Sunset Valley layaway dreams, choked on first breath

tags for reference

The wolves of Sagtannet were on the move once again. She didn’t know why, but she wasn’t pleased about it. It wasn’t because she had grown attached to the mountain; she enjoyed it for the new sights and nothing else. Once she had discovered just about everything, it’d grown dull and boring. No, Marble was upset because she would have to move her rock collection again.

The young girl was very picky about who could and could not touch her rocks this time around. @Star was allowed to help of course. She trusted her mother more than anyone. @Calcifer was also allowed to carry a pebble or two. Whether he accepted the task or not was unknown to her. She just expected he’d do it simply because he was family. Marble considered forcing asking @Astraeus to help, but he’d probably lose the rocks along the way like the fool he was. 

Marble, of course, would carry the bulk of her collection to their new camp. Her top two—the sparkly one and the smooth one— were carefully nestled between her teeth as she strolled through the valley.

i hope my assumptions r okay, i can change them if not!

She lurks in the background for the most part, assigning herself tasks where it seems her help would be useful when @Mahler has no specific requests of her. This time she's tasked herself with escorting the elderly mother and her children during the move, noticing their departure and shadowing silently. She greets @Star with a dip of her head, a respectful acknowledgement — and then she falls back for a time, trailing them, watching carefully for any danger.
Eventually the daughter separates from her mother, and Morgana closes the distance between them, hyper aware of their surroundings now. She doesn't directly acknowledge the girl, even as she comes within a few yards of her, but it's clear where her focus lies. A silent guardian, she continues to survey the area as they pass through, on the lookout for friend and foe alike.

The family’s shadow went unnoticed—ignored rather— for the majority of the trip. She kept her distance, and Marble preferred it stay that way. She wasn’t keen on socializing with strangers unless completely necessary.

For whatever reason, the woman decided to follow Marble when she diverged from the path. She hadn’t noticed her pursuer at first, and when she did she tried to ignore her, but when she didn’t stop following Marble had enough. The girl spun around and glared at the woman.

The girl halts, whirling around with eyes hurling daggers at the shadowcreature. Morgana pauses mid-step, one onyx-clawed paw hovering above the ground for half a beat, then lowering slowly. Her head cants, mismatched gaze unreadable as she studies the girl. Is there a problem? She asks, toneless, a dark stone sentinel void of reaction or emotion. The Melonii has never cared for children. She holds no great dislike of them, either; they simply exist, an inconvenient larval stage acting as a barrier to true consciousness, training wheels on the true power of higher thought. This in mind, the child's apparent annoyance means little to her. She is simply doing her job as a child; flailing about with her emotions, lashing out, testing the waters and figuring out which suits her best. If she retains her prickliness into adulthood, perhaps she might even survive long enough to enjoy it.

Must she ask? Of course there’s a problem. Marble thought she made that obvious. The woman’s presence was not appreciated. She couldn’t decide  whether her silence made that worse.

No. She didn’t say that because there wasn’t a problem, she said it because she wanted her to leave. No, was the only way she knew how to communicate that. Marble rather not speak at all, but body language didn’t get the Heron Man to leave, so it probably wouldn’t work now either. People listen better when spoken to, she’s learned.