Karai*Others

Unaware of the bloodshed that was occuring at the ranch in their absence, Karai had chosen this cold, wintery day to be one of the pups' first experiences with the outside, wild world. They were growing quickly, to both parents' delight, and though they'd been raised half at the ranch and half in the wild lands surrounding it, the young wolves had nevertheless never been very far outside the realms of humanity and the tamer of the lands in the valley, and after much begging from all of them, Brother and Karai had finally consented to take their children exploring into some of the less-tamed areas. However, they wisely chose a peice of earth that had less of a violent history than most of the lands here - the lake had nearly always been neutral territory, where most could come and go without threat of harm coming to them. So though her manner was a little guarded as she trod out of the trees onto the shore, with Reiki directly behind her and Ayxiel in the middle, with Brother corralling the rest in a sort-of-orderly formation from the rear, Karai was not overly tense; this was a place that was still relatively 'safe'.

Akembi & Tunga

Akembi had definitely been a prominent voice in the begging process, being more boisterous than his slightly more sedate brother, Tunga. Yet even the mild-mannered Tunga couldn't help but pester his parents about seeing more of the wild land from time and again, and now that they'd finally been allowed a vacation of sorts from the Ranch, the brown-eyed youngster could hardly contain his excitement. He was obedient enough not to stray too far from his parents or siblings, but he did keep Brother on his toes about making sure he didn't amble too far off.

Akembi, for all that he was loud and energetic, was always in need of having his siblings near at hand. He was the pseudo brave brother, able to act tough and adventurous, but quickly backing down if he didn't have the support of his siblings or parents to keep his confidence afloat. "Look at all that water! I've never seen so much before!" With a gasp of awe, the alabastor youngster nudged Ayxiel and grinned, "Betcha I can reach the water before you do."

Karai*Others

"Akembi, you're old enough to at least pretend you're paying attention to your surroundings." Soft and musical, the mother spoke up to interupt the boisterous male before the dare could really begin. "What sort of animals have passed here recently? Which are still in the area? Come, come - put your noses to work, my loves." Of course, Karai herself had already analyzed these facts herself, but she was doing her best to attempt to get her children to take this venture into the wilds a little more seriously, now that they were a little older. Quiet as he tended to be when he was in a good mood - or really any other mood aside from furious, since his personality was generally a quiet one - Brother nearly chuckled, but stifled it when he saw the look that his mate gave him.

"Moose," Ayxi answered softly, before Akembi could even begin. Ever quiet and a little more cautious than any of her brothers, the lone female of the siblings was more disposed to being a little more noticing of her surroundings and was more prone to being serious than playful; it took a great effort on the part of her siblings to entice her into play. And while her admirable intelligence and the skill she'd showed early on had always pleased the parents, Karai in particular often worried about their daughter... she reminded Karai very much of herself, sometimes, which wasn't always a good thing.

Akembi & Tunga

Down when the youngster's white ears, plastering themselves appeasingly against the back of his head while he smiled sheepishly up at his mother. "I aaamm paying attention." He tried to justify himself, undeserved as it was, since he most certainly was not paying attention to the things around him. Slowly, his ears perked back up and he eagerly jumped at the chance to answer the question, "Dee- ...erm, I was gunno say moose..." Slightly put off that he'd not only got the question wrong, but was usurped by Ayxi, Akembi put his nose to the ground and did his best to pick up a new scent so that he could victoriously call out an animal's name. He didn't notice the expression his mother gave Brother, or who his father who abruptly stopped himself from chuckling, "...I smell mud, does that count? And- ah-ahCHOOO!" The adolescent sneezed with force and gave his head a good shake.

Tunga bounded back towards the others, far more interested in an intellectual game than Akembi was, and more for the challenge it presented, rather than the chance to outdo his siblings. "Wolverines. Two of them, I think?" His tail wagged very slowly, half anticipating some praise, and also worried that he could be wrong. "Can you smell them, Ayxi?" Always a bit sensitive to how quiet his sister was, Tunga could be found more often than not staying near her, and never failed to try and include her in things, even if it took a lot of effort to do so, sometimes.

Karai*Others

"Only if you can tell me where the mud came from and what walked through it last," Karai answered, tossing her head gently at Akembi to attract his attention. "Moose have a mustier smell than deer do," she told him, even as Brother could tell that she was enjoying the lesson, and taking a quiet sort of amusement in Akembi's lack of drive to learn, at the moment. "It's due to the antlers - the fuzz the young ones have, and even the adults in the winter, holds all kinds of smells." Then she devoted her attention to Tunga, favoring him with a smile. "Two wolverines for now, yes... but more to come, if he was lucky; the female was in season. And?" That prompt made Ayxi twitch her nose again, but it was Reiki who ventured, "Squirrels... not the kind at home, but the bigger kind. The gray kind."

"Good," Brother told him, moving forward in amongst the mass of them and joining in the lesson. "Also, a few hundred paces into the trees, a family of rabbits that you have missed. And all of you have failed to mention the trio of wolves that passed through here..." he paused, putting his own nose to work to be more sure of his findings, before finishing, "...just before dawn this morning."

Akembi & Tunga

Now the youngster's ears planed out to the side, "I walked through it las-la- achhuuu!" A second sneeze interrupted his would-be smart-alec response, which made Tunga giggle at the failed attempt before he smartly devoted his energies back to the lesson at hand. The bigger pup was wagging his tail full throttle now after getting his question right, and went on to soak up the rest of what his parents were telling him. His nose went back to the ground, trying to uncover the deeper scents and pick up on the others things that had been mentioned. "Rabbits... oh!" Tunga turned about to set his dark brown eyes towards the trees, though the area was far too dense for him to pick up the family of rabbits his father had pointed out. "Can you take us on a hunt today, too?"

Akembi finished scrubbing a paw at his nose, which did little but smear mud over his light coat, not that he minded getting dirty at all. Tame enough around the humans, Akembi was the kind of canine that loved to get baths, and found out that if he was particularly smelly and dirty, he could sometimes coax Tah or Martha to clean him up. Tunga, on the other hand... he shied away from such things, and Martha had yet to get him into a tub. "Other wolves, really? I knew I smelled something..."

Karai*Others

Far more inclined to be a little childish than his more serious sister, Reiki laughed a little at Akembi, not only because of his sarcastic answer, but because of the sneeze that interrupted him. "Wrong," the ebony male teased, whilst placing one front paw suddenly very close to where Akembi had his feet planted, coming quite near to stepping on his brother's toes. "I passed through it last," he challenged, while shifting his weight suddenly toward his sibling in an attempt to get him staggering a bit. "Oh, the two of you," Axyi muttered, turning her golden eyes toward them and shaking her head, but only half serious. Kembi and Reiki were the clowns among them, and all of them had grown used to it by now.

Meanwhile, Brother prompted Tunga toward him, and answered, "Look here - you must learn to see with your nose as well as you do with you eyes. Stand where I am, and you will smell them, for the wind is favorable. It-" He stopped abruptly, alerted to a sudden change in the situation by a dangerous snarl that sounded from his mate - a snarl that he'd rarely heard from her as long as he'd known her. The pups had heard it from her only once, and should know that it meant business; the singular time she'd used that sound with them in hearing range, it had been because a mother bear was passing far too close to the den for her comfort, and she'd used the sound to instantly gather the pups under her defense, after which she'd crouched over them and waited for danger to pass. Ayxi was the first to snap to and dart without thought over to her mother - Reiki was a little slower to come to heel, turning his eyes about in a panicked motion to look for danger. But there was none; and Brother was stunned to find his mate's vicious vocalizations focused in his direction. "Brother, where are you?" she shouted, and where she'd crowded behind Karai, Ayxi silenced her whimpers. Wait... what? Too stunned to speak for a moment, Brother remained silent, and only gave Karai more opportunity to speak. "Brother! Come on, this isn't funny!"

