Sun Mote Copse of the changes it will confront,

A casualty had transpired overnight in Weejay's garden.

Dumbstruck by the destruction, Weejay let the bundle of dandelion leaves slip from her muzzle; they fell in little featherlike arcs, fluttering mutely down to the grass.

Her garden looked as if an elephant had traipsed through it. Her poppies were cropped and chewed down the the bare dirt; her string of ivy had been uprooted and dragged over to her mountain lilies, its leaves chewed to bits. The beargrass and basalmroot clippings she had saved for refreshing her grandparent's graves had been razed down to the stem -- destruction in every sense of the word.

"NO!" Weejay wailed, buckling to her belly with a soft cry as tears of frustration stung her eyes. "No... no... ". Who -- or what -- had razed Weejay's garden?

When Wraen saw Weejay for the first time in ages, she realized, how very little she had attended to the Eljay's daughter and, how her quiet and shy nature made her blend with the colourful and noisy surroundings that you almost forgot she was there. And it was embarrassing to admit that had it not been for her cries that had drawn her attention, the Sovereign would have missed her entirely still.

She let her gaze take in the crime-scene and then without any further remark, she approached the girl and touched her shoulder gently. "It could have been a deer or wild boar. I am so sorry, Weejay," she told her.

Footsteps alerted Weejay that someone was near; rubbing her nose with a forepaw, she straightened and did her best to hide she had been crying. Turning around, she was surprised to find Wraen with her -- her ears fell as the sovereign nudged her comfortingly.

"My garden," The yearling mumbled, feeling more child than woman as she looked upon the ruination of her efforts. "I just --" Here she wiped a fresh tear from darkening her cheek, sniffling: "why? I had.. I had all these flowers for my mom, and grandma and grandpa.. and.." She took in a deep breath, trying to steady the wail that threatened to rise from her throat. "It's gone, just like them."

Weejay was very upset and, though Wraen did not have the same affinity to flowers and gardening as the young girl had, she was an empathic person and could easily imagine, how it feels, when something you have tended for carefully and lovingly is destroyed. 

"I don't think that, whoever destroyed your garden, had any particular reason in mind. They probably did not see the same worth in it as you did," she replied, looking down at the sad remnants of what had once been pride and joy of the young naturalist. 

"Is there anything that can be saved?" she asked.

Weejay didn't have the same perspective as Wraen, but that was natural, as the wound was still fresh. For a split second she bitterly wished whatever ruminant had trashed her garden would be poisoned, but was horrified by that snaking thought and quickly directed her ire towards the fact that it happened, versus at a specific individual.

Still, she felt like crying hysterically. Even in front of Wraen.

Casting her gaze about the wreckage, Weejay began to gently nose and prod the stones back into place. "Well, I guess I could start with the borders, and work from there." Her tone was mousy and dangerously close to defeatist, but it was a start.

Weejay was far from being okay, but she was willing to do something at least. That was a start that Wraen had hoped for and she smiled at the girl encouragingly for taking initiative. In her experience, honest work was the best remedy for grief. It did not lessen it one bit, but it helped to keep one's mind occupied and still going. 

"We should also look for a place that is better protected from any future assaults," she suggested next. "Otherwise it will only be a matter of time, before your garden will get eaten again," she did not mention that there were very few if any places that were safe from hungry mouths of ruminants or lagomorphs.

Weejay placed one stone back on the wall. It tumbled down, cutting past her feet. A frown darkened her expression as she readjusted the run-away pebble, placing it firmly this time along with the rubble.

Wraen had a point, but Weejay was raw enough that it felt like a criticism. At first she was ready to fire off a snippy reply, but realized it was simply the uncontrolled edge of her emotions talking. Wraen was perfectly right, and there was no reason to be rude. I liked this place because it's close to our den. Weej said softly, picking up another stone in her jaws and placing it along the wall. Where else could I even build it?

"That is a perfectly valid point," Wraen nodded in agreement. All things considered there was no safer place than the one, where you could overlook your claim directly and guard it. Except, unless you spent all your time in the vicinity of your den, you could not guard it 24/7. 

"Umm... you might not like it much, but I suggest that if you do rebuild your garden here mark the territory around it. Our smell repels prey and the more pungent it is, the less likely they are to come and raid," she said. "They have no way of knowing, if it is just your scent here or you are here too sitting in the bushes, ready to pounce."

Placing the stone down, Weejay listened to Wraen's suggestion. At first, one could tell she immediately was against the idea: ew, her garden smelling like pee instead of the floral notes she'd become accustomed? Gross!

Yet the more Wraen spoke the more Weej understood the practicality of it, even if she was still aghast at the suggestion. Her expression wrinkled, but anyone could see she was legitimately considering it. "Maybe I'll do that.. but it'd be stinky. Plus all the grass where I pee would die." Weejay didn't love this, but if it meant her garden prospered.. "Okay, I'll do it."

"Well, you do not have to wee in the direct vicinity of your garden, choose a wider perimeter," Wraen replied, but ultimately it was Weejay's decision on, how she wanted to manage her flower playground. To put it bluntly - she was an adult now and the best way to learn was from one's own trials and failures. 

"How can I be of assistance?" she asked next, not wishing to be the one, who talked plenty, but did nothing.

fade, since i let this get old and wraen is off on a great adventure? <3

Weejay was a grown ass adult, but she didn't feel it. Wraen was good at always delivering the truth, even if Weejay felt a little off put by how direct (that was just called being an ADULT, Weejay!) Wraen could be.

I think I want to try again. Weejay announced, dreading losing all of her hard work. But, I want to try your suggestion. I will take the east side. She felt a bit shy about weeing, as Wraen put it, right in front of her leader, so she took the opportunity to toddle behind a toppled stone first. Oh, well, maybe we should fix this wall first. Weejay began to pick up the tumbled rocks with her jaws and placed the stones one by one back to their respective place. And then I'll pee over there. Weej added bashfully, beginning to venture over to the east wall.

"That's the spirit," Wraen encouraged the girl and only later did she realize that this had been the same automatic, reassuring response she always used, when around Eljay. Though Weejay did not suffer from the same amount of crippling lack of self-confidence, the sovereing truly hoped that, whatever insecurities the girl had, she would not let them rule over and ruin her life. 

"Okay," she nodded in agreement and followed Weejay's instructions and after a while they had managed to reconstruct and reinforce the garden enough so that any future assailant would keep it's distance and think twice before trampling through.