Secluded Spring leave my rain boots at the door.

Marianna Leigh felt weird.

Now, this wasn’t something that happened overnight – she didn’t wake up one morning and find herself inexplicably changed. But she’d been hungry the past week or so, hungrier than usual; that in itself was weird, for Gent (and the rest of his pack, by default), made sure that the youth was fed well enough. It certainly wasn’t like fending for herself. The lost weight had been replaced, and she’d been fine – so why had it reared its ugly head?

And now…this? She felt so warm; at first, she might have chalked it up to the weather. Winter seemed to be breaking a little early. The snow was melting, the sun seemed to shine more brightly, and winter seemed to be on its way out. She hadn’t started to blow coat yet, so of course she felt too hot. But that didn’t explain the tingly feeling that started in the tip of her tail and slowly worked its way over her body now, did it? At first, Ari had tried to itch it away, but that didn’t work. Neither did rolling in the snow. It was just…it was just weird, weird and uncomfortable, she had no other words for it, and slowly, very slowly, the young Leigh was starting to wonder if there was actually something wrong with her.

With an angry huff, she threw herself down in the snow pack and began to roll, for what felt like the seventeenth time that day alone.

bby sister is here to try to help!

i can't be stopped, never walk, i'm a rocket

It had not gone over Lucia's head how weird all the adults were starting to act. While her father was always busy with some kind of responsibility or another, he seemed moreso to be on a mission these days. She noticed how he watched the other men, and how picky he was becoming of who was around a select few of the women. The girl noticed too the change in the scents that crisscrossed throughout the territory. The ladies all seemed to be itching and rubbing themselves up against the trees, and Lucia was pretty sure they just needed a good bath but the water was still frozen over. She felt just fine, though, and the same could be said for the men, so that just made her all the more curious.

She was trying to be polite about the whole thing and not pointedly ask, which her usually blunt nature wanted of her. Yet as she bounced along through the snow and spotted Marianna in the distance, flailing around on her back in the snow, Lucia just couldn't dam back her questions any longer. Picking up the pace, she made her way toward the other girl as quickly as her runty legs would allow her.

"Yo!" she called out, a distance before she'd even reached the Leigh's side.

"The heck are you trying to do?"

If she’d known one of her (new) sisters was nearby, Ari might have trucked her rump a little further before starting the crazy antics. Maybe. Actually, probably not, she realized, standing only long enough to plant her front end back into the snow. Using her hind legs, she pushed herself along, smearing her face and fur against the cold. It did little to ease the fever heat burning her up from the inside out, and when she finally did pick up her head to greet Lucia, half of her fur was matted against her side by the damp snow. Her ears pricked forward, and she offered a small woof.

“Yo,” she greeted Gent’s daughter in return, momentarily distracted from the constant buzz of white noise the spring seemed to have brought to her mind. Apparently the alpha had changed his mind about how far pups were allowed to wander without an adult. She rolled her shoulder in a half-hearted shrug. “Dunno. Gotten all hot and itchy. Thought it was spring shed, maybe? But I don’t think I’m losing that much fur.” She paused, brows knitting together as she eyed the swarthy yearling. “…I don’t…look like I’m losin’ fur, right? I ain’t got bald spots.”

Fucking hell. What if she got bald spots?

 

A wild dissertation appears!

Whatever was going on, Marianna wasn't stopping for nothing it seemed. Lucia's steps slowed as she drew near, but not too near. Yeesh, what if this was contagious? Mama had gotten sick, and at first they hadn't been allowed to see her much incase whatever had gotten into her system could spread. The way this seemed to be going around, the young girl was becoming more and more surprised that her father wasn't doing a better job of quarantining them.

Then the older girl's massive head popped up, her fur all mashed around by her furious rubbing, and the sight was too much for Lucia to remain anything else but utterly amused. Laughter shook her whole body before it cascading from her mouth in bubbles of high pitched noise. She looked crazy! And Marianna's own lack of understanding didn't help that impression much either. Lucia laughed harder, until small tears sprung up in the corners of her eyes. Wiping them away with a sooty paw, she finally forced herself to calm down enough to answer.

"Keep rubbin' yourself around like that and you will have 'em," she informed her with a grin. As rough as some of them had gotten with the trees around here, she was surprised they weren't all walking around with a spot or two of bare skin.

"Here, if yer hot, what if you lay down all spread eagle and I bury you in snow? No way that won't cool ya down."

The laughter, at least, did something to appease the ever present hum in the back of skull. Her ears pressed forward as she allowed herself a small chuckle, realizing she probably looked like a damn fool. Lucia wasn’t wrong, after all. If she kept trying to rub and she wasn’t shedding, she’d start ripping her coat out. Her tongue lolled out of her mouth with a small smile, and she gave her sister a short huff. Hey! That idea really wasn’t that bad at all.

“Let’s do it,” Ari decided enthusiastically, picking herself up and giving a good shake. The large yearling circled once, twice in the snow pack before deciding on a good spot to flop down. Her tail whipped back and forth as she peered up with steely grey eyes. It took a little longer to organize her long limbs, groaning softly as she adjusted her one bad ankle – but the cold felt good, even there. After a few moments, the female laid splayed across the snow, tail still wagging away as she gave Lucia a quick nod. “Alright. I’m ready.”

To be quite honest, the chill was already starting to feel quite nice against her belly and chest, cooling the never ending itch.

 

A wild dissertation appears!

There is a deer that was killed by a lynx nearby. +10 Health