[BLESS] Obedient (Briar Rose x Albatross)

[anemosagkelos]

The more times she had children, the less obedient they seemed to become. She'd wielded her power as matriarch firmly for the first few clutches and then Thornapple had come along and decimated that practiced, precise control. She'd had to become less insistent on who her children bred with because they'd stopped the dance of asking for her permission after the acha had snuck into their lineage. She whined deep in her throat at the memory; the acha had not been up to her standards and now she had descendants running footloose and fancy free all around the swamp.

This clutch, though, she smiled, was going to be good little children. She'd found a family oriented buck and maybe she'd loosened up a little bit in her own old age but she was hopeful that these children would listen. And to cement it she would find a Legendary. Useless as she thought them to be for the most part, in this they could actually exert some power if the stories were to be believed.

[fluo]

Albatross napped. She napped a lot after such a busy winter market season. So under a hollow fallen log the octofurby slept, some drool unceremoniously dripping down onto a tentacle. She was so very tired, but had great plans. She twitched in her dream and rolled over, some tentacles thunking against the hollow of the trunk loud enough to scare off a nearby songbird. It and its family departed to the skies at the surprise.

@anemosagkelos

[anemosagkelos]

And, a sigh escaped her as she came upon the Legendary all dug in for a nap. She looked upward at the fleeing songbirds and could not help wondering if she should not also take leave. This was not what she had hoped for nor expected. A bloom of disappointment flowered in her gut but she was not going to take things as they were. She had a clutch in need a blessing and this Legendary would be giving it to her.

"Wake up," she barked firmly at the mare and narrowed her eyes to slits. She had come this far; the Legendary could get up and bless her. And then it could sleep its life away if it so desired.

[fluo]

Albatross opened her eyes, saw it was a kin, and rolled over. Not today, Motherfather! She had done a lot for the winter market and was due a nap or three.

@anemosagkelos

[anemosagkelos]

"I'm not leaving until you give me a blessing," Briar Rose shot, haughtily and sat down. "If I have to, I'll crawl right in there with you and you can deal with my pregnancy cravings and griping and weight."

[fluo]

Silence met the doe's outrageous threat. Albatross was calling her bluff. She let out a yawn but kept her eyes closed.

[anemosagkelos]

Briar Rose growled and then made good on her threat. She crawled right into the mare's den and did not so much as give the Legendary space. Instead she flopped down on top of her, pregnant belly digging into all the mare's tender spots.

"Have you ever been pregnant?" she queried and then proceeded to list off every grievance she had against the abominable practice. "My bones ache from the added weight, my breath reeks from outrageous combination cravings, I have passed more gas in this pregnancy alone than in my lifetime before, I am tired and I am in no mood to wait a second longer for anything."

[fluo]

Albatross was suffocating which was bizarre because she chose this form specifically so she could both in and out of water. To add insult to injury, she was crushed and them subjected to endless stream of verbal vomit. The pregnant doe just would not shut up. Whatever hopes Albatross had of enjoying a long nap quickly evaporated and like the sea, she was left behind feeling very salty.

She pushed with all tentacles to get out of her hidey hole.

"Alright, alright. i'm up. What do you want? Some of us have important things to do like sleep."

[anemosagkelos]

Relenting, the doe crawled out of the hole and smiled as if she'd been nothing but reasonable, "I would like healthy, obedient children who are less forgiving of strangers and care more what their mother thinks of their lives and future partners." It was deadly specific of a request but she knew what she wanted.

[fluo]

It was a bit unsettling how quickly the other doe did an about face. One moment she was sitting on the Mare and demanding things and now she was the spitting image of good, wholesome, and light. She was positively evil, Albatross was sure of that much

And that was a very oddly specific request. That doe had seen things. Experience was the only reason why one would try to control the fates. It was like holding back the force of a water while your dam was a blade of glass. The MotherFather was wise, but perhaps so was this kimeti. And she had gone great lengths to find Albatross.

"You will have many kin and they will be healthy, wise, obedient. blah blah blah. Just kidding. They will be prudent of their surroundings and have situational awareness to be wary of strangers. They will hold the mother in high esteem in all aspects of their life." Albatross finished with a pointed stare.

"There. Are you happy?"

[anemosagkelos]

Briar Rose considered it for a moment before nodding, "Yes, that'll do. Thank you."

And not to be rude, though that log had gone over the waterfall at this point, she plucked an especially pristine white bird skull from somewhere in the edges of her frizzy hair and presented it to the mare.

"I shall leave you in peace now; enjoy the eagle skull."

[fluo]

Honestly, Albatross wasn't sure what was going on anymore, but she was alone and had a new trinket. Something to scare the bird that usually accompanied her. It flew south or whatever due to the cold she surmised. Whatever. Should it come back, it would find that she replaced it. But she had so much hair and hiding places in her tufts that there was surely more than enough room for it to come back even with a mate or a brood. Such was life. Everything was breeding, life was soon to be flourishing if only she could nap and get through this wretched winter. The storms were bad this time of the year.