Tasked with keeping watch over Mateo while they explored the depths of King’s End, Lena had to wonder if the same had been proclaimed for her, in the youth’s case. Nevertheless, she pressed on, not meandering in grief, not stoked in anguish – but on soft ivory paws.
But the first thing she noticed, even if they were there to be nosey about local flora and fauna, was the snow. From what she understood about the Wilds, they weren’t like Halo or the Draig – weren’t known to keep Deepfrost’s weather patterns all year long. The confusion was imminent, obvious, in the slight tilt of her vulpine head, the twitch of her whiskers, as she scattered across expected plains.
Thereafter, she turned back towards Mateo, offering a slight chirp of bewilderment, and a light jump upon the nearest snowdrift.
It’s true, actually. Mateo has been told to keep Lena company, and he’s too moody and hormonal worried about his own situation to realise it’s a setup. News of Vai’s death had hit the youth harder than he’d care to admit, given that his own father is a demigod of death, but he’s put on a brave face (read: staunch denial) to come to the Barrows. And luckily enough, the strange pattern of the season has turned his determination into genuine curiosity.
[say]”I don’t know. It’s strange though, right?”[/say] he replies to the chirp of bemusement; he might be an Accepted but his best friend is an Attuned, and he’s more than used to having to hold conversations with himself with only a bark or a grumble in response.
Not dressed for the cold, Mateo nonetheless marches onwards, crunching through the snow and tilting his head. [say]”Do you think King’s End just forgot it was FlowerBirth?”[/say] He scoops up some snow, throwing it off across the white expanse. Ever would have probably chased it as a dog, but he doubts foxes are the same.
Unaware of recent deaths, save for any mustered in Stormbreak, the fox wagged her long, ivory tail, head tilting to indicate her listening ears to Mateo’s speech. A chirp resounded in a matter-of-fact yes, it was quite strange. She’d never seen it before. She’d never read about it in any tome. Maybe history hadn’t been generous enough to partake in any of this prior phenomenon, or they were missing a key element in all of this.
She shrugged her shoulders at the next inquiry, a vulpine disposition hardly clarifying the notions of confusion, but she persisted nonetheless. The Caretaker watched as the snow was thrown, and were she a canine perhaps she would’ve chased it, but as she wasn’t, it went soaring over her head, landing nearby.
Instead, she darted forward, ears twitching for a second more, before an instinctual pounce was made on a shallower, smaller pocket of snow. Perhaps to dig into the powder, to see if there was anything resembling spring underneath.
[say]"Mm, I thought so too,"[/say] Mateo agrees with Lena easily enough. [say]"Still, I suppose it's kind of nice to have some more snow. We don't get it this deep in Stormbreak, unless it's in the Celestine. Oh, but I suppose you'd know all about that."[/say] Evidently very (very) comfortable in hosting one-sided conversations, Mateo continues to plod forward, cronching through the snow to follow the fox's more delicate footsteps.
He pauses, however, to see her pounce so adorably into the snow, his eyes widening. [say]"You'll get stuck!"[/say] he protests with a laugh, wading further so he can try to dig Lena out of the small snowdrift, unintentionally looking for FlowerBirth beneath it as well. [say]"I read that foxes can hear little creatures under the snow. Can you do that too?"[/say]
Grateful for the conversation, the Caretaker offered it back when and where she could, even if it was through a far more modest and particular means. The corresponding chirp depicted more agreement in snowy enclosures; especially the ones for ursurs and their ilk amongst the Celestine. But even those were temporary, altered and changed once the animals had returned to their lands, and others arrived.
Her head shook at the indication that she’d get stuck – pinpointing with her ears, tilting her head vaguely to hear scurrying underneath, before launching again, springing off the snow and coming down with soft paws digging, digging, digging into the powder. At least the snow was loose, perhaps from a recent, passing drift, and she could continue maneuvering it with relative ease.
And then another excited squeak emitted from her – for she’d found something under all the elements, and moved aside to allow Mateo some room for excavating as well, should he so choose.
It would be quite the strange conversation for someone to eavesdrop on, if they happened upon the boy and the fox in the snow. As it stands, though, they are (apparently) alone, and until Lena gets distracted and pouncy at a snowdrift somewhere to the side of them, Mateo persists in trying to free her (even if she isn't even remotely stuck - he can't help himself).
[say]"Oh!"[/say] he chirps as she starts to excitedly dig in the spot she'd captured, the boy schluffing through snow to get beside her again, reaching down to scoop it away and help to unearth their treasure. [say]"I wish I had fur,"[/say] he remarks with a soft chuckle, his knuckles and fingers turning pink and chapped with the cold.
Her gaze flickered to his knuckles and fingers briefly by way of mentioning the cold. Had she held her basket, there would’ve been an entire assortment of gloves for him to pick and choose from. But they hadn’t been prepared for this strange onslaught of still clinging, icy conditions, and so she pondered while she dug, wondering how there could be some warmth to be found in a world that should’ve held it just the same.
But then they were digging and searching, and her ears picked up the tiniest of fragmented movements, until finally –
She reached down into the makeshift hole, muzzle and snout extended, teeth hovering lightly, gingerly, gently -
Over a tiny, baby blink hare, and dropping it unceremoniously in the boy’s hands.
It too shivered, the notions of its namesake barely enacted – perhaps too fresh, too new, eyes barely open.
It is very belated, that Mateo worries about what Lena is actually going to dig up from the snow. Because foxes hunted things out here, and whilst the boy is all about the circle of life and all that, he isn't sure he actually wants to see her savage a mouse up close and personal. So as they stop digging and her snout disappears into the cold earth, he's a bit wary of it all. Indeed, as she emerges he shuffles back on his knees, worried he might get blood and guts... well, wherever Lena might shake them.
So as she deposits a tiny, shivering baby blink hare - unharmed but obviously cold - and doesn't try to eat it, he can't help but be delighted. [say]"Che carino!"[/say] he gushes, moving to scoop it up into his arms. [say]"Oh, it is too cold to survive out here. Would it be wrong to bring it back to Stormbreak with us?"[/say]
Considering the little hare was likely going to end up in the Celestine anyway, these motions and movements were probably pre-emptive maneuvers. So Lena saw no reason to argue with the notions of bringing the youth back – it would have an opportunity to warm up, be placed in an enclosure fitting for the season, and then be nursed back to full health, before permitted back into the wild. Maybe by then King’s End would remember what Flowerbirth was meant to signify.
With no quarrel from the fox, instead, she shook her head, the Caretaker took to turning back the way they’d come – the little adventure sidetracked – bounding and leaping over the snow. Every so often she’d wait for Mateo to catch up, knowing and understanding the bundle could slow him down, releasing a few good-natured chirps in her wake.
Still quite obviously delighted by Lena's find, Mateo can only glance up enough to see the fox shake her furry head, which he takes as the best affirmative he can possibly get. In the meantime, he bundles up the little hare into his jacket where it peeps out, snug, just beneath his chin. He straightens up as carefully as he can, his hands hovering near his chest to keep the tiny creature from falling.
[say]"It's a long way back,"[/say] he's saying even as he trudges after her; not nearly as lithe on two legs and especially with precious cargo tucked close, Mateo is an ungraceful lump, but a determined one. [say]"I hope it can make it until we get somewhere with grass and flowers at least. I wouldn't want it to go hungry..."[/say]
And so it continues like this, Mateo telling Lena all about what he's read of blink hares and how it's clear that this one is a blink hare opposed to a regular one, and the sorts of things they enjoy eating. That, naturally, leads onto talk about plants in general, and... well. She'll never shut him up after that.
~FIN
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