Reviews :

Snake557 : Thank you! :D

Burgie : Oliver's such a ham and doesn't even realize it haha. Thank you so much!


Song Listened To :

Her Breath, Her Land by Joris De Man (Horizon Zero Dawn OST)

Nova Scotia by Adam Young


*Chapter 29*

In a lazy saunter of big chameleon paws that pressed into more humid soil, Royal's lazy carefree disposition budged into the flyer's enclosure. Being cutely tailed by Chester's equally as bumbling paws, his happy, carefree, boyish voice soaked into Royal's big ears. Royal smiled as sunlight glint down on the two, his eyes would occasionally catch with Chester's vivid, turquoise gaze, no shred of intrepidness in his words, he pressed on to his father in pure, happy storytelling. Although Royal equally chimed in, and both boys continued on through the heavily ladened path of thick soil and even thicker tree trunks, Royal's huge ears perked in the grip of a sudden, foreign sound, one of which Chester caught as well. Both males scuffed their powerful strides to an immediate halt as their clearing fell void of their movement and conversing. As if their heads were on a swivel, both boys ears were high and taut in eager listening, though the second a sound of innocent cooing hit their brains, they both immediately stared headlong into each other's gazes in hot knowing.

"Novus," Chester just barely mouthed as his cute, fang-filled mouth formed a small smile, and though everyone was excited for Novus's arrival, Royal felt his stomach dip in hot nervousness.

Royal sniffled the air, sourced just where said cute cries were coming from and cautiously changed direction, casing Chester to sweetly tail his father in equal curiosity. Although Royal and Boss were previously on the outs, their scuffle had faded from a nasty wound to a remembered scar. Though mildly strained, their bond eventually stitched itself back together, the hot topic of Boss now being entirely in charge was still sensitive to the touch, though Royal almost happily sunk into the background. Eager to reconnect with his birth father and really focus on other things, besides maintaining a pack, the pain of not being in charge only remained for about a week after the fact. Royal's powerful body cut through the jungle of their enclosure with cautious, reanimated purpose, and although not the pack's alpha any longer, he still held tight to instincts and was thrilled at least Chester held in cute, submissive tailing no matter what.

Royal's heart raced as he came to a quieter, more secluded area of their grand enclosure. He was well aware his mother had spent the last week or so here, nesting and preparing to give birth to Novus. Due to Boss's overprotectiveness, Royal did whatever he could to steer clear of this area, to give his mother her earned privacy, though as the sounds of Novus's adorable little baby dragon cries rung a little louder in his big ears, the thought of confronting Boss almost vanished from his mind altogether. Eager to meet his baby brother, and introduce Chester to a new family member, he powered on. Royal nervously looked about the trees overhead and in the thicket of bushes all around; he was absolutely certain Boss knew of his presence, surely he'd be somewhere lurking and protecting, though as Royal came to a smaller, dimmer clearing all nestled with a lovely thicket of leaves and moss, his fantastic, golden eyes drew to the two big beings tightly cuddled in a nook at a corner of the enclosure. A rocky, vine-ridden overhang, a secretive place for Lickity to do what she needed and have space, Royal sourced her but was surprised to see Boss's brilliant blue eyes peeked out of his enormous wingspan. Curled almost entirely around Lickity and their new, cooing cub, Royal scuffed his feet to a halt and stared hard into Boss's vivid blue eyes from across the twenty foot gap.

Chester inhaled a tight breath and nervously saddled to Royal's left flank. He nervously sagged his cheek to the thick and hefty protrusion of Royal's left hip bone and flattened his ears, as a show of entire submission, and although Chester was certain Royal would be due to joining, he was nervously shocked to see Royal hold true to taut ears atop his head, almost as if to politely challenge Boss, here. After a near minute-long stare down, Boss surprisingly began to get to his feet, he slowly tucked his wings tight to his body and revealed Lickity's smaller body, all cutely curled about a bundle of wings and fur nestled deep into the velvet of her fluffy mane. With Boss's release of control, the bow of his head, the lock of their eyes, Royal and Lickity finally caught stares in a different swing of happiness. Although Boss had very generously given an okay for Royal and Chester to approach, Royal still held his attention tight to Boss's figure and apprehensively began to approach with Chester's cheek still nearly glued to his flank.

