Niri-

A nod of approval meets Pica's efforts. "You are. It takes a lot of practice! If you work on it a little every day, you'll be pretty good in no time." The doe settles back into the grass and ferns with a quiet whumph. "It'll be easier when your legs are a little longer, too," she smiles.

Rhhya-

The other's approach is watched with a tired wariness; she isn't sure what to expect from the array of deer in the forest, these days. Vittani had never been high on her list of threats, though, so her presence isn't protested. "Hello," she returns the greeting wearily. The doe studies the long-necked creature in front of her for a few moments, considering Vittani's question. "Not quite sick... just wounded. And tired. One of my dear friends died recently." There were a host of other troubles on her mind, but there was no energy to go into blabbering about them to a near-stranger.

The doe tenses slightly as Vittani gets in her face, but knowing the other means well, she doesn't complain. "I've seen many die. The world keeps moving. There's too much to be done to be sitting and crying forever." Her tone is dull, resigned; she knows she'll have to get up and move forward eventually, but right now she just wants, so badly, to rest with the memory of Moro - her dear little Morioch! - as close as it can be, now. A few moments of peace - is it so much to ask?

Sleep? She'd just woken up. Not that some more sleep would hurt her... but her mind has a bad habit of keeping her awake. Still, she hadn't intended to get up and prance about if she didn't have to. Vittani's offer of guardianship is received with a curious stare, but she manages a quiet, "Thanks."

Rossamund nuzzled the doe, then sat down next to her. "Phay!"

Shoulder-muncher. Oh my. o 3o
--
Pica flinches a little in surprise at the sudden movement, nearly toppling her over, but with her skillful skills ('scuse me, Pica..) managed to stay put with no embarrassing falls. She mumbles an incoherent reply that sounded suspiciously like "Taste like dust..." but it could've been something else. Pica eyed Pai as ferociously as her little stature would allow, flicking her ears away out of Pai's breath-reach muttering something again.

Finishing her small grooming session, the small fawn settles herself more comfortably on Pai, in a position to soak up maximum warmth from the doe's body. She nods almost imperceptibly at Pai's echo of "dust" and attempts to burrow into her sleek fur. Not going to happen any time soon, and so gives up. Her ears perk at the image of her being a hungry big wolf, and she clambers off Pai - though her sub-consciousness was ordering her to gain more warmth - to draw herself up to her [puny] full height and bristle, trying out a fawn-like growl.

The fawn was about to abandon her role as a wolfie to clamber back onto Pai, when she was suddenly encouraged by Pai, and 'stalked' forwards as what she thought a wolf might do, before looking expectantly at Pai.

[nightnight! Oh my. 3am.]
--
Jolting out of wolf-stalk-growl mode, Pica tries to scramble back hurriedly, but a strong brown hoof reaches out and scoops her towards the silvery-white fluff of a chest. While Pica only just managed to duck, Pai's leg clipped the back of her head and she stumbled forwards with a squeal to collapse in an unco-ordinated bundle of legs and fur, desperately trying to get out of reach of that tickle attack that Pai was threatening her with.

Kimi- Very srs bzns. :|

Niri-

Phai's eyes widen slightly as her hoof manages to bonk poor Pica on the head, but the fawn doesn't seem too put off by it and - ah! Distraction! She's getting away! Who's chasing whom, now? The doe scooches forward on her belly, pushing towards Pica with her hind legs - because standing obviously takes too much time and is therefore majorly overrated. "Ohh, no you don't, you nasty wolfie!" she giggles as she reaches to snag at Pica's tail with her teeth. Get back here, you!

Her nose crinkles as it's unexpectedly filled with someone's buttfluff. Scrunching her face in an effort not to sneeze, the doe hauls back her catch before letting go and promptly shoving her snout into Pica's side with a victorious laugh; a ripple of air from between her lips initiates the dreaded raspberry tickle attack. It doesn't last too long, however, before she can no longer put off the itch that's been building in her nose and she erupts with a great "'tchOO!" Oops.

