Snowflakes settled daintily upon Strynhalde’s icescape, covering the land in a white blanket of silence. There was not a sound to be heard until tiny kittom paws crunched the snow as they bounded, kicking up glittering flurries. Their laughs and chuckles sliced through the brisk air while tumbling and tussling.
Rime and her pomu readied the flora she picked up from Lorumund’s market on the wooden table in their sitting room. She gazed out the frosted window for a moment to see her kittoms chasing each other. The snowy nin purred softly, taking in every joyous moment motherhood had to offer. However, not all jovial and free was to be expected from their quaint little home as the seasons shifted.
Hawthorn pinned his sister deep in the snow although, when Perma swatted at him, Hawthorn could feel his paws give and he stumbled off.
“Come on,” laughed Perma. “I didn’t hit you that hard.” She moved and pressed her shoulder into her brother’s and playfully shoved him. Hawthorn continued to trip over his paws, losing the energy to compete with his sister. Concern welling up inside her, Perma steadied her brother by pressing her head against his. However the longer she stood there, the weaker she felt, as though the energy was being drained from her. Is this.. Miasma?
“Kids!” shouted Rime, rushing out towards Hawthorn and Perma. She picked up her son by his scruff, rushed inside to deposit him atop some soft cushions before sprinting back out into the snow to retrieve her daughter. She placed them beside each other and pulled a plush multi-colored quilt over the top of them. Rime climbed up and wrapped herself around her kittoms, her pomu extracting itself from her shadow to see what was happening.
“Oh I knew the miasma would be stronger today,” mewed Rime between licks. She licked a stray tuft of fur on her daughter’s head. “I hate to say it, but you gotta stay inside until the miasma subsides.”
“What?” scowled Perma, not understanding the level of danger miasma posed. “What do you expect us to do while we’re cooped up at home?”
Rime nuzzled her daughter reassuringly. “There’s plenty, dear. Besides, we’ll all be together. Hawthorn, how are you feeling?”
“Better mama,” yawned Hawthorn, regaining his strength. “I don’t want to go out there again. Maybe even never.” He mulled over the idea of becoming a hermit for the rest of his life. “Everytime I go outside, something bad happens. So yeah, I like being inside.”
Rime couldn’t bite back her laughter and giggled, “Maybe you’ll be able to keep your sister from going stir crazy Hawthorn. You two have some pretty big ideas.”
“Especially me!” boasted Perma, excitedly clambering atop her brother.
“Stop that!” Hawthorn huffed, shoving Perma off. He looked at his mother and moved to rub against her. Perma joined in and Rime bowed to lick her kittoms a couple times.
“Now then, why don’t we continue rearranging these flowers. I have them all out and ready for you two,” mewed Rime, nudging her kittoms towards the table.
“Flower arranging!” mews Hawthorn, scrambling to sit at the table. He lifted himself, balancing his upper body by placing his paws at the edge of the table. He scanned each and every stem and type, rearranging them in his thoughts.
Perma padded up a little more slowly with their mother and took a seat. She kept back, watching Hawthorn pick up and place flora in all different places. Perma reached forward and picked up a purple flower with six petals. She held it up to their mother, “Mama, what is this?”
Rime leaned forward to get a better look. She pinned her ears back, studying it while searching her thoughts for a name. However, a large gust of wind blew over their homestead and wailed past. Perma immediately hid herself, tucking beneath her mother’s spotted, fluffy tail.
“Scaredy nin,” Hawthorn mentioned under his breath while maintaining focus on the task before him.
“I heard that!” hissed Perma, leaping atop the table to lunge at her brother.
“Ah!” squealed Hawthorn as he scrambled to protect the flowers before getting tackled. “Stop it, Perma! You’ll ruin the flowers!”
“Be nicer with your words!” Perma continued to bat her brother as she was too escalated to listen to reason.
Rime stepped in calmly and effortlessly scooted her children apart from each other. She stepped back to sit upon her haunches, tail neatly wrapping around her forepaws. “Now, now you two,” she began, keeping her voice stern. “Hawthorn, that wasn’t a very nice thing to say about your sister, now was it?”
“No..” answered Hawthorn, fiddling nervously with a near-crumpled red flower.
Rime turned to look at her daughter whose head was lowered. “And Perma, dear, it’s not nice to rush in and handle your brother like that.What else could you say to him instead?”
“I don’t like it when you call me a scaredy nin..” Perma mewed quietly, ears back. “Sorry I attacked you.”
“It’s okay,” Hawthorn reassured his sister. “I’m sorry I called you names.” He picked up the flower stem in his jaw and moved closer to his sister. He placed the flower at her small white paws and touched his forehead to hers. He purred and sat back to meet her glowing gold gaze. “Where should this one go?”
Perma smiled and picked up the flower. She turned back to face the table, wincing at the sight of the turmoil she caused with flowers scattered on the floor and some petals missing. Perma gingerly scooted closer and laid her red flower beside a white flower still intact.
“How about these two?” she asked, her voice still hushed from embarrassment.
“I never would have thought of this combination!” gasped Hawthorn, quickly gathering up the remains of flora with Rime. They scattered them on the table and each nin took up a little station. Hawthorn and Perma chatted up flower-pairing strategies while Rime arranged the bunches of flowers, readying them before securing the flowers with colorful ribbon.
“Oh! I forgot about the sprigs!” Though before Rime could summon her pomu, it was already shoving out sprigs upon sprigs from her shadow. “Ah, there they are,” she giggled, giving her pomu a little pat. She bundled them up and set them on the table.
Hawthorn jumped with excitement, “We can add those after we’re done with these bouquets!”
Purring, Perma joined her brother in his excitement. She loved doing things together though she couldn’t help but gaze outside. The temperature outside was not dropping, but she could feel the miasma settling as the sky darkened. Perma pressed against Hawthorn, afraid of her own thoughts.
“How about after we’re done fixing up these flowers, we play a couple board games that I found at the market the other day?” offered Rime, hoping to lift their spirits.
“Yeah!” Hawthorn and Perma mewed in unison.
“Mama,” spoke Hawthorn as he and Perma finalized the last of the bouquets. He reached for some sprigs and passed them over to Perma to arrange. “Could you get more flowers for us to put up? I like doing this with everyone.”
“If the miasma lessens, I’m sure I can go do that. I’d really like to meet up with my friend for some more shopping.”
“Really?” exclaimed Hawthorn.
“And more games!” added Perma after placing the sprigs in their respective bouquets.
“Maybe, purred Rime as she continued wrapping the bouquets. “We still need to play the games I already bought!” She stopped herself from saying anymore when she felt a tug at her paw. It was her pomu holding up a list, tapping it impatiently. She leaned closer before laughing, “Aaaannd the activities I bought from other cities! We’ve got a lot to do this upcoming season!”
