Duck Lake Starwatcher

Set to the night of the 11th. Someone come hear a star story from a pregnant woman <3

So maybe it hadn't been the best idea to set off late afternoon, trotting as fast as her wide sides and swollen frame would allow her after the hopes of finding a large body of water. She wanted fish -- damn those persistent cravings and fickle appetite -- and couldn't find anything worth catching anywhere close to home. By the time she got to Duck Lake, tail wagging and chuffing in victory, the moon had begun to rise. It didn't matter right now, the water calling her name -- she didn't go further than her ankles in the icy water, shivering already but sapphire eyes straining into the water. 

The first time her paw flashed out, the Ciel lost her balance; keeping herself above water to avoid a chilling soak before Winter while pregnant was more important than the fish, and after recollecting herself, the obsidian woman sighed. She'd have to wait until the water stilled before the fish would come close, so she stood as still as possible. It didn't occur to her that someone would be close or see her, but she wasn't against company either.

This looked lonely <3

Unbeknownst to her, Isley had once roamed the meadow she now saw sanctuary. It was perhaps by chance that Simatra herself had come to walk the now snow-tipped grasses, however those of similar minds did seem to think the same thing fit. However the tale was very different for the mind of the golden nymph. She was hungry and craving company.

The growling of her stomach had driven her north, away from the sparse field and on towards a large lake. Here she paused, stooping to quench her thirst. Through her pair of minted orbs, the woman saw specks of brilliant white dancing atop the surphace, stars. They were a difficult thing for a girl of the earth to comprehend, and against the pale sky of dusk they seemed just a collection of peppered light. Yet curiosity drove her head upwards and t'was this time that she saw the dark outline of a figure, rounded and poised in the shallows.

To prevent embarrassment and another awkward confrontation, Simatra would let loose a low chuff, setting herself a reasonable distance off to the stranger's right as she awaited attention.

Oh my gosh I totally missed your reply thank you this was so lonely! 

Amber's paw flashed out a second time to dart through the water, and though this time she kept her balance, she was still not fast enough to catch hold of scale. Snarling softly to herself, the hormonal Ciel slapped a paw to the surface and splashed, backing up to the shore to shake out her paws.

It was then that movement caught Amber's eye -- she might have snarled again, had a chuff of friendly greeting not caught in her cupped ears and her sapphire eyes caught the pause in motion -- and the raven-feather woman turned to stare, wide-eyed, like a deer in headlights Simatra's way.

                                "Vous y! Care to catch a pregnant woman a fish or two in trade for a story about the stars? I won't bite, promise."

Smiling kindly, Amber rumbled excitedly in her chest -- to tell a story for food seemed a reasonable trade, but she didn't think what she'd do if the stranger wasn't friendly, or had no interest in the stars. Or couldn't fish....

A surprised grunt caught in the chest of the golden woman as the charcoal being turned to give her the wide eye. A few moments of careful watching, holding, the shaded cobalt gaze of the other passed before a distinctly femanine volley of words were uttered enthusiastically into the evening air and Simatra relaxed.

"You are with child," she mused as she padded forward, every inch of her body prickling with interst the moment the offer was voiced. Once a few feet away, she paused, green eyes blinking hopefully as her jaws parted to speak. "The stars are a curious collection and I'd love to hear what you have to say." Her paws shifted in nervous anticipation. "Perhaps a couple of rodents would be of equal value instead of ah...fish?" Once again, an awkward scene where the golden Kali just couldn't deliver what others expected; a disappointment.

At first, Amber was not sure the other would respond in kind, but her own willingness to be nice seemed to have gotten through and a golden femme padded forward to meet her. A smile welcomed her close, glad to have the company -- the counter offer didn't sound as good, but she couldn't be picky when asking a stranger to hunt for her. Simatra seemed almost nervous of her answer, and Amber's smile didn't faulter.

                   "That seems fair -- I'm Amber, by the way."

She half expected her alternative to be met with rejection, displeasure from the blue eyed matriarch as done so sheepishly when Tamboruine had been in her company. That was what she was used to; judgement for her social wrongdoings. And so, when the dark shewolf praised her reply, Simatra took a step back in surprise, unsure really of how to react. A name was offered, and the Kali responded with her own, interest quelling her odd anxiety for the time being.

"Simatra," she'd greet, regaining proper footing and returning to the friendly gesture with a slight twitch of her tail. "I'll return shortly with my promised prey," she continued. The thought of a partial success drove the former Dezba to leave the presence of Amber, and head off into the surrounding brush in search of her payment.

