Firefly Glen [PHE] bleed

the yellowstone camp was like an island.

it rested on the backside of many busy places, but anatolia stuck only where her mother walked. at just two months of age, she doubted she would be part of the more arduous activities that took place.

however she was plenty old enough to lay upon a tall stone at the mouth of the yellowstone camp where others might cross her path. there she worked teeth upon a fresh bone. bored, but not admitting it.

she waited for some flash of entertainment.

moonglow was so much and yet not enough, not enough. akmaaksi found herself lost, across the streams which marked the healing camp.

she was close to the one of moontide, she knew, and began to pick her way there. movement captured the girl's eye; another child, sliding a rock.

curious, she found herself slinking forward, ears upright and mouth in her usual silence.

anatolia said not a word.

her mouth ceased its gnawing movements but still held bone. her blue-transitioning-to-green eyes watched with the curiosity of a child. the girl was older than her, but not older like an adult. she was colored in all the warm shades of the treetops here. unlike herself who seemed to be trapped in a shawl of night.

the only warmth she had was the brown lines beneath her eyes. something to thank a missing father for.

her gradient limbs stretched over the rock now. as if she might melt right off of it. neck stretched to sniff down towards the older girl.

still, no words. maybe the bone that continues to be clutched between new teeth is to blame

this child was younger than she by several months, provoking a reaction from akmaaksi she vaguely recognized as a sisterly impulse.

carefully sniffing the bone clutched by the stranger, she sent her tail waving, pleased to hear no words for now.

she padded one step into the yellowstone camp, eyes seeking encouragement from her newfound companion.

if this had been the rolling fields of her first place, she might have been a bit stiffer about the visitor. yet as it stood now, she simply excited to have someone new to gaze upon. someone who might alleviate the boredom that came from young children.

the girl took a step into her camp.

anatolia allowed her tail to slap warmly behind her. then dropped the bone. large, expectant eyes watched the girl now.

did she want the bone too?

did she mean to offer it?

was it polite to take the thing?

there was a moment of pause, and then akmaaksi picked up the bone; it felt good beneath her teeth, and she bit down with a pleased growl.

she took it!

anatolia only expressed her delight by her eyes and tail. she watched as the older girl worked new teeth grooves into the ivory.

this one would be her friend.

she wanted to be where this girl would be — or maybe find a way to make her stay near the camp.

her teeth felt good.

the girl was kind. her silence continued.

a friend. it did not matter that some age separated them. akmaaksi was attached to the quiet peace of their sharing, almost at once. she set down the gift, rolling it toward the yellowstone girl.

her turn.

it was returned to her.

this honest, silent girl. anatolia liked her very very much.

when the bone was returned to her, she sought to score her teeth where the older girl had. not as a way to displace her presence but as a way to bind them.

like a ritual she did not fully understand.

then rolled the bone back again with a more meaningful glimmer in her eyes, as if to convince the older girl to do the same!

i’d love a second thread with them for whenever <333

always! <3

marks crossed; she liked that.

when the ivory rolled her way, akmaaksi lifted it more carefully this time to chew the endcap into a groove. not to split, only to brand.

in the grass again; sent back toward the silent plainswalker. over and over, until one of them was called away.