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 Posted: Mon Feb 17, 2014 7:03 am
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Posted: Mon Feb 17, 2014 7:23 am
 Tundra Flower, like most of her family, seemed to thrive in winter. While most Soquili and their familiars seemed to hunker down and content to just wait it out; Tundra loved the feel of the cool, powdery snow in her fur. The fluffy, almost pillow-like way it yielded under her snowshoe paws!
She was out hunting, an activity her Soquili companions didn't care to join her on - and that was fine. They disliked killing but at least they had to sense to know that a little mountain lionling like herself didn't have a choice. But she respected their dislike of blood by hunting and eating outside their range of vision, so she made a point to clean herself well before heading back to them.
But today as she slinked gracefully between the bare branches of the winter trees, just outside the meadow they frequented, something caught her eye at the base of a tree. It was a basket! A Soquili basket, half buried in the freshly fallen know as if it hadn't been moved since the last snowfall.
She narrowed her eyes and got closer, carefully, her ears swiveling around as she looked for the parents. Certainly they had to be close? Why weren't they warming the thing? You can't just leave a basket in the snow all alone?
At first, she thought maybe it was just a regular Kawani basket...full or food or something. But no, as she got closer Tundra could definitely sense this was a Soquili basket. It was tied shut, and the smell of horse was thick on it. It also had the tell-tale pattern on it; far to intricate to be sewn or painted by human hands.
She got closer still... sniffing. There was no sign of anything. No parents, no struggle... even under the freshly fallen snow, Tundra could find no hoofprints in the mud. No blood. No broken tree limbs or anything to indicate misfortune like a skinwalker attack. How strange for it to just be left out here? And only one? It was very rare that Soquili birthed only one child in the Kawani lands.
She crawled, gently, on top of the basket, laying her belly over it and pressing her ears to the wicker. It was cold to the initial touch - obviously left out in the elements, but Tundra could still feel a dull, pulsing warmth from within. In the dead quiet of the snowy morning she could hear the faint woosh-woosh of the baby inside its walls.
She had to make a decision. The baby would certainly die is left much longer just out in the cold like this... and there was so signs of the parents anywhere. She had not seen them in her hunt, nor could she smell them with her nose. Carefully, she tested an idea she had. She nudged the basket, which was nearly bigger than her, with the flat of her head; dislodging it from the snow. It took a few tries, but once the basket rested on top of the newer, slicker snow instead of being buried in it, it slid across the surface like a sled.
Pleased with herself, Tundra began to push and pull the basket back towards the meadow.
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Posted: Mon Feb 17, 2014 8:00 am
Glacier was curled happily against his mate in the snow, his favorite activity of all. Surprisingly, snow was rather insulating; especially with a friend. He had dug out a small over in the powdery stuff, and snuggled up in with his lovely mate, Laikaylah, snug around him. Their body heat warmed each other, while the bank of snow around them blocked the chill of the winter winds. It was perfect, and Glacier had no reservations about spending the better part of winter just curled up in a cloud of bliss with his lovely lady.
He had felt Tundra Flower wiggle out from their warm nest a few hours ago, no doubt to go hunting in the early morning. The sun was shining down and it wouldn't get long until the snow began to melt...which would make their cave more wet and less snug.
He should probably get up... but not just yet.
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Posted: Mon Feb 17, 2014 9:06 am
Laikaylah nuzzled her warm mate, also enjoying the comfort of being cuddled up so close to the stallion she loved; but the run was beginning to call to her. She wasn't as content to lounge around for days on end like her mate, but she didn't have the heart to move just yet...
...but it was about that time a strange noise got her attention. The was the shhhhrrrt shhhhhrttts or something being dragged against the freshly laden snow. She lifted her head, peeking over the little snow-fort they had construction to shield out the wind. There was.... a basket(?) gliding across the snowy meadow towards them. It took a minute for Laikaylah to even realize what she was looking at, until she saw the tiny mountain lion hop over the basket and begin to pull. "Tundra?" she asked, rousing herself out of the foggy warm aura of the cuddle-zone.
