Duchess had a lot on her mind. She was looking a lot more noticeably pregnant now, she expected the babies to be big like Indigo. But she really tried to not get too emotionally attached to them because she simply didn't know what was going to happen. She had offered her life to Indigo to make this right. Indigo was acting like he didn't want the babies and he didn't want her. And she truly was having a rough time imagining this life for them that she had already had all planned out. It was completely ruined already. She felt like she was a burden to the whole band but she was solely responsible for the condition Indigo was in. His sister had left him because of her being pregnant. Aslatiel had asked if he wanted her to take care of it, and he didn't have a strong response, at least in Duchess' mind. But her emotions altered a lot of the interactions she had with Indigo and the other wolves of the band. She could barely call them friends. She felt worthless to all of them.

She had been feeling better now that she was later in the pregnancy, the sickness subsided. She still felt a little weak from time to time, but it was manageable and she was just taking it easy from now on out. She felt like she had to be careful after Indigo killed Draco, but not really since the threat was gone. It made her feel on edge, what happened to her. But now she knew that Draco wasn't around the corner. Indigo had taken care of it. The anxiety would have been worse had he gotten away.

She thought that maybe if she brought in enough meals, it wouldn't make everyone so mad at her. Emersyn was insisting that the winter would be rough on them with Duchess watching the pups and having more mouths to feed. She couldn't really disagree, as much as she didn't want to agree with Emersyn.

She had drug out a smaller fishing net that was taken along with their supplies from The Hallows. It was long enough to fit the width of the river. She didn't realize just how hard this would be though until she started laying out the net and thought that maybe she should have asked Segin to come with her to pull the other end on the opposite side of the bank. She just looked down at the net for a few moments, wondering what the easiest and least energy consuming method would be for fishing with the net by herself.

Hunting Seasonal Prompt
Total Word Count: 438 words
Word Count Goal 1500 words

"Duchess"

Word count: 329
Total: 767

Ophie grimaced as her stomach let out an almighty rumble, announcing to the world that she had not in fact eaten for a couple of hours or so. She knew it wasn't the end of the world, she wasn't going to keel over and die, but it was a discomfort she avoided if she could. Eating was something she did a lot of these days, but the same couldn't be said for hunting. She knew it wasn't fair to the others, that she was gobbling the pantry empty, so if she was gonna eat today then she'd earn it herself! Or that was the idea, actually catching something alone was far easier said than done.

She trundled north, following the edge of the Grande as she eyed the water. She wasn't much of a fisher, Hanako had tried to teach her when she'd been really small but Ophie hadn't listened much. More interested in rolling in wet sand then going for a swim. Apparently Hanako was back? Ophie really wasn't sure where or why she'd wandered off to but she supposed it didn't matter, the whole family was back together and then some. Briar with her boyfriend, Artorias, was a welcome addition for sure but it wasn't as Ophie really knew him. Or anyone else outside of the family unit. Hmm

So lost in her thoughts, Ophie nearly went stomping all over a stranger's fishing net. She skittered back, flicking her claws free of the net as she back peddled, her cheeks flushing red with embarrassment. She saw the stranger but didn't really see her, you know? Didn't realise she was obviously pregnant and in not the best of moods.

"Oh um - I'm so sorry I really didn't mean to I- " She clicked her teeth shut. Willing herself to: Just. Stop. Talking. "Do you need some help? It's the least I can do, I'll only take one fish...maybe two." He stomach rumbled with the ferocity of a charging bear.

Duchess was too busy to notice the girl anyway, they both seemed pretty lost in thought to see each other. It had surprised Duchess slightly, she jolted a little as the girl started to apologize, untangling herself from the net.

When she looked up at her, she noticed the iconic Fatalis marking on her face that Indigo and Aslatiel had. She hadn't met any of the family besides the two of them, but she wouldn't leap into excitement because of it. Instead she threw the thought over her shoulder, it wasn't important for the girl to know about her and Indigo and the babies and all that. Honestly, she didn't even know if Indigo would tell any of his family especially after the way Aslatiel reacted. But again, she didn't know the family at all as much as she wanted to meet them.

"Oh, no, that's alright." She tried to assure the girl from getting the net all out of order. Duchess carefully stepped over it herself, straightening it out again. She hadn't noticed at first glance, but after taking her focus off the net she noticed how exceedingly large the girl was. Not Indigo large, belly large. But she didn't look like her... There was a distinct difference between heavy and pregnant.

She had asked to help but in exchange for some fish. Duchess thought it was a little rude to ask for a share, but she wasn't going to deny her. She would have let her have a share for helping anyway. Though, maybe she couldn't help the look on her face of offense. "Uh, yeah sure. You can have a few if you help me." She grabbed a side of the net, pointing to the other side, "If you can just grab that side uh, I guess I'll jump over." And she started to move towards the river to make her way across it carefully.

