Valley of Gold you may encounter the body

while it is strange not to see ghost in the skies or to feel his weight perched upon the junction of her shoulders, she presses her shoulder against @Tvar as her avian companion is sent on ahead to find @Towhee and bushtit as instructed. though there was a slight worry that ghost might not understand the instructions given to him, he'd taken to the flight earlier in the morning as towhee leads the way to the valley of gold; more south than the valley but not too far south.

she had begun showing, in what feels like over night to her though logic tells her it was a progressive growth of the children she carries and had not, in fact, happened overnight. nevertheless, it takes every modicum of her focus not to obsess over less of the swell of her flanks but more so the growth of life within her womb.

she offers the valley as it yawns before them a judgmental scan of her gaze; not very impressed by the trample of snow. -it's much prettier in the summer.- towhee promises, turning to face her husband with a warm smile. -we should wait here for a bit,- her subtle way of saying she needed a break to give her aching paws some rest without wanting to truly admit it.

I hope this is cool! But if it isn’t, just let me know and I’ll remove it. :)

He couldn’t find his mom. She wasn’t where he’d left her. Bushtit ran all around the caldera, sometimes even foolishly calling her name. He couldn’t find any good trails and could only think to run south again. Towhee had probably gone looking for him there.

When he hadn’t found her after a day or two of scouring the lowlands, Bushtit grew seriously worried. He thought about telling Soto. He wasn’t sure what the Segundo would do with the information but Bushtit didn’t know what else to do or where else to turn.

And then he saw her. The boy let out a small cry as his eyes caught on Towhee’s familiar figure in the distance. He didn’t hesitate to run toward her. He wondered who was with her but thought nothing of it, really, until he came closer and realized—his stomach plummeting—it was the wrong Towhee.

He stopped short, out of breath and feeling like he might be sick.

he will not lie and say he wasn't nervous. but after towhee's reassurances, it had lessened over the days. finally, towhee had roused him to head out and meet her family. he follows obedient at her side, ever the attentive helicopter husband, pressed to her side should she feel the need to lean against him.

a content smile permanently plastered on his dark mask. when she stirred him to stop, he had been looking off in the distance, hazel eyes roaming the hills of snow that are endless within the valley. the faint movement of her at his side is what draws his attention, eyes following the path of her paws as she signs to him, and he huffs in agreement.

pretending he does not notice the way she carries herself upon her paws. it is pretty, he agrees, before leaning in to plant a kiss upon her nose. not as pretty as you. a corny, sheepish comment but he cannot help himself.

but commotion in the distance draws tvar's attention, head whipping around. instinctively he steps in front of his pregnant wife, brows drawing downwards in a scowl—quickly replaced with concern at the stranger boy's despairing. confused, he looks to towhee jr.

it's totally fine, kat! as a side note, you two get my 300th post! <3

grateful for the break and for the fact that tvar does not push: in continuing on when she needed a break or for making her state that her paws were sore and she was ( almost ) desperate for a quick cat nap. for a few moments towhee basks in the sunshine as she lowers herself to her haunches carefully ( still getting used to the additional weight ), tvar's corny words that make her cheeks warm with a blush: a giddy newly wed and in the portion of pregnancy that she enjoyed it. not too large and no longer nauseous by everything.

though it is no fault of bushtit, this buoyed giddiness is short-lived. her brother arrives with ghost flying shortly behind. but absent her mother. and while towhee might not've worried too much: her brother was the age in which wander by himself was not unusual ... towhee's observance of his reactions, running towards her only to stop short, bring a sort of perhaps unwarranted sense of dread washing over her.

tvar reacts as she would expect, moving to place himself between her and bushtit. she rises to her paws, slower than she would like and moves to his side, brushing her muzzle against his shoulder to communicate at ease. she pushes past her husband, towards her brother. -brother,- she signs in ptero in both greeting and for tvar's benefit as it is the easiest way she knows to communicate that they are related whilst not spending too much time when she is alarmed by bushtit's reactions and her mother's lack of presence. -are you okay? where's mom?-

GRATS!!! :D

Bushtit spared his sister’s companions a cursory glance each, then focused on her familiar features. They were absent the signs of their mother’s advanced age: no crow’s feet or white hairs here. If anything, Jr looked healthier than ever, plump and glowing. In the back of his mind, he remembered her good news, which meant that must be Tvar behind her.

