Sun Mote Copse Time and time again

making some assumptions and tagging for reference!!!

Fennec wasn't sure what to make of the copse, and that wasn't only because she couldn't view it.  She'd been so excited to go home, a hope that was crushed before it even started, and while this was the second best thing for sure it still was far from great.  Fig wasn't here.

She couldn't ghost after @Wraen at all times, much as she was tempted to latch on and follow. After weeks of trailing after Rosalyn, it was good to stay in one place, to not be stressed and lost and a burden.

Trial by fire had made her bolder in new places, and while she moved with accustomed and patient slowness, she was beginning to nose her way around the forest.  At least there were trees here.  

As she circled her current mark, a wide tree with far reaching roots, it seemed, as she needed to step over a few on her trip, she listened to the wind over the branches.  It made a rhythmic ticking as they met, and she sighed.  She wished she hadn't run, before.  It would be better to be stuck in, with her family, than out here.

Sugar knew about the latest news, including the uncertain fate of the grove, though she didn't feel directly impacted by it. She didn't personally know anyone there, aside from her brief acquaintance with @Figment, and the honest truth was that she couldn't bring herself to feel sad about @Elfie. She hoped both of them were all right, of course, but she didn't spend her days dwelling on it.

Rather, she immersed herself in her studies. In doing so, she scarcely noticed that she became a bit of a loner, spending most of her time on her own. Her parents and @Avery sometimes accompanied her, though most often, Sugar kept to herself and her plants. She still tended to the graves, taking fresh flowers to them when she thought of it, and keeping it to herself when she discovered that the recent flood had unearthed a very macabre and skeletal paw. Sugar wasn't sure whose it was, though she studied it for about an hour before finally and very carefully reburying it.

Today, she found herself searching for someone for the first time in days. It wasn't @Elwood, @Finley, nor Avery or her brothers. It was someone she had never met. Sugar had heard the rumor about her blind relative recently joining them in the copse. She naturally wanted to seek out Fennec, not only because she wanted to meet her but also because she was immensely curious about her condition. Not only did Sugar sympathize to an extent (her black eyes were unduly sensitive) but she was also curious as to whether there might be a plant out there that could heal her relative's affliction...

It wasn't difficult to locate the slightly older girl, whose phenotype immediately reminded her of the long missing @Nellie. Sugar paused and tilted her head, wondering where @Bronco's sister had gone for a brief moment, before blinking her dark eyes and parting her lips to call out softly, "Hey, Fen?" She took a few steps closer. "I'm Sugar, your cousin. One of them, anyhow."

Circling, Fennec pressed her head briefly to the rough bark of the tree, then took a step back.  There was no map in her head yet for here, but in time she'd have one should she stay long enough.  It would consist of paces, terrain, rough places and clear ones.  It would never be flawless, but it would allow her to find things without the need to be led.

The tree was a landmark focus, and from it she intended to walk a ways, weaving among the surrounding smaller neighbors.  Approaching steps and a voice made her pause instead, and she turned to allow her ears direct focus.

Sugar's voice was soft and sweet, like her name.  Fennec smiled a bit at how appropriate it was, though one of the weirdest names she'd heard.  Sugar? Sounds about right. One ear flicked, a response to her using Fig's name for her.  It's Fennec, but I guess that works. Nice to meet you?  This second part she didn't mean to sound... well... bitchy.  But Fennec didn't have a whole lot of experience meeting new friends and was a little thrown by the fact that Sugar seemed pretty familiar with her already.

She noted the way Fennec turned to face her, yet didn't quite look at her directly. It was strange to behold, truthfully, though the smile put Sugar at ease. She couldn't help smiling back, even though she knew the other girl couldn't see it. She took a few steps closer, opting not to respond to the correction. Sugar shortened almost everyone's names to their first syllable, it was just one of her many quirks.

"You're Fig's sister, aren't you?" Sugar asked, dimly recollecting his mention of "Fenny" and talking about her blindness when the lightning had temporarily robbed Sugar of her sight. "You weren't with them during the landslide?" she wondered, a sympathetic look on her face and a frown in her voice. She was glad Fen was here with them and not trapped under some rocks, though how had she escaped her pack's fate?

Yeah, I am. She must have met Fig while he was here.  She felt that jealousy, again, but it was muted with the fact that she missed both Fig and dad a lot.  It was hard to be upset with those who weren't here.  Besides; she was visiting now, right?

