Dead Empress Backwater no idea what road we took, or where we went

RE: Viorel, you come across an orphaned baby animal.
AW! Early morning around sunrise, overcast, 15C/59F

Usually Viorel liked to be asleep by the time that the sun was beginning to make its arrival for a new day. Today though, as it rose behind a blanket of clouds, and the sky lightened into a grey dreary, although thankfully cool day, he was wide awake. He had found some cracked open eggs along the side of the creek within the borders, and had been intrigued to find out what exactly had hatched.

It hadn’t taken long to find the slithering culprit in the grass, not far from the water. A juvenile northern water snake, with no parents or siblings in sight, small enough it’s brown stripes almost blended into the grass. Tilting his head to the side, Viorel watched it closely, were snakes always alone after hatching, or were their parents nearby somewhere? He had seen water snakes more times than he could count in his two years of life, but had never seen one so small.

He almost wanted to poke it with his paw, just to see what it would do, but he knew better. Snakes were prone to biting when cornered, but again, would one this small really be a threat to a wolf his size? He took a step closer, curiosity begging to have some answers.

It was early, and Archer was already awake and ready to begone his day. Eros was usually quick to rise after him and the younger boy was usually content to wait, but today Daa was gone early and Archer wanted to follow. He poked @Eros in the side to let him know he was leaving, nuzzled his maa's cheek, and sidled off to find his Daa.

It didn't take too long, following his smell. He was starting to get good at that in his own esteemed opinion. He was distracted for a moment for these odd little white things that crushed under paw without much resistance. They smelled... Sticky. What were they?

Better ask Daa.

He wasn't too much further away, and Archer confidently joined him. Motion in the grass caught his attention and he saw what Daa was looking at. "What's that?" he asked.

Archer is very haggard and thin; it is obvious he is not doing well.

Eros slept with limbs and toes outstretched, the most content of smiles stretching across his puppy face. The boy definitely liked his sleep, and loved his dreams. Right now, behind his closed eyelids, he was walking the tops of the tallest trees, bouncing from point to point and playing with the birds which flew alongside him.

Archer's prodding was still enough to rouse him, cutting the imagining abruptly short. Eros snuffled and pawed at his eyes, wiping away the sleep while his ears told him that his brother was leaving. How come? It didn't take too long for the browner pup to get onto his feet, likewise say good bye to his mother, and trot after his sibling.

His brother led him to the egg shells, and Eros went a step further in investigating them. He bit down upon a still-intact half, gently and tentatively at first before gaining confidence. The texture was weird but somehow enjoyable, at least until the crackling egg pieces turned just right and stabbed him in the gum.

Ow.

Eros spit out what remained in his mouth, scraping what refused to leave away with his dirty little paw. It was better than getting bit by your own food, jeez.

He continued on, leaving the mess behind with a scolding snort before running after Archer once more.

It didn’t take very long before he was no longer alone looking at the baby water snake. The sound of tiny stomps alerted him that he was being joined by a couple of his children, and he glanced up to see Archer and Eros investigating the broken egg shells near the bank of the creek. Smiling at their curiosity, the way that the darker one sniffed cautiously, while his brother took a piece of the shell wholeheartedly into his mouth. Shaking his head in exasperation when Eros spit it out with a yelp and clawed at his face, he turned his attention back to the reptile in the grass.

Taking another tentative step forward, it was almost mesmerizing to see the snake slither about a foot away. The way that it moved was so interesting, smooth, but not nearly as graceful as the ones he had seen swimming in the water. Without taking his eyes off it, he answered his son’s question, ”it’s a baby water snake, I’ve never seen one so small before, and usually not on the land.” Normally, he would let his children make their own mistakes, but this time was quick to follow it up with, ”don’t get too close though, they will bite if you bug them too much.”

It was with these words that he had another thought, and quickly scanned the grass around them, but there was still no sign of any parents. He didn’t want to get snuck up on by a full sized water snake, but he had no idea if this was normal or not.

Archer was aware of Eros following close behind him, but only glance back at the elder boy's scolding snort upon trying to eat the white crunchies. Archer shook his head and turned his attention back to Daa.

Daa didn't disappoint, answering without looking at them. He seemed just as fascinated by the wriggling thing as his son's. Snake? Archer wandered closer, until Daa's warning hit his ears and he stopped, looking back to make sure Eros did the same.

