Sun Mote Copse and, as in uffish thought he stood

I'm backdating this to last (Halloween) night! I'm also making a lot of assumptions, mostly about my own toon though... :)

Sugar was hardly a seasoned medic, though she did what she could to help make Towhee comfortable. She cleaned the visitor's wound without compunction and stood watch over her when the adults were otherwise preoccupied. Even after nightfall, when the others had crept off to their beds and Towhee lay motionless with sleep, Sugar remained glued to her side.

Sometime late in the evening, an owl hooted somewhere off in the woods. Sugar tipped her head and listened to see if the noise would come again. She heard the soft rush of wings, then a short, piercing cry. Silence resumed. The crickets and other nightlife had gone quiet weeks ago, so the lack of sounds pressed down on her almost heavily. She couldn't help but wonder if this was what it was like to be Towhee, who was deaf.

Her thoughts segued naturally toward @Fennec then. With the new moon hardly lending the night any light, the darkness was as thick as the silence. Unbidden, Sugar found herself quietly thinking, Is this what it's like to be dead?

Title from "Jabberwocky" by Lewis Carroll.

Fennec was restless and impatient, waiting for Towhee to get back on her feet and to take both of them home.  She'd lurked around where Sugar and Towhee settles, but for some reason, hadn't entered.  There was a weird awkwardness to it, as if she'd done something wrong and shouldn't be there.

She didn't hear Sugar Glider as she paced by, too caught up in her own thoughts to hear the quiet breathing.  Her own steps were quiet out of habit, but some aspects snapped and shifted as she softly stepped upon twigs and rustled leaves.  It was maddeningly quiet even for her, of late, but fortunately tonight she had plenty to keep her mind busy.

Towhee stirred in her sleep, murmuring something. It startled Sugar so that the fur on her spine stood on end, a sweep of charred quills. It settled back down an instant later as she softly stepped closer to the invalid. Squinting, she bent her head low, toward her older sister's, and could just make out her features. Her eyes were moving beneath closed eyelids and her lips were parting and then pressing closed again. No more sounds came from her, aside from her gentle breaths. Out of the corner of her eye, Sugar saw one of Towhee's paws jerking.

"You're dreaming," she observed in a low voice, when the sound of footfalls made her jerk her head upward even as she swiveled. "Who's there?" Sugar asked in a slightly louder tone, her heart fluttering in her breast. The night was eerie and it unsettled her, though she wouldn't say she was afraid. On edge, she thought to herself. Aloof. Wary. She was meant to be standing guard over the helpless Towhee, after all.

In turn, Sugar's call startled Fennec, who froze.  After an instant, though, the voice and who owned it registered.  So did the slight hitch, the hesitation that told Fennec her cousin's nerves were high.  She could answer; or she could do something more interesting.

The latter tended to be how Fennec operated.  This would be way more funny.

Softly, Fennec let out a deep, low bark that almost sounded like a moan.  She let it grumble, a bit like a growl, then fell silent.  Her ears were perked for any response from her cousin, and her lips were pulled back in a slight smile.  This used to be her favorite thing, scaring Figment.

No answer came. Sugar stared off into the darkness, sensing something or someone just out of range. She swallowed and suddenly folded herself down beside Towhee. She felt protective of the injured wolf in her charge and was unwilling to step away from her to address whatever threat hovered just out of view. Anyway, Sugar didn't fancy herself any kind of warrior, did not desire a confrontation and felt safer beside the mercenary, however prostrate. She tucked her legs firmly beneath her chest as she leaned lightly into Towhee's warmth.

The rumbling bark made her start, her fur sticking up again. "Who's there?" Sugar hisspered, trying not to disturb Towhee even as anxiety swept through her. I should call for help, she thought, glancing down at the slumbering she-wolf, the sight making her hesitate.

Sugar's whispered response seemed on edge, which boded well.  It meant that she hadn't recognized Fennec as the source and also that she was nervous.  She could leave it at that or she could push her luck.

Who's therrreee Fennec rasped back, a little more quietly.  She could have answered with a ghost or something, but repeating the question back seemed spookier.  Plus, she wanted to see if her cousin would introduce herself to a creepy voice.  Knowing how friendly Sugar was, it didn't seem completely off brand.

