Post by Mister Karma on Apr 18, 2017 21:27:26 GMT -5
Six dark brown baby foxes lay curled up beside one another, fast asleep in the large basket the woman had made up for them. She was already mashing up a chickenmeal mixture for them to eat, a small amount of food that was easier on their growing tiny teeth. It was considered enough for a grown elderly human to eat in one sitting, but it had to be split between six five-week-old fox kits. That was the challenge, and the joy, in feeding the babies.
The fox demoness' black tipped red fox ears perked up at the sound of one of the babies yawning, a high pitch squeak filling the room for a moment before all went silent again. She smiled, green eyes shining brightly. The wild, fiery-haired woman had finished mixing up the chicken mash, hair beautifully complementing her light olive complexion. She loved her foster foxes as if they were her own children, and she had only found them just a few weeks ago. They had just opened their eyes then, and their mother was nowhere to be found. Perhaps nabbed by hunters, perhaps nature taking its course. Maria Ancinotti didn't know of her fate. She just knew these six beautiful babies couldn't be left to a cruel end of starvation and dehydration, or worse, hunted. Here in Foxden Village, Maria came to be known as the Volpe della Madre, or Mother Fox. She hadn't had children of her own in quite some time, and her last child was watched over by Lord Itachi Kumaria down in Hell for several decades. Only thirty years ago were they finally reunited. Since then, she had just been visiting the village on and off after the assault on A.N.G.E.L., checking in on the dwellers and making sure all was okay. She had no real purpose after the final assault, just a wandering vixen who would occasionally spend time with her only daughter, and occasionally visit Itachi himself, if only to see her oldest and dearest friend Naomi. How she came to be a matriarch of the village was a whole other story in and of itself.
There went her mind wandering again, she scolded herself as she sighed. She reached into the cabinet and pulled out six tiny bowls, and then spooned bits of the mixture into each one. She flattened each pile neatly, ready for the babies to eat before placing each one on a tray and bringing it over to where the kits lay in deep sleep. Maria knelt down, large fluffy tail up for balance, as she placed each bowl down for each individual kit. One of them opened a single blue eye and moved its head over to the food. It was buried beneath two of its siblings who were curled up on top of it, and it tried to remove itself from the weight of its kin. It succeeded, but at the expense of the two babies on top falling into the basket with a soft chirp. Maria laughed softly as she watched the mini chaos unfold, a barrage of baby foxes slowly waking up and padding eagerly to their mashed up food. She could stand and wash her hands and remove the off-white apron covering her white tanktop and black jeans, or she could sit and watch the babies eat as much of the chicken and milk mixture as their little tummies could handle. They were slowly transitioning from bottle feeding to solids, and this was the perfect food to ease them into it. A couple of weeks from now, Maria surmised, she would be giving them small portions of solid food and teaching them to hunt mice. She already had her decision made as she sat cross legged, watching the tiny skulk eat with such eagerness, an appetite that couldn't be matched by even human-form babies.
The door to her small hut was open on the unseasonably beautiful day, with sunlight pouring through the doorway across the floor. All she had were simple means to live in the two-room hut. The entry room also served as the dining area and kitchen, and the next room over was Maria's room, with a few bed mats for herself and maybe some guests, which she kept to just her daughter, Lord Daymian Cruxis and his mother Naomi, and maybe Itachi. If...if he were up for it, of course. She also had a small bookshelf with books she'd cycle through thanks to her close ties with the Archives', as well as a means to keep up with the State's current affairs. Maria understood very well that technology had no place out here, yet she was certain that Itachi understood her needs for an Archives' smartphone to keep tabs on the world beyond. She wasn't expecting company today.
Company probably was not expecting her, either.
Maria sat there, watching the babies eat their chicken and milk mixtures before yawning and wagging their little tails. She smiled, laughing quietly. Each kit was so happy, so grateful for the food they were all given, they all climbed over one another to Volpe della Madre to give her hands and arms tiny loving licks of thanks. Maria responded in kind with gentle pets on the tops of their heads, playing with their tiny ears with the softest of tweaks. Some rolled over onto their backs for belly rubs, others let out happy squeaks and purrs while they started play wrestling with one another. When it would get too rowdy, Maria would carefully separate the roughhousing kits from one another, petting each one to let them know she was still there. This was her morning, afternoon and evening ritual with them. It was her form of bonding, her way of telling them they still had a mother even after the one they had was no longer with them. Maria blinked her green eyes solemnly, sighing silently. Her smile did not waver, but you could tell something was amiss. Her ears slowly flattened, her large fluffy red tail curling around her leg. It had been over three and a half centuries since her last child was born, and now that child possibly had children of her own. Maria felt the years catching up to her. Three thousand years...more than that, actually. She didn't look a human year older than 30.
The kits all padded over to their basket when they got tired from playtime, all curling up on one another, yawning and licking each other a good night...well, good afternoon's nap, really...before they all fell asleep. Maria smiled softly, pulling the smooth blue cotton blanket over them to keep them warm when the sun would finally set. Then she picked herself up off the floor, removing her apron and stretching her entire body before exiting her hut. She didn't need to worry about closing the door behind her here. This wasn't New Haven, or the Quincy Marshlands. There were several of her kind here who would protect one another from predators, hunters, humans...hostile Commonwealth soldiers...
Members of The Fallen...
Maria did not want to think of those possibilities. They weren't the Redcoats, they certainly were not members of the now defunct Unreal Organization, they were not enemies of Sicily. She could handle these kinds of hostiles that roamed the State. The millennia taught her that much about warfare. Combat became boring to her over the centuries, though.
