It was autumn again, or rather spring here in Auster… but Bellamy knew it was the natural season of her heat. The fact she had her pups last season, however, meant that she wouldn’t go into heat this season. Bellamy didn’t mind that though - she had been blessed with not one, not two, but five healthy and energetic pups to call her own. The woman was delighted with them all, little versions of herself and Gavroche, with a touch of their own personalities. Lucette had come home too, thankfully, and that put some of Bellamy’s worries at ease. She had noticed a lack of Bae-Syl, however, and that was concerning in itself. Lucy wouldn’t talk to her about it… Today though, Bellamy had decided that she wasn’t going to dwell on that worry. She was, however, going to work on getting together a gift for her oldest daughter to try and cheer her up. Lucy was small, though seemingly a bit larger than her father, and Bellamy felt bad that while she had Gavroche, and Lucette’s siblings, Luce was sleeping alone. So, when she set out to collect the hides she’d been drying that morning, she knew what she wanted to make her daughter. A couple of rabbit hides were workable now, the fur soft, but Bellamy wasn’t sure how to make the gift special. There wasn’t enough hide there to really do a full-sized blanket, but Bellamy was thinking she could make something soft, kind of like a pillow, for her daughter to lay with at night. Hmm… that also left the problem of finding something to stuff the ides with when they were sown together. She furrowed her brow, ears flicking back slightly. Okay, so maybe she wasn’t the handiest of creatures, but she knew she wanted to make something to cheer her daughter up. Now… where to start? --------------- Word Count: 311 Words "Speech" 'Thought.'

She was wandering about with one of her mother's companions tailing her to make sure she didn't get into too much trouble, though truthfully, Nessie was keen on trying to lose 'em so she could go and find a bad guy or two to fight! Unfortunately for her, she wouldn't be able to do that with eyes on her. Hm...what to do...what...to...do...She glanced back at her little security guard and decided to play a faux game of tag. If they lost her, great! If not? Boo! Either way, she wanted to have some fun! Out of nowhere, she went into a full-on sprint towards the falls, surprising the companion that was tailing her as she dove among the rocks and carved a path down and away. She was tiny, so she could only go so fast, but she liked to think she was faster than her mother's companions! She ran with her tongue out, feeling the splash of the water from the falls, and noted that it tasted sweet if the droplets touching her tongue were anything to go off of. This was the best place ever to live! The rocks in the cave were sweet, and the water was sweet...yeah, life was definitely sweet in Ethne!

She came around a bend and nearly crashed into her mom. She put on the brakes, skidding to a halt and nearly face-planting, though she tried to play off her little escapade when she noticed the materials her mom had laid out. Forgetting instantly about trying to make an escape, her attention turned to her mom as her tail wagged. "Hi mama! What're you doin'?" She asked as she crouched down and pawed at a rabbit fur that was within reach.

WC: 599/1,500

"Family"

Bellamy had been considering her options on how to begin when one of her youngest came around the corner and nearly crashed into her. The dark-furred woman turned her attention to her little one. Lyonesse, her tiny daughter, the smallest of her litter, had appeared. Bellamy offered the young one a smile as Nessie greeted her. She was thankful that her children had been growing, well, and safely now that she had gotten them a home. And soon Saga would be able to join them. That was her goal, should Ignis choose to step down and release her child. Adopted or not, Saga needed to be with her family. It… it felt wrong without her here. “Hello there, my little Nessie.” Bellamy greeted her daughter in turn. She glanced toward the material, seeing how Lyonesse pawed at it. “I was going to make something soft for your big sister to sleep with. She had a good friend that she used to be with before she came to the pack with us… and he’s not here with her. I wanted to make her a gift so she could cuddle up to something rather than just sleeping alongside her companions.” Bellamy told the little one, chuckling softly. “I’m not sure how to make the pillow special, though. We can use the rabbit fur on the outside, so it's soft to lay against and fill it with dried herbs and grasses as well as some other furs, but…” Bellamy lowered her head down, nuzzling her little girl. “What would you add to make it special, Nessie? Can you help me figure something out for your big sister?” -------------------------------- Word Count: 274 Words Total Word Count: 873 Words "Speech" 'Thought.'