No, I'd be there if I was.  Sugar asked the question so nicely, but Fennec's response had more than a little defensiveness to it.  She wasn't particularly proud of the way she ran, but after a moment, realized she probably shouldn't take that out on her poor cousin.  Regardless of whether she could see the reaction or not.  I ran away when the shaking happened.  I got lost, but someone helped me, and then I met Wraen.

She hadn't picked up on any queerness in tone before, though now Sugar sensed Fen's defensiveness. She thought back on her phrasing and frowned to herself, thinking she could have worded it better. Her lips parted, wanting to reassure her peer that she hadn't intended that as accusatory.

"I'm glad you're here and not there, that you're safe," Sugar said, more mindful as she chose her words now, "although I'm sorry you're cut off from your family. Hopefully they're okay and you can get back to them soon." The youngster didn't know the word "platitude," though she understood the sentiment all the same. She wished she could say something more helpful about the matter, yet if the adults couldn't figure out how to bypass the rock slide, then what could she possibly do?

Recalling her original reason for seeking out Fen, Sugar seized on the opportunity to redirect the conversation. "When I met Fig, he mentioned you and told me you were blind." She paused, a tooth scoring gently into her lip as she wondered whether this was a sensitive subject. But curiosity overruled politeness. "Were you born blind? How do you move around without, you know..." She raised a paw and swirled it in the air, then remembered Fen couldn't see it and set it down again. "Bumping into things?"

Fennec hadn't wished she was here, not until she heard Sugar say it.  It hadn't occurred to her that "stuck inside" might equate to "in danger", but now it definitely did.  It was on her mind to ask why Sugar thought they might not be okay, but before she could, she was asked something instead.

Maybe she didn't want to know anyway.  They were fine, and she'd get to go home soon.

Yeah, I guess.  I used to be able to see some, but then it sort of went away. She didn't remember when exactly it had happened, or what the transition was like anymore.  She couldn't really remember what things looked like either.  Mostly she just could recall a time when everything wasn't dark all the time.  It was a long time ago, though.  

Talking about her blindness didn't bother her much, as long as no one belittled her for it.  Being around Towhee all her life helped, as had Fig's constant willingness to help.  It had been a hard adjustment, but once made, she'd never had huge reason to resent it.  Mostly I run with someone.  But if I can't, I just go slow, and feel and listen.  She paused, tuning in to Sugar's breathing, the sound of her shifting.  I can tell where you are, but stuff that doesn't move is harder.

She winced a little when Fen told her she'd been able to see once. She imagined that made it worse, although Sugar couldn't truly comprehend what it was like either way. She had lost her vision due to overly bright conditions a few times, though only for a few minutes at a time. The thought of being in the dark forever made her insides feel a little tight, as if there wasn't quite enough breath in her lungs.

When Fen mentioned how a guide was most helpful, Sugar immediately wanted to leap at the chance. She let her cousin finish first, making herself pay attention. It impressed her that Fen could manage on her own like that, somehow navigating a world she couldn't see at all, and despite her willingness to offer a helping hand, the younger of the two found herself lost in thought for a moment.

She caught herself and shot Fen an apologetic glance out of habit. When she remembered that the other girl couldn't see it, she cleared her throat and said, "That's so neat. Sorry, I was trying to wrap my head around it." Sugar paused, then added in a quiet but eager tone, "I'd love to help, if you need it. I could show you around the copse, at least until you get more familiar with it, if you need it." She realized she was being redundant but, eager as she was to assist, she didn't want to force herself on Fen.

There was a long, semi awkward pause after she finished.  Fennec listened closer out of habit, to determine if something had happened to distract her cousin, but she didn't hear anything.  Nothing that wasn't there before, that is.  

Turned out she'd just gotten lost in thought.  Weird.  Everyone around her had been so used to it back home.  Was it really that neat a thing?

It works ok, she said dismissively, thinking of hunting in particular.  She'd never managed a catch on her own, not once, though if she pincered she could sometimes scare the whatever into Fig.  I don't need it if you don't want to, but if you do, sure.  Better than meeting every rock headfirst, right?  Fennec's humor didn't really differ in tone from her normal statements, in part because that was just the way she was, but also due to Towhee's influence.  Unless they assumed, sometimes it was hard to tell between serious and not.

At first, Sugar thought Fen was about to reject her offer. She felt her heart drop a little, though she supposed it was a good thing if her cousin didn't need the help. But in the next breath, Fen said she'd be happy to accept if Sugar was so inclined. The younger of the two bobbed her head eagerly, this time not catching herself.

