Autumn had arrived swiftly in Beqanna with cool breezes and changing leaves, heralding colder days to come. Or so I'd heard from the chatter of the older mares. In the jungle I couldn't tell; the days were just as sticky and hot as they had always been. I preferred the steady unchanging of my home. The only signs I had of the passing seasons were the different scents in the air. A restlessness, almost, that I wasn't used to from the Sisters. It made me wary for reasons I didn't understand.
I missed Mother. She was very busy, meeting visitors and traveling to other lands. I had occupied myself well with exploration and meeting new friends, but now I longed for her presence. I waited impatiently for her to come back home, watching a trail of ants carry a still struggling spider into their nest. Normally such a thing would have fascinated me, but I was too anxious to be distracted for long. Surely my mother would come home?
Ever since the day when I had traded lives, (a day growing dimmer in my memory all the time), I had an underlying fear that the ones I loved would drift away. I worked hard to banish my fear, but it wasn't always easy. I felt very young and alone.
Finally, after the ants had subdued the spider and pulled him fully into their home, a familiar gray mare with horns appeared in the jungle. I nickered joyfully and trotted forward to meet her, eager for her attention before somebody else important had a question for her. Didn't all of those important horses know that she was mine, too?
I sigh softly, relieved, and bury my head in mother's side.
"I missed you, mama." I nip at her side reproachfully. She could have been gone three weeks or five minutes and I would still have given her a scolding look. "When you go away again, won't you take me with you? I'm big enough to go places, aren't I?"
I rear playfully, nearly bumping into mother, and then return to her shoulder like a limpet, looking up at her mischievously.
"I've been very good, you know. You can ask anyone. Erm, I think anyone. Most anyone, anyways."
I suppose it depends on who saw me sneaking up on one of the Sisters and yanking her tail, or if anyone was watching when I startled a sleeping group of parrots who let out a racket loud enough to wake the dead.
But nobody is good all time, I think. I bet not even mama is!
ANGUISETTE
the jungle princess
Lagertha has never been missed. Dalten adapted to the quietness of the Jungle, and her own caretaker was too strict to really give her free time to run off and get into trouble. Even amongst friends, she would be surprised to ever hear that Rhy had missed her (partially because it was rare that they were ever apart long enough for that – and partially because they were both so busy).
And yet, she’s always had a soft spot for children – from Lucetta to Simeon to Dalten and now, Anguisette – they see a side of her that most do not get to see. And she is trying. She is trying to be the sort of mother that Sette originally had; the kind that would risk the wrath of someone bigger and stronger in order to save her child. The situation itself is rather hard to imagine, but she likes it kind of to being self-sacrificing for another Sister. Lagertha is trying to make up for the mess of parenting she’d made with Dalten also, though she hasn’t even mentioned her biological son to the girl. It’s something she’ll get around to, eventually. The guilt about that one hasn’t set in yet.
More than a little weary, Lagertha returns to their sleeping spot at the end of the day. The shadows are beginning to lengthen where the sun finds holes in the canopy. Nocturnal creatures aren’t quite awake yet, but the din of the daytime jungle is lessening. When Sette darts towards her and buries her little head in Lagertha’s side, she cannot help but smile and secretly wish for her wings back. It would have been a very warm hug, but a hug nonetheless. Instead, she reaches around and whuffles into the top of her head, right between her ears. Lipping playfully at her ears when she nips. “Did you? Well I suppose I missed you too, little one.” She’s taken to calling the girl that, because dear just sounds… ugh and she can’t take the time to think of any other pet names.
She steps back and pretends to scrutinize the filly, getting very close to her and peering into her eyes and trying to look up her nose. “I don’t know… You still look very little to an old lady like me. How old are you again, missy?” She mock hems and haws and pretends to think about it And then, an idea pops into her head. “Well, you have been very good, so how about a trip to the Dale? I’m going with Aoi tomorrow. But you have to be able to get up early with me.”
That was really the hardest part – getting up early.
I am delighted to hear that mama missed me, and it shows in my expressive brown eyes. I smile at her. Her words make me giggle, a high, childish sound. "Don't be silly, mama! You are not so very old and I am not so very little. I am bigger than Vi, even, and we are the same age!"
I don't know it but I will never grow very tall. My birth parents are both on the shorter end of the scale. But I have hope that I will grow as big and strong and important as my mother, the Khaleesi.
"Oh please, mama?" I beg, as she pretends to hem and haw. She is taking much too long to decide, I think. I am the picture of angelic innocence, which I ruin by then making a solemn promise. "I promise I will never pull tails again."
Her next words send me into delighted wiggling, during which I bump into her and trip a little. Grace is not my forte. "Oh yes, mama! I would love to go with you!"
I do a short circle to shake out my wiggles and then return to mother, nuzzling her side.
"I can get up early, mama. You will wake me, won't you? I'll go to sleep right now!"
I flop down near the gray mare, a yawn suddenly gripping my little body. I close my eyes extra tight and try to fall asleep quickly. It's funny how hard it is to fall asleep when you are excited. I think about asking mama to tell me a story, but I really do want to be good, and I especially want to go on an adventure in the morning!
ANGUISETTE
the jungle princess
ooc: I'll post her whenever you guys post in the Dale! :-D
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