Crushing Daffodils
#1
ooc: 510 words…

IC:

The slow, uneventful day rendered her bored and restless, and so young Magdalena padded away from her mother’s cottage seeking some wayward form of entertainment. The day had already progressed well past noon and evening was creeping up fast. Magda knew there had to be something to keep her busy, something she could do for her pack and simultaneously her fidgety legs, but alas she discovered nothing. Somehow she’d managed, inadvertently, to avoid anyone as well as anything, duty, game, hunt, or other way to make use of her hide.

Well, when life gives you lemons… Having produced not a single way to make herself of use for the day, but admittedly not trying that hard, Magdalena resorted to taking what had been proffered: an afternoon unhindered by monotonous tasks and pointless discussions (although she favored most meaningless chit-chat, it was usually quite amusing). With the afternoon now decidedly hers to do as she pleases, Magdalena dropped all mental prowess and let the instinctual wolf within roam.

Her haunches bunched, back arched, and within seconds Magda’s steady paws sprang to life as her restless muscles propelled her forward at full speed. The balmy wind whipped past her, lapping at her creamy fur like a lover she’d been separated from for ages. Her sapphire eyes narrowed but she kept focused on the world that spanned before her, elegantly bounding rock hurdles and avoiding rodent holes, gracefully dodging trees and any other obstacle that stood in the way of her and her racing glory.

Yet all too soon, the sprint began to take its toll on her endurance. This rapid pace was typically reserved for short spurts during a hunt, or to quickly spirit away from danger when the odds weren’t in her favor. Her maw parted and her pink tongue lolled out of the side of her mouth as her paws slowed, and she arched her trajectory, circling around at a brisk gallop now and bounding back towards Iskata’s cottage.

The structure soon loomed before her, and her brief run ended altogether. Her paws danced to a stop and she dropped her haunches to the grass beneath her, staring at the cottage in the distance but refusing to approach it, her apprehension solely due to her unwillingness to find herself so bored once more. The effect of the abrupt sprint began to ebb and her panting lulled to a minor, heavy breathing. Her eyes scanned the scenery as a slight breeze picked up, brushing her fur softly and tickling her ears. She shook her head vigorously as if able to abate the wind, to no avail. That restless feeling was sneaking up on her again…

Madgalena dropped her gaze to the grasses beneath her paws. She spied a cluster of sunny, perky flowers and absently lifted a paw and smashed them down. Was this the most productive thing she could do with her day? Defeated, Magdalena lowered her stomach to the ground, and curled around the small patch of flowers, carelessly crushing each in its own turn beneath her buttery-beige paw.
#2
ooc- Your posts so rock. Smile 690

The matriarch of silver and gold hadn't seen hide nor hair of her children for a while. DaVinci had come and gone like the ghost he was, Firefly she'd stayed clear of, not wanting to see the damage that had befallen her own child at the hands of Inferni.. the rest it seemed had made their places in packs far away and since they'd parted ways in the spring it was almost like they didn't exist. Just whisps of smoke left after the fire's blaze she could smell it in the air but the feather soft ashes held little warmth and no spark of life. True enough that Magdalena had stayed close and even come to Phoenix Valley with the small band that day yet sometimes even her eldest child was hard to find. The leader shook her head and tried to push the lonely thoughts from her mind.

Iskata had been out in the orchards again trying to finish gathering the last of the apples before the first frosts of the year claimed them. She knew that all this work to keep her emotions at bay would start to wear off and she'd have to find something else to do with her time. She was angry with herself, with the foolish act she'd committed. For just one moment in time to forget the world around her.. and she's screwed it all up now. She'd given up plucking apples for the day, the bees buzzing in her ears with whispered harassments and threats were enough to make her leave well enough alone. Taunting in her mind was the thought that she should have left well enough alone weeks ago.

Her ears were flattened against her skull as she sighed and toted the armload of apples over to the fence where the eager lifestock were gathering to receive their rewards for lounging about in the fields and doing nothing. She almost hated the fact that they were going to be their means of surviving the winter when those trusting eyes followed the hand that fed them. She tossed the apples along the fence but kept one to herself as she walked along the fenceposts towards the central farmstead.

She was almost to the edge of the fence when she heard the pounding of hooves from the other side of the enclosure and was met with a whine from the single horse they'd managed to find. The creature was in no means tame and was just not getting to where he would accept food from her palm but she kept him still. The mustang would never become food like the other lifestock and she knew it was foolhardy to think she could train him to be ridden now but she still loved to watch the wild spirited beast and watch him from a distance. She tossed the last apple to the buckskinned stallion and paused for a moment, a slight smile on her lips as she shook her head and turned on her way.

