The time between their last meeting had passed by quickly enough, and when the day came for Hydra to arrive to Bramblepoint she did so swiftly, and with a skip in her step. That she would see
@Towhee today pleased the dark youth greatly, as any time they got together it was productive and good. Upon arriving to Bramblepoint Hydra sniffed around in mute pursuit, inherently understanding she would not be heard anyway. Strangely enough it was not something she was externally aware of—she had gotten used to it, and Towhee could understand her anyway.
For some reason unknown to her, Towhee's mind kept drifting to Étoille for several days following their chance encounter. But as May wore into June and Finley's pregnancy advanced, the Xi forgot about the handsome stranger entirely and focused on preparing herself for big sisterhood. She patrolled more thoroughly than ever and even spent some extra time with Raven, asking her dozens of questions about being a caregiver.
She did not forget about her rendezvous with Hydra. She had been looking for her when she had run into Étoille, after all. Eventually, she carved out a few hours to wander away from the caldera to seek out her sparring partner once more. This time, she struck gold and found the lithe black yearling within mere minutes of arriving in Bramblepoint. Towhee chuffed to announce her presence, her tail slowly circling the warm June air.
The Xi wanted to jump right into a spar but first they should probably discuss who would be on offense and defense. And Towhee hadn't forgotten Hydra's mention of upcoming siblings the last time. It hadn't really interested her then but with her own baby brothers and sisters now on the way, there was genuine interest on her face when she asked, "Did your mom have her babies?"
Hydra's tail waved at the sight of her companion and comrade, and she chuffed lowly in return. She moved to step alongside Towhee to nip her fondly before circling and arriving to her front again. Yeah, she did. I have three more sisters now, and a brother,
she informed. They're pretty little and useless right now but my mom says that will change,
the way in which she spoke could easily sound (or be read as) in sensitive, but Hydra meant it good-naturedly. She still did not have the awareness that once, long ago, she had been a useless potato spud too. In thinking of siblings, Hydra thought to inform Towhee that I met your brother the other day—we tracked some bird-thing together,
Hydra still wasn't able to identify just what that critter had been, though.
She wasn't expecting the nip, yet it wasn't unwelcome. Towhee belatedly realized she should return the gesture, yet the moment had passed so she let it go. She listened to Hydra (read: watched her lips move) as she described her younger siblings. Raven had described newborns in a similar fashion and the Xi smirked faintly. Then Hydra said something that took her by surprise. She must be referring to Phox. Had he mentioned meeting Hydra? He was much more of a social butterfly than his curmudgeon of a sister, so perhaps he hadn't seen this information as worth sharing. Actually, he probably thought Towhee wouldn't have cared less about the outsiders he met.
"Phox?" she asked, just to be clear, then smiled.
"I'm glad you met him. We're like this." She held up her right forepaw and wound two toes together before placing it back on the ground.
"So you're helping him with his trades too," she observed, feeling a little tug in her chest. It took her a second to place the feeling: she was grateful for Hydra. Heck, she might even say she was fond of the girl, especially with the kindness shown toward her brother. There was no surer way of getting on Towhee's good side.
"Speaking of," she continued a moment later,
"are you ready? Would you like to take offense or defense?"
Yo
@Hydra, would you like to continue this? If not, you can just ship it to the archives when you read this. :)