Hushed Willows I'm good to go, and I'm going nowhere fast

With their newfound freedom to come and go from the den as they pleased, the children of Hushed Willows were a flurry of activity around the cliffside den. Foxglove often ventured into the meadow, spending her time among the budding flora. It was her favorite place to go when her sisters were getting on her nerves.

And today, @Dahlia was really annoying her. They'd fought twice that morning before Dahlia and Petal had settled for a nap, and Foxglove had stolen away to the meadow for some time to think. After a time she'd come up with an idea.

Now she barged back into the den with a mouthful of flowers, making no effort to step quietly. She marched up to her grey sister and spat the flowers all over her. Flowah! Maybe they'll make you nicer.

fox was such a stupid dummy.

dahlia had been acting out since fox had played nice in front of mom the other day. stupid. why couldn't she butt off? how come she didn't get that was dahlia's outing? that was dahlia's time to feel special?

of course, all of time was dahlia's time to feel special.

eyes closed, she cooled her temper and her temperature in the shadiest part of the den. and she heard fox coming before she could see her. just the sound of her made dahlia's blood boil.

thoughts racing

I WANNABEALONE LEAVEME ALONE I WANNA WHY CAN I HEARYOU WHHY

peh

oh, how this stupid dummy sister tried her patience! she prayed to momma's visage how some pious other might pray to god. momma how i want to be kind to this girl but she makes it HARD!

spittle and petals dripped down her face and her eyes narrowed into slits.

if dahlia knew what killing was she would be thinking about killing her sister right now.

WHADDA DO DAT FOR?!

The flowers did not, unfortunately, make Dahlia any nicer. Fox took a step back, ears flying forward as her sister erupted. For a moment she feared it would turn into another wrestling match. She usually lost those.

But no such retribution came. Foxglove grinned at her sister and began to dance in place, making what she thought was rude gestures. Yeah! Take that!

thoroughly provoked and still getting used to the whole having-teeth thing, dahlia decided then and there that she was going to bite her sister's toes clean off. every one of 'em. every gosh darn one.

but then she realized she'd probably fall out of momma's good graces if she done went and turned her sister into a cripple, so ... okay, maybe she wouldn't bite her toes off. but she had to be taught a lesson!

during one of fox's most rude gestures, where the stink end of her sister was pointed at dahlia's face — oh wait. sorry. BOTH ends could be described as the stink end. excuse me. when fox's BUTT was pointed at dahlia's face, she took the opportunity to clamp down on her sister's tail.

Caught up in her victory dance and secure in her assumption that she was safe from her sister's teeth, Foxglove never saw it coming. She thought she'd bumped into her sister at first.

WATCH OU- AAAAHHHH!

Yep, you guessed it: that was the moment she realized there were teeth in her tail. Fox wailed and threw herself to the ground, hind legs kicking out as she rolled from her flank to her back in an effort to twist away from her sister's grip. She was all flailing limbs and shrieking for a moment — then she remembered that mama would surely never stand for these war crimes.

MAMA! She paused to really fill her lungs and scream: MAAAAMAAAAAAAA!!

the first wail elicited no response from dahlia aside from perhaps some perverse feeling of victory. the second — her cries for their mother — struck fear into her heart.

some children were content to receive any kind of attention, good or bad, but dahlia was not there just yet. she wanted to be a good girl. she wanted to be her mother's favorite. and every time she did something like this she was reminded — if not by their mother, than by the shame in her heart — that she had done bad.

she let go. foxglove screamed again. dahlia's ears flattened as she let the fear flood her face. she needed an alibi. she needed it fast. it was an accident, no, i didn't mean to bite her so hard.

Dahlia and Foxglove were fighting again. Reverie had been gathering herbs while the girls napped and played, always within eyesight of her den and the meadow. Foxglove's shrieks had broken the peace of the afternoon. Reverie was on her way even before the girl called for her mother.

She swept into the den to take them each into her arms without pause, Dahlia at one flank and Foxglove at the other. There were flowers scattered all over the den floor, and Petal was stirring sleepily in the corner. Reverie couldn't begin to imagine what had happened.

Shh, look, your sister is sleeping, She shushed them both and led them from the den. When they were outside, she beckoned for them both to stand before her. Foxglove. Dahlia. Reverie paused to look over them briefly, checking them for injury. Neither was hurt, though Foxglove's tail was firmly tucked. I won't ask what happened, okay? Not this time. I don't want to hear you blaming each other - it's up to both of you to get along.

Fox, why don't you go find Uncle Everett? He's hunting somewhere in the meadow, I think. Reverie smiled tiredly at her daughter as she nodded and went off to find her uncle. Then she gestured for Dahlia to join her, leading her back toward the lakeside.

Sisters are important, Dahlia. You'll need to learn to be friends with yours, She told the girl softly when Foxglove was out of earshot.

for once, she couldn't look her mother in the eye.

sisters are important.

sisters are stupid. petal was boring and fox was always trying to be better than her at everything. even if she didn't intend to make things out to be a competition, dahlia saw them that way.

you'll need to learn to be friends with yours.

her nose wrinkled as she considered deeply the grass between her toes. in this moment, at least, dahlia had reverie all to herself. she was confused about how to feel about what she had done if it got her what she wanted.

really, she hadn't had to account for her actions at all.

momma, she said, now looking out at the water, still unable to look up at reverie. she wanted to ask, why's it so hard or why did there have to be three of us? or will you love me even if i'm bad?

the last stinging thought made tears start to form, though she flattened her ears and choked them back. it was no wonder where she had inherited that from.

she didn't ask any of the things she wanted to ask. instead, she simply said, 'm mmm sowwy.

As much as she wanted to be firm, it was difficult to see her daughter struggling like this. Dahlia couldn't meet her eyes — but whether it was shame at her actions or simple displeasure at the circumstances, Reverie couldn't be sure. Either way, these were things she never wanted her little girl to feel.

It's alright, She murmured when Dahlia apologized, blinking back the threat of her own tears. Reverie paused to pull her into another embrace. You're still learning. It's normal to make mistakes. We'll just have to try to do better tomorrow, okay?

It sounded so simple. For now, it was. More than anything Reverie dreaded the day Dahlia would learn just how much complexity and uncertainty lurked behind those words. They would remain true for the rest of her life, but it wouldn't always be such a straightforward thing.

she could try to do better tomorrow, but she didn’t think she knew how. conflicted, but unable to articulate the feelings stirring inside, she simply nodded. 

mama, she said, can we go look for flowers now?

Of course we can, Reverie brightened at the question, brushing a gentle kiss over her daughter's ears one last time before beckoning her onward. Maybe we'll bring some back for your sisters, hm? Do you know what their favorite colors are?

The rest of the day would pass this way, relatively peaceful compared to the little family's typical chaos. By the time they settled for the night, the Dancing Queen felt hope that her daughters would learn to rely on one another. They would need to, she thought.

Family was all they had.