Riva, who had long since learnt how to craft fire to her own purposes, was fiddling with an old artifact she had found in a long abandonment settlement on an island just off Borias. She had the idea that the metal case might hold fire, and she was crafting one that would expel a great deal of smoke. Little Deus was helping her, collecting the little pine needles and wood shavings she would need.

She had found the beehive just the other day, and had an idea to harvest the honey, and to safely relocate the hive further away from the den she, her mate, and pups lived in. her existence in Aerie still felt very strange to her. She had actually lived here once before, for a short period of time. When this territory had belonged to the Empire. She had discovered that the brute of a Warlord had taken a slave and was abusing him peeing on him, and decided this was not a place for her. She had stayed only long enough to see the small wolf free, and then left.

That she would find herself back here was strange, and the atmosphere of this new pack was better. She didn't think Eligos, who was gentle with her and the pups, would ever mistreat a wolf so.

She let little Deus to the tree. “Now. Wait here and watch, alright?” she instructed him. He was much too curious to have left behind. She knew that if she had, he would find himself here anyway. Better it be under her watch, when she can ensure he didn’t do anything too rash or foolish. Perhaps a sting or two would be good for him, teach him that curiosity was well and good, but prudence and knowledge should also be in his life.

She set up her little firemaker on a bed of stones under the beehive. Some of its occupants had already come out, curious, but not threatened. She was careful not to agitate them, and took a few steps back, waiting as her smoke began to work. “Now, gather them as they fall like I showed you, and stick them in the pack” she instructed her child, as the bees began to calm and sleep beneath the smoke.

w/c = 386

Asmodeus was thrilled about this new home, the new wolves who wandered within it's territory and those he could call family that weren't his mother, father or sister. It seemed like the wide world had opened up to him at last and there was never enough he could see or do. When his mom called him to join her on an adventure he did not hesitate to agree and was nearly bursting at the seems as he galloped along beside her. She'd explained the plan, but Deus wasn't really listening that well. What were they doing again? He kept his question to himself, not wanting to seem too scatterbrained on his first real adventure with her.

She instructed him to wait and watch first and that's what he did, though his bright blue eyes did stray off target more than once as she worked. By the time Riva was ready for him to collect the bees he'd nearly forgotten where he was and had to tear his eyes off the forest to focus back upon the hive. "Okay momma." Obediently he wandered towards the falling creatures, pushing his nose up close to give them a sniff.

Eyes widened and ears pulled back at the feeling and Asmodeus began to stagger backwards. The bee was gone, and something was in his nostril. The tickling feeling began to build and the pup did his best to hold it in, though quickly his body was overwhelmed with the unstoppable response to sneeze. It forced the creature from his nostril painfully and Deus let out a quiet whimper as he stared the moist bee down. There were too many unknown variables here, and now that he had been brutally attacked by the thing he had to figure out what other secrets it was keeping.

He crouched forward once more - glancing up at his mom to make sure she wasn't watching - and quickly bumped the bee with his nose this time without sniffing it. It shifted, it's wings fluttering, but didn't move much. He prodded at it again insistently, and the bug's legs suddenly grabbed onto his offending nose.

Startling the pup took a few steps away but the bee remained upon him. He stuck out his tongue, curling it inwards with the intent to prod it in the behind when suddenly a sharp painful sensation radiated from the tip of his tongue down into his gums.

Total Word Count: 784

Riva, who had begun to push a hollowed log a little further under the tree, was about to climb up it, when she looked over at her child. She bit back a laughter, though hre sides shook a little. He was looking down at a snot-covered bee, looking utterly perplexed. His little round cheeks were squished in thought, and she had to fight the desire to run over there and pinch them.

She dearly loved to cover her children in kisses. She had never thought she would have babies of her own, she had not realised how lonely she was in the world, until she met them. They were everything she had never known she wanted.

She fought the urge for a moment, and then continued up her make-shift ramp. He knew she would not appreciate his mother crashing his adventure. She stopped at the hive, and using her teeth, carefully pulled it down. The majority of the smoke was concentrated here, and she was careful not to breathe it in. The bee’s here were the calmest, and gave her no issue.

She lowered their home to the ground with care, and began to scoop out some of the honey. Before rehoming then, she intended to take a portion for her salves. It was a greater preserver, on top of the healing qualities it already had.

Scooping it carefully into one of her jars, she pulled out some of her aloe vera, and began to mix them together in a separate, smaller jar. She would be testing out this salve on burns and cuts later, to see how soothing it could be, and how much it increased the rate of healing. As she did so, she glanced up at her little one. “Deus, how’s it going over there?”

total word count: 1,084

The sharp stinging feeling was only growing more intense and it took everything Deus had to stop from crying out for help. It felt like when he'd accidentally bite his tongue during meals, but when happened the pain began to ease off almost immediately and did not grow and grow like it was now. He lifted a small paw, slapping it upon his tongue in anger and eventually smacking it down hard upon the tip of his nose where the bee sat. The pad of his paw came away in the same stinging, red hot pain and he cried out angrily in response. His mother's voice sounded from above in the tree and Deus blinked up at her. "Gwood." He mumbled, his swollen tongue stumbling over the sounds his mouth wanted to make. "M'mm uh-kay!"

