Broken Antler Fen swamp beaver

while plagues brewed elsewhere in the teekon wilds, a different sort of plague had descended upon broken antler fen. nutria, they were called, and they had been plaguing north america in their own unique way since the 19th century. sometimes described as a "cross between a beaver and a rat," these hungry little pseudo-otters were neither as environmentally productive or as cute as any of the animals it was often compared to. in this part of the world, they were known mainly for one thing:

destruction.

see, most nutria had two favorite things in the whole world: eating and... well. a single nutria can birth up to sixty little babyrats in a year across multiple litters. the average nutria dreamed of a massive den and a lifetime pass to an all-you-can-eat underwater salad bar. naturally, they loved wetlands. it was the best of both worlds.

this is where things get rather unfortunate for broken antler fen.

of course, an infestation didn't happen overnight — but when it came to nutria, it happened very quickly. and it started with a bang... quite literally.

unfortunate passersby would hear the scene before they saw it: a pair of brazen wild-furred nutria, copulating loudly and rather boldly near to the resident wolf pack's rendezvous. they were not the only nutria in the fen, but they were certainly the loudest, and kept up their tussling for at least half an hour amid coarse, high-pitched shrieks.

"the nutria (myocastor coypus), a large, semi-aquatic rodent native to south america, was originally brought to the united states in 1889 for its fur. when the nutria fur market collapsed in the 1940s, thousands of nutria escaped or were released into the wild by ranchers who could no longer afford to feed and house them. while nutria devour weeds and overabundant vegetation, they also destroy native aquatic vegetation, crops, and wetland areas. recognized in the united states as an invasive wildlife species, nutria have been found in at least 20 states and most recently in california. the nutria’s relatively high reproductive rate, combined with a lack of population controls, helped the species to spread."

@Eljay @Teya just stirring up some chaos, feel free to message me to get this removed if you dislike it in any way! also, a note to the cms, i figured a well-established invasive species in north america would be allowed but i'll absolutely remove it if it isn't <3

written by the listener

teya could scarcely believe what she was seeing.
she recognized the animals but did not understand their shrieking. it agitated the wolf and her hackles rose, for the sound reminded her of the voice used by dying rabbits.
the raven hunted among the foliage for the annoying creatures, growling with the promise of bloodshed once she had found the disturbers of the fen's peace.
unfortunately, the gravity of this particular conception was completely unknown to teya.

At first Maia thought that whatever the creatures were, they were playing, and maybe she'd caught a lucky break and would manage to catch something without having to chase it. Oh boy did she regret that now.

As soon as she'd gotten close enough to realize how wrong she was, she had gone completely scarlet. Now she was trying her hardest to disappear by sheer force of effort. It wasn't exactly working.

Frozen where she was, she watched Teya moving closer with dread. Oh, no, don't notice me. Just... turn around. They're.... oh. This was terrible.

it was unfortunate that she continued to draw closer;
teya was suddenly frozen. scandalized. oh no.
her cheeks burned.
they caught fire when she spotted maia nearby.
teya lurched away from the salacious pair and toward the former raven. "it, ah — false alarm," she choked, stumbling past maia to the opposite bank where she shook her coat free of mud.

Maia definitely should have felt better, but she didn't notice Teya's clear embarrassment since she was too busy dying inside from her own. She had kids and still couldn't handle this kind of thing. How were they just out here like that? Just.... no, nope, she didn't want to think about it.

Uh, yeah, Maia answered, with a laugh that was definitely a few notes too tight. And went on a second too long.

Okay, I'm just.... uh... Maia backed up, glancing over. She could bail, but she already wasn't sure how well Teya liked her, and that would be mega rude. But she definitely didn't want to stay here.

Do you wanna...? She didn't finish the sentence, but she gestured in some direction away.

"yes," teya managed. she would trot up the bank, as far away from the breeding pair as she was able.
the raven look back at maia. "insane!" she exclaimed, laughing aloud. "i wish wraen was here to see this." speaking of her friend did not hurt so badly in this moment.

Maia relaxed a bit as they left the pair behind and began to giggle too as Teya laughed. Wraen's name was a surprise, though, and always brought an unexpected mix of feelings. Still, primarily, just loss.

She had talked about her recently with Hymnal and it hadn't gone badly, but she hadn't been expecting it from Teya. She went quiet, dropping her gaze while she tried to think of a way to respond and swallow the lump in her throat.

Yeah. She should say something else. She wanted to make friends with the Raven, closer than they were now, but her mind came up blank. So she just let the silence hang and kicked herself for it.

oh, fuck. wraen.
teya was suddenly seized by how awful she felt.
she cleared her throat and reached out toward maia, offering an embrace if the other wanted. "i visit her every day," teya murmured, more hoarsely than she meant. the coolwater eyes were gentle.

She hadn't really realized how close Teya and Wraen were. It brought back that old guilt of feeling like she hadn't paid enough attention, or spent enough time, before it became too late. It was such a familiar feeling; every family member she had ever lost, she'd lost without the chance to say goodbye.

She'd tried to avoid things like this, but Maia wasn't stoic by nature. She tried to be sometimes, usually failed, and most of her avoidance had been because she knew she couldn't hide her feelings well enough to not implode the moment it came up. Enough time had passed that she had worked through a lot of her grief, but she would probably never be entirely rid of it.

Maia let herself lean into the hug, first hesitantly, but then completely. I haven't, she admitted quietly. I can't. Maybe she'd been once, right after it happened. But she'd never gone on her own.

"you should." teya squeezed her eyes shut apologetically. "sorry. i — maybe i could go with you?" her offer was genuine; she hoped maia wouldn't be offended.
but if she was —
"i loved her." her mouth trembled. "we need to talk about wraen. say her name sometimes. ibis too." that name hurt her even more.

As Teya spoke, Maia began to pull away. You don't know, she thought, and surprisingly, she felt a little angry. It sounded like a lecture. Teya didn't have the right to say that like she knew anything about Maia and Wraen and how things had been.

She loved Eljay, but her sister had been her soul mate. For four years they'd been inseparable, and now she was just supposed to be able to move on?

No. Don't worry about it. Ibis either. Sarah, Terance, Ibis, Wraen. Teya was a part of the family of Brecheliant but there was so much history she didn't know. Maia's anger surprised even herself and, while she didn't like it, she couldn't stop it either. She just tried not to let it show when she spoke.

I need to go. Her mood had done such a wild 360 at two extremely simple statements. Without another word, or really a proper goodbye, she stood. Unless Teya prevented her, she'd go back to the den she and Eljay shared. She didn't want to talk about this any more.

WELP but guess what, i wanna thread w u again D:

"maia," the raven began, stricken, but it was too late. she wouldn't make a further mess than the shit she'd just tracked all over the place. 
for a long time she stood quietly, eventually taking slow steps toward the furthest border, where she would linger under the guise of a patrol until nightfall came to veil her shame.