She was happy for the decades of peace she enjoyed here in the Village. She wouldn't trade anything for it.
Maria decided it be best to wander the close vicinity of her hut then on this still-breezed, warm day, if only to stretch her legs out and get some fresh air before spending more time with the pups she fostered.
The fox demoness' black tipped red fox ears perked up at the sound of one of the babies yawning, a high pitch squeak filling the room for a moment before all went silent again. She smiled, green eyes shining brightly. The wild, fiery-haired woman had finished mixing up the chicken mash, hair beautifully complementing her light olive complexion. She loved her foster foxes as if they were her own children, and she had only found them just a few weeks ago. They had just opened their eyes then, and their mother was nowhere to be found. Perhaps nabbed by hunters, perhaps nature taking its course. Maria Ancinotti didn't know of her fate. She just knew these six beautiful babies couldn't be left to a cruel end of starvation and dehydration, or worse, hunted. Here in Foxden Village, Maria came to be known as the Volpe della Madre, or Mother Fox. She hadn't had children of her own in quite some time, and her last child was watched over by Lord Itachi Kumaria down in Hell for several decades. Only thirty years ago were they finally reunited. Since then, she had just been visiting the village on and off after the assault on A.N.G.E.L., checking in on the dwellers and making sure all was okay. She had no real purpose after the final assault, just a wandering vixen who would occasionally spend time with her only daughter, and occasionally visit Itachi himself, if only to see her oldest and dearest friend Naomi. How she came to be a matriarch of the village was a whole other story in and of itself.
There went her mind wandering again, she scolded herself as she sighed. She reached into the cabinet and pulled out six tiny bowls, and then spooned bits of the mixture into each one. She flattened each pile neatly, ready for the babies to eat before placing each one on a tray and bringing it over to where the kits lay in deep sleep. Maria knelt down, large fluffy tail up for balance, as she placed each bowl down for each individual kit. One of them opened a single blue eye and moved its head over to the food. It was buried beneath two of its siblings who were curled up on top of it, and it tried to remove itself from the weight of its kin. It succeeded, but at the expense of the two babies on top falling into the basket with a soft chirp. Maria laughed softly as she watched the mini chaos unfold, a barrage of baby foxes slowly waking up and padding eagerly to their mashed up food. She could stand and wash her hands and remove the off-white apron covering her white tanktop and black jeans, or she could sit and watch the babies eat as much of the chicken and milk mixture as their little tummies could handle. They were slowly transitioning from bottle feeding to solids, and this was the perfect food to ease them into it. A couple of weeks from now, Maria surmised, she would be giving them small portions of solid food and teaching them to hunt mice. She already had her decision made as she sat cross legged, watching the tiny skulk eat with such eagerness, an appetite that couldn't be matched by even human-form babies.
The door to her small hut was open on the unseasonably beautiful day, with sunlight pouring through the doorway across the floor. All she had were simple means to live in the two-room hut. The entry room also served as the dining area and kitchen, and the next room over was Maria's room, with a few bed mats for herself and maybe some guests, which she kept to just her daughter, Lord Daymian Cruxis and his mother Naomi, and maybe Itachi. If...if he were up for it, of course. She also had a small bookshelf with books she'd cycle through thanks to her close ties with the Archives', as well as a means to keep up with the State's current affairs. Maria understood very well that technology had no place out here, yet she was certain that Itachi understood her needs for an Archives' smartphone to keep tabs on the world beyond. She wasn't expecting company today.
Company probably was not expecting her, either.
Maria sat there, watching the babies eat their chicken and milk mixtures before yawning and wagging their little tails. She smiled, laughing quietly. Each kit was so happy, so grateful for the food they were all given, they all climbed over one another to Volpe della Madre to give her hands and arms tiny loving licks of thanks. Maria responded in kind with gentle pets on the tops of their heads, playing with their tiny ears with the softest of tweaks. Some rolled over onto their backs for belly rubs, others let out happy squeaks and purrs while they started play wrestling with one another. When it would get too rowdy, Maria would carefully separate the roughhousing kits from one another, petting each one to let them know she was still there. This was her morning, afternoon and evening ritual with them. It was her form of bonding, her way of telling them they still had a mother even after the one they had was no longer with them. Maria blinked her green eyes solemnly, sighing silently. Her smile did not waver, but you could tell something was amiss. Her ears slowly flattened, her large fluffy red tail curling around her leg. It had been over three and a half centuries since her last child was born, and now that child possibly had children of her own. Maria felt the years catching up to her. Three thousand years...more than that, actually. She didn't look a human year older than 30.
The kits all padded over to their basket when they got tired from playtime, all curling up on one another, yawning and licking each other a good night...well, good afternoon's nap, really...before they all fell asleep. Maria smiled softly, pulling the smooth blue cotton blanket over them to keep them warm when the sun would finally set. Then she picked herself up off the floor, removing her apron and stretching her entire body before exiting her hut. She didn't need to worry about closing the door behind her here. This wasn't New Haven, or the Quincy Marshlands. There were several of her kind here who would protect one another from predators, hunters, humans...hostile Commonwealth soldiers...
Members of The Fallen...
Maria did not want to think of those possibilities. They weren't the Redcoats, they certainly were not members of the now defunct Unreal Organization, they were not enemies of Sicily. She could handle these kinds of hostiles that roamed the State. The millennia taught her that much about warfare. Combat became boring to her over the centuries, though.
She was happy for the decades of peace she enjoyed here in the Village. She wouldn't trade anything for it.
Maria decided it be best to wander the close vicinity of her hut then on this still-breezed, warm day, if only to stretch her legs out and get some fresh air before spending more time with the pups she fostered.