((This is a continuing story of a developing group of individuals, to be called Ekatra'nantaba, which means "united diversity". Should you be interested in joining the group, contact me privately, as this is not an open concept.
You can read about the group's slow growth in the following rps.
Musings
Safety From the Storm
Urgent Summons
Livesaving
Slow Awakening))


It hadn't taken long after Brolly had finally awakened for it to become blindingly obvious that there was more between the two wild dogs than just a patient/doctor relationship. Ewo had been mildly indignant at how long it had taken for his buddy to summon him after making it back to the waking world. Why, that witch doctor had sat talking with him for an hour or more before he had been called in! They were best friends, after all, so why had it taken so long?!

He was grumbling to Doxa about it, who was attempting to be sympathetic but failing to find the situation as serious as the honey badger clearly felt it was. For whatever reason, the raven seemed outright amused! This only made Ewo grumpier about it at first, until Skrissa had joined the conversation.

"Did you ssssse them?" the snake asked the both of them in general, looking as delighted as a reptile face was capable of. "They are sssssmitten!" Ewo stared at her, his lack of comprehension clear. Skrissa curled into her customary coiled pile, raising her head in the middle in order to converse with them. "It issss ssssssso ssssssweet!" The tip of her tail, sticking out incongruously to the side, twitched in her delight. Ewo was still staring at her blankly, so Doxa was the one who replied.

"It isn't terribly surprising," she replied with a bob of her head and a pleased smile gracing her beak. "It happens sometimes, when something dramatic happens. Especially when one is an invalid for a time, and the other the sole caretaker." The truth was, any of them could have done a good deal of the watching over Brolly, but Neera had been adamant. She alone had tended him, shooing everyone else away, telling them not to bother her and her patient. Kalos had been cluelessly compliant at first, but even he had caught on just before the male wild dog had woken finally. Ewo, however, seemed practically impervious to the notion. His expression had gone from blank to completely mystified now, as he glanced between the two female creatures.

"Wait," he protested finally, holding up both front paws in a plea to each of them. "What exactly do you mean? What happens... or has happened?" His expression was so lost, the two females couldn't help but burst into giggles, one hissing and the other clacking her beak. Ah, males! They could be so dense sometimes!

"Ewo," Doxa began finally, her tone patient if a tad condescending, "there is a very good reason why Brolly didn't send for you right away when he woke." He still stared at her, waiting for the explanation that clearly hadn't dawned on him. "It's because you aren't a girl," she added leadingly, leaning her head slightly to the side and towards him, encouraging him to connect the dots himself.

Unfortunately, he didn't seem capable of doing so. His brow furrowed in utter confusion. "Of course I'm not a girl, but why should that matter?!" His frustration rose in his voice, as well as a great deal of suppressed hurt. He just couldn't understand why his best friend didn't want him so much anymore, and his injured feelings were clouding his mind the any possibilities beyond the trouble with their relationship. What if Brolly decided he didn't want Ewo with him anymore? What if he took this witch doctor as his side-kick instead?! Why had this happened?! He was practically sick with anxiety and distress, and once more turned his eyes towards the snake and bird for help.

Skrissa hid her head against her coils, sputtering with laughter. Oh my, this was just too funny! "Ssssssilly ratel. You are not a female, nor of the sssssame ssssspeciesssss asssss your friend!" She paused, watching gears grinding fruitlessly in Ewo's head. "Ssssso you could not be a prossspective mate," she finished, wagging her head side to side with her words. "Misssstressss Neera isssss both a wild dog and a female, and hassssss resssscued him. He callsssssss her hissssss pale angel." She leaned closer to Ewo, whose face now bore a thunderstruck expression. "I do not think you could be a pale angel to him, do you?"

Both girls dissolved into giggles, amused by the situation, by the idea of Ewo as an angel of any sort, and at the poor ratel's stunned expression. The idea of finding a mate, whether for his friend or for himself, clearly had never dawned on him. He simply wasn't the romantic sort, and neither he nor Brolly had ever discussed any dreams of having a family or settling down. But... but this too could be bad! Ewo suddenly was having visions of Brolly settling down and not going adventuring anymore.... of Brolly not needing his companion anymore... of their partnership falling apart as the thing that kept them together disappeared.

So it was to the utter astonishment of both females that Ewo suddenly let loose an anguished howl and threw himself on the floor, sobbing uncontrollably. Skrissa nearly swallowed her own tongue, and Doxa immediately felt ashamed for teasing him so mercilessly. The bird's first thought was that they had somehow hurt his feelings by teasing him about being so dense, but as the tears just kept coming, his whole body convulsing with h is sobs, she began to suspect it had nothing to do with either herself or their snake friend. With an uneasy and guilty look over at the serpent, Doxa hopped over closer to the distraught ratel.