Her mother greeted her, and Nessie's tail got to wagging as she slowly leaned forward to grab the rabbit skin in her teeth and potentially chew on it, but she stopped when her mother started to explain to her about their older sister, and wanting to make something for her to snuggle up with at night. She pulled her teeth away from the rabbit skin and listened, head cocking to the side. “I’m not sure how to make the pillow special, though. We can use the rabbit fur on the outside, so it's soft to lay against and fill it with dried herbs and grasses as well as some other furs, but…” Nessie eyed the materials her mom had, and while she didn't know jack all about making things yet, or what went into making a pillow, she knew that if she wanted to snuggle up with something, it had to smell nice and had to be soft!

“What would you add to make it special, Nessie? Can you help me figure something out for your big sister?” Her gaze darted from material to material, wondering how the other furs would make it soft or how they'd have to stuff them in. "Hmmm..." She squinted in thought, and then an idea popped into her head! "Oh! What about a buncha feathers? We can stuff the rabbit skins with a buncha soft feathers, and also lavender so that it smells nice. Everyone likes lavender, right? I like it, it smells nice and Nessie feels um...well I dunno, but it smells nice and Nessie feels good after rolling in it!"

She had a whole bunch of feathers she had found around the pack and snuck away from bird nest. Storks and herons and geese frequented the waters, and their feathers were big and pretty, and there were some fluffier bits that were very, very soft. She couldn't help but swipe them when the birds weren't around, so she had a collection of down, as well as random other feathers stashed away in a special little hidey-hole. She was okay with parting with them if it meant they'd make someone else happy! "Mama, I have a lotta feathers we can use! Some are really, really soft! Like what I think a cloud might feel like soft! I can go get 'em!"

In her excitement, she dashed off to go fetch them. Her hidey hole wasn't far from where her mother was, so she raced over to the side of the falls until she had spotted it! Glancing around to make sure none of her siblings were around (she didn't want others to know where she stashed her trinkets), she ran over to it and quickly stuck herself half way into the hole and started gathering all the feathers she could hold. All she had was her mouth though...and she tried not to gag at the feathers she was stuffing in her mouth, but she wanted to help make her sister happy. Once she grabbed all she could, she ran back to where her mother was, tail and head held high with pride! She approached and spat them out on the ground, grimacing as a couple of them stuck to her teeth and tongue. "Plah!" She plucked the remaining feathers from her mouth and face before sitting down, tail wagging as she grinned. "Here ya go mama! If we need more, I can get more!"

1,444/1,500

"Family"

Bellamy turned to her little one for ideas on what to make the gift to her eldest special. She wasn’t the greatest when it came to crafting, but hell, she wanted to try. Maybe if this endeavor went well she would be able to work on gifts for all of her children, in time. They all deserved the world, and if Bellamy could, she would deliver them each a portion of it. For now, Ethne was the best she could gift give them as a whole. They were together, and safe, and for that, she could be grateful. Smaller gifts could come later, especially as they got older. Things to aid them in battle, or even companions if she could convince any creatures to come with her. “Feathers, huh?” And lavender. That wasn’t a bad idea. Lavender had a soothing scent, and Bellamy was sure with such a strong smell it would get through the pillow and reach her daughter as she lay on it. Bellamy gave a nod, smiling at her little girl. “That sounds like a very good idea, Nessie.” Maybe she’d have to enlist her daughter’s help whenever she decided on working on gifts for her children. To her surprise, however, Lyonesse said that she already had a lot of feathers they could use. Really soft ones too… down, perhaps? Bellamy arched a brow but before she could ask Lyonesse about them her little one was off. Rather than race after Lyonesse and see where she was stashing her precious treasures Bellamy decided to wait for her daughter and start working on weaving the furs together. So long as she left an opening to stuff in the feathers and the lavender it should be fine, right? It wasn’t an easy task, and the stitching was wider than she would have liked, but Bellamy got it started. It probably would have been better to get Gavroche’s companion to help her but ah well, hindsight was a bitch, wasn’t it? She was in the middle of a stitch when Lyonesse came back, spitting out a mouthful of feathers onto the ground. Some of them stuck to her mouth and face and Bells couldn’t help but giggle a little at the face her little one was making. “I think this will be perfect Nessie, thank you.” She smiled as she worked the stitch. “I’ve got to get this to a point where everything won’t fall out when we add the feathers and lavender. Your father should have some dried lavender in our den. The tall plant with purple flowers. Can you get that for me while I finish setting up the base of the pillow? Then we’ll stuff it with everything and stitch it closed.” ----------------------------------- Word Count: 455 Words Total Word Count: 1,899 Words "Speech" 'Thought.'