Within a reach of Boss, just out of reach of Lickity, Royal finally sagged his ears and gave Boss an almost pleading look. Though both boys had made up, this moment of truth, with Novus's birth, was the lynchpin that had Boss up in arms to begin with. Now that Novus was an actual being on the grid, Royal wondered if both males could start over fresh, could redo the healing to their father-son bond, and as Royal sagged his large ears first and delicately sniffled the air before him a bit, a very tender and rare show of submission that Royal only ever showed Lickity or Balba, he was eternally relieved to see Boss sweetly return the favor. Royal lulled his eyes closed in sighing relief as Boss gingerly nuzzled his snout into Royal's, and as they both took gentle, bumbling steps into each other and concluded said nuzzle deep into each other's necks, Royal eased his gaze down to Lickity's as Boss began to sweetly glue his attention to Chester, who now also gained proximity and cutely demanded tender, physical attention as well.

Royal sweetly held eyes with his mother, and though Lickity's face read pure delight that Royal had bravely presented himself, he still cautiously approached her. With ease like no other, the two firmly nuzzled snouts, like always, a bond that couldn't be broken, though as Royal sweetly snuffled at his mother's mane, his curious golden eyes held tight to the cooing little pup eagerly dug into the velvet softness of said creamy colored mane. With care, his sturdy legs stood firm above and before Lickity, and as he sweetly nudged his snout into the little bundle of wings and fur buried deep into Lickity's body, the little being murmured a noise of curious existence and removed his face from the security of Lickity's body. Royal eased his head away as both boys locked eyes, the gaze of pure, vivid cerulean gazing back at Royal, it were as if the universe itself kissed his irises with fresh, twinkling stars and promised cosmic goodness along the way. Royal felt a breath catch in the back of his throat, and for the first time, he eased a wide smile and felt Novus's cute little snout do what it could to sniffle up at Royal in adorable curiosity.

"Royal, meet your little brother," Lickity's gentle voice cooed, she ran a clawed finger over Novus's little head and tidied the gorgeous, dark brown tuft of a mane atop his head.

Novus was crowned a beautiful gradient of Boss's dark chocolate coloring on his face, head and upper body, though all down his spine and down the gorgeous sprawl of his little tail and tail sails, Lickity's beautiful, striking, creamy dorsal was gifted to Novus. On Novus's ventral was Boss's proper coloring, the kiss of hot blue that splashed his belly, neck and the inside of his wings, though furthering the notion of being kissed by the stars, said blue coloring was beautifully mixed with all sorts of different streaks of turquoises and purples. A true supernova of color, splatters of white freckles that easily promised that this being would give the night sky a run for its money. Royal couldn't help but crown the dorkiest smile as Novus's adorable, dark-colored face also showed a kiss of even darker markings under his eyes. Truly a piece of art, Novus opened his mouth with a cute little grin, only to have Royal chuckling in solid, further surprise; much like Chester and Lickity, his gums and tongue were a stark shade of a turquoise, green color. Royal sagged a bit as Chester began to sniffle his way into the situation.

"He's incredible, mom," Royal's gentle voice assured, and with the continuous little bump of skulls and gentle nuzzles of reassurance, Royal sweetly tucked his finger over the top of Novus's little head and was thrilled to get a bit of a louder, happier outcry from Novus's cute, toothless little figure, "Welcome to the pack, bud. You're gunna have a world of fun."

"Uncle Novus," Chester hissed with a small chuckle, to which the group erupted into full smiles.

"Is it weird having an uncle that's younger than you, Chess?" Boss wondered, he stood close though gave the three ample space to connect and bond.

"I guess, but I don't know any different," Chester chuckled as him and Novus cutely bumped snouts.

"You have a chatter box for a nephew, my guy, I'm warning you," Royal mumbled as Novus began to sit up a little bit straighter, as if to show signs of wanting to potentially stand or explore.

"You'll have to watch out for Orion," Lickity whispered to Novus as she flattened her ears, to which Novus perked his adorable, huge bat ears, which were entirely too big for his head, for the time being. Lickity giggled and cutely carried on, "Royal keeps him in check..."

"Our mom is pretty cool, too," Royal bobbed a nod, though as his shy eyes glanced to Boss, he stood a bit straighter and peered deep into Boss's vivid, stoic blue eyes; eyes that easily matched Novus's. Royal smiled, glanced down to Novus and tenderly nudged Novus's little shoulder, "Dad, though? He's... He's the best alpha out there. So take notes."

Boss flattened his ears, smiled a little and looked off, as if to almost pretend he potentially didn't hear Royal's incredibly nice compliment. Boss shook his head and finally returned his gaze to his new son, and then to his much bigger adopted son.

