[B] Silence is Golden (Evening HushxBitter Heartbeat)

[HuniPi]

[imgleft]http://matope.pixel-blueberry.com/image ... h_huni.gif[/imgleft]Evening Hush had been looking all day for a worthy offering. She'd recently learned she would be a mother again and she sought out for the Swamp's Blessing. She was filled with excitement and joy that dawn, and ventured deeper into the swamp than she normally does. She gathered berries and nuts, some insects that she could catch, was this enough? She could only hope it was.

[anemosagkelos]

[imgleft]https://matope.pixel-blueberry.com/imag ... ncert5.png[/imgleft] Bitter Heartbeat yawned, rousing himself from the pile of leaves he'd fallen asleep in. The sun had moved in its journey and the warmth had faded from his fur. That was not what had woken him, however; no, it was the itch deep down underneath his skin that intruded upon his dreams. Another one was in search and he was near. Or it was his turn. Or . . . he really had no idea how it worked. Did all of them feel some sort of pull and it was whoever got there first? Or was it doled out to them in some order based on closeness? He chuffed, his cheeks puffing before his lips wobbled. It didn't really matter at the end of the day or the start, either; what mattered was that someone was in need and he had the ability to help.

He pulled himself from his pile, leaves crunching beneath his paws, and looked around. With a shake of his body, he set off to find the kin in question.

[HuniPi]

Evening Hush continued to search despite the dwindling light, adding an interestingly shaped rock to the small make-shift pouch slung around her neck. She was particularly pleased by it, having learned how some of the other kin taught their familiars to fashion. It wasn't perfect but she liked it. She wondered if she should include the pouch along the offering.

How did this go? She'd never gotten a Blessing before, would she simply know if the creature she encountered was someone capable of granting her what she sought? Or did they appear, grant, then disappear like a phantom? The uncertainty made her nervous but this was important enough to the doe to keep her moving forward.

[anemosagkelos]

It took a few wrong turns until he found her wandering the swamp. There were Legendaries who had territories and he wondered vaguely if he shouldn't set up his own but he did so enjoy wandering the swamp without the fear that had afflicted him as a young buck. And he'd never failed to find one yet.

Not quite ready to turn into a stag, he turned his glowing eyes onto the doe and ambled up to her. He grinned up at her, little fangs popping out of his mouth, and waited to see what she would do. Often time they began to talk to him in this form first and then he had a better idea of what it was they wanted and who they were.

[HuniPi]

Evening Hush was startled by the sudden appearance of a bear. She blinked at first while she stared down at it but then her eyes crinkled as she smiled. She softly whispered "Hello, did you wander from your cave? It's awfully late in the season for you to be awake, are you trying for some last minute snacks?"

She glanced at the small pouch and began rummaging for some of the berries.

[anemosagkelos]

A kind one then, he thought, as a ghostly stag appeared behind him.

"I must admit that I have yet to give hibernation a try. I dare say I might find it a tad boring compared to the time of snow and celebrations to come," he smiled.

[HuniPi]

Evening Hush's jaw dropped, her mouth rounding into a small "Oh" of surprise. She didn't feel fear, however, despite being in the presence of a Stag. She bowed to him both to show her respect and to slip off the pouch from her neck.

"I am humbled and grateful that you would grace me with your presence." She said, still keeping her head down, "I offer you these, in hopes that you would grant me your blessing."

[anemosagkelos]

"You need not offer me anything for a blessing," he said even as his bearself began to rummage through the pouch that had shifted open.

"What it is you want for your children?"

[HuniPi]

She raised her head, out of everything she was set to do today (the foraging, the searching, the questioning of how to go about it all), this was the one thing she knew. "I wish that they would have the strength to choose right from wrong, even if it's difficult." The whys behind her request went unsaid.

[anemosagkelos]

And he did not need to know the why.

He smiled, nodded, "May your children always have the strength to choose to do what is right, for they will be happy and healthy and live long lives."

The ghostly stag disappeared and left the minibear behind as it took a couple of nuts into its maw and then began to walk away.