Private Roleplay Ima hot air balloon that could go to space

For Della

Octavian was sad without Mama around all the time now, and Coyote's large-and-in-charge presence was sorely missed, but at least he still had Papa, and Cerberus! The three of them still had plenty of fun, he thought: he got to see where Pennyroyal grew up, from the den he'd been born in himself to the forest he'd played in with his own siblings. It was better than the wooden den had been, he supposed, but it was also that much more quiet at night with less bodies in the den. Every night, he roused Penny crying, and every night, Penny talked him into the world of dreams with stories. He could not help it, not even as he grew older -- the silence, it rang in his ears until he wondered if he could even hear anymore. He'd tried to ignore it once or twice, but that usually led to him throwing up after his heartbeat got so loud he felt it rattling around in his skull!

If it annoyed Papa, he didn't show it. He always wiped the sleep from his own eyes before asking what sort of story he wanted, he answered the floods of questions every day as Tavi filled those quiet moments too, and he was always ready to play! Whatever he needed, his Father was there; rain or shine, hungry or needing to pee in the middle of the night, Pennyroyal Nightshade was there. the fact always warmed him.

The quiet was banished, and the nights were warm beside Cerberus and Papa. They were not quite whole without the rest of the family, but Tavi was content. Happy, even.

Happy enough to explore!

'Tavi, slow down!'

Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Papa! Hurry! He didn't want to slow down! He did, marginally, and heard his Fathers hurried steps grow closer. He didn't really know where they were, but the scent of Elysium was VERY strong, like the day they'd come here -- this, he had learned, meant the borders were near. He wasn't allowed over them, he knew, but that was alone! And Papa was right there!

He pounced for a butterfly he had been chasing, missing his powder blue quarry by a large margin and squealing with joy as he crashed and rolled and without missing a beat, scrambled back to his paws to give chase again. It's movin'! He couldn't stay slow! He had to catch up with it!

ThingsWereFine ThingsWereFine ThingsWereFine ThingsWereFine.

Things were great.

Penny was not internally screaming as he wondered if he was doing it wrong every moment of every day since Mintaka and Coyote walked away. Sure, he had Verbena still, and he had Valeska and all of Elysium for advice and help, but it was stressful nonetheless. He was their sole parent - he had to make sure he brought Tavi and Cerberus food, made sure they were safe and present and knew not to go outside the borders, he had to make sure they were learning things!
It was all well and good when they were so young showing them how to do things in theory was good enough, but what about when the time came to really take them hunting prey? When they were big enough to want to spar? What was he supposed to do THEN?

For now, if keeping the kids busy and telling stories till they fell asleep was the worst of it for now, he'd take it.

He'd even chase across half the territory after his ginger son just so he could tail a butterfly. Man, he had so much more energy than Penny - how was it possible for his little legs to move so fast!?

Tavi, slow down!

For a moment, he saw the golden form lag, and then there was a plea to hurry. They'd been hurrying for so long! When did it end! It was moving - of course it was, it was a butterfly being chased by a vibrant, bioluminescent wolf pup! If he were the size of a flower petal, he'd be running too!

It was such a simple thing, yet hardly simple at all.

The small girl had gone to sleep in one place, nestled warm with her parents and siblings like she would every other night since the day she’d been born. Routine, especially as young as she was.

But, when she awoke, it had been amongst a nest of tall grasses in the underbrush of a forest completely foreign to her.

Everything was so fuzzy. Her head hurt, stuffy.

The home she’d known and the lands around it had a unique smell that permeated no matter how far one wandered. The whole area held a distinctness that she had memorized, learned its comforts and familiarities.

Where she was now held none of that, no spark of recognition in anything around her.

”Mamma? Papino?” Little ears lay flat against her head as she stood from the soft bed of grass, posture huddled. ”Uccellino?” Her bird, also nowhere to be seen.

Fear clenched her heart as little paws took her scrambling backwards, nestling her between a couple of small trees. They created a meager alcove for her to wedge herself, hiding the pup with very little efficiency. Della hardly cared or even noticed, her instinct to cover herself quelled regardless of it was really working.

She wasn’t sure how long she was there before she heard the sounds of voices. Unfamiliar, just as everything else. It made her tremble, disturbing the leaves with her shaking.

The boy, when he broke through her sightline, couldn’t have been much older than her, if he even was. Around her age, regardless, which made her feel a pang of something she couldn’t quite distinct. Perhaps yearning, the missing of the parents and kin she wasn’t even aware that she’d never see again. Yet.

Things kept getting more and more confusing.

Her face scrunched with a quiet snarl, watching the movements until she caught sight of the larger of the two. The boy’s father, from their words, and she pressed ever closer to the forest floor. Her pelt in the dirt gave her a modicum of camouflage, though as a whole she surely stuck out. She was noisy, not particularly hidden even with the trees.

”Go away!” Eyes scrunched shut, she’d bark out a loud warning, showing her little teeth in a display of her anger. For she was surely angry on top of everything else. Where was her family?

That multicolored gaze opened again a short moment later to look at the boy and his butterfly prey, and with another bite of sound, she’d yell, ”And leave that butterfly alone!”