The Sunspire namesake

At two months of age, she'd developed rapidly in some aspects. Certainly her singing had become quite important, and especially now as she adjusted to the changes brought on by the move. She could be found babbling to herself still, but would grow quiet if anyone came too close. Sometimes she'd sing to Okeanos, or hum a tune at whichever parent was visiting with her, but she did not want to share her gift with the other kids. There was something about them that made her nervous — maybe just their presence and the fact that, with the move, it seemed like her family had grown by so many more bodies.

One thing that certainly changed with Ibis was her ability to speak. Singing and making noise was one thing, but with the visits by Wraen and the constant attention of her beloved mother, Ibis' ability to pick up on words had increased tremendously. It had started off so slowly (with the sounds of the birds) and now she could identify her family with names she had given them ("Oh-no" for her brother, "Seebee" for her mother, "Tooah" for her father; she struggled with harder sounds still, but was learning).

The latest name she had come up with was for the big protector, the man who had given them a place to sleep and stay. She was looking for him now, this big gray-faced stranger, and spotted him outside of the den doing god knows what. She yipped at him with the hope that he would stop, and regardless if he did or not, Ibis dramatically called to @Rannoch sternly as she called him, Wamwod!

To Ibis, this was the sound everyone used when they called to him, and so she thought it was his name.

The transition of introducing Sunspire's children had gone smoother than Rannoch had anticipated—their cries and confusion had been expected. Despite this, he was impressed with how quickly they adapted to their cohabitation. Their efforts deserved a reward. 

Rannoch had been out of the den for some time, tracking down the perfect pelt for all of Sunspire's children; a frail fox became his game after an hour of scouting.  With the animal between his jaws, Rannoch then picked his way back towards the den. He intended to skin the animal before returning inside.
 
"Wamwod!" Ibis called once he was in sight of the den.

Rannoch had been spotted, and he immediately stopped, smirked, and placed the fox on the ground. Rannoch couldn't help but be entertained by her attempt as his name. "Ibis," he returned fondly once he had turned his head to face her. "You want to help me with something?" he asked with a smile.

There! He had heard her, and she felt quite accomplished as he stopped everything to heed her. It was hard for her not to smile warmly at him upon approach, and it was evident as she struggled to keep a serious face, the kind of face she sometimes saw the big people wear when they talked about important things.

What she had to say was important too, and she did not hold back.

Abee go now, she proclaimed before him, adorably saying her own name wrong. an' Ohno! Go -- go -- home! She struggled for that last word and maybe thats why her eyes misted over, but either way, she was demanding something.

Despite's Ibis' difficulty with pronouncing certain words did not hinder his understanding of what she wanted. "Soon," he promised quickly. "Not now, but soon." Rannoch was undecided of when they'd return home; their previous den site was not safe, as far as he was concerned. 

"We're staying here to keep you all safe. To keep bad guys away." He elaborated, hoping to help her comprehension of the situation.

She heard him, but it wasn't enough. When would they go back? Why were they here? Nobody asked her first! Okay, that last one wasn't fully formed in her mind, but Ibis still did not appreciate being moved for no good reason. Rannoch explained that there had been danger — she remembered feeling very afraid but not why — and his mention of bad guys just made her frown.

Abee wanna guh home! Ohno -- Ohno kee' bah guy away, she was confident as she said this, and even did a little nod of her nose before settling down a little. Ohno kee' Abee -- he kee' Abee -- what was that word he'd used? Safe? She didn't really know what it meant but she knew she didn't need anyone except for Okeanos! And, well, obviously mama and papa. We go! She demanded again, and even stomped her little feet for effect.

Rannoch's elaboration only seemed to further provoke Ibis. If reason didn't sit well with the child, perhaps bribing would. He turned his attention towards the fox at his feet and frowned. 

"Well, if you go home now, I guess we can't play with this new toy I got you guys..." he trailed and glanced at her; he wondered what she made of the new information.

Her stomping continued a little bit too long (mostly because she picked up a beat as she went, and couldn't help it, dancing was fun). But she paused when he mentioned something about a new toy, and for a moment it was like nothing was wrong at all.

Her eyes went wide with wonder, and Ibis craned her neck to try and see what he had for her — and saw a plush thing that was a little bigger than herself, coated in orange-red. It stood out starkly against the dirt, and when Rannoch moved (if he moved) the sun caught in the red of the fur and made it ignite. She hummed a little note as curiosity took over — but it only lasted a moment.

Ibis turned away sharply and directed her voice in to the den behind her, @Okeanos! Ohno! See! See! She wanted to show the odd thing to her brother before anything else could distract her.

okeanos is not far from ibis, napping contently amongst the other small bodies, his prize-wing layed over him like a feathery blanket. her cries rouse him slowly -- he's so used to her constant noise-making he's long since learned to sleep around it -- but eventually he yawns and sleepily stumbles his way towards the mouth of the den, calling "wassit ibby?"

the sootsprite pulls up next to her and licks her face, not noticing rannoch for a moment. when he does he beams, leaning on ibis as he says "wanwock!" his puppy-blue eyes finally landing on the -- oooh what's that? he chirps at it, looking at ibis again. "is gelman?" he asks -- having accidentally associated wraen's "gentleman" with his toy, he more or less uses the word to refer to any gift given by an adult.

Rannoch smiled; the toy had worked! As Okeanos hurried onto the scene, he took a step back to allow the children to investigate on their own. 

In time, the dark-furred child asked a question, and Rannoch chimed in—he is endlessly amused by puppy-babble. "That's a fox, Okeanos," he answered. He looked at both children with a smile, and asked, "Can you guys say fox?"

Gemmman? she hummed in repitition of the sounds that Okeanos made, unsure of what it meant. But Ibis looked from her brother to the toy and watched the glowing red cast in the fur from the sunlight; her eyes were big for a moment as she stared at it, looked to Rannoch, stared some more, and then murmured as if reverent: Fock! Wow! It was so pretty!

okeanos' little head bobs as ibis repeats him, not correcting her mispronunciation of his mispronunciation. he's more interested in the gelman itself, or the, as wanwock puts it, fox. "fuck!" his voice calls out a moment after his sister, his own expression ridiculously round and interested. with gentle movements he scoots closer to it, one tiny paws reaching out to touch the bright red fur. as he presses down on it a fullbody shiver runs through him, chirping, "sof' fuck!" and beaming at rannoch.

Oh—for fox's sake! 

"N-No, Okeanos," Rannoch corrected; he was a sudden, awkward mess of emotions—humored, horrified, and embarrassed. "Fox.... Can you repeat with me? Foooooooooooooooooooox," There was no way in he—double hockey sticks that Rannoch was going to return them to their parents with that kind of language. 

Not wanting to focus solely on the negative, Rannoch glanced at Ibis and smiled. "Yes, Ibis, very good," he praised. 

Sorry for the wait!

She liked how soft it was, and how colorful, and the way that Okeanos sad the word made her giggle but she didn't know why; it might've correlated to the look on Rannoch's face as he heard the kids begin to cuss.

She pounced on the fox and squished against its soft fur, mumuring, Fawk fawk fawk! All the while giggling.

Whilst the children continued their light-hearted chirping, Rannoch silently prepared himself for the inevitable scolding that he'd receive from Seabreeze and Terance. He sighed—kids would be kids. 

When Ibis and Okeanos grew bored of their new toy, Rannoch herded them back to the den where they'd be returned to their mother. He apologized without giving Seabreeze any explanation and fled suddenly. 

She'd learn why he apologized in due time.