It was the eerie pre-dawn, when the sun hadn't rose yet and the more nocturnal herd members still kept watch. Kel was fast asleep with his beloved tucked under his wing, head across Mickey's back when the voice of one of the nocturnal sealgair called out softly that he was needed.
Grumbling, the big stallion stretched before nuzzling Mickey, urging him back to sleep and that he would come find him to break their fast. At least one of them should be allowed to finish sleeping!
While the thought had been sweet, in the end it was futile as Kel hadn't been gone half an hour before he returned calling out anxiously, "Micky? Mickey please wake up. I need to talk to you."
It was unusual to see the big stallion so shaken, the last time had been finding the pool of blood that was the last traces of Aod.
Oh the sweet dreams Mickey had been having, something about them being on two legs instead of four... Mickey was a full-on fox, not just that mix of fox and equid that he was. He wasn't stupid, he knew he wasn't the same as a regular fox. But oh how handsome Kel had been, a bipedal deer-equid with his wings... And they were decorated in so many feathers and beads and it was beautiful.
So he was displeased to be woken up, rubbing his paws over hsi face. "What is it, Kel...?" He yawned, teeth flashing in the weak light of pre-dawn. "Had the most wonderful dream, we was bipedal and had thumbs, and you were... Can't say more handsome, always handsome, but still handsome."
Given how sleep addled (and frankly still half in dream land) he was, it might take Mickey a moment to notice how shaken Kel was. "I need you to come with me. There's...well...I..". It was so rare that Kel was speechless but he certainly was now!
Slowly blinking, Mickey stared at Kel, then tried rubbing the sleep from his eyes again. "Kel? What's wrong?" He got up, stretching some, then went and nuzzled at him. "Show me what it is."
Touching him, Mickey would realize Kel was trembling faintly, "Alright. I...this way." Heading from their glade, Kel started towards the worship glen. Those that were awake were giving them wide eyed looks that held a tinge of awe even as whispers ticked at Mickey's hearing, never loud enough to make out words but very obvious it was about them.
Pausing outside the glade, Kel took a deep breath before ducking his head so he could rest his forehead against Mickey, "I have a confession to make love. It was I who stole your favorite strand of beads. Several moons ago, when I heard the wishing star was high in the night sky, I took them along with several of my primaries to use as an offering. When I came the next morning they had disappeared. I always assumed one of the caraidean saw them and took them but now...."
He gave a shaky sigh that ended with a faint whine, "I can't see them but they smell like us."
Stepping into the glad left no doubt as to what he was referring to as there, resting on the alter like the gifts they were, were two brightly colored baskets. Looking at them there were no doubt who's children they must be.
The more they walked, the more Mickey woke up, especially with Kel's trembling. His ears shifted, listening to the whispers, before turning toward Kel. So that was where his beads had gone! He'd had somebody take them off for him so he could properly clean his mane, and his favorited string had gone missing. "Some'a those were from me mam and Da..." There was no anger in his words, and in fact he thought that was honestly a perfect use for them. "I think... Mam and Da would be happy to see 'em go to a wish to the star." Mickey smiled, a soft thing, then nuzzled into Kel's side.
When they got into the glade, Mickey took in the sight. There were two baskets, and indeed there was no doubt who they were for. He gasped softly, nostrils flaring as he took in the scents. So like them... Maybe a bit of stardust... Immediately Mickey went over, gently sniffing, pawing, and nuzzling the baskets. Tears welled up in his eyes. "Oh... Réaltaí beaga..." He looked up at Kel. "They're beautiful and already so perfect..."
"It's true then?"Kel hadn't moved when Mickey went forward, visibly shaking now, his feather puffed as his wings flexed anxiously. "Our prayers were answered?"
Laying down around the baskets, location be damned, Mickey swallowed, then rubbed his cheek on each one. "They have. The star heard our prayers, and the star answered." One of the baskets, burnished red with bold white stripes on it, seemed to wiggle a bit. Oh, the wee one already knew their voices...
Kel whined strumbling over on shaking legs to lower his bulk beside Mickey. He stretched his neck over Mickey's back to scent the baskets since it was safer to keep his beloved's body between him and the fragile lives he couldn't see. "describe them to me?"
"Besides how they're perfect?" Mickey let out a bit of a watery laugh at his own joke, so full of joy. "One's got your dark pelt with a white and red mark on it, like some kinda belly mark, with light blue on top with white stripes. The edges are a... A red with a darker red, and there's a wee gem in it that's blue." That one alone reminded him most of Kel, and Mickey found himself rubbing his cheek on it again. Then he turned and looked at the other, tails curling around it. "The other looks like me, with the reds, but got splashy white marks like yours and your Da's, and there's white stripes on top. They both got your stripes, I think! And there's a big blue mark, like your and your Mam's wode marks, on it, and the edges of the basket and lid are blues." And there, he let out an amused sound. "Got a kinda gold-ish gem on it!"
Giving a choked little laugh-sob, Kel buried his face into Mickey's mane while his wings spread to cover his mate and their so long wanted children. "Oh! Oh Mickey, I...I don't know what to say. I never dreamed, I could only hope and that never seemed to be enough."
Turning, Mickey nuzzled into Kel, letting out a happy and joyous sob. "What ya did was enough, we've been blessed!"
Finally roused from her own sleep, Lady Peach moved through the crowd of gathered herd members, hearing the whispers that made her head wings twitch and flutter. When she stepped into the glade, she smiled, both soft and so proud. "Would ya look at this..." She didn't step closer, not unless she was invited, as this was a moment for her son and his mate. Peach wouldn't dare impose.
Kel sniffled hearing his mother's voice causing him to lift his head in her direction her, "Mam, the star heard my prayer."
The big stallion was overwhelmed and couldn't think of anything to say as he nuzzled his mate and their precious baskets.
Only when Mickey looked at her and nodded did Peach step in, coming over to nuzzle both her son and her son-in-law. "It has, and they're beautiful." She smiled, looking at the baskets, then back at the two stallions. "Congratulations, both of ya." The herd was ever expanding, and she loved it. Perhaps, she hoped, their missing fox would show up again, as well. She didn't voice this, though, keeping it to herself as she often did.