Akembi & Tunga

Discussions about wolves, and his meek attempt to get his father believe that he'd smelled them to and just hadn't mentioned it, were quickly forgotten. Reiki had declared a game of romping when he dared to tease back and bump into him like that. "Oh reeaally? Cause I say I passed through it last." The adolescent slapped his paw against the cold mud with enough force to splatter some of it on his brother's leg, but in the next instance, Reiki got his retribution when he bumped Akembi, making him not only stumble, but fall onto his side. Half of his side now covered in mud, the only thing left for Akembi to do was pounce at Reiki and try to get him just as dirty.

Tunga only spared a side-glance at his squabbling brothers, deciding that right now, learning about hunting was more enticing than playing in the mud... but only by a little bit. Stepping up obediently near his father, unable to keep his tail from waving just a bit, Tunga sniffed vigorously at the wind to try and pick up on the smell his father was telling him about. Just about the time as his eyes were lighting up with success, a snarl had the pale-coated youngster instantly tucking tail and darting a worried look around. A second later, he was slinking quickly under his mother's belly, having to crouch to fit under her, and probably looking a little awkward in doing so. Akembi high-tailed it after Reiki and the others, crowding up against his mother and siblings and joining them in trying to figure out what the danger was. "Momma... he's right there." Akembi urged in a whimper, badly confused by the seriousness of her snarling, when her mate was standing right there.

Karai*Others

"No, you're-" Whatever Reiki might have said in response to his brother, it was all set aside as they all responded instinctively to that frightening sound from their mother. And even though she was in a heightened state of aggression and fear right now, the mother was reflexively adjusting her position so that Tunga could scramble under her and shifting her legs around so that most of the bodies of her growing pups were completely disguised from view by her compact, silver one in a desperate need to keep them safe. "Ghostwalker killed you. You're dead - go away," she was hissing, her eyes casting a deadly light upon Brother, though she had never held anything aside from affection and gentle care in the soft blue orbs until now. "Hush, Kembi," she snarled, with the assumed authority of a parent who was already panicked... but didn't want their children to pick up on it. "Brother!" she called aloud again, waiting tensely for an answer.

Akembi & Tunga

At this point, Akembi was starting to be more frightened by his mother's behavior than he was over what had caused her to get defensive like this. His tendency to push his parents' buttons and generally be an ornery pup fizzed out completely, and he didn't make so much as a peep after Karai snarled - he wasn't about to disobey such a voice. Tunga, similarly, was just as baffled and terrified. "Who's ...Ghostwalker? Dad, what's wrong...?" In a trembling, un-Tunga like manner, the adolescent found his voice and dared to speak when Akembi no longer would. He knew he risked getting a snarl from his mother, and that is something he would risk in order to figure out what was going on her. "Momma...." Tilting his off-white head, he was further horrified to see the sort of vicious glare she was giving Brother, a look that he was sure he'd never seen her use before - and one he didn't want to see her employ ever again.

Karai*Others

'It's never been this bad before... there have been lots of times she didn't recognize me, but...' Brother's thoughts were crashing quickly through his brain, explaining just why he hadn't spoken up yet to either comfort the pups, or to try to talk Karai out of this sudden bout of aggression. Unlike any of their children, he knew what was going on; it had happened before, and he and she had gotten into long discussion about it when the pups were asleep... but never before had whatever she was seeing brought out her rarely-seen aggressive side. "I'm not sure, Tunga," he finally answered, his tones low and careful. And though he didn't so much as step forward, knowing too well the seriousness of the look on his mate's face, Karai started up with a snarl. "This is your last warning, demon-spawn. Get out of here." Doing his very best to keep his composure calm and even, despite the fact that having his beloved mate threaten him was doing quite a bit of damage. "Karai... you're frightening the pups. Come on, now... you know it's me."

"I know no such thing," she snapped, and Brother flinched. "Your mother is ill," he finally told them softly, and Ayxi, crouched behind Karai and huddled on the ground so that she could cuddle next to Tunga, whimpered ever-so-quietly. "She does not mean what she is saying." The snarl redoubled, and Karai dared a step forward. "Don't I? Are you not the one who forced my first pups out of me, who gave me this eye? Who left me scarred before Ghostwalker and Moon Spirit managed to kill you?" A little horrified, because he hadn't ever asked Karai about her past, Brother shook his head emphatically. "My name is Elder Brother, and I have raised a human of twenty years; one Tahmores, of your acquaintance. I fathered pups with you, yes... but by your choice."

Akembi & Tunga

Neither brothers knew of the terrible time their mother had been captured by the humans, the cruel two-leggers who had been curious to test on a victim who had no voice to protest and no means to escape their clutches. They didn't know of the times before that, where their mother had an unfortunate encounter with a terrible brute that she was currently confusing her mate of being. Akembi remained too terrified to speak yet, leaving Tunga the one who dared to speak up. "Momma, you're scaring us!" He finally whimpered, getting enough courage to say this when Ayxiel cuddled against him in shared trepidation. "That's dad! Can't you see him? Momma, stop growling!" As afraid as he was, he also knew that his mother would not hurt him, so despite the way that his body was trembling and hunched down, the white and yellow tinged youngster crept out from under her by a few steps so that he could more directly look up and face her.

Karai*Others

"Hush, Tunga," was Karai's reply, her snarl held in check just for a moment so that she could voice that to him before it came back in full force as she reached a deft front paw to tuck him behind her small body again. "If you know so much," she challenged Brother, never taking her eyes off of him, "then go fetch him and bring him here. Tahmores will know the truth of things." Shaking his head some to clear it, he answered, "Tahmores is in town today, among many humans... you know as well as I do that wolves dare not venture into that area. I-"

"Elder Brother... if you will permit me..." That soft voice came from the treeline, where stood a wolf that none of the pups had ever seen before; taller than their father, and yet leaner of body, more akin to Timber's lanky build, the stranger black-marked gray face was watching them all, the blue eyes intelligent and calm. He gave Brother a short bow, and though he seemed a little stunned, the father returned it distractedly. "Who's that?" Reiki whispered, looking more than a little confused and frightened. But fortunately, Brother didn't look scared of this male... and after a moment, during which her eyes turned toward the voice, neither did Karai. As a matter of fact, the end of her tail twitched ever so slightly, indicating that she wanted to greet this newcomer... but didn't dare, with a perceived threat nearby. "Of course, Joscelin," Brother answered, gesturing vaguely for the young wolf to join them. "Please, do... you know your mother better than I do, I suspect."

Akembi & Tunga

Tunga needed no more than the guiding paw of his mother to convince him to scuttle back beneath her and crouch down next to his sister again. His little mind was swimming with thoughts that were mostly too jumbled by his current fear to make much sense of. He couldn't figure out why his mother was suddenly saying strange things and being aggressive with their father, and now he was starting to consider what Brother had said... Karai was sick. But how? In his mind, that meant she had a cough, or a fever; he didn't yet consider that it had something to do with her mind. "Dunno." Akembi piped up in a squeak of a voice, responding to Reiki when he was too petrified to address either of his parents. "It looks like dad knows him though, look!" When body language spoke just as loud as words, if not moreso, Akembi picked up on the lack of aggression or apprehension between the stranger and his father, an observance that told him the two must know each other.

