Fallen Tree Cove in a land far far away

Namid Veusain The Vuesain Queen waited to see if her son would take the ball and run with it, and boy did he. Words tumbled from his mouth in rapid succession and her eyes widened slightly in surprise before lowering to allow her mouth to set into a grin. “What do they look like? Didja play with your brothers and your parents? What games did ya play? Where did you live? Were they nice to you?” he asked, and she chuckled. Namid settled herself in preparation to answer, nudging her child playfully. “Both Ooljee and Veho are older than I am. Ooljee looks a bit like you, perhaps even a lot like you. Veho is somewhat been Ooljee and I, not quite as light as I am but not as dark as Ooljee either. He had grey eyes, while Ooljee had brown. We did play games, like tag and hide and go seek when we were younger but once we got a bit older we stopped playing as much.” she said. It was true, but the main reason they had stopped playing as much was because of Neha’s death. The whole family grew a bit awkward around each other, especially around Namid for she was the closest likeness to the girl. It was why she’d turned to her father, for even in the grief he’d felt for his youngest daughter he wouldn’t ignore her. Perhaps it was one of the reasons why she was closest to him. “I had a sister, too. Neha is named after her, actually. But, my sister passed away when we were young. She looked a lot like Neha, ironically.” she said, not beating around the bush with it. Death was something that they would learn about, even already had experience with when they would eat the prey that was brought to them. It was better that he learned it from her than from someone else. “I grew up on something called a ‘reservation’. It was a special land made just for us, along with our humans. Humans are creatures that walk up on two legs and are hairless except for on their faces and the tops of their heads. Really, they behave a lot like us and most of them are very nice. We do not have any humans around here, though.” she explained. It wasn’t the first time she’d had to talk about the strange creatures that were humans, and she wasn’t afraid of doing so either. It was a part of her past and she was more than willing to share it with her son who deserved to know his heritage. "Speech." And if that mockingbird dont sing...

If there had been an informational dump before it was even richer this time around. His dear Momma had all the answers, and each one came spilling out only to be hungrily consumed buy his oversized ears. It was novel to believe that his Mom's brother, this “Ooljie” looked like he did! Maybe he acted like him too! And then there was a “Veho;” maybe he was like Ale. A grin had broken the child's features as he listened, but it vanished as he concentrated on the rest of the speech. So they had played tag, and hide and seek. His enthusiasm lessened some when she seemed to grow solemn. It was a truly awful thing to have stopped playing with her siblings. It took up most of the boy's day and he couldn't imagine getting by without some games once in a while. At least she had them to play with now.

The prince wasn't left to linger on the notion though, as the most peculiar bit of information yet was leveled on him. Neha was named after well, Neha, but Mom's Neha had...died. His ears fell to the side as he watched her face, though the silver woman showed little sign that she was as deeply troubled by it as she probably was. Why, he didn't know how he would get along without his Neha. She was the one that started their adventures! The idea was uncomfortable and he was more than happy to brush it aside as Namid continued. Stranger still was her explanation of her home, and the child replied with furrowed brows and a tipped head. He didn't much understand the “reservation” but he drank in the description of the alien creatures with gusto.

The only two-legged creatures he could think of were birds. But, hairy birds? No, tall birds with hair only on their heads that acted like they did? The image in his head could have made the boy laugh if he wasn't so perplexed. But even if he wanted to see one to test this assumption it would seem they lived on that “reservation” or something. “They sound weird.” The youngest Vuesain offered, cracking a faint smile and a cocked brow as he gazed up at his mother. A moment passed as he mulled over what had been said. The rain still fell lazily outside their shelter as he watched; only half paying attention. Momma had promised him a story, hadn't she? Turning once more to face her, the boy spoke. “Okay. How about the story now?” He asked, waiting attentively.

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Namid Veusain Whatever she had expected in a reaction from the youth about her younger sibling it hadn’t been there, and for some reason she felt a bit of a release in her chest. Perhaps a breath she didn’t think she’d been holding. It was a hefty thing to tell a young child, about death and the real workings of the world. But her children were meant to be worldly beings, there was no doubt of that in her mind. His little eyes lit up at her explanation of the humans, and she had to hold back a laugh. It wasn’t an unusual reaction from those she told, and his was perhaps the more tame of their reactions even. ”They sound weird,” was his simple reply, and at this she did allow a chuckle to escape her maw. “Indeed, very weird. But very kind,” she said, bemused. “Okay, how about the story now?” he asked, cutting to the chase clearly having been drawn back to the original plot of their little time together. She nodded, “Of course, darling.” she said. A slight shift was given in her form as she got comfortable before she began. “There once lived two young pups named Apollo and Aspen. Apollo had a pelt the color of the day, with bright eyes as golden as the sun, while Aspen had a pelt as dark as night and eyes the color of silver. Both were very competitive with each other, always daring each other to race and taking the most difficult paths that the one did not think the other could take. One day, Apollo looked to Aspen and said ”I bet you cannot beat me to that rock,” and Aspen took the dare. They raced and Aspen won. “You got lucky, but I bet you cannot beat me to that river,” said Apollo, and yet again Aspen took that dare. Aspen won, and by this time Apollo had grown aggravated. He looked all around them, trying to find something that Aspen could not possibly win at. He looked to the sky, and he knew. “I bet you cannot beat me to the stars,” he exclaimed with a grin. Aspen did indeed look surprised, but took the bet anyways. They counted down, and then the race began. Apollo found the highest rock he could find, and running as fast as he could he leapt into the air and began to run. Up into the air he flew! Aspen, seeing this, grew frantic and raced to the highest hill he could find. He ran as fast as he could up the hill then leapt, as up he flew too! The two ran upwards, their paws treading the air and pushing them across the sky. Apollo had gotten a head start and remained ahead of Aspen, who raced to catch up to them. If you look into the sky, you can see Apollo burning bright as he races ahead of Aspen though Aspen is never too far behind. When day turns to night Aspen is growing close to Apollo, and how long this cycle will continue nobody knows,” she exclaimed. Her movements were animated as she spoke, a bright smile creasing her lips as she moved this way and that, the pitch of her voice rising a falling. Oh, how she loved to tell stories. "Speech." And if that mockingbird dont sing...

Kind. Well, that was good. These creatures she talked about might have been really strange, but at least they were no threat. He'd probably still be kinda scared if he met one though. Finally the great fable began; and he watched her at first; then finding it easier to stare out into the falling rain and allow his mind's eye to see her words for itself. Slowly his head fell comfortably to his paws, and pictures of puppies just like him danced away. He supposed that he was probably more like Apollo than aspen; at least as far as color went. Was Al like Aspen then? Him and his brother did like to compete with one another.

The prince was listening along placidly when suddenly it seemed Apollo was daring his brother to race to the stars. His eyebrows lifted a little in surprise. Could he do that? Could any of them do that? Well apparently Apollo could. Cernan's mind ran away with the idea of flying. Could he manage to fly like Apollo if he ran up a big rock and jumped off as high as he could? He'd have to try that some time. His mother's voice was captivating as she went on, and he was fully absorbed. It finally clicked; the glowing things in the sky moved around because they were running! He thought that maybe they ran kind of slow; but then again the boy supposed that the sky was pretty darn big and that they had to be reeeeeaaaallly far away to only look like big glowing circles to him.

He listened to the rest of the tale hungrily; his mind enraptured by the strange images her voice was conjuring. Yes. Mama always had the best stories.

-Fade-

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