lumberlady | Noctium

i'll send jaeger outside incase
and
feel free to let yourself in
admittedly i'm a little reluctant to haul myself off of the haybales i managed to get on

no stress!
please wait.

[And true to her word... Konoha gathers a few things for Morga and bundles them into her saddlebag before heading off for the location provided, keeping her eyes out for... a very smart bird of prey.]

i'll be here.

_{[ Where else could she go on unsteady paws? As much as it eats away at her to stay put, it's better that way lest she wind up spraining something or tweaking a muscle that shouldn't be pulled. So she gathers her newfound gangly limbs under her as best as she can, counts back from ten and sends Jaeger out to find her.

On the upside that part is easy for him — once the eagle spots her from the air, he lets out a piercing call and wheels downwards and back up as if saying this way. He won't follow into the barn itself, rather he lands on an old fence post just outside and simply watches. ]}

[That really was one smart bird. But asking whether he was magic or if all the birds in her land were so intelligent can wait, because when Konoha reaches the appointed place she gives a slightly awkward bow in thanks to the raptor for his guidance…

And then peeks her head into the old farmhouse, casting about for-]

Morga… ?

[Would she look how she anticipated… ?]

To your left.

_{[ She could stay still, but does she? Absolutely not. As soon as she spots Konoha peeking in, Morga musters up every ounce of control she has to pull herself into what she feels is a sitting position only it... looks clumsy and awkward as hell. Her front, uh... legs push her upper body into something more upright, but her back end stays halfway on the haybales she'd managed to plop down on earlier and halfway onto the floor with both rear legs going this way and that. It hardly looks comfortable but there's something to be said about feline flexibility.

Morga herself on the other hand looks uncomfortable with the faintest hints of a scowl as she tries to get the extra limbs to cooperate. Her lower half wasn't the only thing that changed either - it almost looks like parts of her face shifted into something distinctly more feline, perhaps to make room for the extra teeth and other subtle changes, and the dark streaks that were once made of kohl seem more...

Permanent. And made up of fine, soft black fur rather than makeup. ]}

Come in. It's, ah... You can see why I called.

[You know what... Morga is trying! Konoha is proud of her! But at the same time, yes, she is also... yes, she does know this shape. It's the... is it the "sphinx"? The cat jinba... ! Oh, she misses the last one she had known...

But first, alright, she's coming in- !]

Pardon me...

[She enters, shifting the bundles in her saddlebags and twisting about to pull them off her withers, ready to dive in and help. Clothes were good for modesty, but if Morga couldn't get a handle enough on her body...]

You've been here since last night?

[Oh no, should she have brought food, too?]

Mm. I went to sleep as a human being and...

_{[ Gesturing to her, well, everything, Morga frowns and if Konoha looks closely enough she might just notice the mostly-black spotted ears poking out from her hair as they fold back. If anything, they give away her true mood more than her actual face ever could. ]}

...woke up in the middle of this. I'm willing to say it was worse compared to how my body usually changes with these things.

_{[ Even stranger is it's nowhere near the end of the month, rather the beginning of it. Does Morga know how or why that is? Gods, no. But is that going to stop her? Hopefully not. ]}

And I still haven't been able to get the back half under me for very long. Not without falling over.

[Perhaps it's ironic coming from a woman whose own body language could be ready through fetlocks and tail, but Konoha finds it so very odd to watch animal ear on human heads for indications of mood. Helpful, yes, but odd.]

Well... Let's try to get you good enough at walking that we can get you out of here and find something to eat!

[The back half...

Setting down her basket, she trots closer, trying to get a better look at the older woman's body.]

Sphinx legs are a little different than mine, but it should be close enough... can you show me how you've been trying to get up?

As best as I'm able to.

_{[ Bending over the way she does is going to take some getting used to, but she only stays down long enough to fetch her spear from the floor. Once it's in her grip, she stabs the pointed end into the dirt floor, grasps it with both hands and hauls her torso up with as much strength she can muster. Her forelegs easily move with her, but it takes a few seconds for Morga to shift and get her back ones underneath her body.

One... two... On the mental count of three she manages to push off from the haybales and takes a few unsteady steps before she stops. For the most part she seems semi-stable, save for the trembling in her knees. Really, she's more akin to a newborn fawn than the predator she's meant to resemble at this point but uh... That's what practice is for, right? ]}

It feels... strange.

Your best is fine!

[Konoha was the last person who could say otherwise. Not everyone could do everything, but sometimes trying was enough. When it came to walking... well, hopefully they could get to actual success, but. Trying was a good start.

Konoha watches mindfully as Morga tries to move, tapping on her chin as she hopes to find something useful in her observations. Perhaps she was technically not the best for this, since four legs were natural to her, but...]

Which legs are you thinking about right now... ?

[She approaches close enough to touch or support if need be, gaze darting between fore and rear legs. The muscles were all there, hmm...]

All of them?