"Ewo?" she called softly, "Ewo, what's wrong? What's gotten you so upset? We... we thought you'd be happy." For it was this time that the girls were the dense ones, not catching on to the masculine need to be bonded with another male, to have a mutual purpose and a working relationship that defined them as individuals and as partners. It wasn't a totally foreign concept to either female, since they each had a good working relationship with their own large friend, but they failed to grasp the connections that Ewo had been mentally making.

"H-h-h-e won't neeeeeed meeeee," he managed to wail miserably. "H-h-he w-w-won't w-want to g-g-g-go o-on ad-d-dventures an-n-n-n-nymoooooore!" He melted into weeping again, covering his face with both front paws, curled in on himself. The females exchanged a look of sympathy and pity. Poor guy! They finally understood, and couldn't help but be touched by his worry.

Skrissa uncoiled and slithered over to encircle Ewo's trembling body gently in a reptilian hug. "I can't ssssay what your Brolly isssss likely to do or not do," she told him, rubbing her chin comfortingly across the top of his head, "but misssss Neera issssssn't the sssssort to demand he sssstay here." She ruminated a bit, holding him securely in her grasp as he subsided to hiccups and sniffles to listen. "She believessssss in following one'sssss heart, in doing what one isssss called to do. What issss Brolly'sssss calling?" She curved her neck so she could look into Ewo's eyes.

"He rescues people," the ratel answered immediately. "He helps those who need it. He rights wrongs and stands up to evil, whatever the form it comes itn." He paused a little more thoughtfully, rubbing his damp nose with one paw. "He's always wandered about, happening upon whoever might need his help. But....," he paused again, raising his eyes to gaze first at Skrissa, then Doxa, then back to Skrissa, "he could do that from a home base too, I guess?"

Doxa bobbed her head and twitched her tail encouragingly. "Neera isn't a wanderer, but she does help people too, doesn't she Skrissa?" She flipped her wings a few times in growing excitement. "She might actually be able to help Brolly do what he likes to do." Her tone gentled then, her eyes softened. "That means that he'll still be doing what you and he have been doing all along... and that he most certainly will still need you, don't you think?"

Skrissa had been weaving her head back and forth, up and down, agreeing and also gaining excitement. "She doesssssss help wanderersssssss, and ssssssometimesssss goessss to them, when they need her." Like now, of course, but all three of them could see that, so she didn't point it out. "There'sssss no reasssssson to think he wouldn't want or need you ssssstill, Ewo."

The ratel's tears stopped flowing, and he blinked his eyes clear and rubbed his nose again, hope rising slowly beneath the lingering fear and grief. Could it be? That even if Brolly had found a mate, he would still do what they'd always done together? Why... it even sounded like his prospective mate might only rarely or occasionally come with them, that he'd still get guy time with his best buddy! He gulped against the tightness in his throat and sniffled. "You think so?" he asked pitifully, feeling very unhero-like in his question. However, the solemn and encouraging nods the other two gave him helped bolster his confidence.

"I suppose that could work," he allowed, speaking slowly. He wiggled a little, letting the snake know that he'd had enough hug and needed his space again. She obliingly took the hint and looped herself back into a compact pile. "But I dunno if lady Neera would welcome me along with him," he added, uncertainty teetering his voice again, his gaze going to the snake, eyes wide with both hope and worry.

Skrissa didn't rush to assure him, but gave it some serious thought. This wasn't the time to give him false hope, which is what it would be if she wasn't absolutely certain about the wild dog witch doctor's reaction. "Neera knowsssss you are hissss partner," she began thoughtfully, "and she knowssssss how important and helpful sssssuch a partnership isssss." She did an odd bob-squirm that was a sort of snake curtsy. "I cannot ssssssee why she would mind it." though now that she thought about it, their home and workspace weren't really designed for this many creatures living there. If her brow could have wrinkled, she'd have wrinkled it. "Thisssss might mean sssssome changessss though," she added. "We might need a new placcccce to live all together." Of course, this was assuming that the pair really did make a lifemate sort of match, though from what Skrissa had seen, that was very likely.

"We would?" Ewo nearly squeaked, gulping in worry again. But then he suddenly stiffened his spine and stood up straight. "We can make this work, I'm certain of it." He glanced at the females, ears perked as he shifted from his worrisome state of mind to the more hero-like and capable state he usually existed in. "They probably haven't thought that far ahead, though, so it might be up to us to smooth the path and find a means to this end." He grinned at them, his shift in mood rather as startling as his previous storm of tears had been. "What do you say, you two? Are you with me?!" He struck a dashing pose that communicated determination and being poised to get on the problem immediately.

As alarmed as they both had been by his strong reaction earlier, they both were charmed by this sudden dedication to resolving something that even their larger friends hadn't quite seen coming yet. "We're in!" Doxa said, sticking her wing-joint into the space between the three of them. Ewo met her wing with his paw, and Skrissa immediately laid her tail in a curl about the other two's appendages. It was a done deal... they'd find a living solution for the four of them... and Doxa already had a perfect idea to present! She had to talk to Kalos about it first, though... but the solution could be perfect for them, all, not just the four in question!