Heron Lake Plateau ne les laisse pas la ternir

In a moment of bravery, she had escaped the confines of what she was most familiar with. The underbrush had gobbled Phoebe up in a blink then spat her out with not much to show for it than a few twigs and leaves left to cling to her coat. These days the world was less so small and more understood—one of those understanding being don't wander off —and today, inviting. Besides, two of her more rambunctious siblings were prone to skirting away from the den whenever, so why not her too?

With far better control of her feet than weeks ago, she had set to beat a hasty trail in the wake of other familiar scents. Her coal black nose wiggled incessantly; she knew some of these more than others. They were not difficult to follow nor decide which to—her mother, in this case. Wherever @Raven had gone to she didn't know for certain, but little girls were at times known to cling to their mothers.

open for anyone, phoebe is just hunting down her mama. maybe. :P

Tag is for reference! <3

The afternoon was warm, and Raven found it pleasant for foraging the lowlands and gathering plants for her medicine stash. @Eljay had volunteered to look after the pups while she did so, and she was grateful for the break. She enjoyed her role as a mother now, but sometimes it felt like it came at the cost of her role as healer. Not that she neglected it, by any means -- she was still the Redhawks' most experienced medic -- but she definitely had less time to dedicate to it now than she had before. She missed the long hours of studious solitude it had afforded her, time in which to hone and perfect her craft, and to learn and experiment.

After safely storing her newest haul of plants to dry, she headed back to the den to relieve Eljay and resume her post. As she drew near to the site, she heard a rustle in the brush. Just about the time the familiar scent came to her, a small black body darted from the bushes, running straight toward her. For a brief moment she thought it was Vasa, but the snow-white that marked the pup's underbelly revealed it to be Phoebe. The mother sighed, looking at her child with consternation. "What did I tell you about ditching the puppysitter?" she asked, trying (and honestly, kinda failing) to hide the amusement in her voice.

So busy was she looking at everything new around her that she didn't register the darkness emerging from the foliage ahead. When she did, Phoebe nearly tripped over her own feet in an effort to stop on a dime and failed, skittering and scampering to a half-stop composed of both deference and eagerness. She knew she was caught red-handed, but she was also so glad to have found her mother that it was difficult to decide between emotions. That indecision narrowed somewhat when chiding words came to her; her eyes went downcast but her tail, well, it was still gently waving behind her.

"Don't do it," she said, albeit in a mumble of hushed whispers.

Don't ditch the babysitter. Don't eat the babysitter. Don't eat your siblings, don't eat rocks. Don't do this, don't do that, don't, don't, don't—the compelling novella of children's memories was more like an encyclopedia these days with thick volumes of every letter of the alphabet that she and all her siblings used like stepping stones to foist themselves into mayhem. Which admittedly, Phoebe did not think she was as prone to getting into trouble as, say, Vasa or Owen, but even she had her moments that she couldn't help but test the confines of her world.

This was definitely going to be one of those times, as she was already coming around and warming up.

"What're you doin'?" Or alternatively, where did you go?? was the question suggested in her eyes.

The fleeting look of shame that passed like a shadow over the girl’s dark face warmed Raven’s heart and she grinned. She couldn’t be mad at any of them, no matter how much chaos and destruction they wrought upon the well-manicured lawn that used to be her structured and orderly life. They were just too cute, especially when they knew they were caught in the act and couldn’t talk their way out of it.

She waved her tail and nosed the girl lightly, kissing her on the cheek as she did. It’s okay, the gesture seemed to say. Raven rarely ever let her frustration show with them. She never wanted them to grow up feeling like they were trouble or like their mother didn’t love them. The things they did, no matter how much they danced upon the straining wires of her last nerves, were only natural for growing, curious pups, and that curiosity and zest for life and learning and exploration were not things she could ever bring herself to squash. She was generous with admonishment and chiding, sure, but it was always administered with the practiced patience of a seasoned caretaker and healer.

The little bird asked her what she was doing, and she answered, ”Finding some new plants to make medicine with. Wanna help?” She doubted Phoebe would actually take a legitimate interest in her craft — or any trade, for that matter — for some time, but what pup didn’t like running around pulling up flowers?

Medicine, ah! She was not particular familiar with this, no, but the smells she had grown accustomed to. Gods only knew that her mother was often kept with paws full treating this scrape and that bump (and well, more than likely worse that she was unaware of) and it was long a scent that Phoebe associated with her.

There was only a brief deliberation that flickered to because admittedly, it sounded like work and what child enjoyed work, but the offer entailed that she would be away from the cacophony her siblings were no doubt stirring up in her absence. "Okay," she decided with a bobble of her head, her tail swinging to match the enthusiasm of an adventure. She pressed against the downy furs at her mother's chest as though to signal that she was ready to follow, and urged her silently to take the lead.

Besides, once she had it in her head that she'd get to tear up plants, she'd be all about it.

The girl indicated her assent with a single word, which was normal for her. Phoebe seemed to be a child of relatively few words, which was a sharp contrast with some of her more vociferous siblings. Raven grinned and nuzzled the top of the girl’s head, then gestured for her to follow. As they walked, Raven asked, ”So what have you been up to today, kiddo? Besides prison break?”

As they went along, she stayed close to Raven's side and not so surprisingly, at the ready. Imagination was already at hand here as she fervently worked up a scene and reason for them to be going out—malady had come to spread across the land and now they were on some noble quest to find the reagents to cure it. This little mental spiel was broken up by intermittent conversation however, much like the question her mother posed to her. Like crystalline glass breaking, her attention was forced back to reality as she made a noise of uncertainty. What had she been up to?

”Well,” she started, ”me and Vasa were after bugs earlier. Not the ones that fly though, the real icky ones. Like under rocks and stuff, um, worms? There were beetles too,” she rattled off, remember at least one or two of the three things she had probably seen. ”Kite didn't want to chase them though. I dunno what Owen was doing. I think with Dad?” Her lack of commentary moments ago was replaced by a chance to talk to, or at, her mother without interruption. Quixote would also like get the same run down later.

”What were you doing earlier?” she plowed on ahead, curious of where her mother had disappeared to from the morning.

word count: 219

Raven listened as Phoebe spoke, enjoying the chance to talk one-on-one with her daughter. It was hard to get in quality time with each puppy individually when they were constantly talking and yelling over one another. Not for the first time, she was impressed with the clarity of the child's speech. At such a young age, Phoebe had learned to talk surprisingly fast and could carry on a conversation nearly as well as any adult, barring the occasional shortness of her attention span. Raven wondered if this indicated an above-average intelligence in the girl, and thought she might need to provide her with more mental stimulation and challenge to help her grow and learn. Their task for today was a perfect opportunity for her to get a jump start on that.

"Bugs are kinda gross but they're good for you when food is hard to find," she commented when Phoebe had finished speaking. Famines were uncommon, but they'd had one in the not-so-distant past during which Raven had had to resort to munching on beetles and other things she tried not to think too much about. To Phoebe's question, she answered, "I was doing the same thing we're doing right now! My job as a healer means I have to keep a lot of plants stashed away in case someone gets sick or hurt. Some plants are special and can help you feel better when you eat them. The ones we're looking for have little bluish-purple flowers. There aren't too many blue flowers around so they should be easy to spot when we come across them."