Piper was born responsible. It was just part of who she was. As soon as she was able to walk and explore she began befriending and nurturing small animals and keeping her siblings in line. If the lot of them were left home alone it was Piper who kept them from getting into trouble. And as they got older it was Piper that everyone wanted to leave behind so she wouldn't be there to stop their fun with all of her "knowing better."
When all of her siblings were beginning to meet friends outside of their home and have social lives and begin to consider what they planned to do when they grew up, Piper only wanted to stay at home and help around the house and the shop. Kristol was worried for her daughter, wanted her to have friends and meet boys, and to think about her future. Avery calmed her, insisted that she would find her own way and that if she wanted to be a home body it didn't mean she would never have any fun or meet anyone.
And so time went on and Piper learned the ins and outs of taking care of a home and a family, and one by one her siblings moved out to seek their fortunes elsewhere.
It came as a wonderful surprise to Piper when Kristol became pregnant with a second litter. Piper had always loved puppies, they were like her small animal companions except even better. She was overjoyed to help prepare for the new arrivals and to pick up more of the household and business chores to take some of the burden from her ever expanding mother.
When the new little ones finally arrived, Piper was beside herself, fretting and worrying over Kristol as she labored. Avery remained the calm pillar of the family that he always was, soothing both his mate and their worked up daughter.
One by one the puppies were welcomed to the world by their loving parents and a doting older sister.
As the pups grew, so too did Piper's intense need to watch over them in everything they did. This was helpful for her parents in that she could watch the pups and they could tend to their business and everyone had a job to do and no one ended up overwhelmed. Piper took to her role as nanny to her tiny siblings like a fish to water, taking them on short trips to market or to visit their other older siblings, even for little visits to the forest. The woods to the west of town were known to be outside of the dragon wolves' territories and she felt confident that the pups could play and get some fresh air there, and she tried to pass on all the lovely things about the area that their father had taught her.
By and by the tiny puppies grew before her eyes. Suddenly they were becoming more independent and small groups of them would go off to do things on their own. Most of the pups stayed close to home, within shouting distance, playing with other pups from the lane or going to bother the bakers for bits of dough or dropped rolls. Even Piper had to admit that they were safe and secure and that she didn't have to worry about what they were getting into... until she noticed that one little female pup was never with the others. At first she assumed the pup was just with whichever group was out of direct sight, but soon her curiosity got the better of her and she decided to follow her just to see what she was up to.
Careful to stay far enough away to keep out of sight and earshot, she slowly made her way along behind her little sister. Surprised she continued to follow as they wound their way through the market streets and down to where they always entered the forest on their little field trips. But they didn't stop where Piper had always had them stop, her sister kept going, making her way through the woods along a tiny trail leading through the underbrush. Suddenly she disappeared around a rock formation and Piper had to stop short, her eyes went wide as she realized she almost followed right into the middle of what appeared to be a pack of dragon wolves.
She wracked her brains, but couldn't think of hearing any news recently of the wolves' expanding their territory. As she crouched behind the rock, tense, watching her sister, she realized that there were only two adult wolves in sight, the rest were pups, by the look of them, almost the same age as her younger siblings. So maybe this wasn't one of the packs of wolves she'd always been warned about, but the adults were still far larger than she was and looked formidable and wild. She was desperate for a way to rescue her sister, yet the longer she sat there, the more she realized her sister didn't seem to be in any danger. To the contrary, she was happily playing with the pups in the clearing, and seemed quite attached to one pup in particular, a large, fluffy male pup with wings and little buds of horns and a bright aqua gem stone on his face who, upon observation, was so clumsy he appeared to have four left feet. Yet her sister was patient with him, and when they'd worn themselves out tearing around the grass and climbing up on and falling off the rocks scattered around, the two curled up together and slept in a heap. And all the while the adult dragon wolves surveyed the scene.
Piper kept up her vigil the entire day, by the end her nerves were fried from remaining poised to run in and rescue the pup if anything should happen. But when nothing did and suddenly her sister was coming right for her she had to scramble to get out of the way and stay out of sight. She tailed her back to town, trying to decide what to do when they got home.
That evening she went to her parents and discussed what she had seen. Kristol was frightened, as a town dog the only stories you hear your whole life are of the nasty things some of the dragon wolves are capable of when crossed. Avery had always tried to teach her otherwise, the way he had been, but sometimes its hard to let go of how you are raised. He considered for a moment what Piper had told them, then turned to his mate with a smile.
"They tell stories of exiled wolves in my family. Stories of shame for the wolves who are exiled, but also love stories. Most often when the dragon wolves reject their own kind it is because they have seen past the oppression of their own packs, and it would seem that our little pup has done the same."
