Sunbeam Lair the cat man of aleppo

Forward dated just a feeeeew days!

In the days since her eyes had opened and she had first stood, her world grew exponentially. Her ears were no longer useless flaps, but had begun to perk up, though their tips still folded over. Each day she grew, and with her body, her insatiable curiousity grew. The light of the outside world was as tanatlizing as it was beautiful, and the day came where she could no longer keep herself from investigating. On clumsy feet, she slipped from the den's entrance, stumbling into the light of the lair. All around her were green growing things, though they began to brown in the withering cold.

Giggling, she toddled a few feet forward, just out of the mouth of the den. She cooed at the bright birdsong and giggled, plopping her plump puppy rump on the ground as she gazed about in hungry joy.

Asterr had not been within the den when her daughter wandered out. She’d left earlier, needing to stretch her legs and begin collecting what herbs she could. It hadn’t been long before she’d decided to check in on the hatchlings, though. Whatever herbs she’d gathered had been stored away within her private space, and then towards the den had she gone.

The first thing the mother noticed once she’d drawn near enough was that Shiori had come out into the open, and then that no one was out with her. Still, she’d approached the girl calmly after having glanced around the area, silver gaze working its way over her immediate surroundings to ensure there was no danger lurking. Satisfied by her lack of findings, she’d closed the distance between herself and her offspring, smiling at her all the while. “Shiori,” she murmured. “What do you see?” Asterr peered off in the same direction as the young Draconid, but hadn't remained that way for very long. Almost immediately afterwards, her focus was given back to the girl, curious of what she might do.

When her mother arrived, Shiori blinked, looking up at her guiltily. Suddenly bashful, Shiori dipped her head. She did not know in certain terms that she wasn't supposed to be out there, but now thought that that may be true. Shiori's understanding of language was far better than her ability to speak it, though she babbled in attempts to recreate what she heard. So she understood, though vaguely, that she was being asked a question.

Unsure if it was allowed but hoping vehemently that it was, Shiori toddled forward towards the closest bit of greenery, a leafy weed that had sprung up not far from the den. Luh, she bubbled.

*gives your weed a name & purpose*

Though she would have preferred it if Shiori had waited for an adult before having left the den, she was not upset by it. She would not punish her child for having been curious, wanting more than anything for each of them to start learning about the world as a whole. Winter was approaching and they were growing, so it was only a matter of time before their lessons began. They would each be taught of that which surrounded them, as well as of their family and Draco—but that would all be saved for a later date. For now, they were still too young for anything serious.

When the hatchling moved towards a weed, Asterr was close behind. She did not reach out to stop the child from moving, but had instead moved around to stand on the opposite side of the plant. Lowering her head, she nosed at the leaves before looking back towards Shiori, inviting her closer to investigate further. “Broadleaf plantain,” the dragoness said, unable to prevent herself from sharing some knowledge with the girl. “It can help you when you get hurt.” Helpful and plentiful, the one weed that no one should kill.

When her mother followed, Shiori feared that she would be snatched up and brought back to the den, her first adventure cut short by a mother's caution. So when she realized that her mother was joining and, in fact, encouraging her, Shiori did a little hop of joy. With her mother's invitation, she nosed at a leaf, inhaling deeply and delighting in the smell of it. The clean, fresh scent of it was exquisite, and Shiori immediately needed to put it in her mouth.

So she did. She nipped at one of the leaves as her mother spoke, though her explanation contained too many words that she did not understand. Buh luh, she said matter-of-factly, leaf still half in her mouth. It was as close an approximation to what her mother had called the plant as she could manage.

Of course, she had been curious about what Shiori might do during her inspection of the leaf. To see her put it in her mouth hadn’t been entirely surprising, and the mother was made to feel glad that she hadn’t wandered over to a different sort of plant. “Not all leaves are good,” she cautioned. “You cannot put all of them into your mouth.” Some were deadly, after all. Luckily for the lot of them, however, none of said leaves existed around the densite. Asterr had been sure to pick a safe location for her daughters to be born at, a place that would not endanger their safety even as they grew.

The name was repeated as well as it could be, and so she’d nodded. It would be a while yet before any of them could speak clearly, and so she wasn’t overly concerned about what certain items were to be called in the present. “Do you like the leaf?” she settled on asking, disinterested in lingering on things like pronunciations. With age, she would learn, so worrying now wouldn’t do either of them any good at all.

Even as her mother spoke, Shiori nibbled ponderously on the leaf. Though she picked up on the solemnity of Asterr's words, she could not understand all of the words. Still, she stoped chewing the leaf and stepped back, more curious about what her mother had to say. For oh! how she loved her mother, whom she now knew to be the center of her world. There was not a sight more beautiful nor more comforting than the warmth of her fur and the brightness of her eyes.

When next her mother spoke, Shiori understood well enough. She nodded emphatically, then tried to repeat the last word, which she had understood to reference her newest discovery. Luh-eee-fuh, she tried, looking to her mother for further teachings.

When the leaf was set free from her deadly puppy jaws, Asterr glanced down at it to take note of the damage done. Deciding that it was fine—hey, one leaf wouldn’t be missed—she’d focused on the hatchling and her speech. Though it’d been broken down into more syllables than what it was usually spoken with, she let her tail wag behind her slowly whilst she beamed at the girl. “Very good!” she said, praising Shiori with hardly any restraint. It wasn’t perfect, not yet, but she would get there with time and practice; which was really exciting to think about!