_{[ Morga shifts on her forelegs, her torso twisting around to watch Konoha move about. It's not that she doesn't trust the younger woman - she wouldn't have called if she hadn't - rather it's an odd moment of vulnerability that she isn't sure how to properly cope with yet. Up close like this it's easy for Morga to see that there isn't too much of a difference in their height now, too. Sure, she isn't as tall as Konoha but while she once had to crane her neck to look up, she's quickly finding that it's not so much the case anymore.

It figures, seeing as Morga herself isn't the size of a typical cheetah. Somehow it makes her feel a little better. Somehow. ]}

Though I'll admit that it's easier to focus on the front ones. They're not the same, but if I shut everything else out it almost feels... like I still only have two instead of four.

Hmmm...

[Konoha gives it an obvious thought as she watches, circling around Morga as she goes and trying a moment to think a bit more seriously about... how did she walk?]

Can you try just focusing on the one you start out stepping with? I don't think I actually think of all my legs... I just start, and the other three follow... ?

[Would that only work with a natural? Well, it seemed worth trying.]

Here I used to think teaching my son to walk was difficult...

_{[ But... One after the other. Alright. Her forepaws flex, claws digging into the dirt-and-hay covered floor. It can't be that hard, can it? So many animals know how to walk - or at least hobble around - from the day they were born and yet here she was wobbling like a damn fawn in her sixties. ]}

Give me your arm.

_{[ Her ears go back and her tail winds around her own back leg without realizing it. She's actually... nervous? ]}

[Konoha won't realize the irony until a month later when she ends up wobbling around on two legs like a drunk... woman... but. For now, she just laughs at that comment.]

Was he slow? My daughter barely even needed me. One minute she was rolling and crawling, and then the next thing I knew she was running circles around me, and underhoof, and everywhere she shouldn't be...

[As she chatters along, though, she moves seamlessly up against Morga's side to provide the arm she asks for, intentionally not mentioning that she can see nerves on her transformed parts.]

Human infants tend to...

_{[ She pauses long enough to link her arm with Konoha's, and as an extra measure she settles her opposite hand onto her forearm. Is it perfect? Not quite, but it gives her that extra bit of sturdiness she'd been lacking previously and if that spotted pelt of hers bumps against Konoha's own side, well.

Morga isn't saying anything.

Especially when she finally tries to take that first step, feels her hind legs buckle, and prompts her to tighten her grip on Konoha to keep herself upright. Whoops. Once again her ears go back though this time it's purely out of shame. ]}

Going from crawling on your hands and knees to walking upright isn't something that can be done in the span of a few hours. Granted once he figured it out keeping an eye on him became that much harder but... He'd still trip. He'd still cry for me. And I'm almost ashamed to say I was rather content in carrying him around for so many months even after he'd gotten a handle on it.

_{[ That — right there — is something she'd never once admitted to another soul. Besides Jaeger of course, but everyone knows eagles can't speak! That'd be silly! ]}

I know, I know- ! I meant, you know... for a human!

[Konoha had grown up without a single member of her own race around, she knew human habits almost more than she knew her own. But, you know, what really mattered was just distracting Morga from her own difficulties and trying to make it easier for her to walk... So she laughs it off, not at all perturbed by the contact between them, nor judgemental for the buckle of hind legs.

Thankfully, she was quite strong by virtue of her species' biology, the hard muscles of a woman accustomed to manual labor augmented by the different knit of back and shoulders, so supporting the older woman in her process was no sweat.]

Was he always a bit of a crier? Komatsu almost never does, I was so worried at first... but now I think she's just a stubborn baby, like my husband.

_{[ Try as she might, Morga can't keep herself from laughing with her. Even her grip seems to loosen once she regains her balance, though it does little for the awkward angle her legs sit at. Oh well, she'll try and fix that in a second. She just... needs to get her bearings.

She's not used to feeling this out of sorts. ]}

Was? He never outgrew it.

_{[ Her smile turns a little wistful, her new body parts giving away her emotions more than her face ever would.]}

The only time he didn't cry was when a fever tried to take him not too long after he was born. He'd always try to put on a brave face but I don't think he ever made an effort to hide it in the long run. Hell, the boy is in his forties and he still calls me "mama" if you can believe it.

_{[ Does she sound a little fond as she says it? It's a mystery. ]}

[That is a mystery, one that actually makes Konoha laugh again, even though Morga's son was older than her and she technically shouldn't poke fun at a senior, but-]

"Mama", oh, no- ! Not "mother"?

[She tries to imagine a child of hers continuing to call her the diminutive okaa or kaachan past the age of twelve or so, and the vision it conjures up keeps her giggling, though she does try and stifle it for Morga's sake, not wanting to be accidentally insulting.]

I don't think I would have imagined that... I bet most people who meet Morga think your son must be some battle-hardened mute... or maybe a berserker... ?

[It's kind of a compliment. But either way, isn't it a great distraction for just keeping those legs moving?]

That too.

