OOC.
Word Count → 400
Neela’s head shot up, a fierce growl rolling from her lips as she heard the sound of somebody entering into the house. For a moment she stayed tense, curling protectively around the pups. When she saw it was Tony she stopped growling and relaxed, letting her head drop back down onto the red pup. Her body was still tensed up from nervousness, but for a different reason now.
She stared at Tony quietly, her face oddly blank, hardly noticing the fish he dropped as he entered. While her expression was static, her eyes conveyed the sorrow that had gripped her when the first pup had died, and the fear that the one shivering beneath her would do the same. Anyone else would be fleeing with her snapping at their ankles by now but Tony was the pups father, he deserved to see them, deserved to know about…
Neela couldn’t finish the thought and was almost grateful when the red pup started coughing violently again and she could busy herself with licking her, making soothing cooing noises to try and calm her down. Eventually the thin bundle of fur quieted down and Neela was forced to look at Tony again.
Neela’s voice cracked when she spoke, rusty with the lack of use it had seen over the past week. ”There were 5 pups.” Neela’s voice was odd, detached but even then, as she tried to force her emotion away lest she break down, sorrow chipped at the walls of her façade. ”A girl, twin to this one.” Sorrow was now clearly evident on Neela’s voice as she struggled to keep her composure. She dropped her muzzle down, nuzzling the red pup to try and stifle her emotions, ”She died too soon after she was born. I… I t-took her to the sea. You do it wrong up here, burn the dead, fire kills the soul, I… didn’t want that for her.” The pup under her chin let out a single, wracking cough, a noise far louder than her frail body seemed like it should be able to make. Neela’s composure broke and she whimpered long and loud, pulling the sickly puppy as close to her as she could, ”She keeps coughing and coughing and she won’t eat!” she cried out in despair, ”She’s dying, like her sister! I don’t know what to do.”
