The Heartwood the wolven storm

She heard her mother’s call and immediately began making preparations to go see her. That was easier said than done, of course, especially with her built-in sitters (@Njord and @Stingray) still off on their adventure. After feeding @Orca II and Seal breakfast, she went by the lodge to see if @Chakliux and @Nasamik could watch them for a few hours. If not, she would arrange another sitter, as the girls were a little too young to venture that far yet.

Meerkat didn’t make it to The Heartwood until early afternoon. She crossed the glen and followed Towhee’s trail toward the nearby trees, smiling as she recognized @Phox’s and @Jack Snipe’s scents too. The others must belong to her newest brother and sister, though Maxim’s was conspicuously missing.

When her mother appeared, they exchanged hugs and Meerkat followed Towhee deeper into the woods, where Jack was keeping an eye on the napping @Sable and @Towhee Jr. She waved at the yearling, who volunteered to go find Phox (“he’s out hunting”). Meerkat nodded and then faced Towhee, eager to catch up on everything…

You should come to the village, she said a while later, gazing off toward Moonspear before meeting her mother’s eyes, I mean, to meet the girls. But you could always stay…

I’m hoping she can meet her baby siblings or chat with Phox! But this can be an RO if nobody’s available.

Phox appeared just as Jack was beginning to leave the group, a fat hare in tow. It was one of the better things he'd caught since losing his leg, and he dropped it for Sable and Towhee Jr, who he was sure would promptly tear it to shreds. Growing girls and all that, they could use all the meat they could get.

He wasn't surprised to see Meerkat had joined them, and Phox caught himself from waving, lest he lose his balance. Instead, his tail waved behind him as he approached, glad to catch up with yet another one of his grown children. Well, if it isn't the miracle baby, he said, sitting down so he could ruffle the fur atop her head. Phox knew she had babies of her own, but all his kids would be babies to him.

slight pp of towhee & phox. i figured they'd probably tell her that they were visiting family. if you'd like me to change it, just let me know and i'll happily do so! <3

what towhee jr doesn't realize is that adventure means meeting strangers. family, she is assured by phox and towhee ( probably repeatedly ) via ptero ... but jr still is unsure.

she sticks near sable, peering at what phother was able to bring them; her hunger dissipating as her interest was pulled in the direction of stranger.

family.

still, the woman is an unknown to jr who woke up from her nap and was attempting to sort through the strange mix of hostile and curious. two things in which should cancel the other out.

jr approaches in a quick trot. -who?- she demands in ptero, signing out the word, ignoring the ease of the postures of towhee and phox.

Before her mother could react to that leading statement, Phox appeared with a fat rabbit dangling from his mouth. He set it down near the pups and Meerkat caught a glimpse of them rousing to investigate his kill. But her whisky gaze swiftly returned to her dad’s familiar features. Towhee had mentioned his missing leg, though it was still slightly jarring to see it in person.

Hey, dad! It’s so good to see you! How are you? Meerkat said, smiling fondly at the old nickname as she went in for a hug. I was just telling mom— she began to tell him as she pulled away, only to be distracted by the approach of Towhee’s tiny lookalike.

Hiya, you must be Jr! Meerkat said to the little girl, admitting, My Ptero is pretty rusty but… She paused, then slowly signed as she spoke, -“It’s nice to meet you. I’m your older sister, Meerkat.”-

“But you could always stay…”

Towhee didn’t know what to say to that, though it didn’t matter. Phox and Towhee Jr captured Meerkat’s attention, leaving Towhee to melt into the backdrop for a few minutes. She would be a big, fat liar if she said she hadn’t considered that—among all sorts of various scenarios—but she tabled it, for now.

There was something magical about watching Meerkat interacting with Jr, even if her elder daughter’s rusty Ptero earned a tsk! from Towhee. She folded down into a sphinx pose, eyes sparkling as she waited to see how her stoic little mini-me would handle her sweet big sister.

This is just a cameo to get this in her thread log, so please skip!

Towhee Jr swooped in to steal the show, the little rascal! Phox didn't protest, watching as Meerkat introduced herself—in rather rusty ptero—to her baby sister. He had noted the glance at his empty hip, though Meerkat seemed more placated by the lack of explanation than Figment had been. It was a good thing Towhee had warned her ahead of time, as Phox was really wearing down on explaining (or rather, lack of explaining) the ordeal.

-Go on,- he encouraged the Towhee replica. -Say hello.- Both of the kids had seemed reluctant with strangers, though Meerkat was no stranger to him.

at phox's encouragement, jr turns her attention to meerkat, who signs that she is her older sister.

meerkat.

jr studies her for a long moment, warring with her instincts. they tell her 'stranger' but she trusts her phother and mother.

-hi,- she signs then. -i'm towhee. jr.- it's not much, but its a start and any progress is still progress.

The little girl looked at her so mistrustfully, Meerkat wanted to laugh. She stifled the urge, though she couldn’t help but smile when Towhee Jr somewhat reluctantly signed a proper introduction.

-“Your Ptero is already better than mine!”- she observed. -“You know, you remind me of someone…”- Meerkat tilted her head and tapped her lip, like she was thinking, then grinned. -“I bet you hear that all the time, don’t you? It’s kind of neat to see what mom would’ve looked like as a kid.”-

Meerkat glanced over at Towhee (who let out another tsk!), then back to Jr. She decided she would slide forward into a sphinx pose to put them on more even footing. This would prevent her from signing effectively—sorry, mom!—but hopefully Jr could follow her speech just as well.

That made her think, though, and Meerkat looked to Phox simply because he was closer to ask, Does she take after mom…? She pointed at one of her own ears (the secretly deaf one, as a matter of fact).

Mini Towhee signed, and Phox grinned, enjoying the interaction. He watched and listened as Meerkat rattled on. It wasn't until Meerkat looked to him and spoke without signing that he perked up again. -You know I was the same age as Towhee, right? Like, from the beginning?- he teased. -So far, she doesn't verbalize much. I don't know if it's because she can't or won't, but it doesn't matter too much.- Phox had gotten into the habit of signing when speaking long ago, and he rarely did one without the other these days.

-How's things going here? Njord being good to you?- he asked.

unfortunately for meerkat, jr did not follow along with verbalization. her lip reading wasn't great — but probably because it strike her as necessary. a wrong assumption she would come to learn.

she tries, to her credit, to focus on meerkat's lips as her older sister takes up a sphinx-like position.

but isn't able to make sense of it.

so she plops down on her huanches and lets her gaze wander.

Meerkat didn’t understand her dad’s first comment, though he explained that Towhee Jr didn’t really verbalize. She looked at her little sister thoughtfully as she plopped to the ground. Was she just mimicking Meerkat or was she done with the conversation? Meerkat tried to catch her eye and smile.

In case Jr was hard of hearing and not capable of lipreading just yet, Meerkat shifted to sign as she answered Phox, -“Yes, Njord is wonderful. We went through some pretty hard times earlier this year, resulting in our relocation, but it’s turned out for the best, I think. Mountain village life really suits us.”-

Towhee was signing something now, so Meerkat’s eyes cut to her mom and translated out loud, -“‘Ask him about his dates’?”- Face brightening, she looked back to Phox and said, -“Dates?! I need to hear all about this.”-

She pricked het ears for her dad’s incoming love stories, making sure to include Towhee Jr with a glance or smile any time her gaze wandered Meerkat’s way.