Karai*Others

"Definitely... Dad knows him. And I think... Momma does too?" Ayxi didn't sound all that certain about that idea, but she felt Karai's tail twitch, which told her subtly that their mother was at least not frightened of this male. It took a few seconds though, as Joscelin drew forward to greet them, before she relaxed just a mite... well, enough to silence her snarls, anyway. It was replaced by a welcoming whine as she leaned forward to nuzzle her son, who had subtly put himself half between Brother and Karai; not because he thought the father any threat to his mate, but because it made Karai herself feel safer for a few moments. "I've not seen any of you for nearly two years... where did you go? Are Saxton and your sisters with you?" Just like that, Brother - and what she perceived as his threat to the pups - faded right out of her mind, and she was an affectionate mother again, greeting her long-lost son. Joscelin gave his smile, which was genuine but a little dark at the back of the gentle blue eyes, and shook his head. "That is a matter for another time, Mother... for the moment, you are badly frightening the little ones, and your mate, as well."

That drew her attention back to Brother, and she lifted a lip to show her fangs, emphasizing that she still didn't see her mate's face. "He was never my mate," she hissed, and even from his distance, Brother heard her, and flinched again, but didn't move toward her. "What you see is not what is real," her son told her gently, shaking his head some. "Remember that once you thought you saw me die... but it was an enemy? This is the same sort of thing. You see my father instead of your mate." His tones were heavy but wise, and made her look back at Brother, her gaze more concentrated. "He wasn't your father, either... Zhener was more father to all of you than Siyamak ever was." Not about to debate that fact with her - since it was, in fact, very much true - Joscelin went on, "Look again at the one you fear... he is not what you believe him to be." It was very quiet, but it was enough to reach her... and after a few moments of squinting her eyes, just as though this were a matter of vision rather than the mind, she looked up at him - and let out a low breath. Sensing the tension running out of her, Ayxi relaxed some, and lay her head to one side against Tunga. "Brother, I..." He didn't give her the second to apologize - he simply drew forward to close the gap between him, drawing his head up over hers until her crown was cradled under his chin. "It's alright," he murmured, and "It's never happened in front of the pups before," she whispered. In all of the relief that was hitting them, neither parent thought to introduce Joscelin to them.

Akembi & Tunga

The twitch of his mother's tail was detected more on a subconscious level by Tunga, and it had just the same effect as it did on Ayxi, and on Akembi who'd spotted his mother's banner give the subtle movement. This stranger was not the enemy that had sparked Karai's sudden bout of aggression... in fact, he was able to cautiously come forward and get a nuzzle out of their mother! Tunga's nose twitched and went to work on this new fellow's scent, and he was surprised to find something very familiar about him... and yet, his eyes told him that he'd never seen Joscelin. Tunga might have spoken up to report his finding and see if the others smelled something familiar about this stranger, but with Joscelin now standing so close, the adolescent didn't speak up.

"Zhen, did you hear that? He knows him too!" Akembi was perfectly willing to speak, albeit quietly, now that his mother was showing a slight relaxing from her previous tension and aggression. Dropping his voice until it was hard for even his keen eared siblings to hear, Tunga responded back, "But who's Siyamak? Wait... did he say 'Mother'...?" The youngster knew Zhener well enough, though the large eagle had only been able to visit a handful of times; Siyamak's name was still a mystery to them, but even that had to take second place to the sudden revelation that Joscelin had called their mom 'Mother'. While he was puzzling that one over, and still listening intently to what was being said and what was going on around them, Tunga's yellowed tail began to thump the ground faintly when his parents came together after that frightening standoff. Very, very cautiously, Tunga lifted his head up, but did not withdraw himself from underneath Karai, or away from his sister, "Momma, who's this?" On the other side of things, Akembi was gawking at his parents, and had a whole different question for them, "...what was all that growling about? Is the danger gone?"

Karai*Others

Several seconds passed before Karai unwound completely, pulling her tail up from its lowered position and straightening her legs again so that she was more upright and not crouched so close to the ground. "It's alright, my loves," she whispered after a moment or two, letting a smile take her face to be sure that the pups knew that all was safe now. There was still a darkness in the back of her gaze, but at least she was far more relaxed now. "Sometimes... I do funny things like that. It goes away, eventually." Not knowing how else to explain that to them, she offered that vague explanation, and gently disentangled herself from her mate's embrace to cuddle against Joscelin and rest her head on his back in a hug. It was an embrace that he returned willingly, with an enthusiastic wave of the gray-toned tail.

"If he knows Zhener, then... but Zhener's one of Momma's oldest friends," Ayxi was whispering, still studying Joscelin carefully as she remembered what Karai had told them about the kind but often daft bird. She quirked a look at the male, and shook her head. "I don't know..." Finally, Joscelin himself spoke up, his face a little serious in nature, but his voice friendly enough. "Karai is my mother," he told the pups gently, without ever leaving where the smaller silver wolfess had settled beside him. "But Elder Brother is not my father... technically, I guess that makes me your half-brother."

Akembi & Tunga

Even though they were still confused, particularly the deep-in-thought Tunga, all of them responded to Karai's descent from such heightened aggression. Akembi was the first to brave away from his mother's protection, although he darted the short distance - on a few steps, in fact - to be beneath his father. Once there, and with his tail wagging so forcefully that it about sent his backend swaying, he reached up and nuzzled at his father's neck. It was an act meant as much for general affection as it was to assure himself that Brother was alright, despite the vicious way that Karai had reacted to him. And then he dipped his head and took a few mincing steps towards Joscelin, stopping for a moment to look over the older wolf. His tail stopped wagging and his ears went back, expression submission to the stranger, despite Akembi's general dominant attitude. The blue-eyed pup had to look back at Brother and up over to Karai before he took the last few steps foward so that he was close enough to give the other a good sniff over. "Half-brother? Um... my name's Akembi."

Tunga had remained where he was even after Karai moved towards her son that she hadn't seen for two years, "Maybe that Siyamak guy is his father? I think he said that, didn't he?" Tunga murmured, without moving his eyes away from Joscelin. He didn't particularly feel frightened of the stranger, especially not when Karai was settled right next to him, but the events that had just unfolded had made Tunga more cautious than normal right now, to the point that he wasn't going to get up and join Akembi until he'd had some time to digest everything. And more than anything, he was still pondering what his father meant by calling their mother 'sick'.

Karai*Others

"Joscelin," the male replied, watching Akembi work his way around to Brother - who returned his son's nuzzle with one of his own and a quiet, gentle expression that was going for calm, now that Karai seemed back into her usual demeanor - and then begin to approach him. Encouraged by Akembi's progress, Reiki began the same circuit, ducking under Brother for a moment or two as he watched his larger brother mince toward Joscelin. Noting without honestly making an effort the way that Kembi's ears went back, Joscelin lowered his head a little to be more on the pup's level so as not to be quite so imposing, extending his muzzle some to give his younger brother something to sniff at, for introduction's sake. And at this point, Karai seemed to understand that her children might be looking to her for some sort of direction, because she drew away from her contact with Joscelin to smile on them all, her face now completely calm and much more like what they were used to seeing from her. "Joscelin is my son from my first litter, before I met your father. Saxton, Aderyn, and Ziarre also are your siblings... wherever they are..." She trailed off, looking back to her son, and his face solemnified for a moment. "Saxton was killed in battle almost a year ago now, and Aderyn is held by our enemies... I do not know how she fares there." His tones were appropriately soft, and Karai closed her eyes a little. But Ayxi whined - she knew that this information hurt their mother, even as she had never met these others they were speaking of. It took the silver fae a moment to recover, but when Brother drew close and allowed her to lean against him, she drew her eyes open again. "Joscelin - these are Tunga, Reiki, and Ayxiel... my newest. We've been staying at the ranch with the humans for... two and a half seasons, now."

