gift from her.
Corinth liked it when his father was home, everything began to feel better. He turned to his mother, acknowledging her remonstration about good behaviour with a serious nod.
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Posted: Fri Jun 18, 2010 5:44 am
"We're not trouble makers you know!" Apollo told his dad indignantly as his father's greeting nearly bowled him over. So far he and his brothers had done nothing to terribly dangerous or 'bad'. At least not that he as aware of and it seemed kind of silly that everyone always asked them if they were being good. As if most..and he stressed most in his mind because he himself would tell the truth...of them would never fess up to being bad in the first place.
Of course thats why Apollo was there. To keep them all straight and on course. he decided to let it slip that Corinth had most likely wanted to eat his fathers rabbit because well..he hadn't actually done so.
Derecho Smiled at the pups as they all echoed each others words, chuckling slightly at Apollo - whom he was sure would have piped up immediately if one of his siblings had lied. Someday he was going to have to explain to the pup about 'white lies'..and try to get him to understand why tattling was not always such a great idea..or why telling a pregnant wolf that she was fat was wise. But those concepts were a bit out of the pups grasp for the moment so he'd let it go.
"Ah well! Rabbits are a delightful surprise!" He told Balios warmly while shooting Terreis a loving look - she was trying and that did mean something to him. "That was very kind of her..and how very nice of you to save it for me Corinth" Derecho told the meekest of his sons with a gentle push. "Perhaps you will all share it with me?" He asked them all, if they were still hungry Derecho would not mind loosing out on the rabbit.
But looking at Corinth reminded Derecho of Iolaus' question, yes...Iosef, Terreis slave brother. Derecho wasn't sure he would be a good influence on his pups - Corinth was already a bit..quieter..then the others and he didn't want the pups head filled with sevantile notions. "I have not, but I am sure he will be a good visitor" He told Iolaus though his eyes were for Terreis, he hoped she had informed her brother of the differences in their packs.
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Posted: Sat Jun 19, 2010 10:58 am
Balios looked quite pleased that his father had received the rabbit so graciously -- he looked hungry, even! -- and he cast a smile at Corinth, a sort of visual thumbs-up. One job well done, one problem solved, and a nice happy family! Well, except for Tantalus, wherever he'd run off to...Balios suspected that Tantalus was probably still quite grumpy, whether he was here or not. But that was to be expected.
"I for one am really looking forward to meeting Uncle Iosef," he piped up, his tone filled with a certain adorable pretentiousness that would perhaps become less endearing as he grew older -- but, for now, was innocuous enough. Besides, he was speaking the truth; Balios was intrigued at the notion of meeting his mother's brother, whom he was sure held the secret to winning over his mother's heart. Also, he wanted to ask Iosef what it was like to have a sister. Balios had only recently come to be truly aware of the differences between genders -- or, at least, that there was a difference between genders -- and he was now infatuated with learning as much as he could about the topic. It may prove useful later.
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