Fortunately, she did say, "I'd love to help you avoid headbutting rocks," and laughed lightly. Sugar hesitated, then closed the distance between the two of them and pivoted to stand astride Fen. She was more petite than her sandy cousin, though she didn't think it mattered. "So, what's the best way to help? Should I be touching you? Or using my voice?" Or both? Or neither?

She seemed to want to. Fennec couldn't detect a trace of reluctance in her laughed reply, and instead a little eagerness.  Needing help for so long had made accepting it second nature, almost to the point where she could sometimes take it for granted, but it did not mean she'd take it from those who didn't want to give it.  

She felt and heard Sugar Glider shift closer, and lined herself up in her usual fashion; well within personal space, but not so close as to be pressed.

I can hear you move if you don't talk, but I'll stay close.  Basically I just follow where you are going and assume that way I won't hit anything.  Fennec wasn't sure there was more to it than that, but after a minute, did add a thought.  Don't worry about going too fast.  I'll say if I can't keep up.  If Sugar moved slowly to try and accommodate her, it was really no different from her own slow progress across the territory.

It was a huge aspect of trust, allowing someone else to be your eyes.  Fennec didn't bother warning Sugar against taking advantage, though.  Something about her told the blind wolf she didn't need to.

Although it was Sugar who would be leading the way, Fen took point on how to go about it. Amused by the irony of this, Sugar listened carefully to her cousin's instructions. It seemed so simple and straightforward, in theory, but she predicted that it would be a little harder and a hell of a lot twistier in practice. The two of them would have to cooperate more than Sugar had ever done with anybody before and surely it would take time for them to strike a rhythm. She thrilled at the opportunity, already considering how it might be good practice if she ever had to help support someone who was ill or infirm.

That brought her brain back to the root of this exercise: Fen's blindness. As she took her first few tentative steps, Sugar forgot that she should probably stay quiet, at least at first, and wondered aloud, "Do you think there's a cure? For your blindness, I mean?"

Sugar may have intended to start slowly, but Fennec strode with purpose, perhaps leaving her cousin a bit behind in an effort to force her to fall in stride.   It wasn't intentional, but with her head now lifted and ears forward, she trusted that Sugar would catch the stride and begin to lead them.  It didn't occur to her that maybe the other girl would need some time to get accustomed to her offered responsibility.

Nah.  Unless you want to swap eyes?  She posed this as a completely serious question, and wondered what Sugar's response would be.  She seemed so eager to help, Fennec couldn't help it.

Fen's quip caught her off guard even more than her haste, eliciting a sharp gasp of laughter from Sugar. Speeding to catch up to her sightless companion, the young Blackthorn didn't respond right away. Was there any kind of merit to such an idea? An image sprang to mind: the ram's dead eyes with its peculiar pupils. Could a healer transplant a set of eyes from a dead creature to a living one?

She mused on that for a few beats, then remembered herself and replied, "If you wanted to switch eyes with somebody, you wouldn't want it to be me. Mine aren't so great either. They're really sensitive to light." Her tail switched as she finally matched Fennec's pace, the two of them falling into a passably tandem walk. "You should probably take... mm... Crow's or Pox's." Her lips twitched into a smile before she suddenly noticed and warned, "Tree up ahead, turn left."

Sensitive to light?  Hers had been like that, a bit, but it was more the sightlessness than any kind of pain or discomfort.  I hope yours end up better than mine, she proffered, not really thinking about the implication she was making.

Who're Crow and Pox?  she asked as she complied, going left about as soon as Sugar said it.  It was a little odd getting a verbal warning rather than just having her loop around, but she gave it a nice wide loop anyway, and slowed for any roots.

Saying "me too" seemed kind of rude, so Sugar made no reply. Instead, she turned sideways and gave Fen a gentle, guiding nudge away from the tree, though her cousin didn't appear to need it. Sugar's own verbal instructions had steered her clear of the trunk. Her black eyes followed Fen as she deftly stepped around the obstacle. She didn't move as if she couldn't see, at least not the way Sugar imagined she would if she lost her sight. She supposed she would fumble and stumble very slowly all over the place, whereas Fennec moved with impressive confidence. There were a few subtle tells about her condition, though Sugar marveled all the same.