Akembi & Tunga

Joscelin's sensitivity to Akembi's nervousness earned a bit more action and courage out of the big pup. His tail went from low and nearly tucked, to wagging slowly behind him. He still didn't draw his ears up yet however, if only because he was just meeting Joscelin for the first time, and his gut instinct told him to mind his manners until he knew more about this fellow, and more importantly, how much he could do around him without getting reprimanded. The hesitant wag of his tail and his timidness were then shed the moment his mother smiled at them and began to speak, as he drew immediate courage from her and knew she wouldn't let him get near a wolf that was potentially dangerous. After sniffing the other male, he circled curiously around him, giving Joscelin a good look-over before bouncing back in front of him and sitting down near Karai. "There's more? Oooh..." Where his ears had been about to perk up, they sank back down when he learned of Saxton's death, even if he didn't hold any personal attachment to the name. It was one of his mother's offspring, and that alone got the youngster to lean back against her, in his own way of being comforting.

"I didn't know we had other siblings." Tunga was whispering to his sister. A pang of hurt spawned in his throat when he saw his mother's eyes close, reacting to the news of her lost son. "We should find out where Adern is." That he said in a very low voice, even if the idea was a very foolish one for two youngsters. "We can have Zhener help us - I bet he can find her, cause his eyes are suppose to be very good, and he can fly anywhere."

Karai*Others

Continuing to display nothing but a quiet, gentle nature that almost mirrored Brother's - if in a more stoic, less emotional way - Joscelin waited with endless patience while Akembi inspected him, all the while beginning to update his mother on just where he and his siblings had been, these past two years. "You knew that the two-leggers had been investigating our pack; they came back, after you had left. They took all of us in a group, poked us with a bunch of those pointy things of theirs, and carted us in their vehicles out to some different area, far from the valley." What he couldn't know was that he and his siblings had been a subject of an attempted human experiment; they'd been trying to get the solid gray wolf stock of the valley to interbreed with some of the red wolves a few days' run away from here, in an effort to quell a certain disease among the red wolves by inserting the gray wolf genes that seemed to repel the disease. Either way, he went on, "We'd been planning to find our way back here, but Aderyn got particularly attached to one of the young males, there - and we ended up involved in their war, as part of his pack. At this point, we've spilled blood together for too long to easily leave them behind; it took us a great deal of time and diplomacy to persuade them to come with us. They should be here in an hour or so; I came ahead to scout."

"Me neither," Ayxiel whispered back, twitching one ear forward to catch the conversation of the adults as she watched Reiki slip forward to join Akembi in his investigation of Joscelin. He seemed more oblivious to the conversation than his larger brother, though - when Karai reached down to place a soft touch to Akembi's back, giving comfort as much as taking it from him, Reiki was still over by Joscelin. "I wonder if Zhener remembers her," Ayxi went on, tilting her head to the side as she watched the others. "He's funny and smart... but he's forgetful sometimes, too." Not knowing just what a bond had developed between Aderyn and Zhener when the female had been quite young, that was Ayxi's question - and a good question at that, because as much as they all enjoyed Zhener, it simply remained a fact that he was... well, rather odd.

Akembi & Tunga

The curiosity and wonder in the young wolf couldn't be dampened for too long, thus his snowy ears slowly worked back to an upright position where they were pitched at Joscelin. He wasn't quite ready to leave his mother's side yet however, but before long, he was bound to get up and continue investigating their older brother if Reiki was doing it. "Needles...? Nak told me about those. Nasty things." Since none of his siblings were close enough for him to talk to, Akembi was murmuring purely to himself right now. He himself had never been poked with a needle, unlike the offspring of Timber and Aidan, who Martha could take to the vet, despite the mates of either parents being semi-wild to some extent. "Ooooh, out of the Valley? I wonder what's out there..." A gasp came from the blue-eyed brother then, while his tail went on to drum against the ground, "We're gonna meet Aderyn? She's our sister, right? Momma, can we? Dad?"

The excitement from Akembi was a contagious thing, making Tunga's tail beat against the ground next when he learned that more relatives were on their way here. "I dunno, I bet he does though." He didn't know either of the special bond between the she-wolf and the big eagle, or that Zhen had not forgotten about the youngster he once helped to look after. "He's kinda goofy, especially with his words. I wonder why Timber doesn't like him?" The young wolf frowned at the casual thought that wasn't really meant as a serious question; Timber didn't like Zhen because he was known for taking young lambs on occasion, and his presence always riled Martha, who responded with a pellet gun to drive him away - which he'd yet to actually be shot with. "Did you hear that?! We're gonna meet Aderyn!"

Karai*Others

Karai was a little confused now, mostly because of Joscelin's explanation... he'd said Aderyn was being held by their enemies, right? She turned a wordless glance to her son, for the moment ignoring the pleading cries of her younger children, and after a moment, received the explanation that clear things up a bit. "Aderyn is still in the ranks of the enemy, for now... but their pack has migrated this way. Part of my arguments in getting our pack to relocate here was the knowledge that we have allies in this area. Some of our old friendships - mine, and yours, Mother - can be called upon to help us retrieve her, I think." Ayxiel lowered her head a little with a whine at that news; despite her caution, she'd really been looking forward to meeting the rest of this family they'd never been told about. It didn't quite occur to her yet to wonder why Karai or Brother had never told them about all of this - which was likely a good thing, since it was kind of a tender subject with their mother - but she was still eager to meet the rest of their older siblings, and was disappointed when Joscelin noted that they weren't with him. In the next moment, though, she perked back up when he went on, "Ziarre is coming with the main pack... I will bring her to you when they arrive; perhaps somewhere a little outside the ranch?" Brother was nodding distractedly, understanding the wisdom of this idea. "Things have been more quiet in recent years with us," he murmured, unaware that the long peace had been broken the moment he and Karai had left this morning. "But unknown wolves are still eyed with suspicion. It may be best to seek a more neutral territory, until things can be explained to Timber and the others."

Akembi & Tunga

Words of enemies and allies made Tunga wary, and again got him thinking about trying to get his unknown sister back. To him, war was a stranger, a thing that he couldn't begin to understand the depth of when he'd never experienced it in his young life, and that made him more than a little naive about how dangerous it could be. And for Akembi... well, it sounded quite thrilling and adventurous, "Are we gonna fight? I can help! Please, I'm strong enough!" He'd stood up by now and was casting his bright, baby-blue eyes between Karai and Brother with great anticipation. "We can have the Lurkers help us!" That was asking a bit much, though they did have more than one connection with the the alley-dwelling pack; one being through Aidan, and the other through Scaria, who'd for a good time been a part of the pack Brother lived in, along with Karai's offspring. Akembi hadn't personally met the Lurkers, but he'd heard plenty of stories - and much of them greatly exaggerated - by Aidan's own offspring. "Mom, dad, please don't send us back to the Ranch yet! Can't we stay and meet the others?" While Akembi was busy pleading, Tunga was torn between being hesitantly thrilled like his brother, yet still cautious and uncertain because he knew this was not all fun and games.