All of a sudden, Sugar felt like an imbecile. She's deaf! she thought loudly, glancing once more at Towhee's peacefully sleeping face. She could call for help and the invalid wouldn't even stir. Sugar's lips parted to do exactly that when an eerie voice echoed her whispered question back at her.

The voice sounded feminine, though all of a sudden, Sugar suddenly felt convinced that it must be Crow or Pox messing with her. "I know it's you," she replied, sotto voce, before remembering she could raise her voice without disturbing Towhee. She couldn't be absolutely sure which brother was lurking in the dark, though she made her best guess. "You're such a mumpsimus," Sugar said, pulling the insult out of nowhere before naming her prime suspect, "Crow!"

She had no idea what Sugar called her, but she couldn't stop herself from cackling when she yelled out her brother's name.  Which pretty well killed the joke, unfortunately.

No, when you meet a ghost, you're supposed to laugh at them, Fennec said as she moved closer to where her cousin's voice was coming from.  She wasn't actually sure how to get in, but when she figured she was close enough, she simply sat down where she was outside.

A quiet cackle met her jibe. Sugar swallowed, a loud breath escaping her when it was Fennec who materialized from the dark. "Fen?" she said weakly, feeling a strange mix of embarrassment and relief. "I thought you were one of my brothers," she said unnecessarily before shaking her head and laughing at herself. Mostly, she was just glad there was no real threat.

Belatedly, Sugar arched a brow at Fen's remark. "I thought ghosts were supposed to be spooky, not silly," she commented in turn before adding, "You can come a little closer." A thought struck her. "She's your mom, after all, isn't she?" She glanced down at Towhee, who still slept soundly at her feet.

Definitely not.  Your brothers are weird though.  She added the second one almost thoughtfully, and decided it probably wasn't completely off base as a guess.  She wondered suddenly how Pox might respond to a prank like this, and determined immediately that sometime soon she'd need to find out.

That's the whole idea, anyway.  It makes them mad when you laugh, and then they leave.  Or try and get you.  She delivered this offhand, then shifted a little, sitting as casually as she could.  Internally she wanted nothing more than to run to Towhee, but as a kid in the presence of another kid, she had an instinctual need to definitely not do that.  So she just stayed where she was, because she wasn't entirely sure what was between them anyway.

Yeah.  Towhee was sleeping, that much was obvious from her breathing.  Fenn wasn't about to wake her up and do this in front of Sugar, no way.  But it's fine, I was just walking.

A strange look passed over Sugar's face when Fen commented about her brothers. Her lips parted, though before she could reply, Fen explained her stance on ghosts. Sugar blinked, her lips twitching faintly now. She supposed that made sense, although at the end of the day, she didn't really believe in things like ghosts.

Anyway, she was more interested in the prior subject. "My brothers," she said, pausing and puffing out a breath, "are jerks." She'd made sure not to badmouth them in front of Finley and felt a small sting of guilt for calling them names. But then she remembered: they deserved it! Neither one of Sugar's male litter mates was particularly nice to her. "Don't tell me they were mean to you too?" she added, the inflection in her voice carrying an edge of disapproval.

It occurred to her that Fen may want to be on her way, especially if she didn't want to disturb Towhee. But Sugar had to know if Crow and Pox were mistreating their visiting relative.

Absolute jerks.  But I don't mind.  She responded, though she did find it funny how adamant Sugar was about it.  It seemed like she didn't like her brothers much.  Fennec couldn't really relate - Fig wasn't much of a jerk.  Usually it was she who was mean to him.

Not mean.  Just weird.  They hadn't done anything too bad, though Pox had rubbed her the wrong way with some of his comments about her eyes.  

Why are you here anyway? Fennec asked somewhat abruptly, her mind having trailed off of Sugar's brothers and back to Towhee.  It was weird to find her cousin hanging out with her mom while she slept.

The darker stripe of fur along Sugar's back remained prickled even after Fen's reassurance. She wished her brothers weren't so difficult sometimes. "You should meet my sister, Ave," she said quietly, "she's a lot nicer than the boys."