---

She returned with a trio of winter-weathered mice in her jaws. They had been easy pickings, Simatra having stumbled upon their nest only short minutes after workpding her departure. With a gentle rumble, she voiced her homecoming and deposited her findings at the paws of the soon-to-be mother.

The tawny woman's surprise struck a chord in Ambers heart -- perhaps the maternal ones, since she was suddenly overcame with the urge to cuddle this girl -- and she frowned sadly. She didn't ask, seeing as Simatra both intrdoduced and excused herself. It hurt her to think the golden woman wasn't used to kindness, and before she'd even left Amber's sapphire sight, she'd made up her mind to invite her to try and join Easthollow. There, she would have a family. 

In the lapse of time she was alone, a couple of the pups' activity had stirred, and the mother to be busied herself with curling her head around to nuzzle at them. It was in this position she was laying in when Simatra again came around the bush, and when she deposited the rodents at her paws, she motioned slightly for her to feel should she want to, grinning like a madwoman. 

Whether she felt or not -- in which she might've felt a kick or a squirm -- the pups soon calmed and Amber twisted back around to snuffle in a bear-like fashion at the meal. Licking her chops, she nudged one of the larger ones to Simatra herself, unwilling to eat alone even if she was sharing a story. 

                   "I don't like eating alone. You're a good hunter, y'know: you could come home with me and talk to the Alpha about joining, if you needed a place."

Her excuse was light and joking, accompanied with a sly wink, before Amber ripped directly into the belly of the first between her paws. Already, she'd decided on the story of Pegasus. 

Chewing the bite, Amber turned her gaze to the sky, searching out the box of stars and the three lines of stars that made up the head and forelegs, lifting a paw and pointing once she'd found it. After swallowing, she launched into the tale, taking her time and taking breaks inbetween for quick bites. The pups moved again with either the food or the story, and it brought her even more pleasure to know that not only could she teach Simatra, she could speak to her children too -- not that they really understood. 

                                                                    "Pegasus was a winged horse that came out of Medusa when she was be-headed by a young hero, Perseus. The Gorgon Medusa was once a beautiful Lybian princess, coveted by many. Because she was seduced by the sea god Poseidon in the temple consecrated to Athena, Athena transformed her into a monster. She had fur of serpents and anyone who looked into her eyes was turned into stone forever.
After his birth, Pegasus lived on the Mount Helicon -- not sure where that is myself, but I imagine it to be very beautiful--. One day, another ancient Greek hero whose name was Bellerophon believed that he could fly with Pegasus to Olympus, where the gods lived. To prevent him from doing that, King of the Gods, Zeus, sent a horsefly to bite Pegasus. Bellerophon lost control of his horse and fell back to Earth.

Pegasus continued to fly alone and reached Olympus, where Zeus received him for his own. Since then, he transports thunderbolts for Zeus, who placed his figure in the night sky in the constellation of the winged horse. Selfish things, the Gods are, but they seem to leave mortals out of it nowadays."

Her gift was gratefully accepted by the raven furred wolfess, and Simatra watched with hesitant curiosity as Amber began to massage the mouse. At first the gold furred Kali thought she was eating it, but when another was nudged in her direction, she took it between her jaws and settled down beside her. Soft words more were spoken, and the wolfess accompanied them with a light laugh, both mind and figure relaxing fully under the watch of the expecting mother. "We'll see," she quipped, teeth stripping her offered meal, savouring each bite as Amber began her tale.

With the majority of the rodent now in her mouth, Simatra raised her snout to the sky and followed the night-matriarch's lead, evergreen orbs resting on the configuration of stars that Amber's story presumably revolved around. How someone saw such value in bright dots was alien to the ears of the former Dezba, yet their fascination was not so much of a stranger to her now. Perhaps they served as a placeholder for whatever extraterrestrial being one might believe in, Simatra had never thought of them in that way before, but as the black shewolf continued, she found her thoughts were righted and proven correct.

"I don't believe in these gods," she spoke quietly, tail curling around her paws. Her gaze never left the heavens. And after a brief hesitation: "Do you think Pegasus wishes he was free of... serving Zeus?" How Amber knew of this was a complete mystery to Simatra, yet that didn't stop her from asking. It was as if her very words were contradicting one another, interchanging between reality and stellar imagery as swatches of the story replayed over in her mind. All very conflicting.