When asked about Crow and Pox, Sugar replied, "They're my brothers. Avery's my sister. We're litter mates." While observing Fen's movements, she had fallen behind and now closed the gap so they were walking side by side again, the path ahead clear for the moment. "I also have an older brother who lives here, his name is Eljay. And I guess I have lots of other brothers and sisters around, though only these ones live here in the copse." She paused, then thought Fennec may like to know, "Eljay has kids around our age: Elfie and Weejay. Elfie actually went to live in Asterism Grove..." Had Fen met him? Sugar's voice trailed off a bit, then she cleared her throat and finished, "And there's Bronco too. He's Niamh's. His dad—and Elfie and Weejay's mom—are both dead."

Listening to the cadence of Sugar's explanation, she caught the slight hitch at Elfie.  She was either upset that they went to her place or something else was going on, but Fennec didn't really care enough to ask.  Honestly as Sugar rattled off a ton of family, she wondered if she was supposed to want to know them... eventually she'd probably run across them, but until then, hearing the names didn't do a whole lot for her.  It wasn't like she could picture them or would recognize them when she did.

That's cool... she replied, a little blandly.  Talk of her siblings did remind her of Fig, though, and she was almost sorry she'd asked who they were.  She didn't want to think about how much she missed her own dumb littermate.  She hoped he was okay.

My mom's dead too.  I never knew her, and Towhee's a way better mom anyway.  Even though she'd picked up the habit of using her name from their dad, as long as she could remember, Towhee had been her mom.  She didn't feel much of anything for the one who had died.

Perhaps Sugar needn't have worried about agreeing with Fen a moment ago, because her cousin's own remark could've been taken as crass too. She didn't mind though; in fact, she smiled. Her face assumed a more sober expression when Fen shared the news of her own late mother, the younger of the two once more forgetting that her cohort couldn't see her facial expressions.

This time, she hardly hesitated on saying exactly what came to mind: "That's a lot of dead people." She smiled humorlessly, though she honestly found this phenomenon extraordinarily fascinating. Was it usual for so many parents to die, leaving behind children? Or were they just unlucky? And did that mean Sugar and her siblings were even more fortunate than she'd ever before realized?

"The ground gets a little uneven here," Sugar remembered to warn as the two of them approached the far eastern edge of the copse, not far from the riverbank. "There was a flood here not too long ago, because the earthquakes shook a giant rock loose from the mountains and it fell into the river. I got caught in the wave, along with Bronco and Elfie." Just now, the riverbend came into view, along with the boulder. "Kinda like what happened at the grove, I guess..."

She slowed to a stop well away from the water's edge, thinking almost too late to notify Fen by giving her a gentle tug on the tail. Once she let go, Sugar said, "Pick a direction: left or right."

It is, Fennec replied, but this time with a little more evident amusement.  It wasn't the dead themselves, but moreso the way her cousin said it that tickled her a little.  Plus, she had a habit of finding a laugh in uncomfortable things, even if she couldn't see Sugar Glider's smile.

Thanks, she responded to the warning.  She heard Sugar slow, and began to as well, but before she could completely her cousin gave her tail a tug.  She felt a flash of annoyance, but fortunately didn't snap on her well meaning guide.  She was used to it.  

That's not really a brake, she said instead, twitching her tail and taking a step back from whatever Sugar stopped her in front of.  She had a choice... right or left.  She could hear the water playing a little ways off.  There wasn't really a deciding factor, so she went with her gut.  Right.

She remained quiet while Fen pondered and then chose a direction: right. Sugar fell into step with her paler cousin again, finally breaking the silence to say, "Sorry about that." She wasn't sure if she'd hurt Fennec or simply insulted her; in any case, she wanted to apologize. And she hoped Fen would elaborate on what part of it had bothered her, so Sugar could file the information for later.

Otherwise, they strode in uneventful silence as Sugar took a moment to really appreciate everything she was seeing, since Fen couldn't. It was a shame that she had no idea about the autumnal splendor surrounding them on all sides. She frowned to herself, making sure to glance at Fen every few seconds to make sure she wasn't veering toward the river or anything else that might prove treacherous.

wrap and have another sometime???

Sugar apologized, but Fennec had already shrugged the feeling off.  The pull had startled her, and while Fennec didn't have much by way of personal space issues, she hated being surprised.  

She didn't elaborate, though, and slipped into an easy silence next to her cousin for a bit, enjoying the sounds of the forest on her ears and the quiet measure of Sugar Glider's breathing.  As she walked, now, she tried to paint a picture in her mind of where they were.  The image held no color or detail, but it did hold the shape of the ground, the trees rustling around, and the apparently impassible place they'd just passed by.  It was easier when they didn't talk, so she let the silence stretch as long as her cousin did and focused on everything going on around them.  That was more than enough to keep her busy, even on a calm and quiet day like today.