[ b ] New Beginnings (Frostbranch & Hush)

[rexcorvus]

She stood on the top of a reasonably sized hill, looked down it, and contemplated rolling all the way into the ravine below.

It was probably a bad idea. It was also probably a bad idea to get involved with a doe that she had herself thought too pretty to pass by without saying anything, but here she was, and here they were. Frostbranch's desire to flirt her way through the swamp had done her well so far, and she'd met many a lovely doe and buck and anything else on her journey to (as her brother put it) find herself - but she'd also found something else as well.

Many somethings. Maybe. She wasn't quite sure how many there were just yet.

Sending out a silent prayer to whoever (whatever?) was listening, Frostbranch made herself comfortable atop the grassy hill and waited.

[Owlsomniac]

Hush enjoys a good romp atop a grassy, sunny, hill from time to time. Especially as a mongoose. Like this, she is small enough to feel the brush of the grass against her pelt, and the whirl of colorful wildflowers against the bright sky somehow seems so much more.

She is busy chasing a lizard which she has half a mind to make her lunch when she senses that unmistakable pull. Distracted, she pauses, and the lizard takes the opportunity to scurry away. She turns briefly to watch the grass rustle with the last flick of its tail, and laughs to herself. Ah well, it would have hardly been worth much of a snack, anyway.

Turning, she heads back up the hill to the top, her long mongoose tail like a black flag through the rainbow of colorful flowers. Finally, she stops before the other doe and sits back on her hind legs, and waits with her head cocked in silent question. Close by, under the shade of a tree, a darker shadow with glowing red eyes flickers and fades.

[rexcorvus]

She's moved into a lounging position, flopped on her side as she contemplates her life and her choices (though she tries not to think too deeply about the latter, because it means confronting her own incorrect ideas about how things work). It's only when she hears a soft rustle of leaves and the unmistakable patter of little paws that she realizes she's not alone.

Lifting her head, Frostbranch catches a glimpse of something crouched at the roots of a nearby tree, its branches forming a lovely little bit of shade, casting stark shadows. The creature below the tree could be made of shadows itself; she's not entirely sure what she's looking at, but there are tiny read eyes staring at her.

There's a moment of silence in which Frostbranch considers what to say, and then she asks, "What are you?"

She's not even really sure it'll respond. Maybe it's just an animal and nothing more.

[Owlsomniac]

The question is a good one, and Hush laughs softly to herself, her mongoose self chittering, but beneath that a whisper of a voice that echoes from the shadow beneath the tree. It shifts, incorporeal still, but the edges seem to blur in and out of focus and when she opens her true eyes they glow with the same, deep, red as that of the moongoose at the soon-to-be mother's hooves.

"Indeed," she says, her voice still not quite all there - but clear enough. The mongoose tilts its head again, at the exact moment the zikwa-shadow does the same. "A question I have often contemplated myself. Though, I get the impression you are not here to discuss the meaning of existence with me - or, perhaps, in your own way, you are."

It's hard to tell, but she seems to be smiling.

"What do you seek, child?"

[rexcorvus]

She feels content, rather than afraid. Is she supposed to be afraid? She's heard rumors of the legendary ones, of the ones who can bless others, who can shapeshift and take the form of various creatures, but she's never met one herself. Frostbranch catches a glimpse of red eyes, of a glow that can't be tamped down, and a shiver of interest travels down her spine.

Fascinating.

She lets out a laugh. "Perhaps not," says Frostbranch. "Maybe another time? I think talking of existence with you could be a great thing."

With a huff of breath she sits up, though remains laying in the grass on her stomach and crosses one leg over the other so that she can look at the other doe properly - though there's still not much in the way of a substantial body.

"I'm going to have children," says Frost, and then after a pause she adds, "I think. I was wondering if I could be...you know. Helped."