"The pack wouldn't be together if it weren't for your first steps, your hard work that started it off," Boss ushered gently, his deep voice dominated the clearing. He sighed and peered back down to Lickity and Novus, "We take care of each other... Novus has a lot of wonderful beings here, to look up to."

"My mom's the funniest," Chester whispered down to Novus, "Watch out for Marble, she can read your thoughts."

"Only if you convey them to her, Chess," Royal grunted with a small laugh, to which Chester shifted on his feet and cutely peered into Lickity's eyes.

"Have mom and Marble met Novus yet?" Chester cutely wondered.

"Yeah, they were just here, though Marble left to escort Vanellope off palace grounds," Lickity shrugged, "Don't know what that's about, but... It didn't seem urgent."

"Odd," Chester wrinkled his nose.

"Balba went with," Lickity nodded, to which she smiled and eyed Royal, "Y'hear Vanellope's big news? She's pregnant."

"She is?" Royal gawked with an excited little laugh, "Oh, cool! I'm sure Tessa and crew are over the moon."

"New gamer on the lot," Boss's deep voice pressed with a smiling grumble, "Y'know what that means... Novus has a rider."

"... It wouldn't be Callum?" Chester inquired gently, to which Boss shrugged and shook his head.

"I was eavesdropping on Zed's and Rancis's conversation about it, the other day," Boss mumbled as he shifted on his sturdy legs, "Callum loves us dragons, but... Sometimes the desire to ride sticks, sometimes it doesn't. Callum doesn't express that desire... Who knows if Gideon will."

"Gideon?" Royal wondered, Boss perked his ears and looked mildly sheepish.

"Oh, sorry... Tessa told us all about her new sibling, she was here preparing Lickity for Novus to be born and she was doing what she could to get Lickity's mind off of the code contractions," Boss hurried to explain, though Chester and Royal looked thrilled nonetheless, "Sugar Rush's new Prince, they've named him Gideon. He'll be born in about two weeks, surely."

"Oh, so this is like REALLY new news," Royal chuckled with a nod as he smiled down to Novus, "Welp... Guess we'll see, once Gideon can walk and talk and all that jazz. I remember clicking with Ace immediately."

"It was the day you were born," Lickity bobbed a nod and smiled, "You two were immediate friends. I loved watching you two grow up together."

"It was the same with Berri and I," Chester stated sweetly with a nod, to which everyone cutely sagged their eyes tight to Novus's disposition, who now inhaled a huge breath for an even huger yawn.

"Guess time will tell, sleepy boy," Lickity mumbled as she nuzzled her snout into the side of Novus's dark, furry little face and bat snout.

"I wonder what Vanellope's doing off the lot," Royal wondered nervously, now on high alert to protect every last fresh kin on palace grounds.

"She's with Balba and Marble, I wouldn't be too worried," Lickity tenderly assured.


"I feel like a Queen again," Vanellope pressed with a grunt of a giggle, her sturdier shoes pressed down into the crumble of chocolate gravel that cascaded down the backside of palace grounds, just outside the sky-high, pristine white walls. Vanellope flicked her black bangs out of her eyes and squinted across the sunny land with a small smile, "Except, instead of Ralph and Rancis at my side, I have two incredible, apex predators."

"Not much different than Ralph and Rancis, let's be honest," Marble's motherly voice cooed.

"Ready to defend and protect, lykata style," Balba gently hissed as she bared her fangs, narrowed her gaze and gave Vanellope a look of playful challenge, as if to further prove that she could very easily let loose an animalistic side.

"I don't think anyone's ever seen us on a proper hunt," Marble's voice soaked through Vanellope's and Balba's heads. All three beings pressed on with heavy footsteps down the slope of rather rocky terrain, straight into a broader, rolling plains of golden summer grass that was on the verge of turning red for the fall. Marble lifted her snout, looked about for safety and finally lulled her eyes closed amidst a cool breeze that whisked her incredibly gorgeous white mane about, "I don't think any of you mere mortals would recognize us."

"Mortals," Vanellope grunted, she looked about the massive, neverending sprawl of plains and grasslands that accompanied the palace's placement on the grid.

