Damu woke with a start. He whipped his head to the side, listening for the source of the noise that woke up. His mate was already off on patrol, so it couldn't be him. A sinking feeling in his stomach distracted him for a second as to tried to figure out what had spooked him. The started dog took a deep breath, shaking his head to clear his thoughts and try to decipher the noise that woke him from his slumber.
"Sorry, sorry!" A voice came from his right. He could hear clumsy feet stumble over the pile of rocks at the edges of his sleeping ground. He had constructed the psuedo wall a while back to help him define the not-den where he and Airle slept. It was easier to feel and ensured it could find this place again without his vision.
He didn't quite recognize the voice, but her scent was familiar enough. "Who's there?" he asked as calmly as he could. He could feel his voice waver a bit from the fear that was left over in his body. He could hear the voice huff.
"It's, ah, Rhodon." The name was familiar as well, and it took him a second to remember the litter. She was his sister's grandchild, which was probably why her scent was so familiar. Ahh, it would be so much easier to see the other. He had to put a picture together in his head based on their voices and scent.
"Alright, Rhodon," Damu said easily, the hitch in his voice completely gone now. The fear had left him as soon as she said her name. "What can I do for you, now that I'm awake?" He stretched forward, touching one of the fallen rocks with his paw. He had heard three of them fall, so he just had to find the other two now, he thought distractedly.
Rhodon hummed, tilting her head a little. "O-oh, um." She started. "Well, Matope is off gathering, and I don't really know where to find things to craft with." She said softly, shyly.
Damu gave a soft chuckle, shaking his head a little. He wasn’t quite sure what she meant by supplies.
“Are you an Artisan then? Or another Gatherer?” He asked. He hadn’t been spending much time around his niece’s children - he had his own children to worry about after all. Well, they were technically Airle’s, but Damu made sure to treat them all as his own.
They were his, it didn’t matter if their biology said otherwise. His mother never treated him like an outsider, though she was young when he came into her care. She was only barely an adult, but she had done the best she could by him.
Rhodon nodded before stopping herself. “Yes, an Artisan,” she answered quietly. She wasn’t sure he had heard her for a second, but Damu just nodded a moment later. She gave a small sigh, uncertain of how to continue the conversation with her great-uncle.
“Well then, Rhodon, I’ll help you,” he said, standing up. He made sure to touch the other two stones softly to commit their area to memory. He knew Airle wouldn’t change anything without him present. He was an amazing mate like that. “What were you looking to create?”
Damu, despite his lack of sight, was quite good at finding trinkets and items to create them. He was better in his youth, when he could still see, but he found that sometimes things were easier without site. He paused to tell the Klipspringer that normally travelled with him - Name - to stay home for now.
The pair headed out as Rhodon explained what she was looking to make. “A strap for a new shaw,” she said. “I can’t find anything to tie it, or clasp it together. Normally Matope finds stuff and leaves them for me, but there was nothing I could find,” she explained.
Damu hummed and nodded, thinking of what kind of item they could find. Normally, with there being a hiking trail far from the pack, they could venture down and look for items left behind by hikers.
This time, though, he wondered if nicely braided wood would work. “Sometimes with young trees,” He started to explain, “you can have a bird or monkey help braid together thin strands to make it stronger and used as a cord. Would that work?” She hummed, tilting her head.
“Maybe,” she said thoughtfully. She followed her uncle, who stepped over obstacles easily, like he could see. She knew he was blind. His blank gaze was enough to tip that off, and the way he never quite looked at anything.
He lead her to a clearing where small trees were just beginning to form. Young saplings that gently swayed in the wind with flowers all about. “I come here to relax sometimes,” he explained. “I pull up all the young trees to make sure this doesn’t get swallowed by the forest.”
Rhodon, though, sad down in the flowers. They brushed at her chest gently. “It’s really nice here…” she said softly, and Damu smiled. He nuzzled her head, plucking a small flower and tucking it behind her ear. He then turned pulled up two of the small trees for Rhodon to bring back to wherever she normally crafted.
“There are a few birds in the pack that you can take these to,” he offered. “And there are some that just pass through frequently that can help. I can take you to them. Rhodon brightened up, she was happy that Damu had so many connections.
But she turned shy again, suddenly. “Is it okay if we stay here for a little while?” she asked, not wanting to impose on Damu’s flower meadow. The older dog gave a small hum, but nodded in ascent.
“I wouldn’t mind at all,” he agreed gently, nuzzling at his niece’s head again, careful not to dislodge the flower he had placed there. The two moved to a thinner patch of flowers, ones that only came to their ankles and didn't grow so high. Damu opted to lay and relax while Rhodon sat and spoke of her projects softly, glad that she could explain them to someone who would understand.
It was the most relaxed she felt in a while - surrounded by flower petals.