Settling In

[Tsukikage]

"Ow..." Mar muttered under his breathe as he bumped his head on the cave roof... again...
"We need a bigger cave mouth." He chuckled.
It was true, he couldn't move around too freely in the hallways of the grotto, but a few of the rooms were spacious enough for him.
Shimo smiled and nodded patiently. "You keep saying that, but --"
The two moved into one of the larger rooms, across from where Kage and Dawn were sleeping with the pups. A few of the pups, in all their wisdom, decided nap time was over, and came for a visit.
Mar chuckled softly, "Y'know, Shimo, one of these days, you should learn to finish those sentences."
Shimo nodded mechanically.
"Hey, would you help guide Raist in here? And keep it down, okay?"
Shimo responded with a perfectly identical nod... which would be eerie, were it any other wolf.

Mar then turned with attention to his grandpups... they were, every one of them, no bigger than his paw. His... really big paw...
He sighed as he contemplated this, until Hikaru once again butted heads with the nearest available giant wolf.
Mar chuckled, "Hey now, you're not a bull, kid. One of these days, you're gonna find something harder than even your head, and that'll smart, now won't it?" Strange habit to have, though...

[Rynn]

Raist emerged into the grotto and pulled himself up out of the water, shook the water out of his fur and looked around him. 'its nice down here' he thought to himself, he still felt drained from his previous fit but he tried not to show it.

[Hitoban no Fokkusu]

Maname's ear twitched as she heard the soft voices of Mar and Shimo, and water swishing. It'd been eerily quiet with all the pups sleeping; lately they'd taken to sleeping in turns, so at least a couple were always up to entertain her, but with them all asleep, it was quite boring. So when she heard Mar and Shimo enter, she stretched and got up. She padded into the main room to find Mar wasn't there, but she was face to face with a wolf she'd never seen before, and Shimo standing to the side. She tilted her head with a smile. If Mar and Shimo had brought him in, it had to be safe. Especially considering the pups were in here.

"Hello. I am Maname; who might you be?"

[Rynn]

Raist turned his cursed golden eyes to face the wolf who spoke, he hadn't heard her or Shimo approach, he must be more out of it than he thought. He bowed his head in greeting to Maname, "My name is Raist. Nice to meet you Maname."

[Tsukikage]

Shimo nodded mechanically. "Yes, it is pleasant and lower in temperature during hot days." He turned his face away from Maname for some reason, as he continued speaking, "W-welcome, Miss Maname. If you would please, Kage and Dawn are resting, and Mar wishes them not to be disturbed." He seemed to speak like a pre-recorded message, which was rather unsettling. "If you will follow me, I can lead you to the room where Mar is currently socializing with the offspring of Kage and Dawn, but please, keep all noises to a minimum, so as not to disturb the fore-mentioned sleepers."
With that, he turned and walked briskly to the room Mar was in, and sat by the entrance.

[Hitoban no Fokkusu]

Maname sighed when Shimo spoke. "Oh I know only too well how they are sleeping. I've been so bored." She turned a smile to Raist, wondering why his eyes were closed. She shrugged it off-there were stranger things that happened her every day-and spoke so he would know which way to go. "Would you follow, Raist?"

[Rynn]

Raist chuckled and nodded speaking softly, "I'll follow." Raist was glad he closed his eyes again, he wasn't sure if he wanted everyone to know about his curse just yet. He didn't even know if he could stay without being a complete bother yet. He stood silently waiting to hear Manames receeding pawsteps.

[Tsukikage]

Mar smiled as the others joined him in the room.
"Welcome home, Raist." He said. "Watch your step; my grandpups are causing trouble around here, hehe."
"Trouble's right." Neo grunted. "Little bugger bit my nose!"
Mar raised an eyeridge and grinned playfully, "Oh? And how long have you been there, ya lazy --"
"Long enough, thank you. Seriously, what's it take to get a decent --"
Neo's disgruntled complaint was interrupted by Hikaru, who found a new thing to bump into. As he looked down at the pup, who seemed to smile up at him, Neo began to whimper. He backed into a corner and started growling and muttering to himself. "They aren't mine, someone made them up." He said.
"Neo..." Shimo said. The look on Shimo's face was one of concern, but his output of emotions and expressions didn't seem to match up since he passed out.
Neo turned and glared at Hikaru... "M-make them go away... please. Make them stop!" He barked and lunged at the pup, but the attack was intercepted by a rather large, red paw. Mar grabbed Neo by the scruff and dragged him to the cave entrance, where he threw him into the water.

Meanwhile, Shimo intercepted anyone who wished to follow, reciting, "If you please, Mar wishes to deal with the issue alone. It is of great personal concern to him, and we must watch over the pups until such time as Mar returns, or Kage and the lady, Dawn, awaken."

