Fool's Gold Chasm beating a tune as you fall all around

Random Event: Woya, a squirrel keeps interrupting your nap. AW to anyone from FGC, special mention to @Adonya since she's playable!

Woya was exhausted, sore, and dehydrated. Seven children nursed and wrestled and cried at her side, and she had not the physical nor the mental strength to pull away. She worried she was not producing enough milk for them all, hindered severely by the drought and exacerbated by the differences in size between Rhaegara's twins and her own brood. The girls easily trampled and bullied their siblings, despite their foster mother's constant attempts to curb their aggression and protect the others.

She just wanted a break, for time to pause and for her to have her old body back, a cool pond to drink from, the teens happily playing in the shallows... she dozed off with a daydream of life before, but was barely granted any time to truly rest. A young, inexperienced squirrel chattered loudly before hauling acorns and other foraged goods down into the throat of the den. They rolled along the earthen tunnel and peppered her skull with just enough pressure to jar her from sleep.

Woya snarled and bared her fangs at the pinpoint of light, her patience practically nonexistent.

Sovanya slept despite her feeder's discomfort. Her belly was full and she was warm, tucked against her favored sibling. Already she was bitter about the newcomers, so many small bodies to push through and contend with just to access mother's stomach, but it was what it was. The whelp missed the days when it had been just the three of them, yet still could find contentment in moments like this.

The sound of Woya's displeasure started as a deep vibration that stirred Sova awake. Her bleary eyes regarded the shadows around, and she squawked her disappointment loudly at being woken prematurely. Usually, it was because one of her siblings had kicked or otherwise jarred her. This time, the largest of them had earned her ire, and she pushed away angrily from Woya's warmth in protest.

(This post was last modified: Jun 02, 2022, 05:42 AM by Sovanya.)

Bitter was certainly one way to describe her feelings towards the invading pests that had settled between them. They were so much smaller, and easier to push out of the way but it could earn her trouble if she was caught doing so. Apparently her foster mother actually cared that her own blood children were properly fed… whatever.

She had been starting to stir when the deep vibration coursed through her and pulled her out of her half-slumbering state with a piercing cry. It was simply rude to wake a lady when she was trying to get some last few minutes of beauty rest. Her paws jutted out, kicking at the siblings on either side of her in an attempt to gain more room as she found herself attempting to headbutt the large feeding creature who had caused such a mess to begin with.

had a dream so big and loud

JUMPED SO HIGH I TOUCHED THE CLOUDS

Enera knew she would need to make another trip to Turtleback Lake again within the next day or so; it was still the closest water source, unless she was lucky enough to find a puddle, and there were so many new mouths to feed that they'd gone through their most recent supply so terribly quickly. Maybe she could get @Marrah or @Caelyn to go with her.

Five. It seemed unfair that Woya, so small, had birthed five pups and survived, when Rhae was so strong and had been killed by two. Enera didn't want Woya to die and guilt coursed through her every time the bitterness rose within her, but it just wasn't fair. She should still have her own mama here, nursing her sisters, only two pups. Now they contended with Woya's five.

Enera had been lucky enough to catch a rabbit this morning that had more meat on its bones than some of the others she'd managed to get. It was juicy in her mouth, and after a moment's hesitation she turned her paws towards Woya's den. The new mother could use a meal more than Enera, and its blood would give her more hydration while the Rayvne girl went to the lake to fetch more water.

When she paused outside the den she heard her sisters making a fuss and saw a squirrel skittering away up a tree. Hm. "Woya?" she called gently. "I brought you something to eat."

It was the twins that protested and crooned, her other children adjusting and continuing as they were while the girls found themselves deeply disturbed. That was the pattern, and while it had crossed her mind that just her own children, even with their being five of them, might have been leagues easier to raise, she could not resent them for it. They had been born into loss, they had the right demand a little coddling. Woya cut off her growling with a sigh, and curled to nose the twins in an attempt to comfort them.

"I'm sorry," she murmured, slipping a forelimb in between the two and those @Adelard had fathered so as to give them their own space. Something had apparently startled the squirrel away, and she would've taken advantage and settled back into sleep had she not soon after heard Enera's voice.