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Posted: Mon Feb 17, 2014 9:19 am
"Ah, Miss Laikaylah!" Tundra called when she noticed she had been spotted. She jumped back behind the basket and pushed it towards her quickly. "Look, look, this basket was just laying out in the snow!" she said, her voice elevated with concern. "Look, Miss Laikaylah, it has spots!" She pointed to the intricate patterns along the wicker, "It looks like it belongs to you!" she said with a smile and puff of her chest.
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Posted: Mon Feb 17, 2014 9:38 am
Glacier grunted his displeasure when Laikaylah dislodged herself from him embrace; causing a gust of cold wind to infiltrate their little warmth-huddle. But the sound of concern in Laikaylah's voiced sobered his lazy-drunkness quickly, and he was to his feet in a moment. "What's going on?" he asked, looking between his mate, his purple familiar, and the spotty basket that she was over.
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Posted: Mon Feb 17, 2014 10:45 am
It wasn't unheard of, however, in the Kawani lands for baskets to be abandoned. Sometimes the parents meet horrible fates at the claws and teeth of a skinwalker. Sometimes, a young mother is overwhelmed and leaves it somewhere to be found. For all she knew, skinwalker mothers themselves might leave their cuckoo-like baskets about to be found by those unsuspecting.
She turned to her mate, who was now looking on. "What should we do?" she asked. "We can't just leave it all alone in the cold..." Her mother instincts were already taking over, and she pulled the basket into her little snow-nest. She wrapped her body around it as much as she could, trying to warm it.
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Posted: Mon Feb 17, 2014 2:57 pm
"I don't know," Tundra admitted, curling around Glacier's hooves. "I swear, I didn't see anything or anyone. There was no blood, no hoofprints....nothing! It was close, too, maybe it was left here for you? It looks like it belongs to you," she said, looking between Glacier and Laikaylah. "You have to take care of it it, it will die otherwise in the cold!"
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Posted: Mon Feb 17, 2014 3:06 pm
Glacier frowned and tossed his mane. On one hoof, Tundra was right. Leaving the basket where she found it would risk having it die in the cold; or becoming prey to an enterprising predator. But at the same time, if they kept this basket and the real parents showed up months from now... how would they explain it? How could they give up the precious child after that time? He could tell Laikaylah was already growing attached...she was so motherly.
He looked up into the sky and closed his eyes, asking the spirits for a sign. "Tundra and I will go looking," he said to his mate. "We'll search high and low and try to find the basket's parents. In the meantime, you give it the warmth it needs, my love." He leaned down and nuzzled her encouragingly. "We will be back within three days time," he said with an air of finality. He looked down to Tundra who crawled on this back.
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Posted: Mon Feb 17, 2014 3:20 pm
The Spirit of the Forever Winter was a massive, beautiful snow leopard. It shimmered in the wind... nearly invisible but made to be seen by the falling of snow and ice in the wind. It moved over the lands of Forever Winter eventually stopping in front of Laikaylah. Its eyes were silver and glowing, not unlike Laikaylah's (which was the sign of her people that she was one of only a select few who could truly See the spirit).
It regarded Laikaylah for a moment, the breathed its icy breath over a frozen lake. Leaving only a fog, the giant spirit moved on, dissipating into the wind. Left on the lake was the pale basket. As Laikaylah walked over, she saw her reflection in the mirrored lake; her belly round as if heavy with foal.
Laikaylah awoke with a start. She took a keep breath, and looked down at the basket she was curled around. An inexplicable feeling came over her; the same feeling she felt when she looked over her own newly birthed baskets. Was it a true vision? Was this basket really hers? Somehow? A gift from the Spirit of the Forever Winter?
She looked up, wondering if Glaicer would return soon. And she found herself hoping he would come back empty-handed. She smiled to herself, and went back to sleep.
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