Family.
It has been the basis of Keeper’s existence since her birth. She had tagged along at her father’s heels with a bevy of half-siblings in tow and then for a time, as she grew a little older and a title wilder, she’d struck out on her own in search of a different kind of family. She found that in the Hyaline deeps until something in her blood beckoned her away. That inner wildness that’s demanded she roam and see lands she’d never put names to.
Now, there is a new kind of family: this family, small and strong, but good even if it is entirely odd. Sometimes those are the best kinds of families to be, she thinks, lazy and content to watch the goings-on of the children as they play and learn and grow. It was good to see their babies grow up together, as it should be. She actually thought the herd life suited her with her beloved friends to surround her. It definitely kept the bear subdued and this was the longest she had gone without that shape.
One by one, the game of chase gave way to stalking and some predatory part of her exulted in the way her prehistoric daughter slunk forth to join the fray. She never ceased to admire the way the girl moved and became some arcane blend of bear and panther. It should have tripped every instinctual alarm in Keeper’s body to see her daughter like that but the bear roared back at her equine instincts and silenced them.
Predator stalks predator stalks prey; she looked on in amusement as she continued to scrape at the wintry scruff lingering on Tick’s lovely mottled blue coat. She wanted things to stay like this forever because it was easy and peaceful and beautiful. Keeper knew better though, it has to rain sometimes and storms are meant to be weathered. For now, she chortled into that peppery blue skin at the children’s antics, deciding on unequivocal joy and love rather than the possibility it could all end.
Tick’s hearty laugh pulls her from her thoughts as the roan breaks away to go referee the play-fight. She is glad of Ryan’s shoulder against her own; doesn’t mind the quiet existence they’ve eked out for themselves amongst the places they’ve dwelt and now, amongst the wildflowers and grasses. It tips her heart over with a heavy peace and fulfillment that keeps her grounded there amongst them. She’s happy about that, knowing a contentment she thought she’d never really know.
Keeper is good at communicating that contentment to him with a loving nibble along his skin. She loved him regardless of his shape, having been non-communicative companions for a long time before this. Words never seemed much like something the two of them needed between them. He knew without a doubt that she loved him and this life they’d built for themselves with Tick and the children. Just as he knew that sometimes, she had to let the bear out and sometimes, she had to be Keeper who runs away in the dark looking for adventure.
What they had worked and that was all that mattered to her. Then like the wind, with a kiss, he’s gone to give some help to the tumultuous children and she looks on, still content as ever as the sounds of their family reaches her ears. She liked the idea of the scavenger hunt and anticipated what the children would find and bring back to them. Of course, she could guess at some of the reasoning behind the suggestion - to give the adults all a break and she chortled aloud to herself, tucked back in the wildflowers and grass.
She was thinking of another kind of tussle; or letting the bear out for a good honey hunt or salmon catching. Then again… she was distracted by the sight of her beloved family with their skins shining in the light of the summer sun.
@[Tickaani] @[Ryan] timing? What is this thing you speak of?!