"I'm helping to look after her," Sugar replied to the pale girl's next inquiry. "I'm an apprentice caregiver, learning how to be a medic. Between Eljay and me, your mom's in good hands."

Another soft hoot floated through the dark October night and Sugar held her breath. The noise was beautiful yet eerie. She felt a shiver up her spine, where the fur lay flat again. She smiled to herself, wondering what her companion made of the noise.

"What're you doing here?" Sugar belatedly rejoined. "Besides lurking about and spooking people, I mean," she added with a breathy chuckle.

Yeah, alright.  Fennec's fur prickled a bit at Sugar's insistence, and she wasn't even really sure why.  Maybe it was the assuredness in her tone when she said it.  Fennec herself had some confidence, but when it came to roles, she'd never really been that sure of anything before.  There was a definite spike of jealousy, if only a small one.

That's all I am doing, she replied offhand, tilting her head a bit as she smiled.  Spooky nights like this are the best for scaring.  She pauses, then had a thought.   If you want, I could stop by your brothers next.  She bet Pox would be a fun one to spook.

She wasn't sure she wanted to ask, and she teetered on it.  But Wraen's voice echoed in her ears, doubled up by Bronco.  Learn a trade... something she could do.  There was no mistaking the reluctant way she let a pause hang between any response Sugar made and her next question.

What do you do?  To take care of someone, I mean.  She wouldn't be able to see, and it didn't sound like her cousin was actively doing anything at the moment.  But maybe she could explain a bit, and then Fennec would know for sure it was lame and if she definitely needed to try something else.

Fen joked about paying a spooky visit to Sugar's brothers and the little Blackthorn grinned at the suggestion, forgetting to offer an audible answer. In any case, her late night visitor seemed piqued about Sugar's mention of care-giving, asking a few questions she was happy to answer. If she noticed the odd hesitation, she forgot it in the very next heartbeat, so enthused was she about discussing this particular topic.

"I watch over her, make sure she has anything she needs: namely stuff like food, water, shelter. I also clean her wounds and sometimes use medicine on them. I don't know much about that last part yet, though Eljay's teaching me," Sugar Glider shared. "When she's sleeping—which is most of the time—there's not a whole lot to do but stand guard. If you want, you could take over?" Honestly, she could use a bit of a nap, though if Fen wasn't able or willing, she was prepared to remain awake until someone else came along at dawn.

What she described was effectively babysitting, but worse.  To Fennec helping Towhee was one thing, but she couldn't imagine letting random strangers or even packmates order her around like she pictured happening to Sugar.  

What made you want that job? she asked.  The medicine part sounds maybe ok but the rest sounds like garbage.  No offense.  

She didn't really have anywhere to be, and it seemed like Towhee would be sleeping for a while.  Yeah, just for a bit.  I can do that. She was still hesitant to talk to Towhee.  She herself didn't know the reason for it, but running away scared had been her fault and she was unknowingly afraid that her mom would hate her for it.

Fennec's frank remark caught Sugar by surprise, earning a huff of laughter. "None taken," she assured, though there was a flash of indignation she quickly suppressed. She focused on coming up with a sufficient answer to her friend's question, eventually saying, "It started with plants. I enjoyed collecting them and learning more about them. Then Eljay told me they could help with healing the sick and injured. I've always liked helping people, so it just sort of made sense." She paused, smiling in the dark. "Does that make sense...?"

When Fen agreed to relieve her and take watch—a task which Sugar didn't doubt she could manage, even without sight, especially since it was pitch black anyway—the little Blackthorn finally unleashed a great big yawn. "I'm just going to nap then," she said through it, "but you can wake me if you need, of course." As she spoke, she circled and folded herself neatly beside Towhee. She shifted a little, then settled her head on her forelegs, her eyes closing but not before she thought to murmur, "G'night, Fen."

I mean, I guess. She replied in a tone that was more clearly dubious than usual.  Parts of it did, but most of it didn't.  Finally she shrugged it off as difference in opinion.  That solved it though - maybe she'd learn a plant or two, but she'd never be a caretaker.  Her cousin could keep that job.

Gnight.  She settled in a bit away, not at all awkward to be left alone with her thoughts.  There was plenty to listen to and think about, and the dark held no more fear for her than the day.  She could see just as clearly regardless.