The foxbun stared at her.
Red Cap stared back.
Water dripped from her chin, back down into the shallow pool, the taste of dirt thick on her tongue.
The foxbun stared.
It’s eyes glowed.
She swallowed back the spit that had collected in her mouth, trying to get rid of the taste of the stagnant water but it only made it worse.
She looked aside, away from the stare.
There was a voice.
“You’re one of his.”
The voice was laden with gentle sorrow, soft and motherly, warm like a hug.
Red Cap looked forward at a small doe, an Acha with the same eyes as the foxbun and her smile so infinitely caring.
I don’t know what you mean, the words never left her tongue.
She knew.
Didn’t they all feel it in their bones? Down to their marrow? The lingering taint that had touched them all. She presumed as much, smiled even as she chased down the darkness, pretended she wanted to change those touched by it, that she was good enough to make them only desire love and kindness.
“I am,” she said.
“And their father?” The Acha asked.
She wasn’t surprised to discover she was pregnant.
Red Cap swirled her tongue around her mouth as she thought back to the bucks she had lain with, wondering which one had born fruit.
“I don’t know,” she admitted.
It could have been one of the kind ones, and it could have been one of the unkind ones. Red Cap wasn’t certain. Only time would tell.
“My name is Peep,” the Acha told her. “Your father and I have a... long history.”
“Not a good one.”
“It never is with him.”
“No.”
They regarded each other, each lost to their own thoughts, quiet sadness.
“I can bless your children,” Peep offered.
Red Cap smiled. “I would like that.”
“May they be born with kindness in their hearts and the strength to push back the dark. May all their sorrows be short lived.”
The blessing warmed Red Cap right down to her hooves, made her forget the dirt on her tongue and the shadows in her heart. “That was lovely. Thank you.”
“You are very welcome.” A little sigh rattle through the Legendary, from the tip of her nose right down to her tail. “And you are welcome to join me and my tribe at any time, I can help care for your children, and for you.”
“Oh.”
Red Cap considered that, wondered what it would be like to have a family, full of life and warmth, someone to curl up to at night, to laugh with. Someone that wasn't a badly chosen fling or her father, checking up on her again, breathing down her neck, teeth bared.
“No,” she said finally. “But thank you... for the offer.”
“I understand,” Peep said.
Then there was silence, comfortable, thoughtful, until the Acha was a foxbun once more and Red Cap was left alone.