[imgleft]http://matope.pixel-blueberry.com/image ... uncert.png[/imgleft]

Trouble is... well, in a bit of trouble. It's been a few months since her first encounter with the buck she's been spending her days with, and the results of that time are showing. She's so round now that she's finding it difficult to tread through some of the deeper snow that's since fallen along her usual trails, especially as she's been using them less and less often, and she's tired.

She'd needed to get out, though, and move her legs. Steady has been wonderful and doting, but Trouble is used to being self-sufficient and not someone else's burden - which is what she's felt like, lately.

She needs to do something on her own, even if it was just to go for a walk. Only, it's more cold than she'd anticipated - the warmth from her den long since gone from her fur. Still, she's not quite in danger yet - just a little frustrated at herself and her lack of mobility.

Being pregnant is not all it's cracked up to be, she decides, grumbling a little to herself as one ankle gives a warning throb of pain. Getting back to the den is going to be a pain in the ass.

[imgleft]https://matope.pixel-blueberry.com/imag ... uncert.png[/imgleft] Though she didn't know it, she was being followed. Half Truth could tell from the doe's tracks the telltale signs of impending motherhood- the depth, the width, the obvious waddle and rollicking gait- somebody was dealing with weight she wasn't used to. With her length of leg, she could easily outpace the strange doe, so she put on some speed to catch up with her. The mare eyed the doe up and down; goodness, but she was rotund. 

"Always nice to see someone out and about before the blessed event occurs," she said encouragingly. "Helps relieve some of the boredom, I've heard. How are you holding up with the cold?"

@Owlsomniac

Where Half Truth had gone on hoof after the doe, Roses in Bloom had borrowed the swan’s form, gliding down gracefully to appear in front of her. In one moment, it was the swan, wings fluttering as she folded them against herself. Then the bird blinked, and in its place, the mare stood tall. She blinked again, a tinge of color touching her cheeks.

“Ah... this is embarrassing. I can’t say this has ever happened before,” Roses in Bloom murmured demurely, bowing her head in embarrassment. Two of them in the same place! And more than that, it was—

“Half Truth, my love. Have you learned this lovely doe’s name yet?”

What may or may not be immediately apparent to the two mares is the fact that Trouble's sight is somewhat...impeded. Not that she's ever known any different, and has certainly done well enough on her own all these years, but even so it's no wonder, then, that she is having a bit more trouble than usual this season. The world is, after all, more monochrome than usual - and her already blurred vision has become mainly a swirl of white and shades of grey.

Half Truth, at least, is a bright spot of green, and Trouble pauses, turning toward her.

"Oh --" she hadn't even heard this newcomer approach! Though, she was quite in her own thoughts just now. "Well, I was quite bored, though now I think maybe I've wandered a little too far," she sighs, her expression tightening into a faint grimace. "I'm not used to being so.... slow and fat," she says, somewhat exasperated.

When the second voice joins the first, her head tilts a little, and she turns toward the darker shape of Roses in Bloom, ears twitching slightly at the sound of her voice.

"My name is Trouble," she offers easily. "My den is a bit ah - that way," she nods back the way she'd come. It's further back along the path of the river she's been following - if not for that, she thinks, she'd surely have been truly lost. "Perhaps you two would be kind enough to help me get back?"

@Scaramouche Fandango @Moonstone Dazzle

"It makes perfect sense you wanted to get out for a bit. Confinement really can be dull!" Half Truth was mature enough to not make a crack about Trouble being in trouble. "But I think the two of us can manage to get you back to your nice warm home. You can tell us all about how you've been, if you'd like- sometimes it's lonely, staying at home and resting." At least that was what she assumed; she'd never actually been pregnant herself. But she'd seen what some friendly conversation could do for a doe at any stage of the process- it let her know she wasn't alone, and that the Swamp's creatures were looking out for her. "If anything's troubling you at all. Do you need anything for the den? Feathers, reeds, tasty snacks? We can certainly help, my mate and I!"

@Owlsomniac @Moonstone Dazzle

"That's very kind of you," says the doe. "I can always do with more food. I'm always so hungry! The buck ah... responsible, is staying with me. He checks on me now and then, which is nice I suppose. Though I really don't quite know what to expect.... This will be my first clutch. Are either of you mothers?" She looks between them (what little she can see anyway), and begins walking toward her den, relying on them a bit to help her along the way.

"I was rather afraid, at first - and I still do worry, but now I'm just impatient for this part of it to be over I think? It will be such a relief to be able to walk properly again..."

@Scaramouche Fandango @Moonstone Dazzle

“Trouble— isn’t that a lovely name.” Roses in Bloom wondered what sort of naming dream the doe might have experienced, what sort of story came with that. But it was neither here nor there. Rose looked over to her mate and offered Half Truth a gentle smile.

“What about this. Half Truth, darling, you’re the stronger hunter of us.” It wasn’t even an insult to herself, simply a fact of life. Especially with her newly given hound’s form. The other mare was simply better suited to it; Rose was... gentle, to a fault. Still slower on the draw, reserved on the kill. Not for lack of want, but some remaining uncertainty that came in every hoof step. It was better now, improved every day, but Rose still felt the difference in her and Half Truth keenly.

“You find something to fill this sweet doe’s belly, and I can help to guide her home? You’ll probably find us again before we find our way to her den,” she giggled, then turned to the doe.

“Would that be alright by you, little one?”

"Yes -- that's too kind, really, but I won't say no. I can use the help." Trouble smiles and inclines her head in thanks.---

---

Her den is a modest thing, though it's been hollowed out further by herself and the buck, Steady, who has been her mate this season. Set beneath the roots of a few large Willow trees, it offers a secure location for little ones to grow and play among the roots. The trees' long, trailing, curtains of leaves give it a sense of quiet privacy as well - at least in summer. Now they're as naked as most trees in the swamp.

"Here it is," she says, panting a little as they approach. "Thank the swamp - and you and your mate! Home has never looked so welcome."

@Scaramouche Fandango @Moonstone Dazzle

"It's absolutely lovely," Roses in Bloom offered, nodding her head. She remembered when she and Half-Truth did not have the cave; when it had been herself, young and scared and alone. When she had lived only for herself, if she could call that living at all. It really hadn't been- no exploring, no seeking new places and meeting new kin. Just... trying to get by, day to day.

"If I may ask- do you have anything you want for your young? Hopes, dreams?"

"Thank you," Trouble says, as she makes her way inside - and motions for Roses to join her. She lays upon a bed of dried grasses and soft furs which have been collected over the course of her living here - and lets out a tired breath of relief.

Then, she considers the question, and smiles a little.

"Well.... I suppose the usual things. For the labor to go easily for them and myself, and for them all to be healthy and whole, and to be strong enough to withstand the challenges of the world and grow from it. I can only hope that they'll be good, and help others should they come across those in need of aid, as you and your mate have done for me. And, of course.... for them to find many moments of happiness, because no life, no matter how good, is made up entirely of happiness - but the moments are what make it worth it."