Sun Mote Copse You were the brightest shade of sun

@Nasamiituuq

For some time the illness she had felt weeks before faded, but now something else had come over her.

Sat upon a flat rock perfectly framed by the sun, her usual spot within the Copse, Waawaashkeshi felt as though a common winter illness had taken her - but the weather had been kind, was it not too late for such things? Despite this her stomach screamed with nausea, her head feeling fuzzy and overwhelmed.

There were borders to be marked, members to be recruited, but she did not feel as though she could get anything done without either vomiting or falling flat on her face. Whimpering, she stuck her nose between her front paws.

Things were changing. Keshi was changing. Nasamiituuq had withdrawn from her friend, turning bitter and listless; each time the gilded girl's altered scent touched her nose, the moongirl felt sick. Her sleep suffered, too, as she spent long nights awake and wondering: who was it? Who was the man Keshi had chosen? Where was he now?

In spite of her troubled thoughts, Nasamiituuq could not leave her friend to suffer. When she found Keshi, she was carrying a leaf-wrapped bundle of soothing herbs. These will help, she murmured, placing the bundle beside her friend. She couldn't quite meet Keshi's eyes.

Nasamiituuq had been distant as of late, but it only made Waawaashkeshi all the more joyful when she came to her. Thank you.. She managed a weak smile. I am sorry I have not been well.. I really am not sure what has come over me. Without hesitation she ate up the bundle, trusting Nasamiituuq completely.

She felt guilty, leaving her friend with so much responsibility. She could only hope that other's would join them soon, someone to help keep cache's full and borders fresh. It was not fair for Nasamiituuq to have to take care of it on her own while the sunflower girl's illness persisted.

Nasamiituuq stilled at that. Keshi... the moongirl began gently, swallowing hard. Keshi, don't you know that you're pregnant? Again she wondered who, but she dared not ask. Not now. She wasn't sure she could hear the answer without breaking into pieces.

And for the first time she wondered why, too. Why had she gone to some man? Someone who hadn't even bothered to stick around, clearly; there were no men in the forest with them. Nasamiituuq chewed her lip anxiously, eyeing Keshi in silence.

It was at those words that for the first time in front of Nasamiituuq, her ears shot straight back. What..? And suddenly, it was beginning to click in her head. The blurry images of her trip out of the Copse, the girl chasing her from the glen, the strange scent and the fever, the nausea she felt now. Is that why you have been avoiding me?

She had thought she was ill, that was it. I thought I was sick - I did not want to spread it to you. How was she to know that it was her heat? She had never experienced it before this year. I did not know.

But why had it caused Nasamiituuq to be so distant?

You didn't know, Nasamiituuq repeated slowly. Suddenly she couldn't look at Keshi. Her eyes turned toward the trees, the sky, anything but her friend. You didn't know, but you laid with a man. Where is he now? Did he - do you love him? Do you even know him?

There were no men in the copse. Nasamiituuq was not even sure that Keshi knew any men not of Moonglow. She didn't dare wonder whether it would be worse to find that a Moonglow man had done this, or that it had been a stranger. Either way Keshi had taken a man into her bed. Either way the thought made Nasamiituuq feel sick.

She felt shame in the face of her friends judgement. No.. it was all blurry. My mind was skewed. Her ears dropped, staring up at Nasamiituuq. I left the territory during a spike of it.. I felt so horribly lonely, Nasamiituuq, I was missing you.. And then, the stranger had come to her. She was so desperate for a warm body, so desperate to feel better.

I don't remember his face now. We did not speak. She felt wary as she spoke. Nasamiituuq.. have I done something wrong?

Waawaashkeshi could take a lot, but not the anger of her friend. That would kill her, and she knew it.

If you were missing me, Nasamiituuq spoke sharply, more sharply than she ever had in her life, Why not find me? You know I am healer and midwife, Waawaashkeshi, as my grandmother was. But you did not. You went to a man. A stranger!

She took a step back, paws trembling so slightly as to be imperceptible to all but her. I want to be alone. The moongirl hesitated a moment, and in that moment her hurt flared to a fiery pulse in her throat, her chest, and she all but spat: Don't worry, I won't go looking for a man.

Nasamiituuq regretted the words the moment they were spoken, but she could not take them back. She turned and fled without another word, seeking the comfort of solitude.