Moonspear love is a many splendored thing

the girl crouched, apprehensive, tail lashing around her spindly limbs. seldom did her fiery, bold disposition falter, and yet, it was one of those times. strict orders held her here, but her heart wondered, and yearned, and worried, and pulled her from the slipper hold of her mother's commands. when did she listen to a command, anyways? it took but a few more minutes for her to creep forward, leave the comfort that was the den, and watch with careful eyes the clearing around her home. when no words reprimanded her, when no threat made itself known and her courage swelled up like a crashing wave, she bolted from the den, setting upon her mother's trail ravenously.

for close to an hour did she wander then, her mother's trails wild and pacing, and often did she abandon a trail for a fresher one, only to realise that there was yet another more promising trail, until her head spun and irritation had her ears splayed against her head.  who knew where Da was, the black mountain that he was. he shouldn't be able to hide, and yet she could not find him, even when she looked in all her own favourite spots. her brother, too, was hiding from them. her gaze flickered to the incline, the verdant mountainside above her. how easy it would be, how useful, to be upon that mountain. to see all, and see her mother perhaps. the thought had but crossed her mind, and the girl was off.

not easy. the girl laboured, tongue lolling from her maw as she paused. the climb became treacherous, slick, and the gods smiled on her when the clouds above did not break; rain would have had the mountain become a trap for one as small and less than graceful as her. as she stumbled blindly up the mountain, which she saw now as a challenge, rather than a way to find her mother, and perhaps brother and father. she couldn't know her brother, couldn't find the other, and too could not find her father. but this, this she could do, she determined. every slip of her paws, every stumble backwards, had her heart launch into her throat with the same speed as one of the many rocks that tumbled down the mountainside, rocks that she had dislodged. but the drifting scent of her mother, barely tangible, but close,  had it settle firmly back into her chest, and her paws bring her further up the mountainside.

the last slide was not like the rest. she struggled through low, ground-hugging shrubs, twisted and cruelly poking at her limbs with every step.  she lunged forward, desperate, to be clear of the bushes that seemed to entangle her. her her leap did not land, her limbs did not cling to the mountainside with the learned ease of the adults. paws scrambled, but the mountain offered no hold, and she skidded backward, past the undergrowth, until one of her flailing limbs jammed into a foothold, twisting, the others kicking furiously over open air, before gaining hold on rock and loose earth. she yelped, unbidden, a sound of fear and hurt, gaze wide in the manner of a small child, just as they realise that they are hurt.

she trembled, and a mama died on her lips. she had been bad, she knew, she was always been rebelled against commands. but this one had been a serious one, and she had been bad, and now she knew hurt. she was silent, quivering, in lieu of direction, stood shock still on the mountainside, unable to place her leaping heart back where it belonged.