[SOLO] A Snowy Surprise [Tidal Terror]

[Gl!tch~]

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Her limbs ached some as she returned to the swamp. The time in the mountains was truly perilous, with all the fighting, within and without. Did she rest? Tidal Terror could barely recall. Her memories only swirled with fight and struggle. Almost unendingly.

But only almost. Despite the odds, despite the bears and other creatures that fought so hard it astounded the totoma that no one lost their life or at least a limb, they nursed an obelisk back to health.

A strange notion, having to 'fix' such a thing. The obelisks were unnerving when completely untouched. Worse so when gently touched, in her dream-laden experience. Terrifying when damaged. Such unfathomable, dangerous power there. Something she couldn't even put into words.

If she ever spoke to Swarm, or any other legendary ever again, perhaps guards should be posted at the swamp obelisk. Just in case.

As she continued on, mulling over so many thoughts, the snow seemed to follow her. It would pass by the time she reached the sand bar, she was sure. A somber thought, that. She did not entirely dislike the weather or its company. It brought bad memories with it, ones of her father mostly, and how she and her lot had to push so much for so little as she grew up. But there was also a longing to it, to when she would cozy up with her siblings or jump belly-first into a snowdrift.

The sorts of things one learned to not talk about with local kin. They did not understand. They couldn't. She could not even truly prepare her companions for the snowy mountains. If you had never experienced the cold, or the snow, how could you fathom it?

And now she was to return to a tribe so far away from the idea of cold or snow or pain or suffering that she wondered how long she would feel like the adventure was just a dream. The totoma there certainly would be as distanced as anyone else. A shame, in a way. They grew up soft, so she would not want to push them to go to the mountains when there was the opportunity. But did they now miss something that they might not ever be able to experience, as totoma? What if the Ache continued to persist?

She thought of the bear, and how she and a fellow totoma were fortunate to beat it. Of more creatures that a whole group struggled with. They were not all totoma, not all in their prime, not all battle-hardened. But she had to worry about what could have happened to the foals she helped raise if they went up there.

And she thought, too, of the totoma that had shards embedded in them. Possibly forever. She shuddered at the memory.

Perhaps it was time to stop thinking for a while.

Tidal Terror trudged through the mire's foliage. The plants, too, might not be able to handle the snow coming down. And that is why she needed to be here, in case... In case of her dreams, maybe. If those ever came anywhere near close to passing. Did her efforts in the mountains help? Who would be able to say? Swarm, if she were to seek the kimeti out?

Try as she may, the thoughts kept flooding back in. No more rage buzzed in her ear to drown it out like up in the mountains. She wasn't known to be the biggest thinker, but with so much that happened recently in her life, she had a lot of backlog to go through, it seemed.

She pushed on further, looking for familiar paths through the white dusting surrounding her. Her journey took her through some brambles, and by their edge she had to do a double-take.

Nestled in a secluded spot sat some sacs. The totoma looked around for the sign of a parent. No tracks in the snow, no movement in the underbrush. No signs of a nest.

She leaned in closer. Outlines of a face, of limbs, they pushed through the sacs' edges. As she breathed on one, it wiggled some. Still alive. Still growing.

Tidal Terror tried to think. Mainly totoma grew up on the sand bar. She knew that there were kin who had eggs and kin who had sacs. She understood the idea of that, or at least tried to, but was it...was it normal to leave young like this? And in the snow, no less.

She dared not touch the sacs or move them any. But she could not find the will to leave them on their own.

Maybe their mother would return soon. No signs of a struggle lay at her hooves, and no foul stench wafted through the air. It was cold, but not enough for a body to freeze yet. Yet... Tidal Terror looked to the sacs once more. The best she could do was sit close and hopefully they would soak some of her heat. She had plenty to spare.

Hours passed. Then a night. In the morning, she knew she had to return home. But there was still no sign of another kin. The green and blue sacs still occasionally moved, much to her relief.

If they survived, if they emerged, then what? She would take them home with her? What else could she do, really?

"But can I raise something that isn't totoma?" Tidal Terror asked of herself, but she also looked at the swamp as she spoke. It was the force here, the Motherfather, that might have pulled her to the obelisks. To the mountains as well. The spirital kin spoke of that entity and how it pushed and pulled on kin. To do...something. Good? Its bidding? She did not know. She could not guess.

But something had been affecting her, more and more strongly as of late. Was this now more of that? After so much unusual circumstances, sacs in the unnatural snow...

A totoma separated from her peers after a long journey to find a new life. A totoma living on a beach, among mostly non-totoma. A totoma raising foundling totoma from foalhood who did not, maybe could not have many totoma values instilled in them. She never asked where they came from, but she always felt the need to watch over them at the very least. A totoma who knew nothing of their heritage...saddened her to think about. So she took up that role, even though she felt a pain in her chest at how little they could learn. Either because of how relaxed the tribe was, or how ashamed she felt of pushing them too hard. And now? After all of that silent heartache? She might have a new challenge ahead.

She could pass them off to Parrot Head, maybe. Their leader needed to learn more responsibility, and she might be better off for such soft-looking creatures. But the thought made her belly ache. These sacs that she found, that she protected...

No. She alone would have to take responsibility for these foundlings, at least for now. If they survived. And if they did, did they not deserve to be raised by a totoma? Hardy kin deserved a hardy moth-

Tidal Terror laughed at the thought she almost had.

Counting eagle eggs before they hatched, she was. She needed to think less, rest more, and watch the sacs.

She left sometimes, of course. The totoma had to sustain herself. It was much easier than during the recent trip to the mountains. She was thankful for that. She also tore some bark from nearby trees with her mighty horns, hoping that might ward off other creatures. But she took as little time as she could away from the sacs.

They continued to grow and squirm. Sometimes the squirming would lapse, for hours even, and she would start to worry. But after a reassuring breath from her on their sacs, they would come back to life. They seemed annoyed at her worrying, but who could truly tell?

No one came to disturb her. The sun rose and fell, as did the moon. The snow stopped, finally. And not too long after, the foals pushed out of their sacs. Tidal Terror gave each their final little nudge to be free from the membranes. A little blue doe, and a yellow buck. The latter especially startled her. His markings seemed...very much like her own.

She did have a brother out there somewhere. Could these be...? But the other markings gave her some doubt. A flimsy excuse if she wanted to ignore the signs. But it grew more troublesome to bother to do so.

'The swamp provides,' others liked to tell her. Maybe now it decided to give her children. There wasn't the time to decide if she truly wanted them or not; she was too busy getting the little things nestled to her flanks so she could get them home. They would all feel the sand under their hooves soon enough.

And then she could decide if she wanted to teach such soft creatures how to properly headbutt.