Alder stiffened. “What species?” he asked, not daring to move in case someone, or something, was watching.

~~~~~

Sky gave Maple a doggy-smile. “I heard that Birch wants boys.”

~~~~~

Newt raised her head. “Chester?” she whispered.

~~~~~

“Then Sky should be South. Her name is South now.”

Night snarled. "Badgers."

~~~~~

Juniper stumbled towards them. She smiled. "I want girls and boys" she said.

~~~~~

Chester jumped forward, and nuzzled Newt. "Hi" he said quietly.

~~~~~

North chuckled and looked at Sky. "Okay South, should I go help hunt? I can sense where prey is going."

Alder growled. “Are they close? Newt could be hurt!”

“I don't smell Newt!” Ivy called. “If she did get hurt, there'd be blood.”

Alder didn't relax. “Then we'll have to hope we don't get hurt.”

~~~~~

“And boys,” Birch repeated.

~~~~~

Newt pushed her head through his neck fur, breathing in his scent. “I was waiting for you. Was it Dagger again?” she murmured.

~~~~~

Sky nodded. “Take Honey and Maple wit-” she stopped. “South?”

Night took another step towards the scent.

"They're close" she said quietly.

~~~~~

Juniper smiled. "And boys."

~~~~~

Chestear closed his eyes as her nestled closer to her. 

"Yeah. Old spike- paw doesn't know how to turn his lips up into a smile."

~~~~~

North just snickered quietly, amusement glittering in her eyes. 

"Honey, Maple! Let's head out" she croaked.

“Newt, or the badgers?” Alder asked, eyes wide, starting to shake. “Cause my power won't be very useful in a fight. What do I do, poke them with a stick?” he said, forcing a laugh that came out short.

~~~~~

Birch laughed and bounced around her paws.

~~~~~

Newt sighed. “I wish he would just leave you alone,” she said, without lifting her head from Chester.

~~~~~

Honey loped over to North from the fresh-kill pile. “Where are we going? Hunting?” she guessed, remembering North's power.

Night growled. "The Badgers. I can blind them temporarily."

~~~~~

Juniper laughed. [Should she have her pups now?]

~~~~~

Chester shrugged. 

"Meh. He's just a grumpy old pooch."

He took a step back and tilted his head at Newt. 

"You've been getting bigger. I'm just wondering, are you, well..."

~~~~~

North nodded and Maple trotted over.

"Let's head out" she said.

Alder swallowed. “Th-that's great.”

~~~~~

Ooc: If you want. It'd be a little awkward if they came the moment we talked about them, so maybe wait a little bit, but yeah.

~~~~~

Newt turned her head away. “I..I don't know. It's possible. But-” Newt raised her head again. “I-I've heard stories of punishments to those who mate with o-omegas. I know those are the Old Rules, but if anyone finds out-”

~~~~~

“You lead us, I guess. Since you know the prey. What prey is closest?” Honey asked, following North.

Night turned to face Alder.

"Poor puppy scared of a few badgers?"

~~~~~

ooc- ok. I'll wait awhile.

~~~~~

Chester growled. "I won't let anybody lay a paw on you or our possible pups."

He softened his face and nuzzled her snout. "I love you" he whispered.

~~~~~

North walked out of the camp. She pointed her nose at a tree stump. "Squirrel there." She then turned her head to a small grassy patch next to an oak tree. "And a few mice there. There is some more, but let's get the stuff here first."

“Pfft, no!” Alder snorted, straightening. “I-I'm fine.”

~~~~~

Ooc: Alright.

~~~~~

“I love you too,” Newt murmured. Suddenly, she stood up. “Alder, Ivy, and Night might be looking for me. And Sky is probably wondering where you ran off to.”

~~~~~

Honey nodded and sank into a crouch, slowly padding forward, careful not to place her paws on any dry leaves. She lunged forward, and emerged from the tree trunk with a limp squirrel in her jaws.

“If didn't efen trr to 'un. Squirrefs are fo ftupi',” Honey said, her muffled voice barely making it through the squirrel. She set the squirrel on the ground. “But don't tell the squirrels that. I don't want any acorns thrown at my head,” Honey snorted.

Night snorted. "Yeah right. Wimp."

~~~~~

Juniper yawned and lowered her head to Birch. 

"can you think of any boy names?" she asked.

~~~~~

Chester sighed and licked her nose. 

"I suppose. Be sure to wash off my scent though" he reminded her. "I will too."

~~~~~

North nodded and turned to Maple.

"Well, are you going to get those move?" she asked.

Maple nodded and lunged onto the grassy patch of dirt. He stood up proudly with two mice in his jaws.

Alder growled, and jumped when he heard another growl.

“Please tell me that was you,” Alder squeaked softly.

~~~~~

Birch thought for a moment. “Thunder! Or...Oak, or....Birch!” he squealed. “Wait, that's my name....Um. I don't know, b-” Birch gasped. “Ari,” he whispered. “It's "Lion" in the Ancient Language.”

Sky froze and narrowed her eyes at him. “How do you know that?”

“Uh, I dunno,” Birch barked quickly, raising his shoulders in an unconvincing shrug.

~~~~~

Newt nodded. “There's a stream nearby. I used to practice my power there. It's my favorite stream, come on!” Newt bounded through the tall grass, looking completely carefree.

~~~~~

“Nice catch!” Honey barked.

Night rolled her eyes.

"Okay pussy cat, you,stay here. I'm gonna go find it."

She slunk forward, careful to avoid any crunchy leaves or twigs.

~~~~~

Juniper bit her lip.

"What was that, Birch?" she asked slowly.

~~~~~

Chester watched her prance away, sadness filling his eyes.

I wish I could just be with her and not keep it a secret he thought.

~~~~~

Maple lifted his head proudly. 

North watched him. "Well, wanna keep going?" she asked.

Alder growled to himself and trailed after her.

~~~~~

Birch pawed at the ground. “Ari,” he mumbled.

Sky growled at him. “Birch, how do you know that? That language hasn't been used for generations! It's lost!”

Birch shrunk back, whimpering, and ran.

~~~~~

Newt barked over her shoulder. “Are you coming?”

~~~~~

Honey nodded. “I'll go bring the prey back to camp, then I'll come back, alright?” She grabbed Maple's and her's prey, struggling to walk away. She walked through the camp entrance, and dropped the prey with the fresh-kill. She turned to leave, but spotted Sky lunging at Birch, who was running away.

Honey leapt in front of Sky. “What do you think you're doing? Attacking a pup?!”

Sky stopped, still growling softly.

Night rolled her eyes again and kept slinking forward.

She stopped and hid behind a tree when she saw a young female badger and two badger Cubs.

~~~~~

Juniper widened her eyes when she saw where Chester and Newt were, together. [y'know, her power]

Blossom looked at her, seeing what she saw. "Oh no" she said quietly.

Juniper looked down. "I told them to stop" she whispered to herself.

~~~~~~

Chester nodded and chased after her. 

"Show me your power, please" he said as he stopped by the stream.

~~~~~

Maple perked his ears and heard footsteps next to the stream, which was quite a ways away. "What....."

He sniffed and his nose filled with the scent of Chester and Newt. He widened his eyes.

"Oh no..."

Alder's eyes widened. “They're only cubs! We can't attack them, it's not right.”

~~~~~

Sky narrowed her eyes. “Told who to stop what? Is this about Birch? Does the whole camp have a secret they're not telling me?”

~~~~~

Newt nodded, smiling, and dove into the water. Webs appeared between her paws, and a fan spread from her tail. Gills formed on her neck. Her head popped from the water. “Tada! Now I can breathe underwater. I'm like a fish wolf.”