[PRP] Bringing Home Roadkill

[MangoMeow]

She wasn't normally this spontaneous. Generally speaking, Remi tried to avoid doing things that would draw attention to her, but... the little raccoon she'd found was hurt, and he was important, she could tell. She just.. didn't know why yet. Explaining that to others would be another story though. She was a Seer, this was true, but she always felt awkward telling others what she had seen. Look at what happened the last time she did! She was't sure she'd ever be able to face Cacophony again....

That was why she now found herself sneaking back to her den, a little bundle of fur clasped in her jaws. If anyone looked close enough, they'd see it was an unconscious raccoon, but he was so similar in color to herself that she was hoping they wouldn't notice.

Not that her pack would care. It was just... very uncommon for raccoons to hang around here. Crows were more everyone's style.

... Her family was another matter though. She really didn't know how they'd react, and she didn't really want to find out.

Krysin

 

[Krysin]

Ristaker had plenty of pups within the Crows, and while she was a busy wolf (unlike her layabout mate but that was another story) she did make the time to keep tabs on her offspring. Her seer daughter had always been a source of pride and concern for Ristaker - she had witnessed firsthand how easily Reminiscent had damaged her relationship with her sister Cacophony. Even now, Cacophony wanted nothing to do with her sister if she could help it. In time, Risktaker hoped that she would come around and that the family would heal.

She had learned the hard way that yelling at her children to get them to do what she wanted was usually met with some resistance. Thankfully, the same could not be said for her mate. No matter how much she yelled at him he either rolled over like a good boy or let it run off his shoulders like water. It made her hate and love him at the same exact time - it was a complicated relationship.

Risktaker had made it to her daughter's den just as Reminiscent returned with her little bundle of joy. Knowing that she was always welcome within her daughter's home, she followed her inside intending to have a quick 'catch up' conversation. After all, a lot had been happening inside and outside the Crows. "Reminiscent, how are -

What is that."

Her eyes had landed on the furball carried carefully in her daughter's maw. Her words were not a question, but rather a demand. Remi would tell her what she was doing with what clearly was not a wolf pup, and had... fingers. "Do not tell me you brought a raccoon home." She felt sick. She did not raise her children to bring defenseless pets home. They were Crows.  

[MangoMeow]

She honestly hadn't heard her mother coming, for all her attempts to sneak home. Remi let out a small yip as Risktaker began speaking, nearly letting go of her precious cargo in the process, before whipping around to face the older wolf. Which ended up being a mistake, as it quickly revealed what she was holding.

Ears flattening against her head, Reminiscent's mind raced as she tried to come up with a good explanation. Maybe she could get away with saying it was her dinner? But the little black and white raccoon hardly would have made a snack anyway. It's a fur pelt to cover herself with? Actually, that might gross her mother out even more.

Finally, leaning down to set the unconscious form down, she cleared her throat and spoke, "M-mom, uhm.... What brings you here?" Her voice cracked as she spoke, and she inwardly winced as she realized that her mother would see right through her bad attempt at deflecting.  

[Krysin]

Risktaker was no fool, and she had witnessed far better attempts at deflecting her attention than the one Remi put forth just now. Her expression hardened with displeasure, the lines of her face turning sharp and intimidating. It was a risky move to try and bullshit one's own mother. Risktaker knew her daughter too well, and though others would be softened by Remi's insecure demeanor... Risktaker was only annoyed by it. If her daughter had put forth more effort into distracting her, maybe she wouldn't be so annoyed by the way Remi's voice trembled as she spoke.

"Really," she called her daughter out in a flat toned voice. "Get that thing out of your mouth before it makes you sick," she chastised. Her expression twisted to reflect her disgust at the creature that had clearly crawled its way into her daughter's sympathetic heart. Risktaker would love to be sympathetic herself, but had long since learned that it wasn't worth it. It got in the way of getting work done and accomplishing what she needed to do.

"I am here to sniff out your bullshit, clearly," she clarified, sarcasm dripping from her voice. She would have rolled her eyes for emphasis, but it was clear that she was the adult here.  

[MangoMeow]

If she could have, she would have sunk further into the ground, but with that not being an option, Remi instead tried to clear her throat and shuffled the raccoon to the side of them. That said, she didn't walk away from him either.

"I mean, he's not dead.... I don't think he'd make me sick." And maybe she was being softhearted, but it felt important that she helped it.

Remi grimaced at the sarcasm that followed. If there'd been any doubt about her mother knowing what she was doing, that would have killed it. Figuring that there was nothing for it now, the seer swallowed and spoke again, this time a little more clearly, "He's hurt, and I just.. I couldn't leave him there."  

