[PRP - Blessing] Strengthening the Tribe

[Ruriska]

Mudlark sought out Bitterleaf as evening approached; her steps both eager and full of uncharacteristic nerves. Tonight she searched for the tribe Matriarch for personal reasons. Mudlark was pregnant. Although she was nowhere near showing yet, the doe knew. She felt the new life within her growing and was suddenly afraid that she was not ready. They had a strong bloodline but it would be up to her to mould and shape them into the perfect members of the tribe.

When she found Bitterleaf, she approached with a soft greeting, dipped her head respectfully and then spoke her request; her words straight to the point. "I am pregnant with Pike’s offspring." The father could not be anyone other than him; he was her first and only. "I would be grateful if you would give my children your blessing."

Rejam

 

[Rejam]

Bitterleaf looks up from where she is scoring a marker--in the wind and salt, this is a task that needs constant retouching. Her horns are worn smooth at the tips by the unending work of it, as are the horns of many of the oldest tribe members.

"Pike." She says the word flatly, and it's without inflection but there is always the suspicion that perhaps what Bitterleaf says is mocking, or full of judgment.

After a moment she resumes her work, and she speaks as she does, her head tipped awkwardly and her words coming between the scratching sounds. "Word of advice," she says, "before we get down to business. They aren't Pike's offspring. There was never a father whose offspring was theirs more than it was the mother's. They're yours. He's not going to help you with them any more than he helps with the others born to us."  

[Rejam]

((OOCly, I need to note that Bitterleaf appreciates Mudlark's submissiveness XD She is being uncharacteristically nice))  

[Ruriska]

Mudlark let out a pent up breath. She nodded; the action firm. “I understand.” She had not for one second expected the buck to take part in raising them, but it had seemed important to her that Bitterleaf know who the father was. After this moment they would be hers and hers alone.

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[Rejam]

For a long moment Bitterleaf continues scoring the stone, until it seems almost as though she's forgotten Mudlark's presence. When she finally straightens, she shakes out her wings--barely visible in the sunlight--and her hair from her eyes, and fixes a stern stare at the doe. Bitterleaf's stare can cow nearly anyone, but to a Tidewalker, more than anyone, it is common knowledge that the best defense for it is to meet it.

"I am feeling magnanimous," she says drily, with her usual borderline sarcasm. "You've come to me with much more sense than the last several, and they could learn from your straightforwardness." Bitterleaf's compliments are few and hard to come by. Mudlark, as a Tidewalker, likely knows this--knows exactly how rare it is to hear this sort of talk from the brooding old mare. "So I will give you an opportunity to undo all your good impression by asking you: what exactly would you like me to bless your children with? Think carefully, but answer honestly."  

[Ruriska]

The doe stood still, meeting Bitterleaf’s gaze as unflinchingly as possible. She was not unaffected. She locked her knees and lifted her head, nostrils flaring slightly. But to look down would have both been disrespectful and a sign of weakness.

In the next moment, a crinkle at the corner of her eyes and the flick of an ear gave away her pleasure at the compliment. A rare and treasured gift; it made Mudlark stand that little bit taller.

The question however, made her pause. She opened her mouth once and then snapped it shut again, taking the time to think. Many potential answers flittered through her mind. There was a lot she wanted for them. There was much she would demand of them. So, in the end, the answer was simple.

"The strength to endure."

Rejam