Neverwinter Forest lxvii. hey, pretty mama don't leave me like that

@Themis (for Vairë <3)

It was true that her connection with Wilwarin was special -- as could be said for her relationship with each of her children. But Vairë was the daughter of her heart, cut from the same cloth that fabricated the dove. Even down to the fawn's appearance, which differed only slightly from her dam's. 

On an early morning, before @Makan or the other children had woken, Lótë tiptoed to side of the ayititti and nosed her gently. "Little fawn, come and see. I have something to show you," the mother whispered, tail wagging as a warm smile of excitement curled the corners of her lips. 

The morning had the bite of a chill, but not so much that they would need to don the warmth of fur wraps. The sun was warm against her fur as they slipped from the spine, limbs lengthening in a lope as she led her eldest daughter to the timberland she hoped to claim as their own. 

When they had reached the abandoned ulax Lótë had discovered, she slowed to a stop and turned to the beige youth. "It was once a village," the herd-stalker murmured, low and respectful of the spirit of the former community, as she padded to one of the old dens. "There are small treasures I have found here, things I have left in my spirit place." 

For the most part, the doe had found only the scraps of rotted furs and the dusty bones of old meals. But occasionally a trinket turned up -- a strange rock, an antler, a seashell long misplaced from the sea.