Firefly Glen Stretching my bones to know the world from where you stand

It was late, but that made little difference to Fennec.  She did know that the sun was down, and had receded recently, but only the cooler air tipped her off to it.  She fluffed up her pelt a bit on her (relatively scrawny) frame and continued on, huffing out a small breath.

She was on the hunt for @Meerkat, though idly.  She wanted to catch the girl alone because she knew if Bronco was there, she'd be way too tempted (as usual) to take the out he offered and let him do the work.  She knew herself too well for it, and for once, she felt like she should probably act a little like a sister.

She'd resented and resisted being shoe-horned into babysitting, unable to see anything in it past an empty job where she couldn't possibly "screw up". Not to mention the fact that Meerkat's energy was the polar opposite of hers, and a force that Fennec had little idea how to channel or respond to.  She couldn't really insult her... or make light of her.  So she'd always kinda avoided her.  She was selfish, so this had worked for her; so wrapped up in her own issues that she had no time to spare for anyone else's.

Every once in a while, guilt won out.  And since she was here, now, she couldn't help but want to see Meerkat.  She missed Fig a hell of a lot more than she'd expected to, and she figured maybe seeing her baby sis would set that at ease too.  She knew around where Bronco normally stayed, and that (weirdly) the two were... super close.  Fennec didn't think of her step brother as family much at all, so the depth of their bond always felt odd to her too, but she'd learned to roll her eyes (metaphorically) and let it go.  For the moment, she slipped quietly through the area, stepping cautiously and keeping her ears open for any sign.

Meerkat couldn't remember ever getting sick, at least not like this. After emptying her bowels for the nth time, she flopped down beside the stream cutting through Redstone Canyon. It wasn't particularly comfortable, but it allowed her to stretch forward and lap at the water to slake her horrible thirst. She supposed it made sense that her body would crave water after losing so much of it. She should probably eat too, though her stomach still felt pretty tender.

She wanted to get up and seize the day like usual. There were still so many things to do to get Firefly Glen off the ground. It would've been particularly nice to crash in a den with @Bronco rather than hang out here on the hard, cold stones. But Meerkat was exhausted and weak from the endless bouts of diarrhea. Her body demanded repose and rest, something she acknowledged with an uncharacteristic groan of defeat.

The first thing Fennec noticed was the smell.  She wrinkled her nose as she caught a whiff of it, hanging in a faint way about where Meerkat ended up being.  It didn't just smell bad, but a little... unhealthy.  That idiot Bronco probably ate a bad squirrel and was cashing in on their deal early.  Fennec let out a breath, then followed it.

Instead, it was Meerkat she found at the end.  Fennec stopped a short distance away, arriving just in time to hear the younger girl groan.  Well, she wasn't dead, so that was a plus.  Hey, you alright?  Fennec asked, but there was more curiosity than concern in her voice.  Fennec's bedside manner would never quite match up to her mentor's, but at least fascination was better than ambivalence.

The scrape of leathery paw pads on the rocks made Meerkat's good ear tilt right before she turned to behold her own older sister venturing nearer. Despite how she felt, the young she-wolf tapped her tail and even managed a smile. Forgetting that it probably wouldn't matter much to Fennec, she pushed herself into a seated position, ignoring the slight shakiness of her legs.

"Hey, Fen!" she greeted, even mustering up her usual enthusiasm for her sister. "I'm okay, it's just... " Meerkat sought Fen's gaze by rote, the strangeness of her cloudy eyes disconcerting and fascinating in equal measure. She stared, caught herself and realized Fen wouldn't realize or care, all in the space of a few heartbeats. "I think I have a stomach bug or something," she continued after her small pause. Lowering her voice, she spoke out of the side of her mouth as she added, "I've had the squirts for, like, two days now."

Fennec heard the slight threadiness to her words and could tell immediately that Meerkat wasn't feeling tip top.  Her enthusiasm might have been there, but subtlty was Fennec's specialty.  She frowned, wracking her brain for something.  What was it Eljay had said helped with digestion?  Grass, at times, but not for this particular problem.  Well that's shitty, she said, lips twitching.

Suddenly, it came back to her.  She'd memorized so many that it sometimes took a moment, but the joke was the catalyst, because she'd subjected Eljay to a few similarly terrible ones as he was explaining the remedy.  You don't see any elm trees around here, do you?  She hadn't managed to gather any of the bark yet, but now she'd make a point to.

She snorted at Fennec's quip, nodding in agreement and forgetting her sister couldn't see the gesture. A beat later, she stilled at the question, her chestnut eyes immediately flicking around their surroundings. There weren't any trees in the immediate area, given the rocky ground, yet there was a stand of them at the far mouth of the small canyon. In fact, there were quite a few trees there and as Meerkat peered at them, she realized she wasn't sure how to tell which ones might be elms.

"What does an elm look like?" Meerkat wondered aloud, turning back to Fen and abruptly realizing the yearling wouldn't know. With a sheepish laugh, she said, "I mean, there's some trees over there." Well, that didn't help much either. She wasn't quite flustered but hopefully the third time was the charm as she wondered, "If I take you to them, can you tell which one's which?"