Giggling, Phaios rubs her nose on one foreleg to rid herself of the lingering tingles; between all the fluff and swatting, it's gotten pretty itchy. Thankfully she isn't snotty - Pica has evaded nose-goop this time! She lets the little doe wriggle away, watching her with smiling eyes. "Told you no wolf could stand a tickle attack!" At least no fawn-wolfie. She'd probably get her face chewed off if she were gutsy enough to try such a tactic on the real deal, but it seems to have proven rather effective for this little one. Phai lays her head on the ground and peers at Pica with a quiet, contented hum.

"Oh noo!" she gasps as the ferocious fawn springs at her. The doe collapses onto her side with another flurry of giggles and wriggles her hooves, careful not to over-do it; she doesn't want to whack her little buddy. "But I'm not a wolf! I'm a deer!" She hadn't expected Pica to have her in stitches, but every now and then the fawn manages to hit a legitimate ticklish spot and Phai gives an extra twitch and a little squeak.

"Hey, Dove," comes the quiet, tired reply. Phaios looks almost guilty as she peers up at her approaching daughter; she shifts her weight slightly, onto her side so that at least some of the slow-healing wounds might be a little more out of sight. The gashes across her back and shoulders, though, are hopeless unless she decides to sleep belly-up - and that would be a little suspicious anyhow. And then there's the gauntness that's ebbed into her frame... well, not much to be done for that, for now, so she simply lets it be and tries to look at least somewhat cheerful. And in a small way, she is; seeing Aria often had a way of lifting her spirits. "How are you doing?"

Pica giggles at Pai's reaction - if Pai did something funny now, Pica could do a tickkle-attack and- an even better idea! "When Pai sleepying, Pica will do a tikkle-attack." The small brown fawn grins mischievously as she stops tikkling Pai and promptly snuggles up to Pai, trying to completely obscure herself from sight as she wriggles into the silvery white fur. A muffled voice is then heard saying "Whutsa deer?"

Niri-
"In my sleep! Oh, dear, I'm in trouble, then," she chuckles. That would be an interesting wake-up call... The doe obliges Pica as she sinks into the longer fur of her neck and chest, her head curling protectively about the little poof of a fawn. "Hmmm. Well... A deer is something with four hooves with two big toes and two little toes, and sometimes with antlers. Some girl deer don't have antlers, or they only have small ones, like mine. A lot of boy deer have big antlers, but not always. Deer have flat teeth in their mouths, except at the front of the top - there's nothing there! And what else... Some of them eat grass." She thinks to poke at Pica's toes to point them out as an example, but they're presently buried somewhere in fuzzland. "Does any of that sound familiar?"

---

Orin/Poppy-
"Ah... hello, Oria," she acknowledges the second doe as she appears. Phaios cringes slightly, though, as Ari noses into her shoulder. The soak in the pond the night before had cleaned up the tinge of blood that had coated much of her hair, but the wounds weren't so easily gotten rid of. "Mm... Easy, Dove. I'm pretty sore right now. And you haven't been neglectful... You've had a lot on your mind, with Irie and all..." Phaios falls silent for a moment before adding, "I haven't seen her since I found her at the playground, a good many days ago now... I'm afraid she may have gone looking for her 'father.'" She really hated to bring it up, but elephants should not be left to mill about small rooms. That, and it means she doesn't have to answer questions about her own well-being directly.

She backed up and looked at her concerned,"Are you ok..what happened"she said looking over her body , finally seeing the cleaned wounds. Her ears went flat with worry but decided to push it down a little to answer her,"I...have not scented her at all mother..I fear she's gone for good"she said her tone soft and she shook her head to rid it of the bad thoughts that formed there. "I just..hide myself away mother....I feel I've neglected everyone"she said though her mother told her already that such thoughts were not true.

She wanted to nuzzle her mother but feared she'd harm her. She decided to settled down near her instead."Yes...he is quiet..persuasive"she added though didn't laugh or make any notable expression. She was silent for a while then looked to her mother. She had nothing to say really but the worry in her gaze was evident.

Niri-
"Ahm... Nope, I don't think I have eaten blueberries. I had some flowers once..." Her lips press together in a thoughtful expression. "I don't think I'd like to try them again, though." It hadn't ended very well. The trip was fun while it lasted, but the aftermath... uf. "But it's okay. I don't need to eat, and I don't like eating very much anyway." Her head tilts to one side. "Do you like blueberries?"