Karai*Others

"You'd do better not to take up that subject with your mother, Kembi," Brother warned quietly, trying to keep below his mate's hearing but his voice entirely serious. War had been something that had destroyed much of Karai's early life in the valley; it was not something she would react well to again, particularly not if it touched upon any member of her family. And certainly the pups were far too young to either fully understand or be involved in the matter. To support this, Karai gave Akembi one of her dangerous looks, and didn't honor his words with an answer; gentle mother she might be, but she could be very determined on certain topics, particularly if they impacted her loved ones in any way. That done, she leaned in closer to Brother and muttered something in his ear, which he responded to with a light shake of the head. After a moment, Karai cast her glance to Joscelin, and told him, "We will be here at the lake for at least an hour more - we were having a field trip, today. You can bring Ziarre here, when she arrives, and we will discuss what ties we still have that we can put to use in getting Aderyn back. Send my ears out... I may be semi-retired, but there are those in the valley who still remember the name Karai." He nodded solemnly, and Reiki was distracted from his investigation of their older brother for a few moments by this new view he was getting of their mother; far from the shy, gentle wolfess they knew, she was now assuming the role of tactician, and it surprised him very much.

Akembi & Tunga

In scarcely any time at all, Akembi's great enthusiasm, slightly misplaced as it was, crumbled and deflated. First with Brother's warning, which saw him duck his head a little and still his tail, and then with the dread look from his mother. With a silent gulp, Akembi tucked his tail and went utterly silent, knowing well enough that the look his just got from Karai was a look of serious business, and one that he dared not push any further. Watching all of this, Tunga learned that he needed to keep quiet too - he found it worked quiet nicely to watch and see what his brother got in trouble for, and then to avoid doing such things in the future. Sometimes, it paid to be one of the quieter ones of the bunch. "What's gonna happen...?" Knowing now that this was not a matter of fun and giggles, Tunga's quiet question was a serious one, and maybe a little apprehensive... he was a bit alarmed by the change in his mother, too.

Karai*Others

More relaxed now than she had been during the hallucination - but more tense than was normal for her on any given day - Karai gave Joscelin a last nuzzle and a caution to be very careful before he gave Brother a bow again, sheerly on formality, and excused himself. "I'll be back when the pack comes into the area. It shouldn't be more than an hour." As he turned about and left the area, the silver fae let out a deep breath and stepped away from her children, laying down for a moment and beginning to force herself to calm some. As Brother leaned forward to run his nose down the length of Tunga's back in comfort, and a paw to scoot Ayxiel and Reiki in close to him, Karai answered, "For now, we're going to continue our day and explore the lake, and later on, you're going to meet your big sister. After that... well, we'll figure that out after Joscelin comes back." There was a long pause, where she was quiet and twitched her nose back and forth, before she abruptly moved right back into a more normal mode of behavior. "Alright, so - that's your brother, Joscelin. Was anyone paying attention? What other sort of animals does he smell of? What other wolves?"

Akembi & Tunga

Going inexplicably quiet, as he was known to do after getting chastised, Akembi wordlessly made his way over to the other three siblings. In his silence, it was Tunga that started speaking up more, after craning his head back to touch muzzles with his father. "We can go hunting later, as a family reunion?" In his way, that was Tunga trying to cheer up his mother when he was still bothered by the strangeness that had just occurred in the past few minutes. He didn't yet bring up the issue of 'sickness', and wasn't inclined to do so at this time, but it weighed heavily on his mind all the same. Pretty quickly though, the little family was moving back towards normalcy when Karai prompted them back to the lesson of using their noses. "He smells like other wolves. But different ones... I mean, not just strangers, but different kinds of wolves."

Karai*Others

All too glad to get back to the less-dramatic discussion of hunting and investigating, Brother smiled briefly down at Tunga. "We might persuade Joscelin into it, at that... he was quite the hunter, even as a young wolf when I knew him, at not much older than all of you." Following along with that line of discussion - and pretending not to notice that her mate was making a concentrated effort to keep the topic off of both the war Joscelin had mentioned and the matter of the spell she'd just had - Karai nodded. "He always was a serious one, but I never found anything that he couldn't master. Ziarre is more concretely intelligent than him, and Saxton was ever more brave and gutsy... but Joscelin, perhaps, is the best balanced." Speaking her dead son's name without a waver, though certainly it must have dealt her a blow to have hope suddenly restored to her by Joscelin's return, only to have it smashed by news of Saxton's death, Karai then turned her attention more solidly back to the lesson, and awarded Tunga with a small smile. "Yes, very good, Tunga. They're wolves, but they're a different kind than we are; smaller, more compact in the body, but larger than coyotes. Larger ears, smaller, tighter feet - they're called red wolves, and as the name suggests, they're usually a ruddy-brown or cinnamon type of color."

Akembi & Tunga

The prospect of a hunt helped to ease their minds further from the idea of war and their mother's episode even more, though those former problems weren't about to be forgotten any time soon. "And he knows Tahmores, doesn't he? Can Tah come with us?" Recalling that bit of information from the earlier words between the adults, Tunga was eager to include their two-legger friend into the event. He might speak in a funnier way than even Zhener did, but he was every bit as fun and intriguing to have around. Moreso than John even, who didn't seem able to talk at all, except in the strange, uneventful language of the humans. At least, that's how Tunga saw it; the humans didn't speak in a wide range of tones, and Tunga couldn't figure out how their garbled noises could make any sense at all when they were so mashed together like that. Moving on from those thoughts, his excitement slowly began to show again as he tail gave a subtle wave, "Red wolves? I don't think I've ever seen one of those before." He was trying to picture what his mother described, and the more he thought about it, the more anxious he got about meeting the long lost siblings and their friends.

Karai*Others

Shifting his weight a little until he could lay down half-curled around Ayxi, who was taking a little more time than her brothers to calm down, Brother answered, "We can certainly ask him when we get back to the ranch. Of course, he went into town today, and may be tired, but we'll see." And indeed, Karai could have no objection to this - Tahmores was an old friend by now, and having him nearby in such a strange time would only make her feel safer. Unaware that their plans would all be taken apart when they arrived home, she allowed herself to smile some, and rest her head on her forepaws, her silver tail patting gently at the ground. "Red wolves are a strange lot, sometimes... they do things quite a bit differently than we do, likely because of the size difference. And they're decent enough, for the most part; certainly, if one of them has been able to draw Aderyn out, then they must not be too different from us in a social sense... she was always very shy and quiet." And many have taken advantage of her because of that,' she thought, but didn't say, because she was trying to draw the conversation away from the negative topic. Instead, she went on, "Can anyone tell me what Joscelin had for dinner, last night?"

Akembi & Tunga

Tunga generally had a greater ability to control himself than Akembi did, and exercised this by not letting himself get too hyper about having Tahmores join them in their planned reunion with the rest of the family. "I hope he's not too tired. He's good at petting, and that always makes everyone happier." More quietly, he spoke on the feature of Tah that all of the canines could happily agree upon- Tah was a champion scratcher, a skill that had easily endeared him to just about any canine that he met. Besides, he knew if Tah were around, it would have a positive influence on his mother, and that was reason enough to invite the young man. Breaking from his silence, sounding just a mite dejected, but hoping to forget the fact that he'd gotten chastised a few minutes ago, Akembi joined in again, "I think it'll be fun to meet them. They might be different, but they can't be more different than Rihanne or Tahirah." He pointed out, speaking of the two dogs who looked as different from a wolf as any canine Akembi had met yet. "Hmmm... he smells like..." Eager to earn himself some points with his parents again, the brother sniffed around where Joscelin had been standing, but he was having trouble picking up what scents had clung to the wolf, and which scents were already here. After a moment of indecision, he made a random guess, ",B>...rabbit?"

