Sun Mote Copse souls in the wind must learn how to bend

Tags are for reference, though anyone’s welcome!

Meerkat and Skipjack returned from an early foray, nudged back home by the threat of a rainstorm. Rather than join her in The Taigh, Skipjack declared he wanted to head to @Seal’s Nook instead. She made a noise of assent, then ducked beneath the gnarled old roots of her family’s home. She’d hoped someone else might be there but the cottage was empty, leaving Meerkat alone with her thoughts. Her stomach knotted.

She drew in a breath, then folded down on a worn fur. Her whisky eyes stared vaguely out the door as the gloom gathered. During their field trip to the falls, Skip had asked her the question she’d been dreading: “Ma, can we go on a longer trip someday soon? Like Grandma?”

Meerkat wrestled with herself as the rain began to fall. She could let Skipjack accompany Towhee the next time she went traveling, but sending her very young, blind son out with her aging, deaf mother didn’t seem like a very good idea. Anyhow, it might be a moot point, if Towhee was carrying pups now.

She knew she needed to speak to Njord. Maybe they could arrange to take Skip and @Otter on a trip somewhere, preferably before their son decided to run off by himself again. Meerkat didn’t like the thought of leaving the copse for long but she would ask the others to stay behind to look after it, just for a little while. Between Towhee, @Fennec and the older children that remained, it would be in good paws.

The soft growl of thunder cut into her thoughts as the rain fell harder, faster. Meerkat shifted, wondering if at any moment someone caught out in the storm might pop into The Taigh.

Seal enjoyed the peace of SunMote Copse. It helped calm the buzz in her mind.

She thought of Frolic. Would her adventuring friend fulfill her words and find the Copse, too?

She thought of Raiyuk. He had been injured during the apprehension of a man in Moontide.

She thought of Ajei and Arrluk as they led their own lives.

Now, it was time for Seal to carve her own place.

Like a reflection of her mind, a summer storm rolled in. Rain began to pour down hard and so Seal sought the nearest shelter, which happened to be the Taigh.

“Och!” she huffed when she escaped the downpour. Reactively, she shook out her furs not realizing her mother was here.

#2,000 for you.

She wondered if she’d somehow manifested Seal’s appearance, a smile on her lips even as her eyes slitted against the onslaught of rainwater. Meerkat laughed under her breath when she realized the irony: here was Seal, whilst her little brother was occupying her nook!

Clearing her throat, the mother offered, Come here and I’ll help dry you off, one sandy paw patting the hard-packed floor of the cottage.

I'm honored!! <3 <3

Seal squeaked when she discovered there was company in the Taigh and she gasped when she realized it was her mother.

“Sorry, mom!” She apologized profusely. “I hope I didnae get you wet!”

There was no love as ironclad as a mother’s, though, and Seal quickly fell into place beside Meerkat like she was a pup again.

“S’raining cats and dogs out there,” she huffed a laugh. “I dinnae recall last summer being so rainy,” Seal added as she listened to the pitter-patter of the weather outside.

Meerkat shook her head lightly at Seal’s concerns, rolling her weight slightly to one side to accommodate the yearling as she settled down beside her. Without hesitation, she pressed back, never minding the dampness as she began to wick away the moisture with gentle passes of her tongue.

Her daughter’s idle observation made her pause and say, You know, I think the copse flooded once. I hope nothing like that happens, and glanced out the doorway with a thoughtful frown. I suppose there’s no use worrying about it. It’s not as if we have any control over Mother Nature.

She resumed drying Seal’s coat, sitting back only when she was satisfied with her handiwork. Meerkat gave a breathy laugh as she wiped a few stray strands of fur from her mouth, then snuggled closer to her grown daughter.

I’m happy you’re here, she murmured for no particular reason other than it was the truth. On a whim, Meerkat reached to stroke Seal’s brow as she added, Where do you think your sister is right now? What adventures do you think she’s getting into?

Seal’s jaw fell agape. A flood!

A stout nod of the head proved Seal was in agreement with her mother. Paws crossed no natural disasters happened here, the young woman thought to herself.

“Me too,” Seal agreed. “I cannae explain it but I just feel… centered here.”

Then, Meerkat poised a question about Orca. Seal laughed, “I bet she’s off wrestlin’ wild beasts!” It was easy to imagine her brave sister inciting mayhem. Then, a somber pause. “I really miss Orca. I wish she’d come home,” the daughter admitted.

"I saw my friend Frolic on my way tae the Copse," she told her mother. "But she didnae stick around... you ken Frolic! She's such a busybody!" Seal laughed, but by her mixed expression it was evident the girl felt anything but joy.

It meant a great deal to hear that Seal felt centered in the copse. It was a testament to the village she and Njord had worked so hard to build for their family. And though she could easily picture Orca wrestling wild beasts and certainly understood the merits of adventuring, Meerkat secretly wished more of her children felt the way Seal did.

Me too, she murmured, still brushing a paw over Seal’s crown, smoothing the damp fur along the curve of her neck.

It went still when she noticed the strange look on Seal’s face. It didn’t match well with the tone of her story. There was a hollowness to her laughter that prompted Meerkat to lean back a little and study her daughter’s face.

It can be troubling sometimes, accommodating more capricious personalities, she ventured, resuming her soothing pets. I’m sorry if your reunion didn’t go the way you’d hoped. Do you want to talk about it?

At first, Seal’s instinct was to keep any worries to herself. “No, it’s okay,” Seal quickly replied.

A moment of silence passed between them and the young woman felt her heart become heavy.

“Actually, yeah… I do…”

And so Meerkat’s daughter spilled her heart over missing her dearest friends… Frolic, Ajei… and even Raiyuk. How they had all grown apart and now led their own lives. How she longed for the simpler days of her childhood.