Fool's Gold Chasm Oh my darlin' Clementine

Backdated to the night of 5/11, after Enera gets home and the night before Rhae's death. For @Rhaegara

had a dream so big and loud

JUMPED SO HIGH I TOUCHED THE CLOUDS

It had been a hot and dry journey, of course, but at least they'd been able to drink their fill at the lake before returning home. It had been good to see the Cove wolves and Enera was happy to find that even though they were suffering drought effects, it wasn't nearly as bad as it was down in the valley. As long as there was water somewhere, Enera reasoned, there would be hope.

It was getting dark and Enera was tired so she sought out her mama. "Bedtime," she yawned, tucking into mama's side. She was nearly as big as her now, minus the swollen belly. Her siblings would be here any day now. The yearling looked at her mama pleadingly. "Tell me a story?" she asked. Who knew? This might be her last chance to spend an evening just the two of them, telling stories like they had when she'd been a puppy. One last time to hold onto 'normal' before they had new little mouths to feed and love.

Any day now, the contractions would start. She recalled when she had begun to feel this way the last time. She always got nervous leading up to birth. Though she supposed ‘always’ was a fickle thing considering this would only be her second labor. Her daughter appeared, and she smiled as her daughter tucked against her. She nudged her softly as she stated that it was bedtime. She agreed. The exhaustion crept over her as the yearling’s request flittered through her ears.

“Of course, my beautiful Little Dove… what would you like to hear about?” At this point she knew many stories, and Rhaegara would be happy to tell her another one if she had a particular direction she wanted to hear from… perhaps about their home, or more about the skywalkers, or maybe some made up tale of a far away land. “Maybe you want to hear about the time that your Uncle Drogaen and Aunt Raelle got into a lot of trouble with a neighboring pack. Your grandparents were so mad, but it was also so funny. They were just pups at the time.”

had a dream so big and loud

JUMPED SO HIGH I TOUCHED THE CLOUDS

It was harder to cuddle against mama these days, with how big both of them were getting. Even so, Enera was still adept at tucking herself into the warm fur and settling in comfortably. She hoped this part wouldn't change, that even with her new siblings she would still be able to be close to her mama. She could be close to her siblings too. They could curl around them together, keep them safe and warm and tell them stories. As long as she thought like that, Enera looked forward to being a sister.

Her ears pricked at mama's story suggestion and she nodded. "I like to hear about your family," she said. They may all be gone, but mama had loved them and Enera wished she could have known them better. She liked these glimpses into the life her mama used to have, even if they were both glad to be here now, hardships or no.

Rhaegara savored being close to her daughter in this manner. The warmth and comfort soothed both of them, especially as Rhae herself grew more anxious as they approached the due date of the twins. She always did… or at least, she had with Enera. It had been a singular focus of hers over the past few days.

She smiled as the girl wished to hear more about her family. She missed them dearly, and it was through these stories that she found new ways to reconnect with them, even though they were long gone. “Okay… as you know, your grandma and grandpa were raising me to be the next leader of the pack… that meant that your aunt and uncle got to get into more trouble than I ever got away with.” She started with a soft smile. “My momma and pappa called them hellions… wild children.” She teased lightly, her voice changing tones to add the flare to the dramatic.

“Well, one day my mom and dad had me out for diplomacy lessons. We were visiting another pack that lived nearby and meeting with the alphas there… we brought Drogaen and Raelle along. We were a little younger than you are now when all this happened. While we were meeting, they were out playing with the other pups and getting to know them… they started to get chased by a boar…” She added a pause for the dramatic. “Their medicine den had two entrances, one at the front and one at the back… it was kind of like a tunnel… and the boar chased them through it which trampled all of the herbs inside… and what they didn’t trample they had hit with their tusks! We had to give up half of our herbal storage because the alphas were so mad. Spring was coming but it was still winter meaning they couldn’t replace them on their own.”

had a dream so big and loud

JUMPED SO HIGH I TOUCHED THE CLOUDS

Enera settled in, eyes bright and focused on Mama's face as she talked. The yearling was tired from her journey, but she'd successfully managed to bring back water with Marrah, and now she got to listen to a new story and spend precious time with the wolf she loved more than anyone else. She giggled at the term 'hellions' and couldn't wait to share it with her younger siblings. The moment they got into any sort of trouble she would be using it. If they were anything like her, though, they wouldn't get themselves into too much trouble to begin with.