Karai*Others

"Close - hare," the mother answered, shifting back to a more casual frame of mind, if only for a few moments. "They're very similar to rabbits, with only a few significant differences, one being that they don't den under the ground as rabbits do. They make nests above the ground, like birds do in the trees, only they're ground level and made of dirt and grass." Quick biology lesson aside, she turned her attention to Akembi, and the subject he'd brought up. "That is because Rihanne and Tahirah are not wolves, Akembi," she murmured, and Ayxi looked up in surprise, though she hadn't been the one addressed. "Not wolves, Momma?" she asked, and Karai shook her head. "Rihanne and Tahirah - and your uncle Timber, and many of the others you know... are dogs. Dogs are a close cousin of wolves, and are directly descended from us; they were taken in by humans many, many years ago. They were bred for certain characteristics... like Timber's coloring, or the shape of Tahirah's head; I guarantee you that Tahirah could hold onto anything for much longer than your father and I."

Akembi & Tunga

Akembi's ears perked up, "Ohh.. that's what I was gonna say next." Despite his usual ability to not listen to half of the lessons his parents patiently tried to instill in him, the baby-eyed adolescent did listen to this next bit of information that his mother was telling him, and it managed not to fly out his other ear. "That's silly to build a nest on the ground! They can't hide in their burrows then!" His interested in that quickly shifted to the next topic at hand, and Tunga too was soaking it all up with fascination. In their eyes, Timber was almost more coyote like, at least small in size, than he was wolfy. But Rihanne and Tahirah... they were different enough that the pups never were sure what to make of them, other than they were just strange looking wolves. "She does play tug-o-war pretty good." Tunga murmured, recalling the few times they'd gotten the pitbull to play with them, and how she'd always won. "Are there more kinds of dogs? That look different like that?"

Karai*Others

Smiling some in a patient way, Karai went on, "It would be silly, if their young weren't born fully furred and with their eyes open, and able to run and keep away from predators at a very early age. Hares are much faster than rabbits, and more difficult to catch - they can turn more efficiently than any other creature I've seen." With everything now resuming a more relaxed atmosphere all around, Brother drew forward and lay down beside his mate, laying his chin on her shoulders and watching as Reiki began to carefully investigate the water - with frequent looks back to ensure that neither parent had a problem with this. "There are more kinds of dogs than there are kinds of wolves," the father murmured, without turning his eyes to Tunga. "They come in all shapes, sizes, and colors, and each of them do a different sort of job. Types like Timber are meant mostly for dealing with sheep and other farm animals; you've seen him with our own flocks and herds, back home. But there are smaller ones, bred for hunting rats and other creatures that humans find annoying, and larger ones for other jobs... and some kinds that don't have a job at all, that I know of."

Akembi & Tunga

The span of Akembi's attention began to putter out towards the end of Karai's explanation of the hares, "It's still silly. I bet I could catch one, easy." He was watching Reiki, and the lake shore began to look more inviting than listening to lectures like Ayxi and Tunga were more than happy to do. At about the time Brother started talking about the dogs, Akembi was trotting across the muddy ground and joining Reiki at the edge of the water. "This is a lot of water. I betach I can swim better than you can..." Meanwhile, Tunga was trying to picture the various dogs in his head, but he couldn't come close to imagining just how small some were, or how peculiar many looked. Aside from the dogs at the Ranch, he hadn't seen any other breeds before, "So they live with humans? Like... in the human town?" He was very tempted to ask if he could go into town with Tahmores, but the wild side in him went strongly against such an idea, and just barely wrestled down his curiosity at seeing different kinds of dogs. Atroe City aside, he was starting to think of Rihanne, Timber, and Tahirah now, and had all sorts of questions he was ready to ask the two.

Karai*Others

Karai wouldn't mention to her children that Rihanne was part pit, and had a grip nearly as strong as that of Tahirah, as a result. After all, just as both Timber and Aidan's children had been raised not to rough-house with the partially-crippled copper female, and not to talk about the injury that had pretty well ruined her ability to fight and defend the ranch, Karai had been very strict about teaching these things to her pups, and was not about to give any of them the idea of starting up a tug-o-war game with Rihanne to determine her bite strength. She wasn't nearly as familiar with the copper mix as Timber was, and not as sensitive to the subtle ways that she would adjust her stance or shift her position to keep weight off of the bad leg, but she could still see the subtle limp Rihanne would sometimes develop when there was rain on the way, or when it was bothering her particularly, and that aroused the same protective instinct in her as it always had in the collie. "Some of the dogs do live in the human town," she admitted quietly, not about to lie to Tunga even if she wasn't quite comfortable with the topic. "But I don't see how... the dens most humans live in are much smaller than the den that Martha, John, and Tahmores live in, and they keep some large dogs in them." Having lived only in the wild or on the ranch, where the dogs were pretty well left to roam free, Karai didn't quite understand the idea of humans 'walking' their pets. Meanwhile, Reiki was turning a sideways grin at his brother, and shoving him roughly in a bout of sibling rivalry. "No way you could outrace me!" he challenged, patting one paw in the water, his nature a little cautious despite his claim. "Not when you'd miss your precious bath if the water washed the mud off."

Akembi & Tunga

Karai was wise indeed not to mention that part of Rihanne's heritage. Tunga might be able to keep his curiosity at bay about it, if not egged on too much by his siblings, but Akembi was sure to pester the poor mixbreed about it, or get the other siblings in trouble by getting them to pester her. For now, her secret remained a safe one, "Large dogs? Like how large? Sundile told me that her dad's leader is really big, probably like the biggest dog in the whole city. Or in the whole Valley." The concept of Aidan having another 'leader' other than Martha and the two boys was a little confusing to Tunga, but fascinating all the same. And as youngsters were want to do, Sundile had exagerated the dane's size and appearance to some extent, so that Tunga had envisioned a massive wolf with absurdly long legs that stood head and tail over either of his parents.

A playful growl started up and Akembi's muzzle wrinkled up as he tried to make himself look like tough stuff, "Wanna bet?" He nipped at his brother's shoulder, secretly feeling just as cautious as Reiki, and not wanting to get into the water before his brother did, in case it turned out to be a bad idea, "I'll just have to wrestle you in the mud, after I beat you in swimming! Then I can have two baths..." The playful rivalry abruptly stopped when a shadow rushed over both pups, immediately making Akembi eat his own brave words and hunker down instinctively in fear. No sooner had he looked up to see what caused the shadow then did a voice call out that all should be familiar with. "'Ello, ello!" With a wingspan wide enough to cover a wolf, the wedgie sailed in a graceful circle over the group before he stooped slightly and dove earthward. "Zhener!" Pretending as if he hadn't just panicked, Akembi barked out cheerfully and watched as the eagle rounded back their way and stretched his taloned feet out for a landing. The notoriously bad lander hit the ground softly enough, but misjudged the slickness of the freshly thawed mud, and slid forward so suddenly that he fell chest-first against the ground before he could really get his feet settled beneath him.

Karai*Others

"I've seen some quite a bit taller than your father," Karai answered moving just a little until she was more comfortable with her mate's head propped on her back. "And they're a good deal heavier than me, too," Brother spoke up, making a grimace to indicate that he had significant reason to understand just how much bigger the larger dogs were than he was. "Before you were all born, we had some dogs around the place for a short while called King Hounds - now those were some big dogs." Still remembering how enormous Du Hast and Gladiator had looked to his eyes, Brother nevertheless patted his tail softly. "They were friendly-enough, though. Just a little different." Before he could go on though, he was hopping to his paws as the shadow passed over them, not sure whether this meant a danger or not, but not about to take the risk; growing, they might be, but the pups were still liable to become a target for a daring raptor.

