Fool's Gold Chasm i can't help the way you made me

Storytime! @Enera

Where oh where had her little adventurer run off to this time? The weather was starting to cool, and she found herself searching high and low for her Little Dove. She wanted her safely in the den and nestled up before the sun finished disappearing over the horizon… and she knew the surefire way to get to her settle down for the rest of the night. Stories. Her daughter truly loved them, which was good because Rhae enjoyed telling them. She knew tonight she ought to tell her about her home, An Lùchairt, where she had been born and raised for a much different fate than the one she ended up receiving.

“Enera! Little Dove!” She called out, a healthy distance from the den but not close to the borders of the pack either. “It’s time to come in! I’ve got a story for you.” She hoped the words were enough to entice her daughter to listen to her calls and make herself known lest she have to send a search party out for her.

(This post was last modified: Oct 04, 2021, 10:35 PM by Rhaegara.)

Enera was enjoying her adventures just as much as she had when she'd first gotten big enough to run off on her own. She hoped that excitement never faded; life was too fun, even the scary moments. She was just glad she'd been able to protect her best friends from too much harm, even if someone did follow her places she shouldn't have been in the first place.

Tonight, she was a good distance from the den, rolling around in dust and watching the sun set. When she heard her mother's footsteps, the pup ducked into the undergrowth and waited, ears strained forward in excitement. This was going to be the perfect time to scare mama and show her how sneaky she'd gotten!

"I've got a story for you."

Enera's tail wiggled, and after quick deliberation she jumped out early with a loud, "Rawr!" She giggled up at her mama. "Did I scare ya? I bet you were terrified!" she pranced around Mama's feet. "What story?"

Where could her daughter have wandered off to this close to bedtime? The question rang through her head as she continued to look around… She caught the rustling of footsteps from the bush just moments before her daughter jumped out at her, and she played along, jumping as though she had been frightened. She started to chuckle right alongside her daughter. “I was shaking in my fur!” She responded back as she nipped lightly at her ears. “I wanted to tell you about your grandparents and aunts and uncles… before they became skywalkers like Sirius did.” She explained as she motioned with her head.

“But in order to hear the story, we have to make our way back to the den. It’s getting late and it’s almost time for bed.” She reminded her as she started to herd her along by nudging at her rump. “And tomorrow I was thinking you and I could go out and work on teaching you how to hunt proper prey, instead of just your mama.” She teased lightly, though she was quite proud of her daughter.

Enera proudly puffed her chest out. She was getting good at hiding and scaring others, but she did hurt Marrah on accident that one time.

She was of course immediately distracted from her achievement by the mention of her grandparents and skywalkers. Her ears perked up. "More skywalker stories?" she asked, bouncing in excitement. She wasn't ready to go to bed yet, but she would never pass up a story from her mama. She turned and raced back to the den they shared when she wasn't sleeping over with Marrah and quickly settled, patiently waiting for her mama to catch up with her. She looked expectantly up at her. The promise of hunting the next day was intriguing, but Enera wanted her story.

With training, she had no doubt that Enera could do whatever she set her mind to. It was her job to mold her and raise her to have the confidence to seek out what she wanted. The question came and she smiled softly, shaking her head.

“Not this time, sweetheart.” She had an apologetic tone though she had no doubt that her supplement would be equally as appealing. “I wanted to tell you about my home, where I came from, and where your grandparents lived before they became skywalkers.” She explained to her as they arrived back at the den, curling up and pulling her closer with her paws. “I promise it’ll be just as interesting as the skywalkers…” She drawled out because she did not want her daughter to be disappointed learning about her heritage.

And then they could hunt the next day.

Enera wriggled in her mama's paws, twisting around to get comfortable and let out the energy she still had. She squeezed out of her spot and circled a few times before snuggling up against Mama's side and looking up at her. "I wanna hear about where you grew up!" she said. "I bet it was beautiful! Did you have lotsa fun?"

She couldn't imagine leaving her home forever, even though she wanted to see the world. The Chasm would always be whewre she came back to. It's where her Mama was, after all, and her Marrah. She knew her best friend wouldn't want to leave, and Enera couldn't just abandon her.

Hearing about where Mama grew up would have to be good enough for now.