Soon enough she found herself on the red dirt road once more and was walking the yards between the farmhouse and her own cottage. She'd been thinking about the most recent mistake and the resulting problems that were following it, becoming lost in her thoughts she hadn't even realized that her daughter for once had been home until she'd caught sight of the sun glittering off her soft pelt.

Iskata smiled suddenly as she realized what the young woman was doing. A soft chuckle filled the air as she entered the yard and called out. "And what did my flowerbed do to deserve such treatment?" They really weren't her flowers, but just what had remained and had continued to grow after the humans had past on. Anu had tended to the gardens around the packlands and had brought them back to life.. without the tough of her hand it seemed that they were fading back into the wild tangle of vines and weeds once more. Iskata thought that perhaps it was fitting, the whole of the world was a little bit savage now, why not the gardens too.
#3
ooc: wc 330

IC:


The scent of cut vegetation began to seep into the air as she continued her senseless task of delivering devastation to the flowers. She hadn’t realized just how enamored she was with the act until a voice scuttled across the short distance and flooded her mind. Oh dear, she hadn’t even noticed Iskata’s approach! That could be good and bad… she felt at home enough in her pack lands to drop any semblance of her guard for a short time, but was it making her too complacent?

Her ears prickled at the sound of her mother’s voice, and she jerked her gaze away from the flowers’ attention and peered at her mother. Her maw parted in a very wolfish grin, and she yipped a greeting as she straightened her body out, though still lay on the ground.

“I’m saving my dear mother’s life,” she chuckled, amused with herself. “They attract bees. Bees sting and some people have been known to be allergic to their toxin. I’m crushing daffodils so you won’t be pushing daisies!”

She chimed a pleased chuckle, and finally sprang merrily to all fours, one hind paw inadvertently crumpling the last standing flower in the patch. She pranced over to Iskata, quickly covering the few feet that separated the two. “After all, if I don’t look after you, who will?” It was an obvious joke, for there was no question of Iskata’s ability to care for herself. Magda was simply elated to have some company; the appreciation sparkled in her eyes.

She glanced back to the pitiful flower patch and felt a twinge of guilt. “I’m sorry, boredom got the best of me. I’ll replant more, if you want… but I can’t promise they’d grow…”

A single offhand glance at Iskata’s composure aided by a quick sniff tipped Magdalena off as to her mother’s earlier whereabouts. A sly, teasing smile crossed her features for the second time as she chided, “Have you been making friends with the food?”
#4
556

At any other time Iskata would have been concerned with the manner that her daughter was delivering the grand injustice to the last remaining flowers that brightened the entrance to her cottage but all she had for the creamy and silver girl was a soft sigh and a look that just said yeah right. She knew she should wonder just what brought her daughter out to deliver death to beauty but it didn't matter now that the whole of the bed was dead. Chuckling to herself at the answer she was graced with Iskata shook her head and walked on through the path to the cottage and drew herself up next to her daughter.

The joke at her own health's expense made the Matriarch smirk as she quirked a brow at her daughter, the whole look just reflected the doubt she held as she informed the young Sadira dryly. "My daisies are long from taking root hon'.. " She tried to hold off from laughing but even in the end she couldn't refrain, "Besides, bees may not like me, but they'll never be the death of me. I should know.." She rubbed her nose at the memory of one very angry bee during her childhood as she grinned.

There was some truth to her girl's words though, it seemed that everyone seemed to be on some committee for looking out and worrying about her lately. She knew she deserved it as much work as she put into the lands trying to slave herself to death to forget the worries and all the moping around she did when she wasn't worrying. She smiled weakly at her baby girl as she gave in. "I think you're not as alone as you think on that Mags.. Everyone here seems to think I need looked after." She gave her daughter a mock look of annoyance as she questioned. "I wonder who put them up to that idea.."

Iskata gazed at what was left of the flowerbed as Magdalena rambled on with some silly apology for destroying the bunch of buttery flowers. The silver and gold woman just shook her head and poked at one of the crushed stems with a toe. "They'll grow back on their own. It's no worry. Fall is coming and there's no point in trying to replant the lot of them.." She grinned at her daughter and joked. "Besides, I think I'd rather ask Anu back to take care of replanting if it came down to that.. I think you're a little better at killing them than bringing them to life.." What was she saying, she couldn't grow flowers either, though she wasn't to bad at getting the crops to grow for the silly lifestock.