Fennec didn't even have time to crack a wise remark before Meerkat course corrected her initial statement.  Alright, probably for the best, all things considered.  She could contemplate the ethics of making jokes at her patients' expense later.

These ones have small roundish leaves, but yeah.  They have a smell.  Scent was vivid, but hard for her to describe.  Especially with how subtle the differences were.  Some were "spicier", some "bland", some just... off.  But even with those words, the nuance was lost.

Did you eat something rotten or something? Fennec asked as Meetkat presumably led the way.  As they arrived at the trees, she'd nose around them, scenting the bark and the leaves to look for the particular sort she needed to find.

Meerkat nodded unnecessarily and moved closer to Fennec, not quite sure whether she needed to press close or simply hover nearby as they made their way toward the trees. She figured her sister would tell her what she needed, if anything, so the youngster took point and padded slowly through the canyon's mouth toward the greenery.

"Nope, I d—ohhh..." Meerkat replied, something suddenly clicking in her head even as she went to answer, "shit." She didn't curse often, if ever, but Fennec had used it first and it felt oddly appropriate. "I ate a whole mess of pumpkins the other day. And—oh, shit!" she cursed again. "I totally fed them to... everyone... else..."

Pumpkins.  Fennec noted that down.  She remembered Meerkat bringing it, and the way it had smelled and tasted.  She hadn't eaten much of it and apparently that was a good thing.  For once her finnicky stomach had paid off.  Guess I should definitely bring back extra then,  she said with a smirk.  If it was an honest mistake, Meerkat shouldn't feel too guilty.  And if it was a joke, well... so long as no one got really messed up from it, it was a hilarious one.

It took Fennec a while to find the right tree.  It wasn't in the first bunch that Meerkat showed her, but there was another small copse that (luckily) had a single stunted elm.  Fennec sniffed the bark to be sure, then set into it with her claws, digging a chunk out and turning it up.  The inner bark is what you want to eat.  That should be a good amount, I think? But you can have more tomorrow morning if you still feel shitty.  The joke never got old.

In the meantime, she was already working at digging out a few more sections from the poor tree.  She wasn't sure how many more of these were around here, so she'd have to mark this spot for future reference.

Still grappling with the realization that she might've made her pack mates sick, Meerkat met Fennec's remark with a cocked head. She said nothing as her older sister explored the area with her nose, simply trailing absently behind her and hoping no one's symptoms were as bad as hers. No one else had eaten quite so many...

She looked around sharply when Fen spoke to her, scooting to her side. Fen had stripped some bark from a tree, the sharp scent of it hitting her nose right away. Despite herself, she laughed at the older girl's joke, tacking on a little groan at the end.

While Fennec resumed gathering more bark, Meerkat eyeballed the strip she'd been given, then slowly inserted it in her mouth. She chewed it, finding the flavor bad and the texture worse. But she absolutely trusted her sister and wanted to do as she was told, especially if it provided relief. So she chewed and chewed and chewed, then swallowed.

"Thanks for helping me, Fen. Maybe when you're finished gathering it, we should go find the others?" Meerkat had already come up with a mental checklist of names. "I could show you around while we're at it, if Bronco hasn't already," she added, a cheerful note in her voice before she realized her possible faux pas. "I mean, would you like a tour of the glen?"

Sure.  She didn't even catch the joke until Meerkat corrected herself.  Sometimes she was quick, but sometimes it took someone else second guessing when it came to super colloquial phrases.  Occasionally it was annoying, but she gave her baby sister a lot more leniency than she would have anyone else.  Bronco took me through a bit of it, but I wouldn't mind another pass.  It was a lot of work for her to learn an area and she tended to manage moving faster if she was accompanied.  If you need to make a quick exit, though, no worries.  I get it.  She grinned knowingly as she finished scraping off the last few hunks of bark she'd be taking.  She didn't want to kill the tree by stripping the entire thing.

Fennec gave no indication that she'd fumbled her words, so Meerkat gave a little sigh of relief and smiled when her older sister decided to take her up on her offer. It would be fascinating, giving a tour to a blind wolf, and she liked the challenge. It would make her pay more attention to things aside from the obvious visuals.

The quip baffled her at first, though only for a beat before she realized, "You mean, if my insides try to quickly exit my body again?" She laughed, eyeballing Fen's collection of bark strips. "I'm feeling okay for now, probably thanks to you, but if I get the shits again, I'm sure you'll know by the sound and smell!" Meerkat crowed before bounding a few steps in preparation to lead Fen further into the glen.

we can fade here or continue, your choice!

Oh, she definitely would!  She'd known it pretty quickly even coming upon Meerkat.  She loved the humor and lack of self-consciousness her sister showed, though, and Fennec grinned as she followed.  I don't know how fast that works, so just yell 'shit' or something and I'll try and bolt.  Now there was a mental picture.

The terms set, Fennec was happy to follow Meerkat's lead and hear whatever it was she wanted to say about the territory.  Bronco hadn't been particularly eloquent or thorough in his showing (I am assuming and stating into fact) so it was both exhausing and a little nice to get Meerkat's take on things.