_{[ Really, Morga probably should've tried to curtail the whole mama thing when he'd started getting older but you know what? She never had the heart to make him stop and it sort of eventually became Their Thing. The rest of the kids within the village had stopped around ten, maybe eleven but... ]}

They probably expected him to be like me. Or a berserker. I know I expected him to wind up like I did as he grew older but I think that would've been a death sentence for the neighboring tribes. One of me was enough of a menace to them, but two? Gods...

_{[ She shakes her head, that same fondness making its way to her face and even the rest of her body — a slow sway of her tail here, an almost sad look in her eyes, the works. It does wonders for her nerves though, so it's something. ]}

You could always tell when something upset him at home, at least. Most of the time he'd storm in shouting "ma" or "mother" with a list of grievances, but when something really got to him? That's when the "mama" came out. Or... he'd wind up doing it to make the other person piss themselves. You know how scary us mothers can be when it comes to our children.

[As strange as she does find it as a concept, for a grown man to still address his mother that way, particularly when she was such a powerful woman with a position like Morga... The way she talks about it, that bittersweet fondness... ?]

Well, good for the neighboring tribes, I guess...

[Actually, probably very much so... Now just don't mind the fact that Konoha is slightly lengthening her stride, trying to trick Morga into taking more confident steps while she's distracted.]

I don't even know if my children will end up staying on the mountain with me or going to the human villages, so I hope they don't try to threaten anyone with me... It might be a long trip...

[Also, a bad choice in threats, but.]

How long does it take to go up and down to the nearest village?

_{[ Her body tenses as her back legs almost "lurch" forward with the rest of her, scrambling to catch up with the shift in pace but fortunately? She doesn't go ass over teakettle like she had earlier, only stumbling and leaning against Konoha's side for the brief moment it takes for her feline half to correct itself. ]}

If there were humans you trusted down below, it might help for them to meet one another early so you know they'd be safe if they did choose to live with them.

It's about three days travel... distance-wise it should be just one, but getting down or up Mt. Tsurugi takes time if you want to do it safely.

[There we go, there we go... ! Konoha is quick to support Morga even better when she stumbles, hoping that she will feel more secure in the attempt.]

But that's just the nearest people, just a few hunters and farmers... my home village is five.

[To think, it had seemed so far away once... and now she was in entirely different worlds. Continuing to prattle as a distraction, Konoha takes a few more steps, even adding a slight curve to their line.]

If it were my home village, at least... I know my old boss would take care of them. I still have friends, there, too...

Have you—

_{[ Her ears prick forward and a thin strip of fur raises along the length of both spines at the shift in direction, but it isn't out of fear or worry. Rather, it's curiosity. It's slow-going but for once she doesn't seem to stumble, trip or wobble. Morga can feel her claws digging into the dirt to help pivot, and her tail moves to act as a... counterbalance of sorts, and were she anyone else she might've laughed at the realization. ]}

Have you brought your daughter to meet them yet? I took Montag on his first hunt before he could walk, but never to the neighboring tribes. He didn't meet them until I felt he was old enough to start defending himself should something happen. But we also had no mountains to scale down. Just... trees and caves. The only mountain range near our homeland was dangerous even for a grown hunter taking their time.

[There they went... getting better... ! Which Konoha almost praises, but, afraid that drawing too much attention to it might throw Morga off her game, she avoids it for the moment and instead just answers.]

No, not yet...

[Continuing to support the other woman, she keeps them on a slightly curved path, making a large circle in the old structure.]

Mountain jinba won't move the herd until the baby can walk by itself, so for a month or so... then for a few more months it will be hard to convince him... and once autumn comes the snows will be too thick to safely make the trek, and if I'm with child again by then...

[It's a lot of math that makes her brows furrow and her lips purse, struggling to think of how she could find the time to safely make the journey, but even if it were hard...]

I really want them to meet her, though... Even if they might not be there when I anymore when I get there... I just want my parents to see that everything's alright... that my family is happy because of how happy our family was...

[Even if part of her knew when they sent her off as a bride they did so fully believing it might be the last time they met.]

I... cannot say I understand getting your parents involved, but I understand enough to know that your relationship with them is no doubt leagues better than the one I had with my own.

_{[ Ah, good ol' Scourge-life where they can have a little parricide as a treat. ]}

Have you thought about...

_{[ She trails off for a moment to look down at her own feet - paws - and how her gait differs from Konoha's. Every step the younger woman takes, she has to take an extra two just to keep pace and yet it doesn't feel nearly as tiring as it could be. The only real strain she feels is in the brand new muscles as her body adapts and even then it's... not terrible. ]}

Why not bring your parents to your tribe for a few seasons? See if your husband or some others among yourselves would be willing to escort them so they arrive unharmed. Let them see your child, and... even be there for the second, if it happens. I'm sure they'd be proud to see the things their daughter has accomplished and be more than happy to know that you're not only safe, but happy.

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lumberlady - 2021-11-13 13:39 (UTC) - Expand

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