He rubbed cheeks with his puzzled mate and turned to Piper, "Go and fetch her, Piper dear, we must have a talk with our little Amarte about her friend and how we should handle this."
When all of her siblings were beginning to meet friends outside of their home and have social lives and begin to consider what they planned to do when they grew up, Piper only wanted to stay at home and help around the house and the shop. Kristol was worried for her daughter, wanted her to have friends and meet boys, and to think about her future. Avery calmed her, insisted that she would find her own way and that if she wanted to be a home body it didn't mean she would never have any fun or meet anyone.
And so time went on and Piper learned the ins and outs of taking care of a home and a family, and one by one her siblings moved out to seek their fortunes elsewhere.
It came as a wonderful surprise to Piper when Kristol became pregnant with a second litter. Piper had always loved puppies, they were like her small animal companions except even better. She was overjoyed to help prepare for the new arrivals and to pick up more of the household and business chores to take some of the burden from her ever expanding mother.
When the new little ones finally arrived, Piper was beside herself, fretting and worrying over Kristol as she labored. Avery remained the calm pillar of the family that he always was, soothing both his mate and their worked up daughter.
One by one the puppies were welcomed to the world by their loving parents and a doting older sister.
As the pups grew, so too did Piper's intense need to watch over them in everything they did. This was helpful for her parents in that she could watch the pups and they could tend to their business and everyone had a job to do and no one ended up overwhelmed. Piper took to her role as nanny to her tiny siblings like a fish to water, taking them on short trips to market or to visit their other older siblings, even for little visits to the forest. The woods to the west of town were known to be outside of the dragon wolves' territories and she felt confident that the pups could play and get some fresh air there, and she tried to pass on all the lovely things about the area that their father had taught her.
By and by the tiny puppies grew before her eyes. Suddenly they were becoming more independent and small groups of them would go off to do things on their own. Most of the pups stayed close to home, within shouting distance, playing with other pups from the lane or going to bother the bakers for bits of dough or dropped rolls. Even Piper had to admit that they were safe and secure and that she didn't have to worry about what they were getting into... until she noticed that one little female pup was never with the others. At first she assumed the pup was just with whichever group was out of direct sight, but soon her curiosity got the better of her and she decided to follow her just to see what she was up to.
Careful to stay far enough away to keep out of sight and earshot, she slowly made her way along behind her little sister. Surprised she continued to follow as they wound their way through the market streets and down to where they always entered the forest on their little field trips. But they didn't stop where Piper had always had them stop, her sister kept going, making her way through the woods along a tiny trail leading through the underbrush. Suddenly she disappeared around a rock formation and Piper had to stop short, her eyes went wide as she realized she almost followed right into the middle of what appeared to be a pack of dragon wolves.
She wracked her brains, but couldn't think of hearing any news recently of the wolves' expanding their territory. As she crouched behind the rock, tense, watching her sister, she realized that there were only two adult wolves in sight, the rest were pups, by the look of them, almost the same age as her younger siblings. So maybe this wasn't one of the packs of wolves she'd always been warned about, but the adults were still far larger than she was and looked formidable and wild. She was desperate for a way to rescue her sister, yet the longer she sat there, the more she realized her sister didn't seem to be in any danger. To the contrary, she was happily playing with the pups in the clearing, and seemed quite attached to one pup in particular, a large, fluffy male pup with wings and little buds of horns and a bright aqua gem stone on his face who, upon observation, was so clumsy he appeared to have four left feet. Yet her sister was patient with him, and when they'd worn themselves out tearing around the grass and climbing up on and falling off the rocks scattered around, the two curled up together and slept in a heap. And all the while the adult dragon wolves surveyed the scene.
Piper kept up her vigil the entire day, by the end her nerves were fried from remaining poised to run in and rescue the pup if anything should happen. But when nothing did and suddenly her sister was coming right for her she had to scramble to get out of the way and stay out of sight. She tailed her back to town, trying to decide what to do when they got home.
That evening she went to her parents and discussed what she had seen. Kristol was frightened, as a town dog the only stories you hear your whole life are of the nasty things some of the dragon wolves are capable of when crossed. Avery had always tried to teach her otherwise, the way he had been, but sometimes its hard to let go of how you are raised. He considered for a moment what Piper had told them, then turned to his mate with a smile.
"They tell stories of exiled wolves in my family. Stories of shame for the wolves who are exiled, but also love stories. Most often when the dragon wolves reject their own kind it is because they have seen past the oppression of their own packs, and it would seem that our little pup has done the same."
He rubbed cheeks with his puzzled mate and turned to Piper, "Go and fetch her, Piper dear, we must have a talk with our little Amarte about her friend and how we should handle this."