Orin-
"Mm... So I hear..." Her gaze slides down to the trinkets around Aria's neck. She'd seen Bear's feather before, but she'd never really paid much attention to the rest. Her attention lingers on what she assumes is Athair's gift in particular for a few moments, but she chooses not to say anything. Persuasive stag indeed... No. There are some suspicions she'd rather let lie in the dirt. Instead, her focus shifts towards Aria's growing belly where the more-or-less confirmed fawns rest. "Everything coming along well enough?" she inquires after her daughter's (and grandchildren-to-bes) health.

"Five whole bushes!" Phaios repeats with wonder. "Where did you put them all? I don't think you could fit five bushes in your little tummy." Of course Pica wouldn't have eaten them all at once, but the image of a berry-stuffed fawn is rather amusing.
The little one's question is given a few moments of thought before she finds an acceptable answer. "Well... I guess it's just the way my Mother made me. No one eats very much, where I'm from. We just don't need to, because we were put together a little different. We drink, though. Water's very important."

Yes. I see you, but she's pretty unwell right now </3

Ah, yeah - she's there
And oki-doki~ ♥ Look forward to it~

Ahmg I love it ;-; The pose and expression ♥ very much like her - thank you for requesting her!

----------------------

She has to laugh at that. "I don't think the pond can run out of water. This place is magic, you know. Besides, where would I put a whole pond?" The same place Pica put five bushes, of course. "And I need water for the same reason anyone does - I get thirsty! It's just the way we are." Her Mother, now... that's a different matter. Phaios seems unfazed by the question, but she does shift a bit to settle into a more comfortable position; it's required for storytelling. "Let's see... Well, I don't have a 'mama' quite like you do. I was created without parents, and took care of myself, mostly. Many of us were made like that - we took care of ourselves and each other. Our creator is our only mother. She's tall and strong and beautiful, the way a goddess should be. Many, many years ago, the god Anubis made a daughter - our Grandmother. She lived happily among the common creatures for a time, but there was great trouble among them. A horde of giant beasts attacked her and her friends one night, and after a long battle, they all perished. From what remained of them, our Mother was born. When she was older, Anubis created a safe-haven for her, where she began to create her children - my kind." The tale had been simplified for the young ears it's directed to, but the doe feels it's adequate enough.

"Akhenaton," the doe replies with a groggy sort of shock. Her head lifts from the ground, though it makes her rather woozy to do so; her head hurts something awful today. "Thank Fates... Have you found Aria yet?" A cough shakes her frame briefly, and though she'd heard his remark about her health she doesn't seem to register it.

Phai's ears seem to wilt. "No one can find her. It's been... maybe half of a moon's cycle. Irie was angry at everyone... Most of all you and Aria. We tried to talk sense into her, but Athair..." She shakes her head slowly, taking a deep breath to force her throat to open again - but only succeeds in provoking another cough. "Athair fed her lies and she became so devoted to him... I think she's gone looking for him. I can't imagine where... Ramsus took him away." There's a deep haze of guilt in her eyes; she feared the stag was dead, though she had requested he only be removed - and if he were gone, she could only link the cause back to herself, whether she'd wanted him dead or not. As for her other troubles...
"I feel about like I look, I'm sure... I've been in and out of fights these past seven days." Her gaze wanders towards the pond, distant. "The entire Forest has been troubled, lately, and a great many of those dear to me have been involved. One was killed." A mild tremor courses across her flanks. "I've never been sick before... Only once, and not badly. I didn't think we could, except by the gods' intervention, as it had been that time..." There's a note of worry and uncertainty there; it's a frightful thing to wonder if you've just caught cold or if you're dying.

[We're going to run to dinner - next post might be delayed. Back later~]

"It wasn't your fault, Akhen," she reassures him gently. "She's always tended to hide and sulk rather than let anyone know when there's a problem... Things just got out of paw, is all." Her eyes dart away from the stag again as the recent death is brought back to light. "Mm... I certainly hope so." The woes in the Forest had gone on so long, now, she'd begun to doubt that things would ever ease up again. It would be just her luck that she'd get pneumonia or something.