At the thought of the lifestock it seemed that Magdalena had to find the perfect timing for a crack on her old mother with a delicate sniff and a rather rude comment. Both brows raised were the merit she was given as Iskata granted her a warning. "Alright, you keep that up and I'll make you their new best friend. I can still do that you know." She gave the girl a devilish grin as she reminded her that she was mother and Matriarch. Not like her daughter would mind a few chores by the way she was acting though.
#5
ooc: wc 555
IC:

Her mother’s words quickly dashed the wily grin that had so rashly spread across her muzzle. But her expression didn’t disappear completely; rather it melted into a more sincere smile devoid of the hint of arrogance she harbored before. She understood a reminder when she heard one, and although she had supposed there was no real harm done, Magdalena was quick to lower her head and avert her gaze for a moment in a reverential display of capitulation.

“Sorry,” she smiled, “I couldn’t help the jest.”

She returned to her prior stance, still high spirited but this time her audacity tamed. She quickly recalled the vein their conversation had adopted just before her momentary mishap, and her thoughts resumed where they’d left off. Magda grew listless and a bit dreamy as she thought about the flowers, and those thoughts carried her into deeper troubles - namely her recent and relatively restless state.

For the past few days now she’d found it impossible to be pacified by the simplicities that held her attention before. It had occurred to her that she was virtually alone – she’d wandered away from her mother’s home, biding her time roaming the pack lands. She had no mate to speak of and no particular talent to offer the pack, and she was beginning to feel that it was high time for her sorry hide to pitch in. At first she’d misconstrued these feelings for wanderlust, but while reminiscing about her time spent in Ireland with DaVinci and Firefly, she had realized she only thought of that as an experience, and nothing more. She had little – no, she had no desire to leave the pack behind in exchange for travels. She knew it was her mother’s blood that rendered her so inherently loyal.

“Indeed, I’d just mangle the little flowers,” she sighed, looking at the flowerbed. “But… maybe I could try? There’s got to be something that blooms in the fall…”

Her voice trailed off as she padded back to the mashed flowers and diligently scooped soil over the remains, giving the crumpled little petals a proper burial beneath the very moist soil that had given them life. Once she was satisfied that the evidence of her bored wrath was concealed, she turned her gaze back to Iskata, smiling solemnly.

“Well, you can’t blame the pack for doting on such a dedicated leader.” She gave her mother another wayward glance, and immediately banished her own inner turmoil. She could tend to her own worries soon enough. Quirking her head to the side, she questioned cautiously, “Is there something to be worried about? You look…” she stopped herself, derailing what she was about to say in favor of better prose. She didn’t favor prying, knowing Iskata would voice it if it were any of her business, but she couldn’t help herself. “I mean, you look good, but I can help… or try… if you need anything, you know. I’ve been a little out of sorts myself lately, too… And after all, that’s what familiy’s for, if you need anything…”

She huffed a sigh, her previously lucid mind now clouded with thought and worry. She couldn’t voice herself elegantly when she felt like this, so wrapped up in her own concerns, and now curious if everything was well with her mother.
#6
546

She smiled at her daughter's jests and just shook her head as she looked down at the girl, almost to the point where she couldn't look down at her, Magdalena was full grown and almost as tall as her own mother, which made being a parent a little bit hard. Her babes weren't kids anymore, though she was thankful that atleast one had found herway home. "Well, you can jest all you like.. as long as you're willing to take care of this bag of bones when I get old and moldy.." There were others in the pack that probably wouldn't have beleived that she said what she did, but she could joke and take jokes on herself and her age. She really wasn't that old but from time to time remembering that the old friends she'd known were long gone did make it seem like she'd already lived past her time.

Iskata sat back on her haunches and gazed thoughtfully at her daughter. She had been gone so often Iskata had wondered if she was ever coming home but it seemed that she was still here and that relieved some of the foolish worries that filled her mind. She smiled as Magdalena admitted that she'd probably fail at replanting the flowers and with a shake of her head the matriarch sighed. "There's no real point, by the time you found some and planted them the seasons would be changing once more." She smiled softly as she watched her daughter burying the evidence of her earlier affairs. Shaking her head she chuckled and moved past the flowerbed and on towards the porch.

The words of her daughter that reached her made the elder Sadira woman nod thoughtfully as she climbed the steps and settled herself onto the porch swing, her eyes turning back to Magdalena as she sighed. "Sometimes I just wonder if I'm really needed. Deuce and Hel take care of you all well enough, right?" She shouldn't have even let the words escape but the thought was there already and the words had escaped.

She turned her eyes away for a brief second as her daughter seemed to catch on to the absentminded half thoughts and distant looks her mother seemed to have on her face when she thought the world wasn't paying attention. She should have known by now though, leading a pack, there was someone always paying attention. Smiling at her eldest daughter Iskata admitted. "There's always things to worry about my dear. Some are just silly nothings, some just the worries of a mother over her children and a leader who mother's her pack." she laughed at the silliness of it all, the words making her sound twice as foolish as she could have imagined.