[Krysin]

"It's close enough to being dead," she remarked dryly. If she refused to address the poor raccoon baby by its gender, than maybe her daughter would be less inclined to keep it as a pet. She had nothing against the creatures personally, it was just unfitting for her child to decide to waste her time on one. Reminiscent was her daughter, and expectations were always the highest for her own offspring.

Her dark blue eyes, sharp and very unlike Remi's, settled on the raccoon Remi had deposited by her side. She was correct to trust that Risktaker wouldn't do anything personally to it. Risktaker wasn't malicious, the most she could suggest was to drop it off somewhere and forget about it. The raccoon looked like it would die either way.

She sighed, the sound heavy with frustration. "I know why you picked it up, but it'll likely die regardless of what you do. Your soft heart can't save them all, this isn't the first time I've told you that you need to toughen up and harden yourself against the world."  

[MangoMeow]

Her ears pulled back at those words, and she glanced down at the raccoon. Remi was silent as she considered what to do next, though the longer she stared, the more she felt that she couldn't just abandon it either, regardless of whether it would die anyway.

Looking back up, the wolf finally made eye contact with her mother, "I know he might not make it, but I still need to try. He's important. I don't know why or how... but I can tell."

She had always been bad at describing things related to her visions, but in this case, she wanted to show that this was important for some reason.

Reminiscent glanced back down at her paws again, "You're right, I should toughen up like my siblings." Well, most of them. "But I also want to do what's right. At least now." Her ears flattened against her head, "I've... made some mistakes, but...." She had a feeling that the mistakes she'd made wouldn't be so easily fixed, least of all with her sister, but perhaps starting somewhere small would help.  

[Krysin]

It was unsurprising that when Remi lifted her gaze to meet her mother's, that Risktaker's own stare was unwavering. There were very few wolves the female had ever backed down to, and they certainly weren't her own children. But, it spoke volumes that Remi was able to meet it on this one occasion. "Is this what you feel or what you see?" she challenged. It was one thing to blindly follow one's heart, but another thing entirely to follow one's unnatural and powerful gift. She suspected what the answer was, but felt like Remi needed to say it aloud and hear her own words for herself.

"You're still tougher than Softspoken, my fault for naming the boy that way but I thought it would encourage him to break away from it." Her voice was mildly softer, consoling, though to an outsider it would certainly appear as if Risktaker was digging into her daughter hard still. "But you're still nearly as soft, and you'll only hurt yourself and others in the future if you're not more careful." Reminiscent had already made quite a few mistakes, and Risktaker could only hope that she would not repeat them.

Cacophony had wanted little to nothing to do with her family after whatever incident had transpired between the sisters. "I wish I could sway you otherwise - when it dies do not expect me to take care of it for you."  

[MangoMeow]

Well, they were more like... vague visions with more feeling in them than anything else, but she had a feeling that wouldn't fly, and she could see an opportunity to get what she wanted to say out. So instead, Remi gave a curt nod before stuttering out, "I can see it." Mostly, she noted inwardly.

While Risktaker continued, Remi's stance softened a bit as she nodded at her words before she perked up at her mother's last sentence. Do not expect me to take care of it for you. That was as good of an acceptance as she was probably going to get.

Reminiscent gave her a soft smile back, elation clear on her face, "I'll take care of him, whatever ends up happening."  

[Krysin]

It was an acceptable enough answer, as evidenced by the solemn look on Risktaker's face. If she wanted to argue the issue further, she would have pressed on with anger and ire. There was a chance that if she pushed hard enough, fiercely enough, Reminiscent would cave and give up on the raccoon. But, she wasn't willing to risk the relationship she had with her daughter to achieve that goal. Reminiscent would learn the hard way if the raccoon failed to survive - that grief would be her's alone to bear.

"Good, I will not bury his corpse for you." It was a small improvement, Risktaker addressing the creature by his gender. She figured if the raccoon survived this, there was little reason to make an enemy of it. "A crow would have been far more fitting," she whispered underneath her breath, worn down by her daughter's shenanigans.

"Well, I was going to go over some things with you but... I'm not sure how much more of you I can handle today, child. Just... tend to your pet. Let me know if it survives or if it dies." She was already regretting the idea to have a second litter - maybe it was a mistake to want more brats.

My Word Count: 1129  

[MangoMeow]

She was ecstatic enough that she chose to ignore the whisper. (and besides, she was right in that aspect too. A crow would have made more sense) Instead, Reminiscent yipped back an "Yes, mother", a habit from her pup days, and made a mental note to track her down later, to see what she had wanted to talk about originally.

For now though, she turned to look back at the raccoon. Idly, she wondered what his name was, or how he'd gotten hurt, but first, she needed to tend to his wounds.

My Word Count: 863