That was the thing the young darkling blinking up at her father, eyes touched by what one could only presume was the sapling stages of tears that would not ever break; perhaps it was a child's naivety that made anger fluster instead of sadness or maybe, through and through, bits of her father had wound so tightly within her that they shared something beyond looks, beyond even blood—for they shared this innate... slowness where emotions were concerned, and it was in this way that they crashed as one, a mirror to one another.
Maybe, even, in a way...
...Tiberius was staring at a younger him...
...And Tiberii was staring at what would one day be an older her.
"But I don't wanna hate ya'!" Tiberii hollered it though this was, understandably, not very loud in the grand scheme of things where she was small still yet and he stood as tall and as vast as the mountains around them. Her little ears pinned back, in some mixture of submission and fright that all knotted up in her throat to make her feel as though she might burst into a million little pieces. "I don't wanna 'ave to deal w' it either! Why ya' makin' it so hard! Stop makin' s'all so hard!"
It was a child's plea through and through; entirely unable to handle the proposition that things would not be so delivered to her as she felt they had so often been. It felt like hate because she had never seen him treat her sisters so similarly.
What had she done wrong?
The young darkling would not be able to ponder on it for long; for the better, maybe as he spoke to her and she sulked in response, little shoulders hunched over and her gaze flitting between narrowing at the ground and then at him. It was so confusing the way he spoke, how he loved her but he would do what would make her hate him again; a promise that quirked her intrigue and deepened her uncertainty of all this. But if there was one thing that Tiberii was more loyally than she was herself—it was the daughter of her father, looking to him in a light some looked at their ancestors or the subject of great stories and tall tales. "Ya' ain't been showin' it," she said to him, her ire still wound tightly around her tone though it was clearer now that she was simmering from the boil, spilling back and away from the heart which spurred her to begin with. All in true child's fashion. Any emotion could be a sunburst of a reaction and it would feel something fiercer than anything else she felt in her life and then it would taper out, leaving her cool and only a bit seething as she muddled about with dubiety. Tiberii would snort a little, puffing a small breath that misted on the air before her muzzle, pawing gently at the snow she had kicked up in her flurry of fury; smacking her small jaws, and her voice went uncharacteristically quiet, as if trying to embody some of Mother's calm demeanor, but more than that, some of Mother's wit and contemplation. "Why's ya' not then?"
Tiberii would come to be more confused as he displayed his injuries, offering a sharp huff. The young darkling would not note how it appeared so clearly that he was waiting for something comparable to the slap of a paw to the back of his head, instead, she would take to him in a light no differently than she had when she was so young she had the mobility of a fawn with vertigo and the mind so delicate the snow could have disturbed it if allowed, all innocence and curiosity as she neared.
At once, Tiberii would rise to her paws and clear the slim distance between them once he abided her request.
Mhm, she hummed as she stumbled close, sniffing at his nose and his muzzle and the unmarred side of his face (as if for comparison) before Tiberii paid careful and close attention to his wounds. She didn't know anything about herbs and how those treated any sort of hurt but she reckoned this was right... of course, she would need the second opinion of @
Olive who she hoped now would return and sooner than soon; nobody else should take care of Father except for Mother... unless that nobody was Kuhn and then Tiberii would allow it.
"Bet ya' got 'em good, too," she would tell him, not ever doubting her father's strength or his grit,
of course, he probably bit them so bad they just fell with the shock! Tiberii would then ever so carefully lift one large paw (though small compared to Father's head) and rest it near the wound, knowing good and well not to touch it or else it would hurt or get all dirty, but she sought to comfort him, and so it would lay ever gently, providing a careful
pap pap pap as though that was medicine enough.
"Ya' coulda been restin' w' us or me at least! I'da been all quiet, for real," Tiberii reasoned like this was some court and she was resting a very good case.
But as quickly as she showed Father this care, relenting in her ferocity only a moment to stretch and lay one caring lick to his forehead all as both her parents had always given her and her siblings, Tiberii lurched up, tufted tail swaying out and her little hackles raising as she did so—mimicking that of a startled black cat. "Ya' gotta get yer rest!" she said to him, all very serious of course; having seen herself as his little right hand man since her sister and Mother's departure, Tiberii would take it upon herself to ensure he was well and okay. Quickly, she ran around him, stumbling only a little, and grabbed at his tail; the sheer volume of black fur enough to make her cheek round as she tugged furiously at him. "'m gettin' ya' back to the den, I'll make sure ya' rest and get good and well."
Of course, this meant she would perform baby's first doctor's visit followed by a nap atop Father's shoulders, and she would not be deterred! She and @
Aurelia would patrol the border later all on their own, they made great time last time, too.
He would be proud once he knew.
the staff team luvs u