Karai, however, was completely at ease, and didn't even rise; she had known Zhener for so long now that the shadow he'd cast told her much about the descent of the bird making it - and told her that he was going to make a graceless landing, which pretty well concluded just who was visiting them. Waiting until he'd inevitably planted himself face-first in the mud, she got to her paws and moved over to place a deft muzzle to his side and help him regain his feet. "Zhener," she murmured, her tones almost as warm and affectionate as they would have been if she was greeting her mate or pups, "I've missed you. And you'll never believe it - I just spoke with Joscelin."

Akembi & Others

The unmistakable, heavy beat of big wings against the air alerted the family to more than just Zhener's presence. Two more eagles, both almost double his size, alighted in a nearby pine tree not far from where the wedgie had landed amongst the wolves. One was Zhener's mate, the sea eagle with a brilliantly yellow beak that looked large and powerful enough to lob off a wolf's tail in one bite, and beside her was their eldest daughter, Spirit of the Sea. While they were friendly enough with the wolves, they preferred to stay in the trees and on higher ground, rather than submit themselves to the inquisitive noses and paws of the canines. "Karai, I missed you too! I vould have come sooner, but zhe family is sick again." With the wolfess' help, the clumsy eagle, who could be otherwise so graceful on the wing, gathered up his feet and soon was standing upright once more... if not rather muddied now. "Ello, little vons! Been a vhile since I've seen you all." Trying to get caught up and greet everyone all at once, Zhener responded a second or two after Karai had mentioned her son, and bobbed his head back at her, "Ja, ja. I saw him leaving. Was going to follow, but IceVing spotted you over here, so we came back zhis way."

The lesson on dogs was derailed, though not soon enough to really perk Tunga interest on these supposed 'King Hounds'. If only his mother's explanation on the small dens wasn't a slightly frightening thing to Tunga, who greatly enjoyed his freedom, he might have been tempted to venture into town and look for this giant creatures. Now of course, he was looking at the muddied eagle that his mother was greeting, and joining Akembi in bouncing towards the raptor.

Karai*Others

Giving the clumsy bird a gentle nuzzle, where she would have diplomatically left the two females alone if they'd settled down on the ground, Karai smiled more certainly, able to put the news of Saxton's death and Aderyn's capture out of her mind for a few moments to enjoy the presence of one of the first friends she'd made in the valley. Patting her tail and choosing not to comment on the fact that the family had again been sick - a fact which might possibly be written up to Zhener's tendency to scavenge slightly-too-old meals for them to eat - she murmured, "We've been having a field trip today... having a smelling lesson. Easy now, Reiki - don't knock him over." As eager to greet one of their favorite visitors as Akembi was, the black pup had moved forward so quickly that Karai had been forced to put one of her paws in the way to keep him from bowling the wedgie over altogether in his enthusiasm. Pinning his ears for a moment and muttering a brief, "Sorry, Zhener," Reiki nevertheless recovered quickly and brightened. "Yeah, Ma says that Joscelin's our big brother! And that we've got sisters too... you never told us about that!" Not aware that even the sometimes-daft eagle was too aware of things to speak of Karai's missing children and risk upsetting her, Reiki prompted this of Zhener, remembering all the times that the eagle had told them stories. "Maybe it wasn't his business to, Reiki," Ayxi inserted quietly, moving forward more carefully with light, mincing steps to brush her soft body gently against the bird. "Not all of us are as flop-jawed as you are." And indeed, it was pretty well understood among the siblings that Reiki just couldn't keep his mouth shut about anything.

Akembi & Others

Use to how rough and tumble the pups could be, Zhener stepped around to face the oncoming youngsters, and try to secure his balance for when they blundered into him - which thankfully they didn't with Karai's quick actions. This was precisely the reason why IceWing and Spirit remained safely aloft in the trees, and left him to frolic with the ground creatures, "Smelling lessons? Zhere is a nice big musky on zhe ozher side of lake, maybe you smell if zhe vind turns your way." That alone suggested the giant fish must certainly be dead on the shore, and judging by Zhen's breath, he'd already helped himself to some of the stinky feast. "Hey, yeah! Why didn't you tell us about that?" It wasn't the fish that Akembi was piping up about, but their siblings that they'd only just now discovered. Zhen's beak opened momentarily, then snapped shut, caught off guard by the question and unable to come up with a good excuse right off the bat. Instead, he curled his head down and gave Ayxiel a friendly nudge when she brushed against him, "Sometimes I forget, ja? Too many stories, not enough time to tell zhem all!" Sometimes, he could play off his own daftness, which he attempted to do right now, "I tell you zhose stories later maybe..." Ever aware of Karai's sensitive side and having been her friend long enough to understand without asking that such things would upset her, the eagle brought up a new topic, "I ever tell you about vhales vith horns on zhere heads?"

Karai*Others You always tell the best stories! Dad tells some good ones too - about Tahmores, mostly. But he hasn't seen near all the things you've seen!" Clearly, the black pup was fooled by the bird's attempt to make them believe that his forgetfullness had influenced his failure to tell the stories of their siblings - but Ayxi was far more careful and observant than her brother, and understood that this was not the entire truth. Still, because of her observant nature, she knew better than to pry further, and instead prompted quietly, "Whales with horns? Like the cows have?"

Akembi & Others

Lacking the ability to smile in the same way that Galar did, it was always the raptor's eyes that best gave away his emotions, and he used that now to give Karai a quick wink before he delved into the talk with the pups. Between Reiki and Akembi, he could count on those two as being the more talkative and easily more excitable ones of the bunch, and with Reiki's penchant for saying more than he should, Zhen had an easy time of playing off their curiosity and keeping them entertained. And hopefully steered away from discussions about Karai's older litter. "Much, much bigger zhan cow horns! Bigger zhan zhis, even!" To make his point, the eagle stretched out his massive, sepia wings to impress on the pups how long of a horn he was talking about, "Zhey live vhere its cold, vhaaaay, vay out in zhe icy waters." Akembi took his turn to come up and nuzzle the eagle, harsh enough that the wedgie would have toppled back, if he hadn't caught himself with his wings first. "That's ridiculous. There's no such thing as whales with giant horns on their head!" The pup still couldn't picture what a 'roo' looked like, other than a creature with giant legs and a tail, and a baby that sat in a pouch on its stomach...? To him, most of what Zhen spoke of sounded like tall tales.

Karai*Others

"Wow." Ever easily fascinated by Zhener's tales - and definitely more gullible than anyone else - it never occured to Reiki to think that hanging onto every word of the eagle as though it were gospel should be something he ought to guard against. With Zhener, it wasn't really a big deal, since he wasn't at all dangerous to them and wouldn't do any more than perhaps exaggerate things, but it was a tendency that could become dangerous for Reiki when he got older, if he believed everything he heard. Ayxi, more inclined to be quiet and meditative that to outright say that she didn't believe that there was such a thing, gave the eagle a look of keen intelligence and concentration. "Longer than your wings?" she asked quietly, just to confirm what he was saying, and Brother nodded some, inserting himself into the conversation. "Actually Akembi... there is such a thing. I've seen pictures, in those books that Tahmores reads sometimes." Having a greater concept of what books and pictures were, thanks to his long-term relationship with the wolf boy, Brother at least understood that books held information that humans could understand, and recently the boy had been reading a lot about the local wildlife - in fact, he had been seriously considering going and speaking to Nadeem, after hearing about the arab's reputation in the realm of animal biology.