She listened carefully, wondering just how 'diplomacy lessons' worked but unwilling to interrupt the story to ask. Her eyes grew wide and her jaw dropped into a disbelieving laugh when she explained the boar, and when mama began to describe the medicine den Enera knew where it w as going. She still cringed in sympathy when the damage became clear. The yearling didn't know much about healing, beyond it was something Levi did, but she knew that herb stores were incredibly valuable. "Grandma and Grandpa must have been so mad," she said, half in awe and half in amusement. "What did Drogaen and Raelle do to get the boar to chase them in the first place?"

Rhaegara did not know what she had done to deserve such a loving and caring daughter, but she prayed that Enera’s younger siblings ended up growing up like her… maybe a little more defensive of their borders and okay with violence in that regard… but like her nonetheless. They wouldn’t get themselves into too much trouble, just as Enera hadn’t… at least, not in her eyes. She knew the other adults, particularly Woya, had seen things that she simply hadn’t, but she wasn’t sure if any of that was still Enera’s fault either.

She listened and then chortled at the mention of how mad her grandparents must have been. “Oh they were… your aunt and uncle were den-bound for over a week for that misbehavior.” She offered while still laughing. “They insist they didn’t do anything… I’m willing to bet the pups from the neighboring pack pulled them into trouble though. They were with them right up until the boar chase started and then disappeared. I think it might have been a prank even, though not a very nice one… we were on their land so even Drogaen and Raelle could not accuse them of anything… it could have started an argument if they had.”

had a dream so big and loud

JUMPED SO HIGH I TOUCHED THE CLOUDS

Enera liked the stories where mama laughed; she liked being able to laugh too. She had fortunately never been grounded in that manner - had never done anything to warrant that sort of grounding. She'd certainly never gotten herself chased by a boar. Her eyes glimmered with humor as her mama explained her aunt and uncle's protests, and then a frown tugged at her mouth. "But that's not fair," she said. "They got in all that trouble but the other pups didn't? Just because they were lucky enough not to get chased?" Enera hoped the other pups hadn't intentionally gotten her aunt and uncle in trouble. She couldn't imagine anyone who would do that.

Then again, she couldn't imagine anyone who would kill their own pack members the way mama's parents had been killed.

There was still so much about the world that Rhaegara herself did not understand… much less for her to explain to her daughter what it all meant. She hummed softly and offered a lick over the top of her daughter’s head. “Sometimes, life isn’t fair…” She reminded her softly before giving her a comforting nuzzle. “Ultimately, your aunt and uncle could have led the boar elsewhere… they went through the tunnel because they didn’t think the boar would follow them through it but they were wrong on that front too… everything happens for a reason, Little Dove.” She assured her with a soft smile.

It was a hard lesson to learn. It was one that Rhae herself was still learning. “Your grandparents let them off easy, but they did have to punish them and they were mad… it didn’t mean they loved them any less or relished yelling at them though.” Parenting was hard, harder than she had given her own parents credit for…

had a dream so big and loud

JUMPED SO HIGH I TOUCHED THE CLOUDS

Enera's frown didn't ease at her mama's explanation, but she did snuggle back into her side. "I still think it's silly," she said. "Things should be fair when we can make them be fair. Just because the rest of life isn't doesn't mean we have to be unfair too." Her voice betrayed her stubbornness. She was determined to make things as fair as possible for everyone, and that included her younger siblings. If Woya wanted to be a Scary Lady to them too, because they weren't her children, then she was gonna have to go through her first. Enera wasn't afraid of her anymore. She snorted derisively at her own thoughts, in a 'so there' sort of attitude.

She looked back up at mama. "I'm glad you never yelled at me like that mama," she said affectionately, reaching up to nuzzle her cheek with her nose.

She smiled softly at her and even offered a light wrinkle of her nose. “It was a little silly… but sometimes you have to be a little silly to keep the peace.” She hoped that helped her daughter understand things in a different light. “To the other pack, it was fair. We had come into their home, and led boars through their herbal storage towards the end of winter when we wouldn’t be able to replace those supplies… to them, seeing your aunt and uncle punished by your grandparents and getting half of our store was fair.” It was all about balancing.

She smiled softly at that too, feeling her daughter nuzzle her cheek. “Of course not… you were so well behaved as a pup, Little Dove. You still are. You are kind and caring and have a massive heart and I hope you never lose that.” Rhaegara’s had shrunk along the course of her life and she hoped that never became true for her daughter.