Cretatous Survival (Ash)

Patchy sighed and gave a nod, leaving the topic be for now.

Trics pretended to have been woken up by her mate, raising her head and looking around groggily.

Scowler huffed lightly, “we at least owe it to her to wait to see if she improves” he said irritated nuzzling Trics softly.

Patchy looked to his father in shock, "Even you cant hold predators off for long" He frowned, "And what about the rest of us? You're the leader, you cant just abandon the entire herd" Patchy frowned heavily, he loved his mother dearly, but he was already falling to his instincts to leave her.

Scowler allowed his eyes to scan the entire herd before looking at his son, “then you will go with Skalk, and I’ll stay with your mother.”

Trics wouldn't tell them she was awake, but she was listening to them.

Patchy sighed as he watched his mother, "Dad... She'll draw predators... Slow the herd down... I don't want to think about it.. But what if we have to leave her? It'll be harder the longer we wait" He hung his head sadly.

Scowler considered his sons statement, “we will have to move eventually but for now we’ll just have to keep an eye on her, and hope she gets better” he stated.

"She's been like that for a while dad... How can she even migrate? I want to believe will get better.. I really do... But.." Patchy trailed off and gave a sigh, hanging his head.

Scowler nuzzled his mate for a moment before considering his son, nodded his head, unwilling to allow his son to support the same burden he was by stating that he didn’t believe she would. “She will” be stated almost knowingly, nuzzling the small female with his nose. Unknown to both his son and mate, that scowlers instincts were pushing him to find a new mate, someone stronger and more able to have and care for eggs. Scowler however, was unwilling to leave his mate, and was fighting his instincts away, for now.

Trics laid her head on the ground and couldn't help dozing off, finally relaxing enough to sleep.

"Do you think she'll get better?" Came Patchy's voice as he watched his sickly mother.

Scowler nipped at Trics affectionately, nodding at Ivy’s statement. Scowler cast his eyes over the nerd momentarily before looking at his mate.

Trics gave a huff and leaned against her mate softly.

"I think when its time to go they're leaving with the herd, but they're all okay with me staying" Ivy said softly, pressing against Patchy.

Scowler chuckled lightly giving his mate some attention every so often while communicating with his sons mate. Scowler nodded “your welcome to have any friends of family stay aswell” he offered.

Trics gave a light huff and she knocked her horns against his, munching on the leaves and watching their son with his mate.

Ivy was still fairly shy, but seemed to be getting braver with them, the female giving a soft nod, "I've gotten very attached to Patchy" She admitted shyly, nuzzling the male in question.

Scowler chuckled and set the branch down in front of his mate lying down aswell and looking over at Ivy, “will you be staying with us?” He asked butting his mate softly.

Trics had been laying down again, Patchy and Ivy laying nearby to keep an eye on her, Trics gave a happy sound as she saw her mate with some leaves, barely moving as she reached for the branch, nibbling at some of the leaves

After grazing for a while, scowler returned to his mate and son with a large branch in his mouth, nuzzling his mate and dropping it at her feet.

Trics struggled to stand after a few minutes, Patchy helping her up and helping her walk to a shady spot, the sun quite warm that day.

Scowler first headed down to the lake, dipping his head and drinking greedily.

Trics didn't even budge when her mate moved, giving a soft sound when Patchy laid with her, grooming her son softly.

Scowler nuzzled his mate loveingly before getting up, walking over to patchy “I need you to watch your mother for a few minutes” he told his son, Scowler needed to eat and drink himself, but had neglected his own needs in favour of his mates.

She gave an exhausted look to her mate, leaning up and licking his cheek softly, her head flopping back down as she laid there.

Scowler grunted his approval at his mates willingness to lay down and do as she was told for once, taking the time to lay down as well, huffing to her worriedly.

She leaned into his touch, giving a tired sound, not fighting against him this time, slowly rolling onto her side to rest.

Scowler moved over to his mate, nuzzling her lovingly “rest” he ordered, rubbing his horns against her frill soothingly.

Trics panted as she slowly laid down, her sides heaving, she couldn't help feeling worried, but she had overdone it, completely drained.