Leaf was covered, and so she thought of what other words might be of importance. She hadn’t needed to think for very long, either, before having realized that there was a name to be taught. “Try Draco,” the dragoness suggested. Immediately afterwards, though, she’d started to wonder if maybe it was too difficult. There was also the consideration that it was too much at once, but she'd allow for her daughter to be the final judge of that.

Her mothers praise worked like a flame to a candle. Shiori lit up, her tail wagging so hard that her entire lower half wiggled with it. Luh-eef! Luh-eef! she shrilled, grinning broadly. Luh-eef! She looked back to the leaf, which was darkened where her little teeth had gnawed but not broken through. The taste was still fresh on her tongue, and she was considering giving it another good nibble.

The next word her mother gave her was far more difficult. It was full of hard consanants and sounds that she could convince her mouth to make. Yet Shiori struggled gamely onward, working the sound around in her mind before attempting to replicate it herself. Day-o, she managed, the closest approximation she could manage with her clumsy speech. The little dragon looked to her mother questioningly. Day-o?

Shiori proceeded to exclaim leaf, which had the young mother so excited that she was without words. She had been unaware of how they might turn out ever since her pregnancy had been realized, and had often worried over whether or not she’d be able to provide for them enough of knowledge. For when it came to battle, she was at a loss, having never been made to learn such strategies. They’d been unimportant during her upbringing, especially since she had never been meant to engage in battle. And so to see her child taking an interest in something that she had been taught about—and rather well—came as a great relief. It was only a single leaf, yes, but something so small could always lead to something far greater.

“You are very intelligent,” Asterr told her. “You are speaking so well already!” Her tail wagged, her smile wide and reaching up into her eyes. They glistened with the purest variant of happiness, most likely for the first time since her birth. The attempted pronunciation of Draco had only added onto it, despite the hatchling’s version having not yet reached perfection. “You will get it someday, I am certain,” was her response to the inquisitive look that she’d received. “You have plenty of time to practice, I promise you that.” Long and eventful would her life be, and so within that time frame existed a great deal of opportunities for her to learn anything and everything that she might want to.

If her behavior and interests thus far were any indication, Shiori would grow to be a curious creature. Indeed, as she was now, plants and nature had consumed her interest, though there was always room for a little play fighting and mock hunting. 

Though she did not completely understand every word her mother spoke, context and tone indicated that she was being praised, which set her little tail to wagging. She grinned, lacking the words to respond. All she had was what she had been taught, though even now she was picking out the words that Asterr had spoken and breaking them down. Pom-ice, she repeated, since the word promise had a nice ring to it.

It was doubtful that Asterr would ever be stingy when it came to giving out praise. It was a way of offering encouragement positively, which was exactly what each of the girls needed. She couldn’t have them getting discouraged or frustrated—two things that ruined learning—so they would be praised for everything that they did, assuming that it was good. Misbehaving wouldn’t be tolerated, of course, but she’d yet to see any of them act out in such a way; it was, most likely, due to the fact that the hatchlings were the absolute best (as entirely real and not at all made-up studies have shown).

“Pom-ice me that you will keep practicing?” she requested, mimicking Shiori’s version of the word. It was unusual for her to speak in such a way but, given the circumstances, she’d made an exception. “Keep listening to what everyone around you says, and you will learn many words.” Though the advice was given, she wasn’t entirely sure just how much of it would be understood. No matter, it was fine even if she didn't understand. She’d learn eventually, and then her future self would know what the dragoness had been talking about.

this is short

Joy lit up her little face when her mother repeated her attempt at the word promise, for she took it as confirmation that she had done well. Pom-ice, pom-ice! she crowed, as much a response as vocalization for the sake of it. Whatever her mother said next was lost on her entirely, the language barrier still too great, though Shiori understood more than she could speak. Still, it was advice she would follow, and with it she would learn quickly.

Asterr couldn’t help but smile brightly at her daughter as she continued to speak. Her pronunciations were far from perfect, but she would get there someday, which was all that really matter. Just as long as she didn’t give up, they were fine. With those thoughts in mind, she’d nodded and said, “Very good.” Whether or not a promise had actually been made would be revealed with time, it seemed. She trusted the intentions of the hatchling, however, and thus had very little doubt in her.

“Let us return to the den now,” the mother suggested, nodding towards the entrance. “Rest, and you will grow stronger so that we may look at many more leaves later on.” The territory had no shortage of greenery, as anyone with eyes could tell, and so that gave them a ton of potential lessons to look forward to. Some might not be touched on, but many of them would, just as long as the girls were truly ready and well rested in both body and mind.

As the outing had gone on, Shiori had been too excited to do much more than look and listen. Now, though, as it was clear the lesson was drawing to a close, the excitement caught up with her. Her smile broke into a wide yawn at the mere mention of rest, and the hatchling toddled obediently back to the den. Once she found a comfortable space to sleep, she plopped her little puppy butt right down. She gave one last adoring look to her mother, then settled her head upon her paws. Though her mind was full with new knowledge, she was asleep in minutes.