[B] Baby Steps [Fair Hunter, Peep]

[Scaramouche Fandango]

Fair Hunter had a plan. Step one, find a buck. That was done. Step two, find the Mother's Club. Step three, get a blessing or some advice or something. As she looked up and down the clearing, full of kin and, uh, smaller kin, she thought she was in the right place. "I was told," she said, resisting the urge to stamp a hoof for emphasis and suddenly extremely aware of her monstrous appearance, "that this was a place where..."

And here she faltered. How did she word this? She knew the mechanics of what was going on; she knew what she was doing when she and Choice had met. But what they'd done was extremely different than what she was asking for now. This wasn't about her and him, this was about her and Gecko. Anybody could have children, but actually being a mother... Were they up to it? Was she patient enough to raise her kids well? What if she couldn't do it? What if she wasn't up to the task? A million questions all beginning with "what if" ran through her head, until something inside her started screaming "No, dammit! Listen, you idiot, there's no need for insecurity now!"

She listened to that voice. She could do this! There was nothing she couldn't do if she set her mind to it, and right now she was setting her mind to getting whatever help she could so that she and Gecko could give each other the family they'd never had but each thought the other deserved. They weren't going to repeat the mistakes of the past, starting right now. She took a breath and finished her sentence.

"This was a place where new mothers could seek help?"

Her voice was suddenly meek now, an odd tone for Fair Hunter.

Ruriska

 

[Ruriska]

There was no doubt the Acha doe that had marched into the Mothers Club lands was a hunter. It was as obvious as Peep’s love for children. It wasn’t just the lithe form, the sharp teeth and the piercing gaze, it was the feeling she gave off. Or had been until she went through some sort of mental crisis.

Lionhearted had been waiting patiently for the doe to actually say something useful… well, semi-patiently, she kept shuffling her hooves and wanting to give a little shimmy. There was a foxbun sitting in between her horns.

"Sure is!" Lionhearted bellowed. She nearly tossed her head back but remembered who was up there. "This one is for you ma."

The foxbun seemed to smile.

Scaramouche Fandango

 

[Scaramouche Fandango]

Hunter got it almost immediately. The totoma called a foxbun "Ma." Not a normal-looking foxbun, either. She'd seen stags and mares before; she knew this was somebody who could help her, no matter what form she was in at the moment. "I'll try to explain as clearly as I can, ma'am," she said, acknowledging the foxbun with a deep nod. "I'm having kids. Me and my, uh. My. Hm. My Gecko. We both are. Got a couple of bucks to help us out and I'm not going to go into any more sordid detail, but the gist of it is this: I'm with child- eggs or sacs, I don't know, he was a kimeti like my girl, so it could be both- and I am totally lost. I figured this was as good a place as any to come to ask- neither of us exactly had a good family life, and so we're trying to carve one out ourselves. And Gecko? She seems so... content. Not even content, but happy. She's glowing- and she's not a Zikwa or anything, she doesn't normally glow. And here I am, carrying life and all, and I'm just not sure what to do with it. Can you tell me, please- is there some secret? Something you gotta do to make sure your kids grow up happy? I know they'll grow up safe, but I want more for them than just safety. They deserve more than that. I can train strong and teach finesse, but I'm... I'm at a total loss for how to give "happy." And so I came here because I figured if anybody in the whole swamp knew about happy kids, it was you folks here." Plaintive was a weird tone for her, but it was the closest way to describe how she sounded- even monsters could be first-time mothers, after all, and what first-time mother isn't nervous?

Ruriska

 

[Ruriska]

The foxbun squeaked.

Lionhearted was grinning goofily as she slowly lowered her head so that Peep could jump to the earth and shake free of her foxbun form. It ran through her like a shiver, between one blink and the next, where the foxbun had been there was suddenly the mare. The ghost of the foxbun remained, crouched between her legs.

The totoma stepped back, watching avidly.

