Sea Lion Shores You're more than a sunshine in my eyes

Reverie did not utter a single complaint, but all it would take was a glance to tell the story of her rapid descent into the depths of the illness which had been gnawing at her for months. She turned lethargic and distractible, hardly acknowledging @Lestan even when he spoke to her. Increasingly she kept her eyes trained on Blossom, but twice now Reverie had seemingly forgotten where she was and what she was doing entirely, and nearly wandered away from her lover and her daughter.
She remembered herself just in time, but after that second occasion, did not fully return to the present. She trailed after Lestan in a haze — but by the time they were close enough to the Sea Lion Shores to hear the distant vocalizations of its namesake, she was done. Without fully realizing what she was doing, she picked up Blossom and curled around her abruptly in the sands with halting, weakened movements. She was shivering fiercely. Everything hurt; her ears, her chest, every muscle in her body.
She remembered Lestan then, and looked to him, but couldn't bring herself to say anything.

rapidly she sickened, until they were forced to stop. lestan, who had grown even leaner during their flight, settled blossom on the now threadbare pelt they had brought with them from the creek. he hovered over reverie, frenetic and yet determined not to fall to panic.
"i'm going to get water. be still. blossom, i'll take her." lestan did not wait for reverie to argue; he picked their daughter up and stumbled off in search of moss, refusing to let his mate from eyeshot.
he found none, but returned with hollow grasses, each containing some degree of water. "rev," lestan whispered, wanting her to look at him.

She did look at him then, but not before, though she had cried out a little when he took Blossom from her. Fear seized her. Don't leave - don't leave, please, it gets worse when you leave - And she couldn't bear it, surely she would die if it got any worse, or at least this body would, and then —
Reverie started to cry, uninterested in water despite the dryness of her throat. She wanted nothing, nothing but an end to this misery. But there was no end in sight, and she could only tremble and reach for Lestan.

Blossom was too young to know what was happening in its entirety, but she knew something was wrong. She knew something was very wrong with everything.

She felt it in the air, in the pawsteps of her parents, in the constriction of her lungs when she breathed. She woke sniffly some mornings now, snot dribbling from her little nose, and she coughed in greatly interspersed intervals.

But today, today she felt bad. And her momma felt bad. And her father felt bad and everyone felt bad and when Reverie started to cry-!

Blossom broke into the reedy wail of an upset, congested infant, plopping onto her plump rear to howl her upset at the very sky. Great tears dripped down her cheeks, her great big ears flat to her head as she wailed and cried, throwing a tantrum for the first time in her short life and unable to specify why.

"drink, please," lestan pleaded, head jerking toward blossom as the baby began to cry. he gathered her close to his thin chest and tried to hold a reed over reverie's lips. if she did not have water, she would die. 
at last the panic took hold of him; he called out anyone within earshot. "t-the bay isn't far. drink. drink more, then i'll call for them, all right?" lestan kissed blossom's forehead and tried to take steadying breaths.

Blossom. Reverie's focus turned all at once to her daughter as she began to cry. She was distracted for long enough that she listened to Lestan's desperate request, if only because she didn't think too much about it, and she took some of the water offered even as dread and panic settled over her.
She's sick, Her voice rose with panic. She's sick - ! Blossom was sick and Reverie had failed, failed to protect her and keep her healthy and happy the way she'd promised that she would. You have to - take her to Saltshore, right now. Without me.
The implication was cutting to her own heart, but Reverie suddenly did not care at all for any feeling of her own.

Dada. Dear sweet dad. He bundled her against his chest, and for a brief moment, she was appeased. Her wailing quieted to sniffles and the occasional whine, the babe contenting herself with the smell of her father.

Unfortunately, she was beginning to understand bits more of what was happening, and the ensuing panic from her mother compounded on her own unexplainable emotion until she was back to fully crying, reaching for her mother with her little paws spread wide.

"do not ask me to leave you here, reverie. i won't!"
lestan bounced blossom gently. "she's all right. she's j-just scared, rev." they all were.
he paced around her form a few moments, then set blossom down again. "i can carry you both."
and he would!

Lestan refused; Blossom reached for her; Reverie felt herself beginning to crumble, stuck now on the question of why. Why couldn't she be stronger? Why couldn't she be what they needed?
She pulled Blossom close when Lestan set her down, kissing her nose, her cheeks, her forehead. I'm sorry, Reverie murmured to her, trying very hard to stifle her tears now. I love you. I'll - Her voice dropped, so low that even Lestan would struggle to hear it from where he stood near. I'll be stronger, for you. Did she have another choice? Lestan wouldn't leave her here — and Blossom's well-being sat above all other priorities.
With great effort, she stood, still holding Blossom. I can walk, She muttered, not looking at him. He didn't understand. Blossom needed him; he couldn't waste his energy trying to avoid making this inevitable decision, and so Reverie made it for him. Either way, it was too late for her, and had been the moment her daughter fell ill. Now all that mattered was Blossom. Reverie would see her safe if it was the last thing she did in this world —
And she truly felt that it might be.

The reassurance helped, and Blossom soothed near immediately. She still sniffled, and used a paw to rub at her aching eyes, but mostly just focused on her parents.

She looked between them with wide, red rimmed eyes, trying desperately to use what little cognition she had to figure out what was happening. It made her little head spin with things she had never considered. Fear was unfamiliar, and yet now she felt it. Heavy in her chest, it made her want to well with tears all over again.

She didn’t, but she was desperate to try and make everyone feel better again.

Muh! She interjected into the conversation.

Dah! She just wanted their attention for a moment, thank you. When she got it, she wiggled in a complex way, then tried to smile. Did that help? She hoped it did.

"no. n-no more walking." lestan spared a thin smile for blossom, looking encouragingly between she and reverie as if to affirm the girl was all right. 
and then he set his shoulder, wanting to lift the downed woman and steady her across his withers as best he was able, taking as much of her body-weight as he could.
and blossom; with effort lestan reached down to grab her nape, hefting her with a grunt. now; he faced the direction of saltshore and took a step.

Lestan - Reverie panicked further; he was going to hurt himself for her! But she was weaker than she realized, and her resistance fluttered against his resolve like butterfly wings against bone. Lestan, please - He wouldn't listen, and Reverie had let him make their decisions for too long to hold her own now, in the absence of strength and a clear mind. This was her fault, all of it, and the ones she loved the most were suffering for it — and there was nothing she could do.