Akembi & Others

For Zhener, Reiki was easily the most entertaining to tell stories to, partly because he didn't have to defend himself against the sort of skepticism that Akembi often threw at him. Better yet, he could count on the loose-jawed pup to carry on his stories, whether he kept the facts straight or not, "Ja, much longer!" Zhen quirked his head to the side, eying up the white pup after he'd responded to Ayxiel, but the father got to him first. "Sometime I meet Tahmores, ja? Vhen Eldervild is not around, and ozther humans are gone." He took a brief break from story telling to bring up a topic he'd brought now and then, but had never actually committed himself to yet. For one, John would shoot at him if he got anywhere near the pastures, and Zhen was not a fan of any aggressive bird that was smaller than him, because it meant they could pester the heck out of him and he couldn't match their agility. The other issue was his inherent distrust of humans, even Tah, who he could clearly see was best chums with Brother. Akembi was still stuck on the whales with horns however, his face screwed up as he thought about it. After all, if his dad said it was true, he was little more inclined to believe it, "Well I've never seen one... they sounds silly to me."

Karai*Others

"Elderwild and Ravenwing usually hunt in the early morning hours," Brother offered out, knowing the habits of the older indian nearly as well as he did those of Tahmores himself. "And you'd do well to avoid her too, Zhener - she's prone to getting snippy with all of us, and we live there. And that's not to mention what the masters will think." To that, Karai chuckled a little, and stage-whispered, "Perhaps if Zhener might leave the lambs alone, John wouldn't dislike him so much." But this was a joke against her old friend, because she didn't really expect him to stop taking the occasional lamb; after all, she'd eaten sheep before she'd come to the ranch, and though she left their own flocks alone - and indeed had never attacked them, even before she'd made her home at the ranch - Karai understood that it was kind of a delicacy for the bird, as something that he could capture relatively easily that tasted good. Meanwhile, Ayxi was trying to build up an image of these 'whales with horns' in her head... without too much success. "Silly they may be, Akembi," their father admitted, giving his head a shake at remembering just how bizarre the picture he'd seen looked, "But snakes look silly too, with no legs; and they have their purpose."

Akembi & Others

The eagle shook his head and briefly roused his feathers, looking mildly indignant for a moment, "Zhey have more zhen enough lambs! No need to have so many. It's same way vhere I come from in zhe warm land. So much land, so much lambs, but greedy, greedy humans!" The raptor didn't understand the concept that the lambs were needed to earn a profit for the ranchers, and weren't just kept for them alone to eat, so in his eyes, the humans were quite stingy. Coming down off that mini rant, and with it in mind that he might visit the ranch some morning soon - if he could overcome his fear of the two-leggers - Zhener got back down to business with the whale story, "You zhink zhat's silly? IceVing saw one vhale bigger zhen a hundred deer put togezher! Bigger zhan many cars put together. Big enough to fit one of zhose orcas in zhere mouth and zhen some!" Akembi frowned and looked to his parents, and a slightly mystified Tunga did the same without trying to be too obvious about it. While Akembi was quick to not believe it, Tunga was excited about the prospect of such a fantastical creature, and didn't worry so much about the truth of the matter, instead having fun with trying to picture such a thing in his head.

Karai*Others

Not commenting on the 'greedy, greedy humans', and how perhaps they might have a reason to keep the lambs to themselves, Karai shook her head some and murmured, "Nevermind Zhener... it's alright. Just mind not to come hunt there too often, and to dodge when John shoots." And in the next second, before Brother could speak up to say anything or Karai could continue on with her comment, Reiki was speaking up with renewed awe in his tones. "Wow! That big?!" There was a moment where he was utterly encompassed with surprise - and then he screwed up his face, having a brief moment of doubt. "Where would such a thing live? Where do you put one of those?" And Ayxi whispered, "In the ocean of course! Mind your manners, Reiki, before Momma gets after you."

Akembi & Others

Zhener bobbed his head at Karai, "I find more sheep elsevhere now. And zhere are many dead creatures around now, so no need to chase lambs." The eagle puffed out his chest feathers a little to emphasize that he was both happily fed, and content enough with eating pre-killed meals rather than risk getting pellets lodged in his being by the human. "Ja!" And then he laughed, amused by Reiki's awe and his question about where one would put a creature so big, "Your sister is right, zhey live in zhe ocean, because it is zhe only place big enough. Now I tell you, Iceving didn't speak vith zhe vhale, but one time I spoke vith one. A big fellow named Haraha, and you know vhat he told me vhales like to do most of all?" Rather than answering right away, the bird hoped to perk their interest more, and gave them time to take a stab at the question. "Swim?" Tunga responded questioningly. Akembi gave it some more thought before he responded, "I dunno, play games?"

Karai*Others

Contrary to Ayxiel's warning, Karai didn't look as though she was going to scold Reiki; indeed, she was focused more on Brother as he drew toward her and stood beside her, allowing her to learn her weight on him. It was a subtle display that Karai was still very much disturbed by hearing of the situation that her older children had found themselves in, but neither Reiki nor Ayxiel seemed to notice it - they were too enthralled in the story Zhener was telling. "You talked to a whale?!" His enthusiasm reaching new heights, the black pup spouted out this phrase of astonishment, and his tail twitched in interest - and just a touch of trepidation, for the unconscious thought of what such a large creature could do to an eagle. It was Ayxi who finally asked, "What do they like to do, Zhener?"

Akembi & Others

Neither Akembi or Tunga stopped to think how an eagle might go about talking to a creature so massive, or why Zhener would be crazy enough to do such a thing. Such a question would only give Akembi more fuel to doubt the bird's story. Zhen's eyes were grinning a little as he held out, forcing them to endure a few moment's wait before he finally spoke, "Zhey like to sing, of course!" Tunga drew his head back in an expression of 'what?!', not at all expecting that for an answer. "Ja, zhey sing very loud. Now, we eagles don't sing so much, not like zhe little birds do, but zhe vhales... well, Haraha anyvay, he sings very much, and very big." Tunga was trying to figure out what a whale song might sound like, which was even harder to form in his mind than the image of the giant beast. And while he was doing that, a very faint sound caught his attention, familiar enough in tone to get his immediate attention, but distant enough that he didn't pinpoint it right away. His ears swiveled to the east, in the direction of the Ranch, where Sage's howl had originated from.

Karai*Others

"Sage?" Perhaps unsurprisingly, Karai was the first one to connect the familiar howl to a name; with her well-known affection for pups and all other young or semi-defenseless creatures, she knew Sage's voice just as well as she knew that of her own children. Furthermore, she knew already, without having to hear the sound again, that the young female was very much distraught and frightened. "Brother!" she whispered, and he turned his head toward the ranch as well, even as Karai interrupted the story Zhener was telling by issuing a quiet snarl and using deft paws to draw her children against her. Ayxi was whining actively and cringing next to Tunga, not really understanding the tension in either the howl or her parents, but feeling it nonetheless, and as their father snapped his head toward the sound, she listened to his voice. "Stay here with Zhener until Joscelin comes back... I'll come fetch you when I've found out what's going on." But Karai shook her head. "We're coming, too... Zhener, can you find Joscelin and tell him where we're going? Tell him... I'll meet him in the hills outside the ranch sometime after sundown."

Akembi & Others

When Karai uttered the name, it clicked in Tunga's mind instantly. He hadn't been paying enough attention, and was simply too inexperienced to understand the depth of emotion in her howl, or he might have reacted in the frightening way that his mother did. Pretty soon, it didn't matter, because he and the rest of his siblings were crowding in against the mother again and losing all interest in the eagle. Worriedly, Akembi shied a look up at his mother, half expecting her to start in with Brother. "Vhat is happening?" In a look of alarm, Zhener's feathers flattened against him and he craned his neck up, turning his sharp eyes this way and that. He hadn't heard the howl that the keen wolf ears did. "Ja, ja, I find him." The wolves were blasted with short gusts of air as the eagle beat his wings to lift himself into the air.