Hunting Seasonal Prompt
Total Word Count: 1085 words
Word Count Goal 1500 words

"Duchess"

Word count: 291
Total: 1376

Ophelia felt a rush of guilt as the stranger gave her an odd sort of look, as though to say really? Ophie really tried to be a people pleaser, just wanted to be liked and loved, but her skills were coated in dust from months of misuse. It had been rude to ask so upfront, Ophie knew that, but the words were already out in the open so it was too late to take them back.  A rush of apologies swirled on the tip of Ophie's tongue, but before she could let them go the pretty purple lady-and oh boy was she pretty- agreed to her condition.

Eager to do as she was told, Ophie carefully grabbed a hold of the net and clasped it between her teeth. She could tell from the texture alone it was well-made, the material course and strong, perfect for hauling in a big and fishy bounty! Her stomach rumbled in anticipation. Shuffling to the side, Ophie eyed the river as she awaited further guidance. She'd done some fishing before with Hana but had never used a net, the koi much preferred doing it the old-fashioned way which was fine and all... Till Ophie got too fat to do such vigorous activities without straining herself. Maybe it was a good thing that she hadn't seen Hanako in a while, just to hide from her shame.

"Er cam gump ish yer vant." " Ophie offered, mouth full and words butchered, only just noticing the swell to the stranger's stomach. That wasn't a food baby, she had baby babies.

The river wasn't wide here but Ophie didn't want the lady to strain herself too much, and maybe it'd do her some good to stretch her legs a bit more.

Duchess was at least thankful for the girl's eagerness, the extra weight at least didn't seem to hinder her want to help. Or maybe that's what made her want to help. Seemed like a strange loop that Duchess wasn't even looking in to. Maybe they seemed to have the same kind of emotional tolls that plagued them, but both of them just kind of hiding it away for no one to see. Duchess was being extremely judgmental but not outwardly. Maybe a little hypocritical? She wouldn't notice. Of course, she couldn't be the bad one.

The girl started to speak, but Duchess had absolutely no clue what she said. So instead of asking to repeat herself, Duchess nodded her head yes like she understood and was answering her question and then immediately went in the shallow water of the bank before leaping over to the other side and wobbly regaining her balance. She started to pull the net upstream, hoping that the girl that was with her was following her lead and knew what to do regardless of Duchess not understanding her previous offer and just going ahead with what she had planned.

Hunting Seasonal Prompt
Total Word Count: 1569 words
Word Count Goal 1500 words (met)

"Duchess"

The woman nodded but went and jumped the river anyway. Just like that. Ophie's brows furrowed, the corners of her lips twisting downwards as she began to fret over all the details. Was it simply a matter of miscommunication? If so the lady could have just asked her to repeat herself, Ophie would have happily obliged... Not wanting to get worked up over nothing, Ophie shuffled to the side to hold onto her end of the net, pulling it taut so that she could dreg it along upstream from her side of the river.

The stranger was kind of... strange, wasn't she? There was nothing outright that rubbed Ophie the wrong way, but she was standoffish in a polite sort of way. Not to the extent where it would give anyone an excuse to pick a fight, but more than enough to hold people back at arms length. Lest they try to get too close. Meanwhile, the net was working its magic, scooping up fish as they dragged it along, making it grow heavier with each metre swept.

Surely that would do, right?

Ophie tried to bark, but the sound was smothered out yet again, so instead she tried to gesture with her gaze, eying how the net was starting to sag in the middle.

Duchess still moved forward with the girl, not really minding the help but she herself wasn't the best of company. Especially now a days. It wasn't just the hormones either.

When the girl barked out at her, she nearly took offense to it. Resting bitch face couldn't have told her anymore, she still had the same look from when they started. By the time she noticed the girl gesturing to the sagging center, it was too late and a hole had bust through right there in the middle. Duchess took a quick leap into the waters, they weren't terribly rough here. And tried to block the fish from swimming through. She only looked to the girl helping her, thinking that she could just read her mind in what she wanted her to do. She shook her head, feeling quite dumb to think she could, and didn't really blame her for the rip or the miscommunication. "Pull it in!" She shouted, still trying to hold the net and fish together.

Slowly they were able to get the net to shore, Duchess nearly struggling to get back up the bank. She was exhausted now from the strength it took to pull herself through the water and try to keep as many fish from escaping as possible, and carrying all the weight of the babies. She laid down next to the net with a thud very close to the waters still, unraveling it to reveal only five fish had made it. That was barely enough for her band. But she wouldn't have denied the helping hand what they agreed on. Almost crawling to the small, flopping pile, she started to sort two of the fish out to give the girl, without even asking she moved aside two of the smaller fish, "You can have these two for your help."

"Duchess"