Chapter 176

The night passed by completely uneventfully, with no one experiencing any of the interactive dreams. There were still some weird dreams to be had, at least by three of the people. Natalie and her parents each had ones that just felt weird and out there, each unique enough to film a movie on. As for Sophie and Shannon, they both had the usual nightmare that they had become sadly accustomed to over the past month. Natalie only knew as she woke up twice the middle of the night, once due to each of them. All she did was hold them a little tighter and gave a quick peck on their forehead before slowing drifting back off to sleep herself. She didn't want to wake them up, and disrupt her sleep. She just felt that what she was doing was the most help she could give right now, as neither had fully opened up about what had happened yet. Even with Shannon, it was never talked about, but something that both of them clearly knew about. Nat was just trying to give them their time and space until they were ready to go into the dark and depraved details of their nightmares. Till they were stable enough to deal with the flood of emotions that may come from doing so.

As she woke up to the morning sun shining into the tent, Nat realized just how delicate of a position she was in. When so many canines came in to sleep together, it all just became a web of limbs and bodies. It took her a frustrating amount of time trying to leave the tent without stepping on any tails, but that was due to how tightly everyone packed in there. If she didn't know any better, Nat would have thought that this was all an elaborate plan by Kali or Maia to mess with her. After all, the two had picked up and tossed trooper to the side when he tried to sleep cuddled up to Nat. They were quite possessive of that spot, and trying to orchestrate that without her knowing would be a giant pain in the ass.

When she finally got out, she noticed that her coyotes had not done the night watch alone. Nor was she the first one up for once. Beside Lucille and tin sat a couple of snow leopards, who Nat guessed were female as well. Mainly due to the fact that a couple larger ones were down with Copper and Edwin playing with all of the kids and trying to get them used to walking about on two legs. There were even four cubs that had joined in with the coyote pups, though they were arguably doing far worse in their walking around on two legs.

What really surprised Nat though was her mother sitting beside Lucille, with a cougar sitting beside her. Nat did not even have to ask who that cougar was, as it had to be Sheera. The nock in her ear, as well as the different colour of four around her right arm gave all the tell-tale signs she needed to recognize the female cougar. Last she saw at Christmas, she had been nearing on eleven-years-old, which was a fairly long age for a cougar. She had been staying by and helping out Charlene for years, ever since she had been rescued from a forgotten trap. She had been unable to move the heavy metal implement, and was on the verge of starving in the middle of the wilderness. She had been moving more sluggishly last she had saw her, but now it was as if she was looking at a completely different cougar. The fur was tight against her, and all symbolizing a healthy and young cat. Was this an effect of the Soulscape? Or of the energy that manifested it?

For the first time since she arrived, Nat cast a critical eye towards her mother, trying to recall how she moved and acted during the holidays. If something about the event and bonding had reduced the affect aging had on Sheera, surely it would have a similar reaction to her mother. The problem was, that her mother had taken good care of herself over the years. Not many injuries were causing her issues, and she was still physically fit enough to run about the wilderness helping animals in need. Upon a first glance, she couldn't notice anything different immediately. After all, she still looked the same as far as she could tell. Either there were no noticeable differences, or she was just so used to seeing her mother over the years that a younger look still felt normal, Nat was unsure which it was.

Walking up to her mother, Nat saw as the group of predators watched a group of zebra trot past along the pathway. Given that her parents were here, Natalie had already expected this to be a norm. After all, if all of technology stopped, and animals in the zoo were left on their own, they would free them just as she had freed the snakes back in Calgary. The whole thing was to do as much good as they could, with the tools they were given. That always had been their family motto. Food, water, and medical supplies would all have been duplicated time and time again if it meant that the animals were able to live as they should have. The question was how far had her parents gotten in weaning the animals off of the mindset of being fed by humans here in the city core?

As Nat sat down, Charlene passed her a cup of tea, still steaming hot. Together, they just watched the sun rise in the east, as well as the men's attempt to teach their children. The problem for them was the age of their young, as they were quite easily distracted by literally everything. One of them farted, and immediately all of them started moving towards the sound, trying to figure out what it was. Seeing them get close, only to try and get away again was extremely cute and funny. What only added to the chaos was another one farting, causing the entire scene to repeat itself. All in all, it made for a very enjoyable and relaxing start to the day.

Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, John, Hades, Sir Hellington, Onean, Sebastian, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!

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