Sun Mote Copse “It never hurts to keep looking for sunshine.” —Eeyore
Sun Mote Copse
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#1
All Welcome 
When @Figment had come to tell her about his trip to visit the Frosthawks, Meerkat had wanted to go with him, of course! He'd patiently explained that she needed to stay here, with their parents, and let her know he wouldn't be too far away or gone very long. Although disappointed that she couldn't join her older brother on his adventure, she had given him a big hug and a sticky kiss on the cheek, then told him she'd miss him "this much," forelegs spread wide as they'd go.

And she did miss him, though any time Meerkat felt her heart sink over it, she reminded herself he wasn't far and he'd be back soon! She used these same reassurances on Towhee and @Phox if and when they seemed a little sad about their elder son's departure. The former seemed to be taking it pretty hard, which didn't surprise even young Meerkat. She didn't remember @Fennec quite as well, though she did recall Towhee's recent spate of depression about her older sister's absence. This felt much the same.

Well, she did what she could to cheer up her family and keep them in good spirits despite the gaping hole in the ranks. Today, that included bringing her mother a dead gopher she'd managed to catch not far from the rendezvous site. Towhee seemed genuinely distracted and impressed by her lucky catch. She hadn't eaten much the past day or so but accepted the food and nibbled at it in between words of praise.

Beaming, Meerkat sat with her mom while she ate her lunch. Afterward, Towhee opted for a nap, so the pup jumped to her feet and went off to explore the copse. She wondered if there was anything else she could do to help Towhee or other pack mates who might feel sad about Fig's departure, smiling to herself around the hole in her own heart.
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Q could sense the sadness, but couldn't really put a name to it. Meerkat was the sibling who spent the most time with her, so the absence of Fig and Fen was not really recognized by the young cub. Q had been taking a nice, lazy afternoon nap when Meerkat returned to the rendezvous with a gopher. She sprang to all fours and watched the exchange between mother and daughter and when Meerkat started to walk away, Q got all up in Towhee's grill to sniff at the gopher. Not anything she smelled before. 

What dat??? She asked, and poked at the gopher with a growing paw, what is?? But she didn't wait long for an answer, impatient little tyrant that she was. She spun around and followed Meerkat, tail waving as she bumped against her, whats doing? Because this time around, she planned on coming with. So long as no one stopped her... but her freedoms seemed to change by the day. And Q enjoyed pressing her luck, troll that she was.
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#3
Once Towhee's eyes closed, she became dead to the world. When Quetzal bumbled by, poking at the gopher's remains with a childish query on her lips, the Regent didn't stir, nor did she react when she immediately ran after Meerkat.

The older pup hadn't gotten far. She stopped when her little sister drew up alongside her, their sides brushing. -"Hi, Q!"- she greeted. She'd never had any trouble telling the twins apart. -"I'm trying to spread smiles!"- was her answer to the other youngster's question. -"You wanna come with me?"- she invited, not really thinking about how the adults might not want Q wandering away from the rendezvous site.
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Spread smiles? That sounded nice in theory. Q mostly spread looks of revulsion, bemusement, and horror... all at once. She thought of what made her mom smile, and her dad smile. She liked what made her dad smile, more. Oh!!!!!!!!! 'kay!! Le's uhm, le's... do some mud, her tail waved, wanting to find mud. Mud fights would spread smiles, for sure. Of course that was a selfish line of thought; Alyx did not love mud fights after all. 

Her bright eyes looked to 'Kat, wondering what she would think of the suggestion, but not really. Because she thought it was seriously such a great idea and already, she was starting to smile and giggle at the thought conspirationally. She nudged 'Kat and said, we do some mud??? with another little giggle, like it was the best idea in the world.
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#5
Her lips parted in a light laugh at Q's suggestion. She wasn't sure how mud correlated with smiles but she was definitely open-minded. She tipped her head as if awaiting an explanation. When one didn't come and her sister pressed her to go search for some mud, Meerkat contemplated how they could use it to spread good cheer. It didn't take her long to come up with an idea.

-"Okay, sure! How about we make some mud pies and take them back to our moms and dad?"- Meerkat spitballed, touching noses with Q as if thanking her for the good lead. She then drew back, dark eyes resting on Quetzal's face, waiting to see what her fellow youth thought of this plan.
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Oookaaaay!!!!! She squealed, jumping in place, thinking mud pies translated to the exact sort of mess she wanted to make. If that wasn't the case, she'd teach 'Kat, cause they could have some fun before bringing the fun to the rest of the pack. Wow, she and her sister were so kind and giving. Nobel Peace Prize pending. 

Q dashed ahead, snuffling boarishly at the ground. To be honest, the thousands of scents in this earth were still hecking confusing to her and doing this narrowed things down by not a damn thing. But as luck would have it, rain suddenly began to fall in slow little droplets... and in time, they would not need to find a puddle. A puddle would find them

She thrilled at the feeling of a raindrop plunking right on her snout, though, and squealed as she looked to 'Kat! Eeeeeeee! She giggled, dancing again in place.
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Quetzal readily agreed before dashing forward in search of their main ingredient. Only as Meerkat's eyes followed her did she think about whether they should roam far from the rendezvous site. She glanced in its direction, though she neither saw nor heard any sign of an adult coming after them. All the same, she was old enough to feel protective over her baby sister.

