Duskfire Glacier You're worn out, a bit broken.

Making some assumptions here re: previous thread, please let me know if anything needs changed! I just wanted to skip ahead and get this development thread posted. @Lane @Wintersbane

Her fever had not lasted long, having improved swiftly with thanks to the efforts of Duskfire's medics. To have been born to one had its benefits, for Wayfarer quickly returned to her loud and ravenous self within a couple of days.

The girl continued to do little but nurse, whine and sleep - but some things had changed. She'd grown significantly and her shoulders had adopted a russet sheen, though most notably was the opening of her eyes. The world was bleary and Wayfarer's focus lingered on the dark shape that was her brother with unusual silence.

Just as he was in birth, Veteran always seemed to be just a hair behind Wayfarer in everything. He had yet to open his eyes, and if he had been asked about it, he would insist that he had no reason to do so. He would find his way to his mother's warm and her milk easily enough, and the dark was a comfort to him. Dark was all he'd ever known, and he liked it that way. 

Veteran's fever had come the day after Wayfarer's, and though it hadn't peaked as hotly as hers, it had lingered for a bit longer. As a result, Veteran's size had not yet caught back up to sister's. Not for lack of trying, though-- Veteran ran his nose along his mother's side, searching for a place to latch.

The cavern's light was dim, but it was enough to make Wayfarer's delicate eyes stream. She blinked at the discomfort of them but continued to stare at the blurry black blob before her - the indistinguishable shape of Veteran, though she was yet to know him as anything beyond "he who steals her favourite teat", "wriggly warm thing" and "cuddle buddy".

It was weird, to know but not know her brother.

The young Duskfire blinked again, gunk gathering in the corners and rim of her new eyes, but she didn't even notice it. She shuffled forward to try and get a better look at her littermate and found him to be nothing more than an ebony blur. Bored of trying, Wayfarer pressed in close alongside him and moved to shove him free of his chosen nipple so that she might rob it for herself. 

Her chamber was so often loud and chaotic, that it was not noise that woke Lane-- it was the silence. She blinked her eyes open, gazing around her room, searching the darkness for reassurance that all was fine. The quiet just seemed too quiet, now that Wayfarer was in the world. 

She found Veteran first, alerting to him as he moved against her belly, presumably searching for a place to feed. She rolled to give him access, and then she swept her tongue over his body, checking for fever. He still seemed a little warm, but he was feeding with gusto now, so Lane predicted that all would be well with him in short order. He just needed a bit more time than Wayfarer, which was how it had been from the beginning with everything. 

As her eyes adjusted to the low lighting, Lane found Wayfarer sitting up, seemingly in a trance. The dim light from the main chamber created a glassy reflection in her eyes-- oh! What beautiful eyes! 

Soon, her sighted child seemed to register that her brother was feeding without her, and she shoved her way in toward sustenance. "My darling," Lane crooned, unsure of whether her hearing might have also developed. All the senses seemed to come at once, more or less-- that much she recalled from last season, when she cared for younger siblings. 

She placed a few kisses on Wayfarer's head, hoping to attract her attention once she was done feeding. She had so much to show her daughter, now that she had the eyes for it.

Veteran squealed in protest when his sister knocked him from his latch, wriggling her little body in to steal his place. He'd just gotten that spot all good and broken-in and she knew it! It took a bit of work to get the milk flowing just right, and he'd just gotten it perfect.

His eyes flew open in all his indignation, and then he promptly forgot his anger as he was overwhelmed with input from a brand-new sense. He peered around, wide-eyed and blinking, trying to make order out of the chaos of blurred shapes and shadows.

With her little paws she paddled each side of her stolen teat, working to free the milk into her mouth as quickly as she could before Veteran was sure to make attempt at robbing her of such a prize. She suckled loudly, swallowing gulp after gulp until a distraction came from above.

She briefly squeezed her gunky eyes closed at the touch of her mother's muzzle to her brow, and a wet kiss encouraged her to lift her gaze. In doing so, Wayfarer's latch was released - but it didn't matter. Tilting her head back, the girl stared up at the blurred shape of her dam's face until her neck could no longer support the weight of it. The tiny Duskfire slumped to the side, probably right into her poor, unsuspecting, traumatised brother.

Lane smiled down at her daughter as the child stared up in wonder. She felt her own heartbeat quicken, like it did when she spotted a perfect, rare herb out in the wild where she wasn't expecting to find anything special. For perhaps the first time, Lane was wholly glad to be a mother. What additional beautiful, rare, unexpected moments would the future hold? 

The magic spell was broken when Wayfarer tipped backward, tumbling into her brother. Watching the two of them untangle themselves, Lane realized that the boy's eyes had opened as well. A surge of pride brewed in her chest. 

Could they hear, though? Now was as good a time as any to test them, especially given how they were currently distracted by each other. Lane gave a sharp bark-- a sound they wouldn't have heard before-- and waited to see if the pair would respond.

So I looked it up after I posted Lane, and they won't develop hearing until the three week mark. :(

Veteran's little face twisted into the puppy-version of a frown. He didn't like this; all the blurry shapes were confusing and frankly a little scary. The world was bigger than he thought, and that didn't suit him at all. 

One of the blurry shapes grew rapidly in size, and Veteran stood stock-still, watching dumbly. He would come to realize that this kind of visual input meant that an object was coming towards him, very quickly. It was a lesson he would learn the hard way. 

Wayfarer's little skull crashed directly into his nose, and the child wailed, more out of surprise than actual pain. Oh, the unfairness of it! Life was just a series of disappointments and hurts. Convince him otherwise. 

Still deaf to his mother's (and his own) barks, Veteran's attention remained decidedly upon his sister. He shoved his poor, throbbing nose questioningly into her side as if to ask "What was that for?!"

She wriggled around on the den floor, grunting and mewling as she attempted to right herself after unknowingly bashing her oversized skull against her brother's face. Wayfarer, too little to understand that she'd hurt him, focused only on the discomfort she felt to have toppled over.

His shoving at her flank did nothing, for the earthen cub was too distracted to pay him any attention. Veteran was smaller than her, insignificant unless she needed him for warmth or comfort, and as Wayfarer explored her new sense of sight she did so with ease while ignoring him entirely.

They were fascinating. They ambulated themselves around, stumbling, tumbling, clashing with one another when they happened to intersect; they each seemed to be in their own little world, oblivious to the fact that there was another who might be sympathetic to their own experience. 

Lane's tongue came down on each of them in turn, providing encouragement and comfort. It was nice, that this was all they required for reassurance-- that everything the pups required, Lane had available at her pawtips. 

The children did not react to her bark, which was a small disappointment. She had thought to take them outside to explore their new sense of sight, but it might be too risky if they could not also hear. What if she needed to call them back from some danger? 

No, they would stay inside today, exploring the nooks and crannies of the caves, with Lane doling out comfort whenever it was required.

This brand-new world of growing and retreating blobs was terrifying. He yelped the first time his mother's blob grew in his field of vision, assuming that he was about to receive similar treatment as the bash on the nose. But no-- it was just her tongue, familiar and warm. If his mother thought he was reassured, she was sorely mistaken. Subdued maybe, but certainly a long way off from reassured.

Veteran squeezed his eyes shut and dug himself into his mother's side. He'd had more than enough adventure for now-- his aching nose was evidence of that.

Wayfarer's exploration did not last long. It took a lot of effort to crawl around and exhaustion was quick to creep up on her. The girl nosed around only a short lime longer before she pressed her belly firm to the nesting material and began to doze.