A gorgeous sea of golden summer grass was sweetly littered with honey-bark trees that were desperate to fully bloom their gold leaves for fall. Eager to find just what she needed from said trees, for a new baking recipe that Taffyta had gifted her, she trudged on and was thankful to have Balba and Marble with her. Although a relatively safe part of the game, said grasslands often had smaller predators that hid out in the tall grass, like froster foxes; a much smaller being, though if singled out by one, said scuffle wouldn't be pretty. Vanellope's pupils tightened as she glanced up at the sunny sky above the three, though as she pressed on, she could feel the twinge of nausea soak her stomach. Although not a feeling she enjoyed, she couldn't help but smile at the raw fact of just what said sensation meant, the fact that she was carrying new coding, once more. She soaked her live-wired palm to the little loading bar on her lower stomach, underneath her shirt, and cued up the sound of her baby's fresh, rapidly pulsing new heartbeat. Music to her ears, her eyes fluttered as she pressed on to speak to Marble and Balba, though the little flutters of Gideon's heartbeat still softly rung true in her ears.

"Alright, girls, Ralph tasked me with coming up with Gideon's middle name," Vanellope chirped with a nod, to which Balba perked her ears and smiled.

"Von Schweetz?" Balba pressed innocently, to which Marble shook her head and gleaned a cute smile, Vanellope's little figure continued marching in between the strides of the incredible beasts on either side of her.

"Well, Tessa, Oliver and Koko all have a middle name before 'Von Schweetz'," Marble lilted, to which Balba looked off in pondering.

"Ohh, yeah, I forgot," Balba huffed.

"Tessa Quorrin, Oliver Trey, Koko Bree," Vanellope diligently listed with her left hand's fingers, her right hand still remained rested on her loading bar. She giggled and looked off, "Alright, Gideon, what's it gunna be?"

"Would be so funny if he actually answered you," Balba muttered with a sneaky smile and a giggle as she flattened her gorgeous, green wolf-like ears.

"Fox," Marble stabbed, though Vanellope lit up in curiosity and eyed Marble. She jolted in surprise the second both wolves halted to a stop and stiffened their attention to far across the land. Vanellope sagged, looked in the direction their attention was given and could see a froster fox hurriedly scampering away, "Clear."

"Mom, y'really think a little froster fox is gunna do any shred of damage to us?" Balba muttered, Marble flattened her ears and eyed Balba in riled concern.

"The littler, the quicker, the deadlier," Marble rattled, "Never underestimate a predator just because it's smaller than you."

"I guess I HAVE seen a few froster foxes challenge the likes of Boss, before," Balba mumbled, though Vanellope fingered her lip and got lost in not only her thoughts, but the sound of Gideon's still cute and fluttery heartbeat.

"Alright, back to the name-game," Marble listed gently, to which Vanellope smiled and lilted a delightful, repeated conclusion.

"Fox," She giggled, though she flinched as Marble and Balba stiffened and scuffed to a halt, once more; like owls, they eagerly looked about before Vanellope erupted into a cute giggle fit. She flagged her hand, continued walking and finally turned around to face Balba and Marble, "Nooo. Fox! That's a good idea for a name, Marbs."

"Oh, oh," Marble sagged, her ears perked in excitement as her long, black tongue sagged out of her mouth in the friendly show of easy panting, much like a dog.

"Gideon Fox Von Schweetz," Balba proudly listed, she bobbed a nod and smiled into Vanellope's equally as smiling gaze, "I like the sound of that."

"Badass," Marble grunted.

"Right?" Vanellope urged, "Had a cool metaphor to it, too... He may be the youngest, smallest child, but... He surely won't be one to underestimate."

"If he's anything like Ralph or Oliver, he's definitely not going to be physically the smallest child for long," Marble mumbled cutely as all three girls pressed on, "Alright, Mr. Gideon Fox, welcome to the clan, officially."

"Y'think Ralph will like it?" Balba sweetly wondered as she nuzzled her snout into the side of Vanellope's face and jaw, which was easily met with a few rubs and pets from Sugar Rush's predecessor.

"Of course. Gideon's first name held a great deal of meaning for Ralph, and so his middle name will mean a lot for me," Vanellope bobbed a nod, her glistening hazel eyes peered up to the sunny sky in relieved, unending joy as Gideon's heartbeat rang true, "It's only day two and I already feel as if I can't wait a single second longer to meet him."

"Me too, surely Callum is excited, too," Balba stated through a sigh as the three began to approach the nearest patch of honey-bark trees.

"I'm sure both boys will be thick as thieves," Marble mumbled cutely as she eyed Vanellope, "A pair we'll likely need to watch out for."