Now it was personal, not only had the dreaded things assaulted his poor nose but now they'd taken away his power of speech and likely the ability to eat and drink too. It was not something Deus could ignore, and before he could talk himself out of it he'd pounced at the drowzy bees where they buzzed softly in the grass. That hurt too, even more then the first bite upon his pawpad had. He scampered backwards and showed his teeth to the bees before turning towards his mother's hollow log.

His paws were aching more and more the longer he waited so he had to hurry. Quickly he dug his teeth into where a branch hung from the log. His mom probably used it as a step, but this mission was miles more important then whatever she was doing with the bees house... unless she was setting it on fire. White brows scrunched in thought, but he doubted his mom would go so far as to leave the bees homeless. He continued to work his teeth into the branch and used his paws wherever necessary until finally the rotted stick snapped off and Asmodeus found himself wielding a deadly weapon.  

He stomped/limped back confidently to the puddle of bees, lifted his head back, and began to wail on them with the stick as hard as he could. "Mo! Mowr! Biths!" The boy punctuated each impact of the stick with badly muddled words and when he thought he was done, threw the rotted stick atop them.

"Muuum! It huwts." He placed his aching paws upon her log, sticking out his swollen tongue to display to her.

TWC: 1493

Riva frowned, her boy's voice sounded funny, and his assurance wasn’t very… assuring. His small cry of pain was enough to bring her down from the log where she had settled the beehive and her pack. She ran to him as he began to thrash at the bees, and she took the stick off him, tossing it to the ground, and grabbing him by his scruff. He was much, much bigger these days, and it was a great effort to drag him away from the bees, some dead, others crawling about in confusion.

Once they were a safe distance away, she let him go, and turned to him, paws spread on either side. If she had hips and hands, they would have been pressed together. . “I can make the pain go away for you stings, but I can not bring life back to the bees you’ve killed, Mr Asmodeus Abraxas-Nightingale! Now, you go over there and apologise to the bees, you do that, and I will make the pain go away.” she stared him down sternly. She was raising a boy, not a monster.

His mother did not offer Asmodeus the reaction he had expected and while she was quite the small wolf he couldn't help but bow his head beneath her intense parental gaze. The bees attacked him first! This sucked! Though the unfairness of it all burned at his tiny puppy heart he could not disobey his mother. He kicked at a blade of grass with a swollen paw and huffed but agreed nonetheless. "Yeth mumma."

Stomping heavily back over to the bees was painful but absolutely necessary so he could display to the creatures exactly how mad he was. His brows were furrowed in a very angry puppy glare and for a moment his bottom lip trembled. "Sowwie." His swollen tongue made it difficult, but Asmodeus was pretty sure his tone would get across to the bugs exactly how not-sorry he actually was. Finished his half-hearted apology, he slunk back over to his mother and sat at her feet. "Fwix it?" Once more his tiny pained tongue was offered to her in display.

She stared him down until she had his agreement, and watched him stomp over to the bees, apologise, and return to him again. “I should do just a job with the same half-measures on your stings, but I won’t, because I believe in being a better person” she told him, still stern, before she softened, and kissed his cheek. “But I do love you, my little Deus” she promised him. Even if he could be a right troublemaker at times. Healing had taught the timid woman to take no-nonsense. She was going to raise these children to be polite, upstanding citizens of Aerie if it killed her.

But she still loved them, and sometimes their little smiles and bright eyes could wrap her right around their tiny paws. “And I will fix it.” Kissing his other cheek, she brought over her pack, and grabbed the very salve she had just been working on. The aloe vera and honey together would be instantly soothing. But, because it was a sting, it would need just a drop of vinegar to neutralize it.

She finished mixing it together, and very carefully applied it to every sting she could find on his little body. Gently pushing aside fur, and wrapping soft wrap over the stings so the mixture would not rub off. His tongue would also receive treatment, as she poured water into the mixture, and gently, but firmly, taught him how to gargle.

His mother's words sunk deep within the boy further then any beating could possibly touch and his ears fell flat to his skull. "I am sowwie, mumma." He felt the need to be insistent, to show her that he knew what he did was wrong so she'd never sound so disappointed in him again. She offered him a kiss and her love, working tenderly upon his stings as he sat, dejected.

The cogs in his mind were turning, desperate to find some way to make it up to her and to the bees. Deus supposed he didn't mean to hurt them, he just wanted to get his anger out and make them feel what they made him feel. He could understand why it wasn't fair - he killed them, he used more force then they had. Once she was finished with his tongue he spoke once more, his tongue slathering the honey mixture over his teeth as he spoke. "Mayve we ca' make 'dem a new howse." He offered softly, glancing over at the hive she'd brought down. "I ca' dig 'dem a den?"