Her sun shot sky eyes moved over her daughter's face as she asked. "What do you want to do Magdalena.. there's probably a hundred things you can do.. if you tried. You're a great tracker.. you should know that. Look how well you found your way back home.. even after the fire and the whole valley up and moving.." she didn't like thinking about their whole past going up in smokes but it had happened and there was nothing she could do to change it now.
#7
ooc: 398 words
IC:

Her ears pricked in shock at her mother’s words, surprised that Iskata even entertained such absurd thoughts. “Of course the pack needs you! I mean, yeah, everyone does their part just fine don’t get me wrong, but you’re part of the heart. And after all, without you to make friends with, the livestock would move on and food would be scarce come winter,” the young girl indulged herself the one small joke, but her face remained serious and she continued quickly before her mother could interject. “Unless you’re just getting tired…” She gave Iskata a quick once-over, brow quirked with concern. She knew that wasn’t the case, her mother was a strong woman, not yet worthy of the title elderly, and not worn enough for the title retired.

A frown marred her muzzle at her mother’s solemn words that trailed in pursuit of the first. She nodded gravely, tapping a finger to her chin in thought. “Don’t burden yourself so much, Mother. I understand you worry, but don’t let it cross over to holding yourself responsible for everyone’s actions.” She moved up the porch steps now, sauntering over to the swing to take a seat next to her mother.

“You’re a wonderful mother… you gave us the best start you could. After all, look at me!” She waggled her shoulders in jest, but grew serious again shortly thereafter. “But everyone goes their own way, eventually. The best a parent can do is make sure their babes can look after themselves…” She trailed off, skittering on an insightful subject, before skillfully evading it altogether.

It came as a relief when her mother sniffed out the clues about how restless Magdalena felt. She sighed deeply and stared at her furred palms before turning her gaze back to her mother. “I don’t know. I’ve just felt fidgety lately… Yeah, there’s plenty I can do I suppose… but…” She heaved another lethargic sigh before admitting, “Guess I’m just growing up, but I haven’t cut any one clear place for myself…”

She wondered if she was making any sense, or just confusing and consequently worrying her mother more. It wasn’t even very logical in her own brain. But Magdalena was on the cusp of true adulthood, and all around her her pack mates carved their niches, their little places and jobs within the pack, and she was yet able to envision her own.
#8
Iskata chuckled and shook her head, her daughter making light of everything she said while inside Iskata ached. She did look at her daughter though she didn't say the words that ran through her mind, the bitter truth. How she hadn't even been the one to raise Magdalena, how she hadn't even been told her daughter was alive until DaVinci had disappeared to find the long lost sister. How she'd nearly killed her first born son out of sorrow and the pain of what and who he was. She'd never done right by her children, even her second litter had been raised by their father and the pack after Firefly had disappeared. Shaking her head she just smiled as her daughter moved on with her teasing and taunting. "Alright, alight.. but I don't think the lifestock is heading anywhere.. unless you open the gates.." she eyed her daughter with fair warning. She really didn't need any excitement right now.. and the pack did need their herds.

She watched as her daughter seemed to change to reflect the seriousness of her mother's mood. They seemed so much alike and yet they were both so different as well. Iskata hardly saw her daughter anymore even within the same pack and she wished that it wasn't so. Her children were so scattered, even within the pack that she wondered if she'd ever really be close to a single one of them. Naniko was the closest to the silver and gold female and yet she wasn't even really her daughter. She shook her head and admitted, "You know I'd worry so, even when there's no reason to.." She sighed and sat beside her daughter as her eyes gazed off into the distance. "that's the hand of a leader.. and mother I'd assume." She really didn't know, but of course from her own experiances she's guess that was the way of things.

When Magdalena finally gave in and spilled the beans on her own worries and restless feelings Iskata just smiled sadly and told Magdalena the truth. "Don't worry, I never really understood where I fit in. Half the time I was confused and struggling to fit into the ranks I was granted.. when I lived within the pack." She hadn't always been a packwolf. There had been a span of time when she'd roamed alone and far from place to place. Iskata grinned at her daughter and nudged her. "Those cattle need more friends than just me you know.. if you ever get too bored with trying to find yourself." She stood up and moved to the edge of the deck, the breeze from the sea surrounding her as she said softly. "Don't worry, not everyone is born into a place, sometimes you think you'll never belong.. then out of nowhere someplace or someone makes you realize all along you were special." She could remember many faces in the past who had done just that.. she just wished they were here now to remind her of how special she was. God she was lonely even in the middle of her friends and family.

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