[ b ] A Blustery Day (Windy & Fierce Warrior)

[rexcorvus]

So far that morning, Windy had climbed a towering mountain (a lump of a hill), burrowed through a deep, dark tunnel (a rotting log), forged her way through a raging river (a tiny brook) and fought off fearsome, wild beasts in order to claim her food (knocked a squirrel out of the way so she could get to the berries of a bush first), all before the sun had actually risen in its entirety.

Now she sat, triumphant and rather pleased with herself, on the edge of the river (stream), a cluster of berries at her hooves and her mouth and snout stained red with juice. They were a delicious prize, she thought, and ate another one just because she could. Soft golden rays of the morning sun spread across her legs and Windy licked her lips, one of her hind legs bouncing with excitement.

She was going to be a mother.

"Hey!" she called cheerily down the river (stream). "Do you want one of these?"

[rexcorvus]

Fierce, standing a short distance away from Windy and with his mouth full of fish in a manner that was probably not becoming for someone who was supposed to be wise and helpful (so to speak), tried to swallow before speaking. The end result was that he choked, coughed, spat and Breakwater slapped him a few times with his tail in an effort to be "helpful."

"No thank you," Fierce managed to wheeze out at last, his eyes a little teary from the effort. He coughed again, feeling the fish still half stuck in his throat, and kicked Breakwater away from him. The shuppy went gleefully scampering down the stream and immediately got into a squabble with Sandbiter, the two shuppy wrestling furiously.

"At any rate," said Fierce, ignoring them both, "I thought we were talking about you and your future children."

[rexcorvus]

Windy ate another berry. Her mongoose, a tiny little creature with a fluffy tail almost as big and puffy as Windy's who went by the name of Blustery, scuttled beside her and tried to steal a few of the berries for herself. Windy curled a protective leg around them and gave the mongoose a pointed look, eyes narrowing. Blustery, undeterred, latched her tiny paws onto Windy's hoof and tried yanking.

"We are," said Windy cheerfully, in answer to Fierce's query. She was vaguely aware that he seemed to be having some sort of distress, but it was probably nothing. "I've never been a mother before. I'm not so sure how it'll go, but it's still super awesome, right? I'm really excited, and Tumble was so cute and pretty and she had the coolest little ruffly thing around her neck, and I thought it was just the sweetest thing."

She gave a sigh of happiness as, in the background, there was a loud splash, a sputter, and then the sound of someone garbling. Windy thought it was probably fine. "I really hope I'll be a good mother."

[rexcorvus]

"I'm sure it'll be fine," said Fierce, his voice still wheezy, because Breakwater was trying to drag him under the surface of the stream. It wasn't deep enough to accomplish this feat, but it wasn't going to stop the shuppy from trying, anyway. "Listen, you're thinking far too much about th - "

There was a tremendous splash as Breakwater finally managed to knock Fierce over, and the pair of them went down in a cluster of fins, legs, hooves, tails, and sharp teeth. Fierce's head broke the surface with a sputter as Breakwater pranced around, paws digging into Fierce's side, and Fierce gave a snarl, his tail coming up out of the water to knock the shuppy entirely off. Breakwater went flying joyfully through the air, landed with a splash a short distance away, and immediately began to trundle back towards Fierce.

"As I was saying," Fierce said, staggering to his feet once more, "I'm sure it'll be fine. Would you like a blessing just in case?"

[rexcorvus]

Windy looked up, her eyes shining with eagerness. "You'd do that for me?" she said, standing up so suddenly that Blustery went flying. Windy didn't seem to notice, trotting over to where Fierce still stood in the river (stream), his long hair plastered wetly to his neck and a few strands of grass sticking out awkwardly. He also had a smear of mud across the bridge of his snout, but maybe that was just a fashion choice at this point. Windy wasn't sure it was doing much for him, but she certainly wasn't going to judge.

"I'd love a blessing," she said, beaming. "Go ahead! I'm ready!"

[rexcorvus]

Fierce expelled a stream of dirty brook water from his mouth, coughed again, and then kicked out one of his back legs instinctively, Sandbiter giving an indignant squawk as Fierce's hoof connected with the shuppy's side. It collided with Fisheater, who wailed in protest, slapped Breakwater with its tail, and then all three shuppies were squabbling noisily somewhere behind him. There came the sound of squeaks, a thump, and then more splashing sounds.

Fierce ignored them. To Windy, he said, "All right. I bless your future children - yours and Tumble's - that they will be healthy, joyous and filled with life and love. They will have the same enchantment with life as you and yours, and they will know what a good family is because of your example. Be adventurous, be intrigued with the world around you, and most of all, be happy."

He smiled down at the acha, his expression softening.

"There, does that help y - "

He went over sideways as the three shuppy, still screeching noisily, collided into him.

[rexcorvus]

She couldn't help but feel a lot better after the blessing, warmth filling her, Windy looking up at Fierce with a wide-eyed, happy expression on her face.

"You're the best," she said happily, her starry-eyed gaze completely glazing over and missing the fact that he had just been knocked into the river (stream) by his familiars. Windy was too busy thinking about the future now, her children and their beautiful little faces and the fact that they were going to be fluffy and rainbowy and probably extremely adorable. She had to go find Tumble and tell her the news, Windy scooping up Blustery on her way back to her little berry pile. The mongoose scurried up her side, digging tiny claws into Windy's fur to hold on.

"Thanks, Fierce!" Windy yelled over her shoulder. "That was the best ever."

Then she scampered away.

[rexcorvus]

"No problem," Fierce gurgled, from somewhere under the stream.