"Yes yes!" Fever said impatiently, bouncing on her feet. Why were they sitting? They should be excited! Especially Nettle! After a huge day of playing around and exploring and having fun, they found another family member to take back to Orion so they could all be safe and happy away from 'carnivores!'

She still didn't really understand what a carnivore was, but she knew they were bad and dumb and should die, and according to Papa, that was all that mattered. Maybe they looked like the nasty cave rats she'd seen around, all slithery and gross. She'd burned a couple of those with her hot breath, laughing as they ran around screeching, running into their little hidey-holes that she couldn't reach. Good riddance - they were a sore sight to see.

"Go, go!" She said, pushing the rear end of her brother to stand up, but stopped immediately as she heard him grunt. Oh - she forgot his bum hurt all the time from the building that fell on them when they were still in their shells. "Slow, I guess," She amended, backing up a few steps.

"But less' go! Go go go!"

He was perfectly happy to sit there, but when his sister edged her nose to help him up, his hips and his tail flared like they were on fire, and inside his head he was screaming. It hurt, it hurt so much! He didn't want to let her know it hurt, but he grunted anyway, and thankfully when she heard she stopped immediately. He sat down again with a sigh, feeling suddenly tired at her impatience to go back home.

"Yes, yes," He replied, slowly getting to his feet, his hips creaking and complaining at him.

Then he looked at Auntie and said quietly, humbly, "Nice to meet you, Auntie." He nodded his head, half out of what was now a habit, half out of politeness.

Then he started to follow his sister down the way they'd come, keeping pace with Auntie, watching his sister bounce around like a bubble, looking everywhere for anything interesting at all.

He listened half-heartedly as Fever was rattling of all the interesting foods that Papa had found for them both; blueberries, the sweetest leaves, grapes, raspberries, so on and so forth, and he simply focused on the path that lay ahead of them, prepared to warn his sister if she would propel herself into danger.

@Carrie

The capybara would rise to her feet as the two little ones began to make their way down the tunnel, guessing towards the place that their papa would be. These twins were an interesting sort for sure, but it was clear that they couldn't give her the answers that she was looking for. Maybe their papa might be able to help her out? Carrie walked up with them, sticking by Deadnettle's side since he wasn't keeping up the brisk pass of their sister. "What's your papa like?" She didn't have the benefit of a mother or father figure and it was nice to here other gembounds took others under their 'wings'. It did make her think tho, how long had she been gone? The last thing she remembered, everyone in the caves were very young, no older then a cycle or two but if these young ones had a "papa", she thought to herself Where has the time gone? --------- "Speechy speechy speech." OOC: words words

@feverfew

She heard her brother beat her to the punch as she took in a long breath, readying it to go into long detail of how wonderful Papa was, and she heard Nettle's soft voice say, "....Kind," as if that was everything to say! Ugh! There was more to him than that!

She turned around, walking backwards, grinning at their new-found Auntie, her eyes bright, and started spewing words at a rapid-fire, the words describing them keeping pace with each step she made. "Papa 's kind an' funny an' t'oughtful an', an' strong an' big an' smart -"

Her brother gave her a look to watch out where she was going, and while she was distracted by his look, she stumbled a little, but caught herself. She stuck her tongue at him, which made him roll his eyes, and she stuck her tongue out at him.

"An' Papa is Papa!" She finished, turning back around to lead the way.

Nettle rolled his eyes at his sister after she tripped even when warned, his sister the definitive example of 'act first, think later'.

He turned to Auntie and said softly, with a hint of a question in there, "Papa is....stag?" He still wasn't so sure. But that was what Mama had said, and that was what he parroted. "Tall. Strong. Kind." He nodded. That was right. That was why he loved Papa. Papa took care of Fever and him, so he listened to Papa and loved him.

His number one rule was to watch out for Fever. His second was to listen to Papa. His third was to follow the first two rules. And thus far, it worked. He was happy, if in pain, but that wasn't anyone's fault. He bore it silently, and he kept his sister happy at all costs. Her happiness was his.

So he watched her as they walked through the tunnels at a sedate pace, quietly chatting with their Auntie, on the way to see Papa again.

[end thread]