[B] We Meet Again [Bare Trees x Ascent]

[Aric Val]

The days that passed were strange and enlightening. She had gone on her own path, a journey that she didn't know what would lead to -- it was invigorating, it was exciting but it was also scary.

She had met many bucks -- but one buck was -- just so beautiful. It was a strange feeling she had only felt a sliver once before. Her cheeks turned red, her stomach felt strange and she forgot how to even speak. But oh he looked at her, he really did, walked with her, listened (at least she thought, for a while she just talked a lot without even looking at the buck's face!), and spent one night with her. The doe did not expect anything more -- it was wonderful, and something that made her feel alive.

Bare Trees did feel strange these past few days, Sprig had noticed it as well, gliding closer than normal to the kimeti, concerned, giving her fruits she had taken from the branches of trees. She was thankful.  

[Chrystali]

She knew what her duty was, now, but she hadn't been entirely sure how it was going to play out. Would kin come to her for the MotherFather's blessing? Would she find them? Was she just supposed to wander until she bumped into another who required her service?

Other than her own mate - who had come to her - Ascent soon found her answer.

It was a pull - a tug, and in the direction of the feeling, a light. It felt like the MotherFather's soft moonlit glow, and she followed it, crossing great distances with her cheetah-like speed. The light grew brighter until it dimmed almost abruptly, prompting the Kiokote to stop just as suddenly. Her auburn hair was rife with flower petals and new spring leaves, her flowered pelt tightly budded until she saw from whom the glow emitted.

Ascent stepped out from the Swamp with a spread of spectral wings, the visage of the swan briefly visible before it melted away for the moment, the Kiokote smiling with such pride and affection, she might as well have been receiving news of pregnancy herself.

"I had hoped it would be you," she told Bare Trees with warmth, her eyes glowing with both her Touch and joy. "It is good to see you again, my friend."