Wheeling Gull Isle loneliness is a dealer's sweep

marking this for me to get some posts in with Nüwu, but also welcome any other kids to join so I'm not just threading with myself :P will respond to this tomorrow

Four perfect children. Each one small, some growing more rapidly than others- all of them loved. Each day she fed and bathed them, made sure to keep their pelts clean of any dust that inhabited the den floor. Each day their markings became more apparent- Xiaoqing, the spotted boy with a dark face and pale feet. Haoming, a girl who resembled Mal closely, wearing a pale spotted coat with a deep grey mask upon her face. Nüwu- who bore Dacio's dark muzzle and had a ruddy hint to her fur. And Luli, the smallest- a little rose, spotted like her brother and sister with a magnificent coat. They were all beautiful, and she wondered how a woman as dull as herself had borne such lovely kids. A great thanks to their father's DNA, she decided- though perhaps that fancy red came from herself. 

Today Huā wished to test the language skills of her children. Could they say 妈妈 yet? When did the time come that their babbles might turn into something more complex? She knew they could murmur odd little noises- and mama was not a word leaps and bounds ahead of that. And so that morning, she turned her seaglass eyes upon her children, hoping to grab their attention with a careful click of her tongue.

As the little sailor grew, more of the world wished to greet him. First came Sight and then Hearing, the latter most unusual. When he opened his mouth, there were sounds that came out—noises to disrupt the silence, some louder than others but all equally intriguing. Oftentimes the child could be found murmuring to himself, babbling and cooing at different volumes, wondering about each sound; when he was not babbling he was either eating or sleeping and, sometimes, simply gazing at those around him—with Sight improving, too, he was more drawn to his siblings. Mere shadows of varying shapes and sizes no more, those images were becoming more clear. Soon, perhaps, he might even be able to differentiate them.

Xiaoqing was only just waking up when he heard the clicking of the Milk Giver, a new sound that caused his head to whip around to face her. Although he was originally going to spend the day the same as always, making unnecessary noises, those plans changed the second that sound reached his ears. Wide-eyed and staring, the babe could not remove his gaze from the face of his mother, attention locked on.

nüwu perked up in unison, carefully eyeing her mother. what would she want now? to feed them? tuck them into bed? those were the things nüwu liked, though she had an unbearable curiosity about the light that emerged from one place in the den, and would not turn down the opportunity to take a look into the beyond. but for now she reflected xiaoqing- wide-eyed, staring, attention held. she was only a child, though- so huā ought to do something before her short-lived attention span would break the spell.

Two of them caught her gaze- Xiaoqing and Nüwu. For a moment Huā was hypnotized by them in turn; their blue eyes reflected the sea, and she could practically see the ocean waves in them. The moment was fleeting though, and she knew time ran short, and so snapped out of it. Instead there came the test- Huā was no master in teaching children, and so her only notion was to ask. 小青，女巫，你们可以说'妈妈'吗? She wondered aloud, voice slow yet lighthearted, as if that might entertain them. She slunk closer, settling in front of them on her belly so as to reach their height. 妈妈 She repeated quietly to them, praying they might catch on. And if they didn't... ah, well. Perhaps it was not time yet.

Closely did the boy watch, baby blues following his mother’s as she sunk closer to the ground. Still as could be, the only part of him to move was his ears, perking at the sound of her voice. The sounds foreign yet, no more understandable to him than his babbling to her. Disinterest threatened to take over, encouraged by confusion until something did make sense—she was closer to the ground, closer to them, which meant it was time to play!

Various sounds of incoherent rambling slipped out of his mouth as Xiaoqing hoisted himself—after a very obvious and almost-painful-to-watch struggle—up onto unsteady legs and bounded towards her. Tumbling over several times before finally reaching her, the little chunkster didn’t falter before flopping over in front of her, whining excitedly.

their mother made noise that she did not understand, but the repetition of 'ma' five times in a row- one 'mama', one question particle, and another 'mama'- sunk into her mind. what did it mean? m... she mumbled quietly, and after a long moment of silence added a ...ah....  the sounds were quiet and awkward, and after they came she felt awkward, turning away as her brother began to scamper towards the milk-giver. huā had already lost her attention, and she intended to go back to sleep now, uncaring for words.

lol I forgot to mention in nuwus post but she can be skipped from here onward :)

A noise similar to "ma" left Nüwu's mouth at snail's pace before she turned away, while Xiaoqing babbled incoherently and headed towards his mother for play in a tumble. She sighed, though her smile was warm. It wasn't time for them to speak. Not yet. Still, she was happy to entertain the more giddy of the pair with play- and so as he flopped in front of her, she leaned in to nuzzle his neck and shoulders, wondering if she could tickle him somehow to the point of adorable giggles.

When the Milk Giver rewarded his efforts with her touch, he assumed he’d acted appropriately—apparently those sounds she was making meant for him to go over to her! Pleased with himself and his ability to understand her (or so he thought), Xiaoqing grinned. He continued to swat at her muzzle, even as she nuzzled and prodded at him—until something tickled his nose and the child let out a sneeze.

Right in his poor mother’s face.

Baby swats at her muzzle, not an annoyance to her and rather adorable. She did not realize what sort of messages she was sending him with her adoration of everything he did, only was glad to have time with him. He began to sniffle, but she caught on too late- and soon enough was sprayed by his disgusting infant sneeze germs. She was stunned for a moment, blinking with shock, and then she frowned, pulling away. It was not the boy's fault, but she couldn't help her impulsive huff of 江小青! 看看你做了什么! A black paw was brought to her muzzle, begrudgingly wiping at the moisture that was scattered across it. 哎呀， She sighed, momentarily distracted from her son and focused on drying her face.