The words burst out of him: I don’t know! I can’t find her anywhere! Bushtit sucked in a breath, then proceeded slightly less frantically, -“I last saw her at the caldera. That was almost a week ago. I just wanted to go off on my own for a little bit. I didn’t mean to lose track of her. What if something bad happened to her, Jr? I’m freaking out.”-

As if she couldn’t tell. He drew in another breath and grimaced as he eyed the man behind her. They must be here for the promised rendezvous, so Towhee Sr could meet her son-in-law. Instead, she was nowhere to be found and Bushtit’s outburst was probably stressing out his pregnant sister. That couldn’t be good for her babies.

Turning his head aside so she wouldn’t be able to read his lips and mistakenly think it was aimed at her, Bushtit spat, Fuck!

am so honored \o/ congrats tj on 300 posts !!

tvar watches the boy, tense. he studies the way towhee signs and the panic in bushtit’s movements. the kid's body language speaks enough—fear, guilt, and confusion written across every inch of him.

fuck’s going on? he mutters, his gaze shifting to his wife. he can feel the stress radiating from her, and it stirs a protective instinct deep in his chest. but then he reminds himself: this is family. now, his extended family.

towhee's brother turns away to spit a curse, and tvar sighs, stepping closer to towhee, his paw brushing lightly against hers.

we’ll find her, he signs. then his gaze flicks back to bushtit. towhee must rely on reading his lips now, because tvar lacks the confidence just yet to efficiently sign as quickly as the other two. start from the beginning. what happened? where did you go? how long exactly has she been missing?

he needs facts, details—anything to ground the situation in something they can act on. panic won’t help anyone right now.

though her brother's panic begins to ignite her own, towhee jr attempts to temper it. for while it was no secret that her mother, despite that towhee jr would fully believe her to be immortal, was getting older. it was easy not to notice it, because a part of her chooses not to. but when faced with a situation like this, reality comes in like a stark and impossible to ignore storm. still, she must be strong. logical. for herself. for her babies. for bushtit.

-it is ok, bushtit. take a deep breath,- towhee jr signs, forcing her own shoulders to relax, to portray a picture of resolute ease. even if it didn't portray the reeling worry of her thoughts. -mom is strong. smart. and she always did like to travel.- but no doubt that was redundant to what bushtit already knew; but it was unusual, towhee knows, that the elder towhee would travel even a small distance without letting him know.

she looks to tvar then, chest warming as he jumps in an attempt to help calm her brother. it reminds towhee that despite that he has grown so much he was still just a boy. her attention moves to her brother then as he turns back around, intently watching him to answer her husband's questions.

When his sister’s companion signed, it distracted him from his panicky feelings. He stared at the man’s limbs for a moment, catching Jr’s command to breathe out of the corner of his eye. He bobbed his head and did as he was told, drawing in a deep breath through his mouth and then exhaling through his nose.

-“You’re right. She probably just got bored and wandered away,”- he remarked to Jr before shifting his gaze to the man beside her. -“Are you Tvar?”- he asked. -“Nothing really happened. We were visiting the caldera when I decided to wander off on my own for a bit…”-

He stopped there, ears splaying sheepishly. Bushtit should’ve told his mom he wanted some time to himself versus simply… failing to show up at bedtime like always. He felt like such a piece of shit right then, his dark eyes falling to his pale paws.

tvars concerns seem to fall away with the unscrunching of his brows. he chuckles lightly, leaning his side into tj briefly.

sounds like you are the lost one. his lips curl in quiet amusement, hazel eyes glinting as realization settles. this was certainly not how he was expecting his introduction into the family to go, but at least it was amusing. the nerves built up in his stomach had long since passed.

he shifts his gaze to towhee—only momentarily—before he looks to her brother again. shifting upon dark paws, casting eyes out past him as if he might see their mother come walking up at anytime. but nothing. nonetheless, he presses his lips together: is there any place she might have returned to? somewhere familiar?

