Welcome to Gaia! ::

Cloud By Night never lazed about. He worked, and when he wasn’t actively on ‘duty’ he was finding busy work to occupy himself with. Whatever he could do to help the pack he would do… so long as it made sense to the warrior male and his big, bad, warrior brain…

It was pathetic, really.

But Joy Departed loved and respected him anyway. She loved him for the strength he had, even when faced with criticism. The stubbornness that made any and all efforts to thwart him as much a challenge as the challenge itself. And in some of the quieter moments, when he had to rest, and he chose to rest by her side… he was soft. She loved that the most.

Today, however, showed the small family all of what Cloud was, at least on the outside. His hardened shell might as well have glistened beneath the mid-day sun. He was large, imposing, with fur rich of its natural blackness but not without the graying of age. It suited him, Joy thought. He was aging well, far older than the she-wolf herself. And as he climbed the ladder, one rung at a time closer to death, she couldn’t help but fall more and more in love with him. Time, fleeting as it was, played such a key role in her adoration. There wasn’t a lot of it left for them to play in; if you one could call their relationship ‘play’.

… She was being silly. He had so much time left. He’d likely barter with the devil himself to spare his life before he lost it too soon… although if his strength left him due to age, she mused…

Cloud was in a corner of the clearing tussling with Ivory Laced. Throwing him to the ground over, and over, and over again, his muscles flexing and twitching to react quickly – as a warrior does. Joy Departed, very much a lounger when she had the free time for it, stretched out on a boulder overlooking the scene.

She had instructed the entire family to meet at the appropriate hour for a much needed ‘bonding’ period, and expected her girls to arrive shortly. Joy was rather fond of hosting these as often as she could manage, much to the chagrin of most involved. She rarely got to spend quality time with her kin any more, what with their loyalties to the pack being so strong and their jobs taking them so far from home. The moon, she swore it was the moon, had spoken to her late last night in a dream, whispering strange messages that made the she-wolf feel uneasy. She supposed it was a nightmare. And she wanted her family close. Just in case.

“Move quicker, boy. You’ll never survive a war let alone another hunt at this rate!” Cloud’s voice boomed after a particularly heavy blow to his step-son’s shoulder.

Ivory Laced staggered, frustrated, breathing heavily as wounds began to stain his pelt red. But he nodded, regaining his footing to stand stalwart in the face of another attack.

Joy chuckled. She loved watching her boys go at it. Strong, unrelenting in their devotions. It made her proud. Even if Cloud could not see, her children were worthy of this place. Of their home.

Any child they bore would be… and an idle thought swept her away into daydreaming.