The Sentinels without poisoning the soil

puppies maybe??

deirdre moved toward the densite of osprey once again. she wished to visit the small babes; she knew they would survive, now, as she and emaleth and all of donnelaith had despite the locusts reaping of the earth. donnelaith had done its work to ensure that she and emaleth had eaten as well as they could; they were children of lasher mayfair, patriarch of this place, and so perhaps the priority. quietly deirdre would leave some things proffered to her for osprey, but would depart soon after so as to not be met with protests.

but now she could stay longer, and truly enjoy the presence of the babes. she could tell them of the earth, and how the lichen clung to the trees sometimes and appeared as a bearded owl in the proper light, and describe to them the scent and sight of flowers, flowers they would soon see and smell for themselves when they bloomed again! her heart was so full she felt it might burst, and though she was lean she still wielded an elysian loveliness that exuded from her in her joy. deirdre drew near to the den and once she arrived, she moved and crawled closer on her belly, whimpering for consent to come to the threshold to see the babes.

It was not too unusual for the puppies to have other visitors besides their parents. Though some of the visits went unnoticed on the kid's part, because they were sleeping and their mother did not want them to be disturbed, the others happened with one of their parents staying in the background either carefully monitoring of what was going on in case of a less known pack member, or dozing with one open ear in case of a family friend. 

Dierdre naturally went in the second category - Osprey permitted the entrance and after a brief introductions and explaining, who was who (as much as it was possible to see in the darkness), went back to sleep. Baby-sitters, who volunteered were always welcome these days. 

Sarah had been woken by the arrival of the stranger and rather than being a good kid and returning to her nap, she took the opportunity of being the first to approach the unknown wolf. She was not afraid, having sensed that their mother was at ease with this person.

<3 <3

deirdre, given entrance by her beloved friend osprey, sidled into the den and settled at the entrance, using her body as a genuine blockade without even knowing it. all but one slumbered, and she felt herself truly blessed to see it squirm in her direction. her heart was filled to the brim with the sight, and the youth knew that she wished for one of these for herself--not one of ospreys, but however she might obtain such innocent, small little things, she would! for their smell of milk was soothing, and their sweet sounds a melody she wished she could hear endlessly, such a soundtrack it was!

deirdre lowered her muzzle out toward the little grey cub, knowing the name as osprey had given it to her. sagitarria, she greeted, though she had also been given the short name. the flow of sagitarria appealed to deirdre, who loved such exotic sounds!, and so it was this she called the lovely little thing, her tail beating gently against the earth.

Sarah was too little to grasp the fact that the sounds adults were using often carried any meaning. For her language was quite simple - she cried, when she was hungry. She cried, when she was discontent with something (and surprisingly moments of having an attitude were more frequent). Terance and Wraen seemed to have a wider range of sounds, the first actually murmuring word-like structures. 

Neither did she respond to her name - at this point in life she was content with the fact that she just existed. End of story. Therefore she walked over to the nanny and began to sniff at her paws, moving her muzzle up to the girl's shoulder and then she stopped, looking at the other's face with a head, craned back and narrowed eyes.

as she looked to the cub, looked into the eyes that carried another world, something occurred to her--deirdre had once been so small, herself, and so had emaleth. where had they come from? how had they grown so? she wondered at this for a moment before lowering her head, placing it in the others reach. her paw had already been thoroughly investigated, and deirdre invited sagitarria to continue thusly.

Sarah retreated a little, when Deirdre's face came so close to hers suddenly. "Oompf," she mumbled, staring at the ivory face in awe and admiration. The world - as it turned out - was full of giants and it did not occur to her that the real problem might have been that she was still very small herself. Though little, Sarah was no coward - her moment of surprise lasted for half-a-minute. In the next she had got her feet and with her stubby tail wagging happily behind her, she sniffed the girl's muzzle and, when she felft very confident of herself, she put one paw on the bridge of the nose, as if telling that this "object" belonged to her now.

deirdre sniffed at the infant as the infant sniffed at her. when the teeniest of paws was placed upon her muzzle, deirdre's heart burst forth from her chest and she let out a little coo. gingerly, deirdre moved to kiss the babes face, tail waving behind her. ah, she loved this girl already!

The claimed object's reaction was quite unpredictable - as Deirdre cooed, Sarah's eyes grew wide and she retreated, staring now at the girl's mouth. When she was sure that there was no other sound coming out, she leaned forward and sniffed the dark lips, her nose touching them lightly. She then decided to poke them a bit with one paw to see, if they would make more sounds.

deirdre felt the other retreat and paused long enough to assess. the babe was not injured, and seconds later she was being probed by the infant--first their nose, then their paw. the gesture was delicate and gentle, and deirdre hummed lightly to see if this sound would incite more movement from the little thing.

O-ho-ho-ho-hooo! It had worked, it had made sounds! Yay! Sarah's mind yet could not process complicated terms like these, BUT she felt very much the same way and showed it by wiggling her tail and parting her lips in a broad smile. The girl appeared to be thinking for a little while and then at the same time, when the figurative light bulb switched on above her forehead, she sprang forward and tapped both of her forepaws on the older girl's muzzle. This move was accompanied by a loud "wruff!". Sarah was not asking - she was demanding.

They played for a little while longer, until the little girl grew tired and returned to her mother's warm side in order to have a nice, long nap.