At his words, more believable this time, her own smile came out, bright as a sunrise as she looked to her son. That he cared what she thought was a very good start, and by the sun, she loved him more than she could say. If he looked at her with those earnest blue eyes, and dejected, sad expression too many times, her heart was going to melt, and she would give him anything he pleased. Let's hope he never figured that out.

“That is very sweet Deus, and a very nice idea. However, bees like to be up high and free in the treetops, not in the earth like out dens” she explained to him, stopping to kiss the tip of his pale nose again. “How about we find them a nice tree to hang their beehive back in? I’ve collected my honey now, and I think you’ve learned something from this adventure.”

His mother's smile brought out Deus' own hopeful grin and his tail began to beat against the ground where he sat. Forgiveness felt good, and the pup held tight to the warm feeling it brought to his chest to know he'd made his mom happy. It was weird that the bees would rather sit up in a tree then enjoy the cool moist earth, but Deus shrugged it off as an oddity of their species. "Ca' we hang it weally fa' away?" He whispered to her, eyeing the beehive uncertainly. Whether he was sorry or not that he'd hurt them, the bees did hurt him first. He didn't want to ever feel their bite again.

The pain in his tongue was lessening and the tip of it was beginning to go numb from how long he'd left it out of his mouth. Cautiously he withdrew it, slapping his lips and moistening it once more. It still hurt and the swelling remained, but it was more manageable. He licked his lips and tasted the remnants of the sticky honey mixture before letting his tongue loll out his mouth once more. "Mowr honey pweese." The pup insisted, salivating at the thought.

Riva laughed gently, smoothing back his nose fur with a gentle brush of her delicate paw. Her little childhood treasure of a bow tickling his ears with the motion. “We will” she agreed, that had been the plan. She didn’t like the idea of Asmodeus, or his smaller sister, getting into the beehive without supervision.

He insisted he needed more honey, and Riva knew it wasn’t for its healing properties. It was a sweetness her boy hadn’t had much of. She had been forced to spread her healing salves thin between his father and sister. Little Asmodeus hadn’t had the gross tonics, but he hadn’t had much of the sweet ones either. Just enough to ensure his immune system was bolstered.

She scooped out a small amount of her honey - she now had a bountiful bit of supplies, and if they rehomed this hive successfully, she would know where to get more. Well her Deus was busy chewing the sticky straight-honey, she would gather her supplies back into her pack, and set about her preparations to move the hive

The sticky, delicious substance was delivered once more to his tongue and Deus lapped it happily, distracted from the pain. It stuck to his gums and his teeth and the roof of his mouth but he didn't mind, it meant the yummy honey would last longer and he could work it out from between his teeth whenever he wanted more.

His mom was collecting her supplies back up and in the meantime, Deus decided to get to work looking for the perfect tree. The pup's tongue slapped against his mouth audibly as he walked, head tilted as far back as it went to look up above at the trees. It needed to be the best possible tree to make up for what he'd done, so he mentally veto'd a half a dozen as he wandered. "Nom ov dees twees awe good enuf mumma!" The sticky pup declared loudly.



"Speech"

With her pack on her shoulder, the mother wolf would follow her pup. Looking with him at the trees above them. Her little one declared that none of these were good enough. That was alright, there were some decent sized oaks at the corner between wolfpaw lake, the ravine, and the moor.

She nudged him gently, and indicated for him to follow her. Leading him beneath the towering trees, and listed the names of the ones she recognised. Pointing out this and that as she saw them. Teaching him the names of things, and speaking just so she could hear his voice raised in reply. Questing always to bring out the simple, wonderful sound of his laughter. “That one is a Willow Oak Little Deus, so you see the long thin leaves clustered about the branches?”

While Asmodeus didn't think a single tree was good enough for his friends the bees, his mother had seemed to have found one that might be suitable. When she pointed it out he judged it with a careful considering stare, circling around it from every direction and inspecting each individual branch he could see for height, color, and decoration. "Don't ya tink the bees will want a bettah view?" He asked, unconvinced. "Dey won't be able to see da sun through da branches." It was a very pretty tree, that much Deus could see. The bees however deserved perfect, and was it really perfect if they had to fly past the weeping foliage every time they wanted to see the sky, the sun, the horizon?



"Speech"

She laughrd gently at her sons enthusiasm for the venture. A soft, thrilled sound of enjoyment and not one of mockery. Perhaps she could mold a scholarly mind to her boy. He really was everything she never knew she wanted. Someone to love, and raise, and teach the wonders of the word to.
"Bees love to be near colorful flowers. They collect and eat pollen, and it sticks to their feet and body. As they go from one plant to the next, they spread that pollen. Plants need that pollen to create more plants. That's how an area becomes so rich in herbs and plant life." That was why in her search for a perfect tree, she had ensured they didn't wonder too far from the garden she was creating.

"That pollen they eat eventually gets turned into honey, which is what you've been chewing on. So... bees like colourful flowers, not open sky. Like this place" she gestured around then, and kissed his forehead softly. Gently ruffling his coat as she did so.