Redtail Rise little lost one

dated two-three weeks or so after the rendezvous move! tag @Augur -- the day that TD goes missing!

 

New Snow was permitted to range more and more from the rendezvous. And at last she did! The first week or so of it, there was nothing amiss or awry. She returned home to curious, eager cubs. Sometimes one was ranging on the threshold of where they could and ought not to go, and New Snow and Mountain Boulder would shepherd them back. But this was the way of cubs.

On a particularly rainy evening, New Snow returned with Mountain Boulder at her side after a successful hunt. The elements worked in their favor this day; a doe had lost its footing in an effort to evade the hunters. They two came back with a prize for their cubs. It rained cats and dogs, but her cubs knew how to take shelter if needed. Both she and Mountain Boulder had  taught them.

But she still felt concern. She was a mother, and a new one at that. And so she whined in a low summons, for @Bobcat and @Thursdays Dawn to come and see what she and her man had brought down for them.

the day was long and augur was tense. the rain dampened his fur against his great grey body and made the land slick.

but he and new snow had hunted it in. they returned streaked with mud and water and blood.

something set augur on edge. his mate called for their cubs. he moved off into the rendezvous to find them when they did not immediately answer.

he is called by mother.

bobcat stirs from his deep slumber, drool crusted on the fine hairs of his chin and staining the soft rabbit pelage he kept close, like a child's favored blanket.

sister is missing. he notes this immediately, despite that they've never been close. all of his attempts to garner her to play are met with stony silence from her and it has turned him terribly cold towards her.

pettiness is something that bobcat appears to have in spades.

he takes a moment to stretch before he trots out of the birthing den; steps slowing when his parents come into view.

It is only their son that emerges, and New Snow moves toward him with a flaring nose. She greets him with sweeping kisses that perhaps do little to clean the dry parts of his face. New Snow is only happy to see him, as ever. With a huff she gestures to what has been brought, so that he might explore this. He seems nonplussed, but concern is a weight in her belly.

She watches her man, to see if he noted their daughter. Perhaps she still rests; it took a moment for their son to emerge this rainy hour, after all. She lingers near their son, and peers around them, seeking anything unusual.

their son was here but their daughter did not answer.

exchanging a look with new snow, augur moved off to begin his search.

her scent was lighter than he would have liked. the rain did not stop the man.

time passes; sister does not appear.

bobcat feels the tension of concern in the air; snapping like an invisible beast. he does not share in it. sister and him had never been close despite sharing a womb.

there is only curiosity where she is concerned, a flickering candleflame of it: wondering what happened despite his cruel lack of concern.

he shifts slightly when father moves: presumably following whatever trail sister has left. he peers at mother, wondering if they were meant to follow.

New Snow watches her mate, a weight within her stomach. The look he gives is an answer, and he responds to her will with departing footsteps. A quiet sigh of relief; her mate is an adept hunter. He would search, and she had no doubt in his capability in this area. He had proven himself time and time again... together, they had done so but hours ago.

She looks to her son, nosing him in quiet answer. They two would stay. New Snow had intended to teach both their children how to use their teeth today, but Bobcat would get an early start.

The rain did not matter. After several seasons changed, he too would be expected to hunt with the pack whatever the weather. And so he would start to learn now. New Snow tested his drive, picking up the corpse and beginning to trot away prize in tow. Would he feel compelled to move after it?

the girl was gone.

a low whine emitted from augur. he stood in the blowing rain and waited for his son and mate to come to him.

he howled, once, back to them, sending his father's voice out into the air.

and then he pressed on, though by now her trail was only mud.

sister is gone.

gone in a way that resonates with a finality that bobcat cannot fully put a name to.

he looks to mother when father's howl rises into the air. he was not close to sister. not particularly. though he should, perhaps, be moved in a way similar to mother and father: the dragonling is not.

he recognizes this lack of emotion of sister's disappearance in it's most base form, and does not care to investigate the whys further.

what now? he makes a low noise, seeking mother's knowledge for direction.

New Snow rumbled back in turn. Though the content of her mates song caused a stone to form and sink in her stomach, New Snow knew she must let this feeling pass. But her man would not hunt alone.

Bobcat would learn to use his teeth—and his nose.

Practice, New Snow rumbled again.

But it would look a little different. Her man had left a definitive trail. The path aligned with that of his sister. They would track.

New Snow brought Bobcat to the large pawprints Mountain Boulder had left behind. And gestured to the tinier ones alongside them... his sisters. New Snow sniffed at them both, and looked to him, encouraging him to do the same. The imprints of his sisters had filled up with water; soon, the earth would fall into those spaces. Make them disappear. But for now, they had this lead.

She howled to her man; she and Bobcat would join him. As a family they would all search, but this would also be a lesson for their son. The weather brought much with it.

last for me! <3

they would search.

but they would not find.

augur would turn his voice to mourning. for days he would scour until one day he did not.

until one day he accepted the raw hand of nature.