Redhawk Caldera i hit the ground running each night

Sorana emerged from a thick cluster of bushes, proudly holding aloft the curled snake skin she found hidden in the shade. She tripped over a root and stumbled forward, nearly ripping her precious treasure on an outstretched twig. She rebounded away from it with a haughty little sniff, then resumed her quick trot back to the den.

When she arrived on the lawn, she carefully set down the skin and looked around for @Teya. Maaa! she called sweetly, hoping the Raven was around so she could spend some time showing off her exciting find.

it had been damn near three months since she had told reyes about her pregnancy and he had walked away, since sorana had come along, since their last fight and the death of a relationship that neither of them were trying to fix.
and bridget — i love you both
stupid, stupid, stupid. why had she said that? why had she said anything? the cardinal was even more careful around the densite given reyes' mercurial moods, which made teya feel further isolated.
touch-starved and frustrated, as was her overwhelmingly main emotion as of late, the raven's eyes softened as they fell to sorana. "hey, baby." she was sitting upon the den's threshold and stepped into the grass, making a large show of checking over the find. "that is snake-skin. when he needs bigger clothes, pop! he take his pajamas off and throw it on ground," teya joked. she lifted her head and stared toward the mainland. "want to go on little adventure today, sorana?"

Hi! Sora greeted mama breathlessly, bounding forward all wiggling and whining to brush against Teya. Her mother's frustrated mood went unnoticed. She made a quick circuit back to the snake skin, which she snatched up in eager, mouthing jaws and brandished for her mother's inspection.

It fluttered to the ground on the air of Sora's laughter. Pop! she parroted, curving to look expectantly at her own flank. To her visible disappointment, her fur didn't fall off. How come snakes could do something that cool, but she couldn't? Wasn't she getting to be too big for her pajamas, too?

Her tapered snout whipped back to Teya. Ahh veeen shooooor? she clumsily repeated with a quizzical tilt of her jaw, but she could tell it was something good and hurried to mama's side. Her paws gently drummed the ground even as she raised her eyes to follow Teya's line of sight. Wassat?

teya laughed. "you are not snake. you are better." she stepped to the lake's edge. "adventure is ... new thing. new experience," she said, slowly and carefully enunciating the word. the fisher dipped a paw into the water and smiled down at sorana. "we go now. ready?"
she gathered the girl up by her nape and tilted her head back. the lakebed she felt beneath her paws before she pushed off, and all of a sudden was swimming.
it was awkward with sorana straining her neck. but she had carried fish and otter and birds from the water, and so she concentrated on getting them to the opposite bank.

Wan be sneck, Sorana complained. Being a wolf was boring! She couldn’t pop out of her skin like a snake and leave it behind for some curious fledgling to find. It seemed like a useful super power to have. Useful for what, Sora couldn’t say.

Then she was scooped up by the nape of her neck. Sorana went still, only gasping softly when they slipped into the water. It was much colder than she imagined! Now and again a little bit would splash into her nostrils or her mouth, so she spent much of the journey snorting and sputtering inelegantly, but to her credit, she did not move a muscle.

Then they were on the other side and Sorana gave her downy coat a mighty shake that lingered in the tip of her wagging tail.

Wan be sneck...lol

sorana was a good child and hardly protested during their swim. teya shook out her own coat and then cleaned water from her daughter's pelt. "this mainland," she told the girl, stepping away. sorana would follow. there was a jumble of bark and limbs and broken branches, two gigantic trees felled long ago. it might be a place interesting to the nestling.
and so teya led the way, stopping as often as sorana wished, to look at anything the girl pointed out. she did not dislike their outing, she only felt passive and warm, and somehow expected this as normalcy.

Now that she was only pleasantly damp rather than soaking wet, Sorana lifted her eyes to take in all the sights. From the island, the mainland had always looked special, with brighter trees and more interesting smells, but now that she was here, it was kind of... the same. More expansive, but the same otherwise.

May-yan, she repeated back as best she could, toddling along in Teya’s shadow. More than the sights, Sora was entranced by the animals. A crow cawed overhead and she tried to caw back in an off-tune puppy bark. A mouse scurried past her paw and made the fur on her back stand up.

A raccoon disappearing into the bush was the next sight. Oooooo, cooed Sorana, hastening after it.

sorana cooed and ran off. teya dashed after her and gathered the girl back. "good hunting," she grunted to her baby daughter, "but bad bite." she clicked her teeth. "raccoon have nasty mouth. make sick."
the rodent had surely dashed on by now, and so she released sorana and went back to the trail. "look," she murmured, pointing out the tracks of the little animal. "smell."
she was beginning to enjoy this, she decided. sorana could be taught now. she could understand. and one day soon she would be able to talk back to teya. that was worth a lot.