The offer of food was enough to rouse her, and she wormed her way toward the mouth of the natal den, leaving the children briefly to their own devices. When her muzzle poked into the sunlight, she greeted Rhaegara's eldest with a tired smile.

"Thank you, En..."

(This post was last modified: Aug 07, 2022, 09:22 PM by Woya.)

Her sister joined her in her rioting, and as usual the behavior was rewarded by their foster mother. While she fought against the barrier, she recognized the peaceful absence of the others and might have calmed and fallen back to sleep had something else not chosen to disturb them as well. Her small muzzle wrinkled with irritation as Woya moved away from them completely, stealing most of their warmth away. Rather than tantruming upon the dirt floor, Sova now stood upon her pudgy legs and determinedly chased after their space heater.

She pushed her way through the dwindling space and when there was no more, the youngster stubbornly continued by forcing her way between earth and her mom's side. Small puppy snarls leaked from her maw as she did so, determined to follow Woya outside and see what all the fuss was about.

A nose was the reward for the fierce protest that she had helped her sister produce, finding a sense of contentment with soft indistinguishable mews of noise reaching out until a whine escaped, when the absence fell completely. Where Sovanya chased after their foster mother, Adonya simply let out piercing cries for it to return.

She kicked her limbs out in fierce protest, perhaps even accidentally hitting Woya’s own children in the process as her limbs flailed in an all-out tantrum that had been caused by her half-sister’s arrival. What was wrong with simply remaining put so they could be warm and giving them the milk they needed to survive? She was not a fan of this whole getting up thing and she wanted to know what right Woya had to think that was allowed without a single hint of protest.

had a dream so big and loud

JUMPED SO HIGH I TOUCHED THE CLOUDS

Woya slowly emerged and Enera thought she looked exhausted. She supposed caring for seven puppies would do that, and she couldn't help a brief stab of guilt. Woya didn't have to do this. She could have let the twins die, or told Enera to go find someone else to nurse them. She would have, of course. They were all she had left of-

She dipped her head and nudged the squirrel towards her leader. "Sorry it's not more," she said. "I'll go get you water soon..." Her words trailed off, distracted by puppy snarls quickly followed by a pale nose shoving its way from the den. One of her first genuine smiles tugged at Enera's mouth. "Hello there," she greeted, crouching down to better see her sisters as they emerged. They were getting so big.

Woya's cream-colored paw received the meal gratefully, laying atop the carcass to claim it. There had been a time when Woya could have been considered some breed of vain, and would have loathed to be seen so vulnerable. By now, such distinctions had eroded away, and she did not think twice about letting her hunger get the best of her. Her dry nose wriggled ahead of her thoughts, and she was chewing at the dead beastie's belly before she knew it.

Sorry it's not more, the young girl's words caused her to frown. As far as she was concerned, Enera did far more than should be expected of her. The matriarch would be eternally grateful and hoped the teen understood that.

"You're doing amazing, En," she answered gently, as Sovanya squeezed her way past her guard. Had Woya wanted to keep her sheltered, she would have simply shifted her weight to do so. Given Enera was there to help protect them, she no longer had qualms about letting the elder two up.

While her twin tumbled into the world, Adonya continued to squall below it. Woya turned to call past her shoulder, "Addy, come see sissy."

Adonya heard the sound of her foster mother’s voice calling to her, insisting she should come see her sister though she didn’t necessarily understand it in any terms necessary. What was all the fuss about? As time started to dwindle on, it became clear that her tantrum was not bringing her the outcome she wanted and so with disgruntled grunting and mews of protest, she pushed to her paws.

Whatever the queen wanted, she would yet, Adonya supposed. She slowly began to make her way out, her nose wrinkling further with a huff before she plopped down stubbornly at her sister’s side. She still lingered within the mouth of the den, not seeing what the excitement was about as she attempted to once more burrow into Woya’s side as she ate, determined to return to the warmth and food-filled belly that Woya provided them to live off of. Nothing else particularly interested her. She prodded her sister with her paws in the process, begging silently for her to join suite.