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 Posted: Sat Nov 05, 2011 8:32 am
 Twilight was finally of age, and she wanted to start having beautiful children of her own. Her parents were beautiful, and so were her siblings. She wanted to see her family flourish, and she would do her part to help it stay big.
This would be her first breeding of what she knew would be many, she had seen how the bucks looked at her. But this would be her first, and she wanted it to be special. So she decided that she would seek out an elder to ask for a blessing. She'd asked around, and heard that this clearing was sometimes a popular place for a specific elder, Wildflower Breeze. She hoped she would find him here.
"Hello?" Her voice echoed strongly around the clearing, and she waited.
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Posted: Sat Nov 05, 2011 8:48 am
The reasons for Breeze's frequenting this clearing were twofold; the first was that peppermint grew thick here, cold and strong and green, for weaving into garlands and ties. The second was that it was fairly close to the northern border, and an easy flight from here to the mud flats, where he would sometimes stare, lonely, into the distance. It had been a long time since his son had set out on his own, and Breeze missed him terribly.
It was with a heavy heart and preoccupied mind that the latest expectant mother found him. From within the thickest growth of mint, he twitched an ear and impulsively turned his head to her greeting. With a sigh, he stretched his back in a short series of pops and rise to meet her.
"Hello, indeed," he said, with little trace of his somber contemplations left in his voice or expression. "Can I be of some assistance?" Now he smiled, and now he spoke warmly; if anything could be said about him, it was that he knew how to act.
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Posted: Sat Nov 05, 2011 9:09 am
Twilight hadn't seen many elders before, but she wouldn't let herself stare. She had business to do, and besides, it was rude. "Excuse me, my name is Morning Twilight, and I was hoping I could ask for a blessing." She was almost nervous, and of course she didn't let her voice show it. If this elder wouldn't bless her, she could find another one and try again. There was nothing to be worried about.
Though she was still almost nervous. She bent her knee and pawed the ground, her nervous tic. She was so focused on the elder that she didn't even realize she was doing it, like she usually did.
Her mind was running at top speed again, maybe she was more than almost nervous. And then one tiny word popped into her head, and she mentally kicked herself for not including it.
"Please, if you have the time."
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Posted: Sat Nov 05, 2011 9:28 am
Breeze's smile grew gentler - another anxious, first-time mother needing comfort. He still remembered what it was like to do something as momentous as this for the first time, so this sort tended to earn his sympathy quickly.
With every bit of the grace and nobility he was reputed to have, for once, he strode to Twilight's side. "I always have time to help another," he murmured reassuringly as he examined her. He walked around her once, twice - how unusual! Tilting his head, he remarked with good humor, "Most only think to seek us after they are with child, you know. It's refreshing to see some forethought given to the matter." He chuckled, and then asked, "Do you have any particular concerns?"
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Posted: Sat Nov 05, 2011 10:22 am
Twi barely registered Breeze's compliment. "I need forethought if I am going to keep my family big and strong."
Concerns?
"No concerns, my parents were healthy, and so am I, as far as I know. I just want to have a big family, that's all I'm asking for."
She calmed down a little, knowing that he'd help her, and the questions were distracting and giving her mind a direction to go in. She was calming down, and he would help her to have a big family.
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Posted: Wed Dec 07, 2011 8:00 pm
The stag raised his eyebrows and canted his head slightly, still smiling. "It is reassuring to know that you have a history of good health," he said. Looking her in the eye, he continued, "and I don't see why it shouldn't be that way for your next generation." Lapsing into a singsong, the old storyteller gave her his assurances - "They'll be as well-guarded as the tortoise, as wise as the lynx, as free as the eaglehound..."
Here his voice faltered. His eyes suddenly growing distant, he turned bodily towards the far-off mud flats that would then dissolve into plains, and from there to hilly grasslands, and after that, who knew what. His smile now wry and sad, he concluded quietly, "and they will always return home."
The stag settled again into his lair in the mint, mind elsewhere. After a lengthy pause, but while Morning Twilight was still within earshot, he called behind him, "You eat some of the mint, as well."
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Posted: Fri Dec 16, 2011 6:56 pm
She listened quietly to his similes, understanding at the last part that his own children were never around. She was heartbroken for him, she couldn't imagine being away from her yet-to-exist children, let alone them not wanting to be around her.
She stared hard into the mint that he had disappeared into, adding one last "Thank you" before grabbing a mouthful of the nearest mint and rushing off. She had suddenly become emotional.
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