He cocked his head and watched this 'snake' twist around as it moved. "Howsit walk? 's got no legs," he pointed out.

(This post was last modified: Jul 24, 2021, 11:33 PM by Archer.)

Archer is very haggard and thin; it is obvious he is not doing well.

Note to Self: Eros is 8 wks old rn. For him this means he is approximately 5 human years old with a limited vocabulary.

Eros ended up at his brother and father's sides, mingling with the patriarch Valle's legs and peering out from betwixt them at the writhing animal. Baby water snakes. Well wasn't that a long name for something. Eros wrinkled his snout at the thing, not really impressed with the creepy way it moved either.

Oh geez, and they bite? Eros growled, as threateningly as any other eight week old could. He'd like to see it try.

His brother asked a question and as normal, it was a good point. Is that why it was just, wriggling around like that? Could it do nothing else? Eros scowled. How useless.

It had been such a joy and a pleasure to witness the way that his children learned and absorbed information. The way that they observed the baby snake, and immediately came up with questions, and in Eros’ case a good sounding growl. Smirking at the sound, impressive for his age certainly, but far from being intimidating yet, Viorel leaned down and whispered in their ears, ”They don’t walk, they ssssllliiittthhheerrr.” Drawing out the last word in an attempt to imitate the sound he had heard snakes make in the past.

Viorel let out a demanding yip towards the snake, and when that didn’t work he took a step forward. That set the poor water snake in motion, no longer writhing unhappily, it slithered forward another foot or so in the grass, as if demonstrating how it moved. Then it turned its head to look back at the trio of wolves, as if questioning them as much as they were questioning it. Looking back at the boys, Viorel explained, ”This type of snake usually lives in the water and they can swim very quickly. But, there are lots of different kinds of snakes in all kinds of colours and sizes and a lot of them don’t go in the water.” He was sure that this would only set off another flurry of questions. He prepared for whatever they would say next.

Pleased to see that Eros clearly had no interest in trying to approach the strange creature called snake, Archer turned his attention back to it while his Da talked. The drawn out word whispered in their ears made Archer shudder and wrinkle his nose, ears flicking as if to rid them of the sound. He did not like that word. It was creepy.

{i}Swim?[/b] But it had no legs! How did-

Oh. Da's step seemed to set the writhing thing in motion and it glided forward for a moment before stopping and looking back at them. Archer couldn't help but feel that it was just as confused as them. "They swim the same way?" Archer asked, glancing up at Da. The idea of something like this swirling through the water, unseen, did not instill Archer's confidence in his own swimming.

Archer is very haggard and thin; it is obvious he is not doing well.

They don't walk, their father corrected. What they did do to get around caused Eros' hair to raise as Viorel dragged out the word. It was almost unpleasant, but he found himself actually enjoying the small tingle that traveled down his spine.

"Sssssllliththh" Eros tried to mimic and reproduce that creeped-out feeling.

Snake. That's what it was was huh? Baby. Water. They described the snake. His little baby brain was piecing it all together at a much slower rate than his brother's.

"Sssssnaaay. Sss-ss-ssssss."

Aw yeah Eros was digging these words, a lot more than the creature itself. To it, he continued to stink eye, making sure it didn't try and sliiiiither too close to his family.

Grinning at Eros’ imitation, Viorel teasingly used his tongue to make a slithery snake sound, a long drawn out hissss. Maybe he was more comfortable in these situations than any tough ones, where he could help them learn without danger. Fishing of course had been a near disaster, and the memory of it hung closely in the father’s mind as they went through this impromptu lesson.

Nodding to Archer he explained, ”Yes! The same way, usually you can see their head above the water while they swim, but they can dive down too.” The snake in question, had laid its head down into the grass as if this could help it blend in, and the canines would lose sight of it. Empathetic that this was someone else’s child, although it clearly didn’t have very good parents leaving it all alone as an egg, Viorel felt they had bothered it enough.

Nosing each of his son's heads he suggested, ”Why don’t we take the egg shells back to show your brother and sisters? You can tell them what sound a snake makes.” He had been trying to include both litters together more, although they had not been meshing nearly as easily as he hoped. All he could do was keep trying. Following after the boys as they collected the egg shells, he glanced back just in time to see the snake drop ungracefully into the creek. Still no parents in sight.

FADE