Stone Circle my youth is yours
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#1
All Welcome 
Leta had been resting when she caught the sight of a rabbit hopping along. Her stomach rumbled, and the girl was on her feet in seconds to try and catch it. She gave chase for a little while, but the rabbit zig-zagged in patterns that were quite clever. Leta was not as hungry as the rest of the pack for their feeding her, but she wanted to try and help them as best as she could. This plump one would be a nice thank-you snack for her father, if she could catch it. 

So she did not give up, though she felt she was failing as it dashed and gained more distance away from her.
you are loved, you are loved more than you know
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Ooc — Jaclyn
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#2
@Leta Mind if we forward date this? I'd love to have an aunt/niece bonding thread!

Nanook saw the young girl from a distance away, and felt the sharp pang of hunger when her copper eyes fell upon the prey she pursued. The chase seemed unevenly tipped; an untrained youth against the wiles of a rabbit. The creature would not hurt Leta, but its pace would no doubt exhaust and disorient her. Yet Nanook did not move; though her belly protested, she crouched with the gentle thought of patience; she had faced greater famine before, and the child would need to learn.

Her niece was fervent in her steps, at least, but much less trained, much slower, than Valette. Nanook could see the space between Leta and the rabbit expand by the second, and soon the mercenary rose, and stretched once before she sprung into a sprint, and shot in the direction of the rabbit's path. Still too far away to catch the little bugger herself, but perhaps close enough to scare the prey back toward Leta. Normally she wouldn't have intercepted -- how would a child learn to be self-sufficient, if they did not experience failure? -- but their family was too hard pressed for Nanook to wish for that lesson now.
with every heartbeat I have left
I will defend your every breath, I promise
I'll do better
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#3
Something... something changed!

Leta's hazel eyes widened in surprise as she saw her aunt emerge from the place she had concealed herself, and this in of itself was almost enough for Leta to abandon her then-goal. But suddenly it was coming toward her again, and oh! Oh it was so close! Leta resumed her pursuit, long-legged, gangly gait steady enough for her to... to...

She bit the spine, shook—

Flash of black. Flash of acidic yellow, and in the black of its horrible, depthless center, she herself... what was she doing there? What was this feeling that seized her so?

Terror, it was terror, and Leta could not hear her own muffled scream as she violently shook the critter that was long-dead, by now, her hind-limbs failing her as she collapsed onto her hinds. All of fifteen seconds this lasted before Leta came too, confounded, eyes drifting over the blood that speckled the earth before her. She released the animal, gasping. I... did it? She could not remember, nor did recall the memories that had replayed either. Only unease lingered, but she did not know why.
you are loved, you are loved more than you know
354 Posts
Ooc — Jaclyn
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#4
A small pride stole over Nanook's firm countenance and seemed to melt the tension that strung her shoulders tight. A smile, for her niece recovered well from the hiccup in her pursuit. She had faltered, but she had given the killing blow. There was a hunter; a child of her mother.

But... there was also something wrong, and Nanook felt a sickening dread crawl through her stomach. She rose to her paws, stole a step forward. Leta shook, and shook, and, "Leta," she called, and her tension returned and willed her to clip the ground with a quicker pace, fur upright, and ears slicked back. "Leta!"

By the time she reached the kill, her niece was in her final throes. The rabbit fell to the ground, lifeless and dead, but Nanook's firm eyes were not on the rabbit. She stepped past the prey, and went straight for the child, to nose her up and down. "You did it, that rabbit is more than dead," she said, but her skin still tingled with unease at what she had seen. Did this happen often? Did Valette know? "Leta, what happened? Can you move your legs?" And she nosed her again, on the hip, at the heels, hoping she would move.
with every heartbeat I have left
I will defend your every breath, I promise
I'll do better
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#5
Leta looked more than a little dazed as her awareness returned to her; she did not realize her aunt was by her side until she was. Instinctively, Leta flinched away... though that did little, as she was still stationary otherwise. Licking her chops repeatedly as Nanook observed her, poking and prodding, Leta asked: ...my legs? She was still a little numb, and not entirely aware quite yet.

Uhm, she shifted, though her weight could only be distributed to her front limbs. Having never experienced this before in her life, Leta had no cause to really panic or feel nervous but for her aunts anxiety; it bled into Leta's voice then as she answered, uhm, no?
you are loved, you are loved more than you know
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#6
Leta confirmed the worst, and Nanook's felt a shadow pass over her heart. While she had received some training from the convent in the treatment of maladies, she had reserved herself, primarily, to the practical study of earth and sky. Purely scientific. Nanook understood how to work the soil, tend the ground, and cultivate the land for better growth, but her foray into healing ended there.

But she did not need to know herbs and bindings to know that this -- this was not good. Nanook kept her paw on Leta's rear, and rephrased her question, "What about this? Can you feel my touch?" and she pressed her claws against her niece's flesh, not enough to pierce, only enough to force a pressure through the fur that any healthy wolf would shift away from.
with every heartbeat I have left
I will defend your every breath, I promise
I'll do better
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#7
I BACK. Maybe wee can wrap tthis one up and have a new one!

Leta flinched; that she felt. Yes, she informed her aunt. She was in control of her faculties minutes later; perhaps it was all simply shock related, or anxiety. Whatever it was, Leta did not know. I just... I think I need to sleep now, she drawled, averting her gaze sheepishly. She had worked herself into a mental tizzy, and had exhausted herself from both the hunt and all that followed it.
you are loved, you are loved more than you know
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Ooc — Jaclyn
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#8
Sounds good! :D Feel free to archive, or wrap up with one more post! I’d love another thread between these two :)

Nanook wasn’t convinced. Wolves did not simply “sleep off” the sudden cessation of their legs, even if they were able to move them again some moments later. Whatever had happened to her niece was not normal — yet whatever had happened to her niece seemed over for now.

“Come along, then. I will see you back to the Circle,” and she would take no nonsense, if Leta protested in any way to Nanook acting as her escort. The naturalist simply did not trust Leta’s legs to carry her the full measure back to camp. If they gave out again, at least she would be around. “And take the rabbit, too,” she said, after a pause, “for yourself. Stars know, you need the energy.”

Once she delivered Leta back to camp, she decided she would inform @Valette about what had happened today. And she decided, from this point on, to keep an eye on the child. There was the chance this was only an anomaly, a one time fluke, but Nanook would take no chances. Valette had suffered enough losses in her life already. If this was a sign of any kind... Nanook would do what she could, to prevent her sister from facing another.
with every heartbeat I have left
I will defend your every breath, I promise
I'll do better