Rhaegara quite enjoyed weaving tales together, both retelling those her parents had told her and assembling her own in order to sate her daughter’s curiosity. “It was very beautiful. Just. Like. You.” She reinforced all of the positives in life with her daughter regularly, because she never wanted her to feel like any less than what she was. “I grew up in a pack called An Lùchairt.” The Gaelic tongue fell quickly from her lips and after all this time, it felt almost foreign to her. She had not passed on her language skills to her daughter… there was no point when she was the only one around who spoke it.

“And I did have fun… but I was also very busy. Your grandma and grandpa were alphas… which made me, and you, a Princess of An Lùchairt.” Despite the kingdom having fallen, her daughter would hold that title. Not here, for that role fell to Saga’s children, but in her homeland certainly. “My Mama and Papa trained me from a young age to work with other packs, hunt, and fight… there wasn’t a lot of time for playing.” She wanted her daughter to understand the things she did have, the freedom she had that Rhae herself had not.

“There was this magnificent waterfall near the pack den. When the sun would hit it, it would reflect into many rays of beautiful light. There were always fish in it and lots of food nearby. The forest was beautiful and the trees had tales from long ago, before you and I, and even before Ymir himself came to be.” It had been an olden land.

had a dream so big and loud

JUMPED SO HIGH I TOUCHED THE CLOUDS

Enera wrinkled her nose in pleasure when her mama told her she was beautiful. She loved to hear nice things from Mama. "You're beautiful too," she said, reaching up to try and tap Mama's nose with her paw. Mama quickly carried on with her tale, and Enera mouthed the words that sounded so foreign to her, trying to figure out the pronunciation. They felt funny on her tongue.

At the word princess Enera looked up again, eyes bright. She liked the idea of being a princess, even if it was to a home she didn't belong to. That was okay; she liked her home and her place within it, and she liked her sister-friend @Marrah and her brother-friends and even the Scary Lady, because she was just a fact of life in the Chasm. Sometimes someone was scary and Enera needed to learn when to expect it.

"Why didn't Gramma and Grandpa let you play? Didn't they know you were a kid?" Enera asked, brow creased. She couldn't imagine not getting to play with Marrah, and having to spend all day practicing other things.

She was quickly distracted by the description of Mama's home and how beautiful it was, and how old it was. Her eyes went wide as she stared up at Mama's face. "Older than even Ymir?" she asked in awe. "That's old."

A soft smile lit her features, reaching her eyes as it so often did when her daughter sweetly offered compliments from the generosity of her heart. “Thank you, Little Dove. I must get it from you.” That was not how biology worked, but Rhaegara was determined to turn the topic around. She saw the way the girl lit up, and it was good for her to know of her heritage. The question she asked was a complicated one, and she was not certain that explain the complex social structures of the pack she came from would benefit Enera at all.

“It’s because I was a Princess, Little Dove. I was older. I had siblings, the Macieo-Tainns… I was not born alone, but I was the oldest… and that meant I was going to be a Queen.” She smiled and chuckled lightly as her awe filled the air. “Yes, it is very old.” She knew her daughter was going to fire a million questions at her.

“As a Princess, your grandparents taught me a lot of things: diplomacy, fighting, hunting, leading… but not everyone was pleased. The wolves near our pack were aggressive. They fought all the time and we had to defend ourselves. Some in the pack thought gramma and grandpa were too soft, that they weren’t aggressive enough… one of the wolves who thought that was my best friend’s father, grandpa’s second in command… he rose up against grandpa, and I was forced to flee. It’s how I came here, and met everyone, how I came about having you, and helping form the Chasm. Gramma and Grandpa went to join the skywalkers when the wolves rose up, because it was their time. I don't know about my brother or sister... but I have not seen or heard from them since.”

had a dream so big and loud

JUMPED SO HIGH I TOUCHED THE CLOUDS

Being a princess sounded nice, but at the mention of being queen Enera made a face. Being queen seemed like a lot of responsibility. She wasn't sure she wanted to do that; part of her was a little glad that wasn't what her mama seemed to want from her.

Enera looked up at her mama with earnest, wide eyes, ears flicking back. Didn't anyone teach them about Ymir and that we should all be nice to each other?" she asked. "Why would they want to fight all the time? Why did you have to run away? Why didn't Gramma and Grandpa come with you? Why didn't your siblings?" Enera wasn't sure she liked this story. She couldn't imagine having to flee her home; she especially couldn't imagine leaving her sibling friends. She loved them too much.