"They are happy," Peep assured the new mother, her voice soft and warm and full of delight, "I can feel it." She closed her eyes, basking in that glow. "They know that you care, even now before they are fully formed. As long as you are watching over them, with your Gecko and soon her children too. As long as you are a family, they will know happiness."

Her eyes opened, aflame, and stepped closer until they could be cheek to cheek. "You would do a marvellous job with or without my help but let it be known that The Mothers Club is your family too now. If you have any need, we are here for you."

But of course, the doe deserved something extra for coming all this way.

"I’m going to bless your children to ease your heart. But you will still worry because that is the burden of all mothers. We worry because they are our children and we love them."

Scaramouche Fandango

the actual blessing will be in the next post ;D

 

[Scaramouche Fandango]

A tooth grin split the acha's face as she laughed, an honest laugh of relief. "That's it? That's all there is to it? I guess it kinda depends on what kinda family we are though, huh. Gecko didn't have a good family and I didn't either, but I also don't think either of our families ever tried. And that's not what we're going to do. You don't- well, maybe you do, you're a mare and a mother- but I was going to say, you don't know how much these kids mean to us and how much your help means to us. It's a second chance for both of us, me and her. It's a relief, knowing you're out here, though. Just knowing the support is there is a huge weight off of my shoulders. Our shoulders, probably. I don't know if I'll ever be able to thank you enough for this."

She closed her eyes to receive the blessing, but then opened them and spoke again. "And I, uh, I never told you my name. It's Hunter. Fair Hunter. Welcome Home Fair Hunter, actually, but most kin find that a bit of a mouthful. Felt I should at least tell you. I'm not good at introductions." That said, she once again shut her eyes and thought about Gecko and what it meant for them to be a family. This was it- this was the key. This was where they stopped being two kin in an undefinable relationship and solidified themselves as a family. The mare had said that if they were a family, the children would be happy, and she planned on grousing at that goofy orange ray of sunshine for the rest of her life. That... that oughta keep them happy.

Ruriska

 

[Ruriska]

It was wonderful, the connection between the Acha and her partner. The obvious love. Peep dearly wished that that Gecko was here too, so that she could see them together, side by side.

"Welcome Home Fair Hunter," Peep whispered the name and glowed with happiness. "Your children will grow both strong and healthy, but most of all, they will know the joy of family and love. They will not be afraid to seek out more of both. This I bless them with."

She rubbed her nose against Fair Hunter’s cheek, a mother’s caress, giving over that warmth she’d collected in her chest. All of the love she held for the Acha and her family. Then she pulled bac and said, "I can ease the pain of birth. If you wish me there, for the both of you, I will be."

Scaramouche Fandango

sorry for the wait!
(btw is Fair Hunter's name inspired by Bloodborne?)

 

[Scaramouche Fandango]

Something sunny bloomed inside Fair Hunter, then faded to a calm, quiet warmth. "Thank you," she whispered, leaning into the nuzzle and holding the embrace for a moment. "You've helped the worry a lot. We would welcome you to our little bower; we'll send a messenger when the time comes. But for now, I think I should return home. There's much to do in preparation!"

She left the Mothers' Club with a spring in her step and three knowings in her heart. The first was that she knew she'd done the right thing. The second was that it didn't matter what their past families had been like; they were carving a new one together, a family on their terms and nobody else's, a family that worked. And third was that they would need to catch many fish to honor their new friend upon her visit... and that they should get started now because with two clutches around, there was no way they were getting any of that done later!

Ruriska

I think we can call it done- thank you so much! And not exactly! I saw "welcome home good hunter" as a tag that somebody was using for their aesthetic posts on the tumb- not bloodblorne aesthetic, just like, woodsy stuff that was really more inspired by dragon age- and i thought it sounded good but I liked Fair Hunter a lot more. It wasn't until the item came out and like four people were all "hey this is your kin" that i realized it was from another game entirely.