All that remains is the faces and the names

It was very late at night, and Marrah would usually be sleeping at this hour, curled up with her siblings and Enera. But, tonight was not typical. The child had awoken to her worst nightmare, the sound of distant thunder and rolling clouds in the distance. She knew better than to try and shove herself into a crack in the wall like last time, but she had immediately set off at an uneasy trot, looking for some kind of cover. The thundering from the sky meant that rain was coming soon, and she didn’t want to get caught out in that.

Marrah had intended on just ducking quickly into their old, abandoned birthing den. It would be safe enough, but she had gotten distracted. Amongst her hustle she had heard something strange, and against her better judgement had gone to investigate. A weird shuffling sound, hooves against rock, but also a strange scraping echo with every shuffle. Tilting her head curiously, her newly changing amber eyes landed on a tiny deer, but it seemed to only have three working legs.

The beginning of rain startled Marrah, and she jumped forward, towards the tiny deer. It was only with this movement that she became aware of another nearby, a normal sized deer who was now crying seemingly in panic. The smell of them caused the pup to realize how hungry she was, but she didn’t think she could take them down on her own, and the big one sounded so scared. Thunder crashed overhead.

of the wives and the sons and the daughters.

All that remains is the faces and the names

Marrah pressed her side against her friend’s gratefully when Enera arrived. Maybe she had been the one that had snuck away of her own choice, but that didn’t make being out in the storm any easier, and she appreciated the other girl being with her. The whole situation was confusing, she was hungry, but they couldn't hunt alone, and also something about it felt so wrong. Lightning lit up the area, and the small deer cried, it’s mother answering it desperately.

Chewing on the inside of her cheek Marrah looked back and forth between the big one and the small again. Finally she answered Enera, ”What do we do?” They clearly couldn’t hunt it even if they wanted to, but Marrah didn’t know anything about medicine either, and would a small deer even let them heal it?

Looking at her light coloured friend, she could only hope that she would have all the answers, because Marrah certainly didn’t. She was more than happy to be a follower, being a leader seemed exhausting, and stressful, she would rather just do what she’s told.

of the wives and the sons and the daughters.

All that remains is the faces and the names

Marrah barely registered the licks that had been planted on the back of her ear as she was deep in thought about the present situation. She appreciated that her friend sister was here, because she was much more comfortable following in someone else’s pawsteps. Especially in a situation like this where she had no roadmap on how to act, or what to do. Her newly amber eyes flicked quickly between little deer and large, with each cry between the two of them.

Chewing on her cheek again, she nodded at Enera’s suggestion that they should help, they should get it back to its Mama. That’s what Marrah would like to happen to her, if she was hurt and lost and scared, she would like if someone brought her back to Ma, or even Auntie Woya. Looking at its spindly legs as it stood frozen, watching them, the pup was not sure that they could support it, but she wasn’t one to rock the boat.

Letting out a shaky breath as thunder boomed around them, she answered in a voice hardly over a whisper, ”Um, okay. We can try?” Marrah was soaked by now, and she half heartedly shook some of the water off her pelt and took the tiniest step forward, trying to test the idea. Even though it had been barely a movement, it was met with the mother deer absolutely screaming in panic and Marrah shrunk backwards. This wasn’t going to be easy.

of the wives and the sons and the daughters.

All that remains is the faces and the names

As per usual, Enera was braver than the Macieo-Tainn girl, who had shrunk back at the first warning cry from the mama deer. With the touch on her shoulder, she was able to timidly follow in her friend’s pawsteps, although she kept her eyes trained on the big deer in case she made right of her threatening calls. A whole shudder ran down her spine as the thought of those hooves pounding across the mud towards them stuck in her brain.

Suddenly the baby was on the ground and Enera was announcing that they were going to push it!? Coming up behind her friend, she narrowly avoided a flinging hoof as the fawn flailed in a panic. Looking to Enera, fear plain in her eyes she nodded, but couldn’t help but ask, ”What if it’s Ma doesn’t like that?” Aka, what if they were signing up to be trampled by an angry mother?

But, she still saddled up and got ready to start pushing as soon as her friend was ready. Marrah didn’t think this was a great plan, but she hadn’t come up with anything better and she was always going to have her sister friend’s back, no matter what.

of the wives and the sons and the daughters.

All that remains is the faces and the names

Marrah wanted to be brave, she really did. Especially in situations like these where she had her sister friend as a role model for what bravery really looked like, but it was not in her makeup. Still, she felt bad for the baby deer and its mama, and Enera was strong but she wouldn’t be strong enough to fix the problem on her own. After chewing on her lip for a minute in conflict, she let out a steadying breath and stepped into position, avoiding flying hooves.

Looking at the light pup one more time to try and muster up a little more courage, Marrah felt her stomach twist as lightning cracked across the sky. All of this seemed like it was the world trying to tell them to step away, but Marrah wasn’t going to leave Enera like that. Pressing her shoulder up against the fawn’s surprisingly slick flank, the child began to push, gritting her teeth in surprise at how much it weighed, it was slow going.

They managed to shove it about halfway towards the Mama before the doe decided that she had enough. Marrah looked up in time to see the big deer leaping towards them and cried out, ”Enera, run!” Before taking off as quickly as she could over the mud slicked stone, paws groping wildly for purchase. She didn’t stop until she couldn’t look back and see the deer anymore, and then she collapsed into a soaked pile on the ground, gasping for air and trying to slow her heart rate.

of the wives and the sons and the daughters.