Rowan felt like it was just about time. She'd been leaving the children in order to go on brief hunts, although it felt uncomfortable to be apart for too long so her kills were left only to small things - rabbits, fish from time to time.
"Darlings," Rowan murmured early in the morning, tongue laving across
@Mona and then
@Cortland.
"Shall we explore today?" She asked curiously, tone full of love as she stood up and took a few steps out of the den.
"Come, darlings."
For Mona, the world was a small place. Everything that ever was, and ever would be, was in the den. Though her motor skills were developing finely, allowing her to make her clumsy rounds around the whelping den, Mona felt no compelling reason to traipse toward the bright sunlight that filtered in though the den's narrow mouth. In fact, she felt more comfortable in the darkness; in the cool, damp shadow.
Initially, Mona protested her mother's prompting with her newly learned favorite word. "Noooooooooooooo," she pleaded, floppy ears falling back against her skull.
"no! no no no no!" cortland hollered, echoing his sister more loudly. however, he was glad to leave the den, despite his single word. at his age, he had gleaned a handful of them, and said them often. "mine," the boy growled, toddling after his sister and attempting to bite at her stubby tail with his sharp milk teeth. "monnnna," cortland rumbled. "mine! no!" he added in a shout, bounding after his mother.
Rowan gave a laugh as Mona protested, Cortland quickly joining his sister in the constant fussing. He seemed more enthusiastic however, picking at his sister as he darted forth. "Come, loves." Rowan said as she guided them from the den, giving her daughter a little nudge. "I will be right with you, dearest." She said encouragingly, placing a kiss to her ruddy daughter's brow.
With gusto, Courtland too protested the birth-giver's insistence that it was a good idea to venture out into the unknown. He moved in Mona's direction -- and soon, she felt her brother's baby teeth clamp down around her tail. "OWWWWWWW," Mona yelped out of both surprise and pain. She quickly turned her newly found anger toward her brother as she snapped as menacingly as a toddler could.
Nevertheless, her mother intervened with a kiss and Mona anger melted away. Slowly, she moved toward the den's mouth at the direction of her mother. She poked her head out of the den and noticed how bright the world was. The light, it hurt her eyes. "Nooooooooooooo," she half whispered, half moaned as she stopped at the threshold -- frozen.
where mona froze, cortland jumped ahead. "OUTSIIII!" he howled at the top of his lungs. trees! dirt! sky! sun! his mind was exploding with all the colours and smells; he of course shoved his face into the earth and began to breathe every aroma he could into his mind. this was fuckin' great.
Eventually she did coax Mona out of the densite and she was cautious where her brother was exuberant. Cortland attacked the world with gusto, consuming every experience that he could. Mona slowly warmed, but never seemed to shy much from either her mother or brother's sides. Rowan tried to show them the things she could offering names to plants and rocks and trees, even to the nearby birds that sang above them.
After awhile she assumed that both children could stand meals. "Affamé?" She asked, wondering how quickly her boy would be at her side for his meal - she knew that was one word he'd latched onto easily.
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cortland drank in everything his mother had to say with gusto, exploring the flowers she pointed out, staring up at the birds she mentioned. each tree they passed was given a glance or a cursory sniff. the world was everything he had ever wanted, and there was so much of it! when rowan paused to invite him to her side, the boy rushed over as quickly as his fat legs could carry him, muttering his interpretation of her word over and over again.[/tr][/td][/table]
Rowan reached out to brush her tongue across Cortland's brow, joined only moments later by his sister. She smiled brightly at the pair of them, pleased by the moment of adventure they shared. When they came back to the den it was for the children to rest and for Rowan to as well. She curled around her children, happy as could be as they all slept.