First Light [open to all]

[Hound]

Miri was momentarily distracted by the arrival of another large canine, this one with very dark fur and full of...excitement? Was the hatching of the newborns a big event for those who had come and gone from this orchard? Pondering this for a moment, the young pup shifted her weight from one foot to the other and watched as the two adults greeted each other.

Then there was another young one who came, greeted the group, and shortly left for what looked like a barrier at the edge of the orchard. Miri's ears perked up with curiosity -- it had not occurred to her until now that there might be something beyond the orchard. The world must be even bigger than I first thought.

Despite the curiosity that was filling her, Miri did not want to follow the pup who was departing from the orchard just yet. She might as well learn more from the larger canines first, so that she could be better prepared for whatever was beyond the barrier.

Just as Miri was preparing to voice a question about the world beyond this one, a bizarre feeling bubbled inside of her belly. It seemed to growl, and felt emptier than she could ever remember it being in the past. "What...?" But she couldn't think of a word for what she was feeling, or how to ask about it.

[Meesh]

Silva smiled t her friend, then turned and nodded to the now-dissapearing Evelon who was leaving the Orchard, probably for the first time. "We'll meet again later!" she called, before turning to look at the various other pups in the clearing. "That Evelon looked exactly like mini-Nerah" she commented to her friend with a grin. "Weren't you also the first of us to step a paw out of the orchard? I wonder if there will be anyone around with my coat color" she looked down at her own midnight black coat. Some of the Clan members- back when they still lived in the area- had thought her coat looked plain, but Silva loved it the way it was, all black and sleek. Perhaps it was just a matter of opinion.

A growl of someone's stomach reached her ears, and Silva turned to look at another brown and white canine. "Oh, you're hungry" she grinned. "It's alright, I know how you feel. Whenever you're hungry, you need to eat prey so the hungriness goes away" she paused, turning to Nerah. The pack had hunted for prey specifically for the occasion of the pod-hatchings, and had hidden it somewhere in the Orchard, but Silva couldn't remember where at all. "Uh, Nerah...what did we do with that prey we caught earlier?"

A thought occurred to her, and she turned, crouching down so she was at the newborn's eye level "Oh, and I'm Silva~ Nice to meet you!"

After a moment exchanging sniffs with everyone, the canine straightened, and turned away. "Anyhoo, I best be off now" she finally said. "Seeya!" with a final nuzzle to Nerah, and a friendly lick to all the nearest newborns, the canine was off

[Deleted]

Nerah laughed when Silva commented how one of the newborns looked like her, and she nodded at the memory of leaving the orchard. "So long ago...it feels weird." When she wondered about coat color, Nerah wagged her tail. "I'm sure it'll happen eventually."

The growl of someone's stomach distracted her, but Silva explained about hunger before Nerah could open her mouth. Of, how much these newborns had to learn! They would come to know everything they needed to know in time, though. When Silva turned to her and asked where they put their prey, she thought for a moment. "Buried by a tree, if I remember right...not sure on the specifics."

Silva left. Nerah frowned at her friend's disappearance, watched the newborns for a moment, and then headed off as well. They needed to befriend each other rather than her, at least for now. She hoped she'd be seeing them around.