blue willow was bid take her leave, and she did so gratefully. lasher curled his long frame into her place among their tiny daughters -- it had been some time since he had lain among infants, and so moved gingerly. his gaze was soft with love as he gazed upon their gently mewling bodies, drawn as they were against his chest, as he faced the narrow doorway to the whelping den. a downy feathering of snow fell softly outdoors; taltos lowered his muzzle to kiss the darker of the two.
"my emaleth."
She was ignorant of the world outside this tiny space— for to her, the space seemed endless, if her developing mind could make sense of it at all. Little Emaleth only knew warmth and love; the mysterious, large being she would someday know separately as Mother and Father, and the pale body of her sister that had been her constant companion ever since their lives had sparked into existence.
A tiny, black paw splayed against her sister— perhaps against her face, or belly— as Emaleth stretched and huddled closer to the chest of her caretaker. Yet unknowing that Father was different than Mother, her tiny jaws gummed against him. She had fed before Blue Willow had left, and the babe was contentedly full, but the act of nursing was also one of comfort.
mother, father -- lasher liked to think that they had known speech before the world, these two, that he had been able to commune with them through the warm layers of blue willow's body. emaleth stirred, parting jaws so tiny and delicate it seemed as though they had been carved from hummingbird down, and mouthed against the muzzle of her father. he chuckled lightly, unwilling to remove himself from her touch, and hummed a quiet tune.
Emaleth remembered her life before this— the life in which she had been carried within the Source, the Father-Mother. She dreamt of it often, and sometimes yearned for it. It had been warmer. More peaceful. Less overwhelming. There were times she felt vibrations quake through the water that held her and her companion in suspension; small little waves that were different than the gentle jostling of their host moving. No. The vibrations she remembered and favored did not move or shift her; they flowed through her like melodies.
She remembered them, but did not know them for voices, for even in the womb she had been deaf and blind. But perhaps they had cast some sort of spell over her, though not one she would ever understand or know, for in a few weeks she would forget that life completely. But she would have a particularly special bond with the being she would come to know as Father.
Still maintaining contact with her pale companion, both for her own comfort and to avoid the squalls that were destined to pierce the small cavern if she did, Emaleth continued to gum at her father's muzzle. Tiny forepaws reached out to join, for something finally registered as different, and rather than cry out as Deirdre might, Emaleth was overcome with curiosity.
paws the very size of petals reached out to touch his visage; emaleth explored the details of her father's face as another might with their eyes, and lasher held quite still beneath her pointed attunement. so small they were! so delicate! and yet already so different from one another -- deirdre was the more vocal of the two, while emaleth kept her wonderings silent. sun and moon, night and day -- they curled beautifully into blue willow's breast and drank the life-giving milk, his tiny witches, and he smiled fondly.
Whatever answers little Emaleth thought she might find with her tiny paws went unanswered this, but she accepted this with peace as she always had. She did not fight the unknown, at least not yet, for her world had only ever been safe and she trusted it completely. Answers would come. Comfort would come. And this Source— though it was still a mystery, one that evolved even as she grew to know it— represented the safety and trust in her world almost as much as her sister did.
She rested her tiny head against the muzzle of the Source, her breath soft upon its cheek. Emaleth was content like this; standing on her sister, braced against the Source. It would grow boring, soon, but for the moment she was happy enough to slip into a small doze.
her wandering done, emaleth tucked herself into her father's embrace with all the trust embodied in her newborn body. so poignant was the moment that lasher felt tears stinging his eyes with their warmth -- he had loved constantine, casmir, eilidh, with all the fibres of his being, but perhaps here there was something more with his children, his witches. lasher laved the velveteen furs of her back with his tongue and whispered the fine gaelic words of an ancient melody into her folded ears, the same words that suzanne had used to draw him from the very air.
Her small sleep was interrupted by the gentle caress of the Source's tongue, and she cooed softly in contentedness. It did not disturb her— not in the least— and without truly understanding her own jaws parted to place a newborn kiss against the furred cheek. Instinct, perhaps, took over then; and her mouth worked to suckle, though she displayed no displeasure when milk did not flow.
Emaleth was yet both deaf and blind, but as the ancient vibration of her father's voice danced through her little body, the infant stopped her suckling. Her tiny paws braced against his cheek, and she seemed to look at him with those blind eyes— enraptured. Unable to hold the posture for very long, however, the babe quickly resumed her settled position against him.
her mouth lifted in a kiss that he took willingly upon his jawline -- he smiled at the rhythmic press of her tiny mouth in a suckling motion against his cheek. strangely soothed by such, lasher was pleased and surprised by the way she moved herself, with a confidence befitting an older cub. he knew now that emaleth would be the cool logic to the emotionality of her sister, that they were well suited unto one another -- complements in a fraternal bond. "emaleth," lasher whispered. "emaleth." the darkest of his witches.
For the first time, Emaleth wanted nothing from the Source but to be near it— there was no driving need as there had been before, such as food or warmth. Only the desire to be close, for she loved it with her whole and tiny heart. She relaxed into it, feeling heavy with contentedness, loving the hums that fell from dark lips. They were her name, but she did not yet know this— that understanding would come to her as the word was repeated. She only knew that these vibrations were comforting, and she cooed softly as she drifted to a hazy sleep.
fade here <3 ill start us a new one!
her small body became soft, malleable, in his embrace. lasher lay his muzzle near unto the babe, breathing in the contented scent of milk and the fragrance that is only known to newborns. and for some time, lasher slumbered alongside his daughter, sharing the moments that would never be known again to the pair of them, for in the morn she would be another day older.