Blacktail Deer Plateau See a little starlight

ooc: @Constantine

Osprey had awoken that morning, feeling very cold, even though the temperature outside wasn't to blame. She got to her feet slowly, letting out series of quiet whimpers, because of the aching and swollen joints and shook her coat - out of habit, though in an awkward manner, her increased weight and pain rendering her from completing the act the way it should be done. She trembled and she had to clench her jaws to prevent her the chattering of her teeth. The bitter taste in her mouth reminded her of the last meal she had taken yesterady, how very hard it had been to keep it down and how very hungry she still was. It would be easy to go and seek out a cache - there even was one not far from here, but the idea of making all the painful way there and later back again didn't seem worth it. Therefore she decided... that she would survive one day without eating.

As she lied down again, on her side to keep any pressure on her feet away, she regretted for turning down Burke's gift, for it would have been very handy at the moment. She would not have to go anywhere. The sunlight peeked through the thick blanket of gray clouds and caressed her face gently - Osprey closed her eyes and sighed. If only people could survive on sunlight alone...

Thanks for starting!  :D

Her belly was what he saw first and the boy's eyes went wide.  It had been a long time since the boy had seen Osprey and so he had not seen the slow inflation from lean mean hunting machine to pregnant blob.  Thus he could only assume in his innocent, young way that she had eaten at least a deer and a half herself.  Which meant that she was storing up the food for eager mouths like his, right?  Him, Casi and Eild were growing and starting to eat a variety of foods with more ease.  They still ate regurgitated meat on a regular basis, though, as it was partially digested and easier for their young mouths.  So to him, it was a natural assumption that she had filled that belly right up and was ready to feed him.  Yay!  That was good, because now his stomach was grumbling.

The boy bounded toward her, interrupting her alone time without pause.  "Pree, Pree!"  he greeted her, his tail whipping back and forth excitedly behind him.  "Gawt food een belly, feeds Cawnie?!"  the boy asked, flipping back his ears and letting his whole body wag to try his cutest look ever.  Although most adults were happy to regurgitate a portion of their meal for his purposes, he had learned it was rude to shove your nose into their jaw and try to force it.  So he didn't do that... even if he wanted to because she clearly was hoarding all the food and he was hungry.

ooc: Constantine is so innocent and adorable!



Osprey had probably dozed off without noticing - how else would you explain a black puppy standing in front of her, his little tail wagging and him looking expectantly at her. First she felt horror and tried to understand, where this fellow had come from and why. Seeing things was a very distinct possibility. But the boy was real and alive, slowly she recognized him being one of the Blue willow's brood. Casmir or Constantine - she couldn't tell, because the last time she had seen him, had been, when they had been little dumplings.

Before answering she craned her neck to see, whether there was any of the adults around for the kid would probably not walk on alone, but there was none and she sighed. Facing a little kid was hard enough, meeting a parent, who would try to change your mind about having kids, would be even harder. "You want food?" she asked him, hoping that she had interpreted his baby-language correctly. "I am sorry, I don't have any," and she really felt sorry for not having anything to offer him. "We can go look for it, if you want?" she suggested, forgetting, how very painful it will be for her to walk anywhere.

Aww, thanks!  I try to make him very much just a crazy little cub.  XD

Osprey stared at him like he had appeared out of thin air.  The boy half-spun around to see if something else was behind him that made her look that way.  He tipped his head to the side and crinkled his nose.  "Preee?"  he repeated, certain that he had remembered her name correctly.  Maybe he had been wrong.  Maybe this was someone else and that was why they were confused.  Constantine took a couple of steps backward with sudden uncertainty growing in his gut.

At last, though, she seemed to understand him and he bobbed his head enthusiastically.  Though he was a bit surprised to hear that she didn't have food.  "Wah een joo bewy?"  he asked in response, pointing his nose at her stomach which he had been certain was full of at least one full elk's worth of meat.

Now that was a tricky question. If Osprey replied that there were babies, then the cub's next question would probably be - why did you eat them? Explain then, how did that happen. She didn't think that either Blue willow or Lasher would appreciate sex education lesson to a kid this small. Therefore she turned her head to stare at her sides that had become rounder and more distinct over the past few weeks and sought a proper answer for this. Funny that she, who rarely had to look for words or expressions, didn't have a single idea of, how to get out of this corner.

"I am not sure," she then chose the easy way, pretending to be puzzled as well and turned to look back at the cub. "It is not food... definitely, but do you have any ideas, what could it be?" if he had inherited Blue willow's knack for observing details and coming up with the right diagnosis, then she believed this fellow would also think of something.

She spoke and played with a kid for a while, finding his company pleasant and very refreshing. After the little guy had left to go home, Osprey too felt very tired and, when a safe spot was found, she fell asleep.

ooc: edited an ending, because the character has gone inactive.