-yes. this is tvar,- towhee signs, sheepishness washing over her expression as she realized she never formally introduced them to one another. -tvar, this is my youngest brother, bushtit.- she finish, movements holding a twinge of apology that does not directly make its way into her ptero.

she'd been a bit waylaid by bushtit's worry and introducing them had become a far-flung thought. but now that bushtit appears to be calm(er) and her husband steps up in an effort to assist.

without much more to add, as tvar was asking the logical questions already towhee can read via watching his lips, her paws are still; contented to watch their exchange.

Tvar’s spin on things elicited a huff of laughter from the youth. He supposed that was one way of looking at it. He drew in a breath, his chest expanding with it, then blew it out with a slight raspberry only his brother-in-law would hear. Luckily, it wasn’t loud enough to drown out the man’s followup questions.

-“Yeah… if she’s not at the caldera, she’s gotta be somewhere around here,”- he said, gesturing at the lowlands. Looking for me, Bushtit thought with another heaping helping of guilt. -“We probably just missed each other,”- he added, some of the remaining tension loosening as he allowed himself to feel reassured.

Sometimes, Towhee’s deafness was a pain in the ass. Bushtit knew better than to say that, not just because of Jr’s own condition but because he was in polite company. His dark eyes swung to Tvar, taking a moment to assess his sister’s mate. Now that his panic was subsiding, his curiosity grew.

-“It’s good to meet you, Tvar. Sorry about all the confusion and stuff,”- Bushtit said, cheeks warm as he realized he’d embarrassed himself in front of him. -“Thanks for being so gracious about it,”- he murmured, then cleared his throat and asked, -“So, when are your guys’ kids due?”-

They’d wanted to meet with Towhee and they’d gotten him instead. Bushtit hoped he could salvage the situation a bit, his curiosity about their offspring quite genuine. He knew about the mechanics, though if Towhee had ever specifically mentioned gestation, he couldn’t remember how long it usually lasted. And it wasn’t like he knew when these two had boned—a thought which had him wrinkling his nose and laughing, seemingly inexplicably.

as towhee introduces the two of them, he presses his shoulder into hers instinctively; seeking her touch, all while he watches the kid with mild amusement. watching the emotions pour over his pale face. guilt, relief, then something that has him laughing to himself.

tvar's eyes wrinkle with his own amusement.

good to meet you too, he signs, dipping his head slightly. don’t worry about it. he glances at towhee, smirking, and then aiming a wink at the boy. figured sooner or later i’d be meeting her family anyway.

bushtit’s next question earns a small huff. tvar shifts his weight, gaze flicking to towhee before he answers. soon. month, maybe less. his expression softens. he pauses to let towhee take over now—he's content to take a back seat while she speaks with her brother. tvar's ears swivel and his tail tucks calmly amongst his hocks for the rest of the interaction.

there's a not-so-soft kick to her rib that has towhee wincing; though she quickly tries to hide it. the babies within her were growing more active and she tells herself that this is good development ... even if it wasn't great for her lungs, ribs or bladder. she shifts her weight and though wishes she could stay longer, knows she should begin the trip back to bearclaw before she grew too tired.

-give mom my love when you see her,- towhee jr signs to her brother. -perhaps once the children are old enough we can have another meet up.- towhee jr offers and offers her brother a sheepish smile. -i should head back. i'm a bit desperate for a nap.- she admits.

Tvar said it would be a month, maybe a little less. Bushtit nodded, committing this information to memory. He would pass it along to Towhee once he found her. The thought had him gulping in another big breath.

But before he could spiral again, he caught Jr’s grimace. Bushtit rose halfway out of his seat, as if eager to comfort her, then remembered that job belonged to Tvar now. He settled back on his haunches, though he wasn’t surprised when his sister said they needed to head back.

-“I bet it’s exhausting growing bodies inside of yours,”- he posited, eyes dropping to linger on the slight swell of her middle. -“Don’t worry, I will. It’ll make a great distraction if she starts hollering at me for running off,”- he jested with more bravado than he actually felt.

Bushtit pushed onto all fours this time, sliding back a step as his dark eyes bounced between Towhee Jr and Tvar. He flashed them both a small smile, his pale tail waving.

-“It was good to see you guys, despite the circumstances. Take care of yourselves. Me and mom will see you soon,”- he offered by way of farewell, waiting until they turned to go before he did the same in the other direction.