ORIGIN - 0000 - Murmurs and Rustling

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Perched atop the ledge was her adopted daddy. She yipped and barked for him to come down the ledge impatiently and dashed around his paws as he spoke to her, creating an even larger physical hindrance than the noise which he was referring to. “But DADDD...." she protested and snubbed his hind leg with her nose in a rather whiny fashion, only succeeding in absorbing the impact and falling onto her furry rump a few centimetres away.

Cancer proceeded to cast his judgement upon Al-Addir, but the girl knew he wouldn't come to harm. She saw the disappointment appear in his eyes though and knew that Cancer now knew what she was. Panic flooded her - she needed the leopard as much as he had trusted and protected her. Her eyes started to water and a tear dripped down dramatically. Trust! Trust was broken! The girl was crestfallen.

“I..I...I'm not...you. But...I hope...we can stay like this..." She sniffed and curled up onto the floor miserably, tucking in her large furry ears and tail over her body as she looked at the floor miserably through blurry eyes. Yeah maybe he'd just abandon her now...even though she had grown to love Maji and Bevy and everyone so much. She..didn't want to leave. Even after Al-Addir had spoken all those things...

She sniffed, snuggled further into her own already tiny bodice hoping the floor would just swallow her up there and then.

The new male said some strange things, and Cancer gave him a look to match his bewilderment. A half-smirk crossed his face in the discomfort, but then he trotted forward and placed a paw on the new fox's head.

"Chill, Al. You're welcome here." Then, a horrible sound. Quix began to whimper, and stutter, and his heart sank in an instant. He turned to look at her, surprised and crestfallen. Oh, but what did species and birthright matter? She loved him all the same, right? And he, her. He was her father, and she, his daughter and nothing, no technicalities or realities, would ever change that. He pawed his way over to her curled form and lowered himself around her. "Hey, hey, Quixy..." He purred.

"It's okay, grub, it's okay. Calm down." He ran his tongue across her fur, across those horns, and let the rumble in his throat build into a loud purr. "Shhh... Hey now, you're still my big-eared princess. Calm down, okay? Nothing will ever change that." Then, despite Al's being there, Cancer did something he'd never done before- at least, not while anyone was awake or around to hear it.

He began to sing. A soft, hushed lullaby.

"You are my crystal star,
The brightest of them all,
Like nothing else before you,
always are adored.

Don't you cry those tears, be strong
and know no fears at all.
You're always in my heart,
'till the end right from the start,

Don't you cry my dear, don't cry,
it's always something else,
don't worry we'll be well.
Don't you cry my dear, don't cry,
it'll be just fine you'll see,
we're still a family.

Wipe away those tears, come back to me my dear...
Don't you worry now, I'll always be around..."

He'd fade into silence, wrapped around his daughter, and after a moment, he'd open one eye, previously shut tight, to spy the other fox and with a sigh, he beckoned him over with a tail flick. He was welcome to join the family, even if he had been the bearer of bad news. If Quix liked him, and wanted him around, then Cancer was happy to have him- after all, Quix was his princess, and he'd give her the world if he could.

{ art by fennecfyre } ~ { table by aura . edited by banshee }

Al-Addir felt more than a little awkward as Cancer consoled Quix. He listened to the great ebony beast sing to his daughter and smiled a bit as he realized how hungry he was.

He felt more than a little intrusive, so the fennec wandered off to one side below Cancer's ledge, and began to poke about in the dirt with his nose. He began to sniff, but soon took on a nostril-full of dirt, coughing a little before going back to rooting about for grubs.

The tiny fox began to dig with his forelegs, pushing the dirt back behind him a bit, and in the process, managed to completly cover his underside in the cavern's soft, cool dirt, hoping he would soon find something to fill his stomach.

When Cancer stopped singing, that's when the tiny fox ended his endeavor, with no success. He wandered back to the front of the ledge, and looked up at Cancer and Quix.

"Umm... Unless there's anything I need-need to do for you guys, I think I might go and try to find something to put in my food-hole." Al-Addir said, smiling as he stretched out a bit. "All that getting born made me a little hungry."

Quix snuggled into her own fur ready for eternal banishment by Cancer, but he comforted her instead. The girl pricked her ears as he licked at her fur tenderly, and curled up beside her. Lifting her head just slightly, the fennec fox cast her watery blue eyes towards the leopard, who then began in song, and Quix – the girl who otherwise never wore a single sign of sentiment, snuggled deeper against the black leopard. “Fat leopard,” she murmured after calming down with his voice, and booped his stomach with her head fondly. They remained in embrace for a while, till Al-Addir came on scene.

The girl looked at him with large, doleful eyes and giggled a little. Feeling braver and stronger, she walked over to a corner and started to dig up the soil to find an insect. Soon, a fat juicy earthworm came into view. The girl scooped it up expertly with her paw, and flipped it to Al-Addir. “Welcome to Maji Walezi, Al-Addir!” She smiled at him, then sniffled and looked at the leopard. “Lets go home!” She then scrambled over and hopped onto Cancer’s back, waiting for her ride home.

-Exit Quix-

Quix felt better and in turn, so did Cancer, so when the little male fox piped up about being hungry, he managed to sit up and let his daughter go without much of a complaint or scowl like usual. He watched for a moment while Quix dug up some grub or something, and curled his lips back at the sight. Gross. No, growing cubs needed meat, not bugs. The cat stood without a word, only a tap of his tail on Quix to tell her to stay put. She'd instruct the other cub to do the same if need be. He moved away from the Ridges and towards the mossy warrens. At its edge, he assumed that hunter's crouch and waited.

Silence. Perfect stillness. Then, as if without warning, he launched himself into the moss and with little struggle at all, stood again with a hare between his teeth. The thing had a gemstone of some dark rock jutting out from its leg- this had in turn been it's downfall. The cat returned to his pair of foxes and dropped the catch between them.

"You won't gain anything from eating bugs all day. That should feed you both fine. Eat, and then I can show you around." He sat back and observed them a moment, then turned his gaze around. "This whole cave is Pisces though. Maji owns everything in here, from that end to this one. Where we are now is called the Ridges. Over there," He'd point a paw towards the Warrens where he'd caught the hare. "is the Warrens. Soft beds of moss, and plenty of prey. Then over there," Next, he pointed out the falls not far from them. "is the center of the cave, also called The Falls. Then there's the Ponds over there, and the two exits that lead to other parts of Origin Cave. I'd suggest sticking around here, and not wandering off too far for a while, until you're stronger." Then, he stood again and after waiting for the pair to finish, he'd take his leave. "You can find me on the ledge beside the falls. Don't just come up- call for me. I'll hear you fine. Welcome to Maji Walezi, Al."

-Exit Cancer-

{ art by fennecfyre } ~ { table by aura . edited by banshee }

Al-Addir watched the great beast silently descend from his perch with odd reverence and curiosity. He hunkered down a bit as Cancer wandered off into the moss; then jumped up with exuberance when he saw his newly made friend returning with dinner.

When Cancer plopped his kill down before Quix and him, he smiled and gave the large cat a "head boop" of thanks before diving into the hare. When the Fennec was finished, he licked the errant dinner-leavings from the fur around his lips; then wandered off to continue exploring the cavern.

-Exit Al-Addir

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