[Hitoban no Fokkusu]

Maname stood in the doorway, watching everyone with a smile. The smile, however, dissipated when things started going wrong. Neo wasn't making any sense, and was apparently quite angry with Hikaru, who was only playing around. He was talking strangely, saying they weren't real, and Maname became worried. When he lunged at the poor babe, she cried out, shifting forward. Thankfully, Mar caught him before any damage could be done. She stepped aside to allow them passage, watching as Mar threw Neo out and followed him angrily. She felt something hit her leg, and she looked down to see Hikaru's frightened face looking up at her, yelping and whining. She picked him gently up by his scruff and padded over to his family. She set him down next to Dawn, who had already awakened, with a careful smile. Then she turned and padded back over to where Raist was.




Dawn had been sleeping soundly when something gripped her soul, telling her to wake. She opened her eyes in time to see Neo, like a frightened beast, lunge at Hikaru. Too in shock to say anything, she sighed relief when Mar caught Neo and took him away. Instead of rushing for his family, Hikaru ran to the first friendly face he saw, which happened to be Maname. She picked him up and carried him over to where they were, and smiled at Dawn. She smiled back and reigned in her pup. He shivered against her, and she licked him reassuringly.

"What happened?"

[Rynn]

Raist listened carefully to what was going on in the room. Once Mar was gone, and he heard another unfamiliar voice asking what had happened, he guessed it was the pups mother. So, he just sat there listening to the other pups that were in the room. After several seconds he stood, found himself an unoccupied corner without opening his eyes and laid down on his side. He was still really drained and weak from his previous fit, and so he relaxed and dozed off, though it was a tense sleep, he still didn't know how well this pack trusted him.

[Tsukikage]

Kage snapped awake at the sound of Dawn's voice. "W-what's up, Love?"

It was Shimo who chimed in with a rather troubling response...
"One of your offspring bit Neo on the nose, and woke him up. He then proceeded to make complaints about it, until Hikaru collided his head into Neo's right metacarpal region. Neo then fell silent, stared at Hikaru, and began uttering incomprehensibly. He shouted something, and then lunged at your offspring, at which point, Mar stepped in, and took Neo elsewhere. It is my belief that he did not wish any of you to follow."
Shimo paused for a moment, and his eyes got that glazed-over look.
"Oh... and we have a guest." he said before collapsing on the floor.

Kage sat there and blinked his one eye a few times in disbelief. "Are... the pups okay?" He asked.

[Hitoban no Fokkusu]

Dawn listened to Shimo recite the events that had occurred while she was asleep, a little confused. Why would Neo react so strongly? Surely Hikaru couldn't have hurt him? He's only a baby after all. She looked around at her pups, who were all awake now, to make sure nothing else had happened. They were all safe and just as she'd left them before she went to sleep. The only thing hurt about Hikaru was his feelings. "They seem fine. I expect Hikaru had a bit of a fright, but other than that they're all perfectly safe." She allowed Hikaru to climb and lick her, now almost good as new. It was amazing how quickly pups can recover after something happened to them.

Dawn now turned her attention to the rest of the room. She soon located this 'guest' and fixated on him. He was sleeping, but by the look of him, if she so much as spoke to him he would wake. She wanted to know what his business was for being there-someone she didn't know so close to her pups. She spoke, hoping to wake him.

"Excuse me, you in the corner?" Dawn looked to Maname, hoping she would know his name.

"His name is Raist, Madame."

Dawn smiled and nodded. "Raist?"

[Rynn]

Raist seemed unresponsive for several seconds and then he mentally kicked himself partially because it was rude of him to ignore her, and for being to afraid to open his eyes. He then lifted his head and looked right at Dawn though his eyes were still closed. He stood slowly his limbs shaking slightly from weariness and bowed his head. "Yes, my lady?" he said softly partially from his lack of strength and the other part just because he was a soft spoken wolf.

[Hitoban no Fokkusu]

Dawn tilted her head when he looked at her without really looking, and at the formal way he addressed her. Had he joined the pack while she was asleep? All the more she had to ask him.

"Pardon my asking, but is something the matter with your eyes?" She was truly confused as to why he didn't want to open them, or if he couldn't. "Who brought you here?"

[Rynn]

Raist gave a small half smile, "No My Lady, nothing is wrong with my eyes in terms of sight, but my past has been a hectic one and my eyes are the reason I've been so untrusted in previous packs." he paused for a few seconds, "Mar, and Shimo brought me down here, and they know what my eyes look like, but if you wish it I can show you them, they won't hurt anyone but the way they look usually make others think I'm a freak of nature and they throw me from their lands. I wandered into your packs lands on my own, and met your Alpha Tsuki, who offered to let me stay here if Lady Hitoban didn't think I would be too much trouble, but if I am or if at anytime I think I am being a bother I will leave...cause your pack has seen enough trouble to last you a life time I'm sure...." Raists' whole frame suddenly seemed to sag and he leaned against the wall to stay upright.