-"Hey, Q!"- she called, signing even though her sister's back was turned. It was simply natural for her. -"Let's—"- Before she could get out the entire sentence, a few cool raindrops fell from the sky and Quetzal's gleeful shout cut across her, prompting an affectionate snort from Meerkat as she watched the kid dance.

-"HEY, WEIRD BABY!"- she tried again, using one of her fond nicknames and raising her voice, -"LET'S GO BACK TO THE RENDEZVOUS SITE, I KNOW EXACTLY WHERE TO FIND SOME MUD PUDDLES THERE!"-
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#8
Weird was a compliment to Q, who never took it the wrong way when she heard it; she flopped onto her side and began to roll all around on the ground, getting a nice little mud bath where she was because, why not? Now that the rain was beginning to fall faster, it seemed like the best thing to do. As 'Kat raised her voice, Q jolted up to get a good look at her with a happy little grin, quite pleased with herself. 

KAT!!!!!!! she screamed back, simply because she liked to yell, KAT WEIRD!!!! her tail waved, and her smile indicated it was clearly no insult but rather the best thing to be. When she heard that they were to go back, Q did pout a little bit. She didn't remember any mud puddles, and she'd just been there! BUT... Q NO WANNA, she yelled, Q WANNA BES WHERE Q BE, she informed, and drummed her paws on the muddy earth, though eventually she did get up to dart toward Kat. Not to go back, though. Mudmonster Q went to attempt to hug her best pal in a mudmonster hug.
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Her younger sister refuted her, causing Meerkat to press her lips together ponderously. How could she get Q to cooperate? Before she could contemplate how best to coax the littler puppy back to the rendezvous site, a freshly muddied Quetzal came barreling toward her. She could've tried dodging, though Meerkat just held still and let it happen.

She laughed upon impact, feeling Q's forelegs sling around her neck as mud smeared just about everywhere. Meerkat figuratively and literally leaned into it, pressing her nose against her sister's cheek and nuzzling it emphatically right before gathering some mud on her toes and wiping it off on the other child's neck.

And then an idea struck her. -"Come and get me!"- Meerkat chirped, spinning and darting back toward the area where Towhee still snoozed, totally unawares.
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#10
Quetzal was not clever or perceptive enough to deduce that she was being baited. 

So, proper incentive given, the wicked little imp of a girl loitered where she was for a moment—as though debating if she was being tricked (she was not, she was just wanting her sister to think that she was safe for a moment)—before she began to holler and charge toward Meerkat. 

Oh, she would get her alright. And open up a can of muddy whoopass (oh, no, that does not sound good) on her once she did. HEHEHE, came her evil little giggle as she got closer.
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She could hear Quetzal's cry of playful outrage behind her, getting louder. Meerkat grinned to herself even as she reached the soundly sleeping Towhee and dove behind her mother. She didn't intend to jostle her, yet she wasn't particularly graceful and accidentally stomped one of the Regent's outstretched legs. Towhee immediately startled awake with a snort, blinking blearily at Meerkat, who was now prairie-dogging over the slope of her mother's back.

-"Meerkat... why,"- Towhee slurred, oblivious to the charging Q behind her.
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And soon, Towhee would see why. 

What raced toward her wasn't any ordinary critter. It was a mudmonster, coming straight for her. Q blundered after Meerkat, carrying more than just mud now. Twigs, leaves, a branch she found along the way and had to have... bugs, probably. And soon enough they were back to where they ought to be and there was Towma! 

Q didn't see Meerkat at first, but the moment her sister prairie dogging her pace kicked up to Lightning McQueen final-lapping it. With all the panache of Rod Kimble, Quetzal utilized her pseudo-ramp (Towhee)... unsurprisingly, inefficiently enough to the point where she took a tumble. Immediately upon trying to make it over Towma, she'd be arse over tea-kettle as she rolled over her back. With a squeal, she still hoped to muddy her sister up... but accidentally got her own aunt good, a nice little strip of black-brown muck left behind for her efforts as she plopped downward. Ideally right on top of Meerkat, though she might have had the wherewithal to run away.
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Suddenly, there was a monkey on her back. Some part of Towhee knew it must be one of the kids, yet she was so groggy that she reacted by pure instinct. She jumped to her feet, which helped propel Q down her flank as if her body was a makeshift slide. She felt the mud streak down her back even as she whirled and found herself face-to-face with the two muddy buddies, all tangled together.

Meerkat was laughing as she looked up at her bewildered mother while simultaneously pushing one of Quetzal's soggy forelegs off her forehead. They were both filthy now, so was Towhee. The Regent looked a little ticked off, so Meerkat quickly gathered some of the mud off Q's face, shaping it into more of a cookie than a pie and presenting it with a cry of, "Surprise!"

She hoped it would make Towhee smile, despite the day's heartache and her interrupted nap. For a solid beat or two, she couldn't be sure, as the Regent just blinked expressionlessly. Then, slowly but surely, her lips began to twitch.

Mission: accomplished.
I archive threads if my partner goes inactive and/or there are no new replies for several weeks. I'm more than happy to continue an archived thread if you're interested. Just revive it (via maintenance) and tag me in your next reply. :)