The auburn girl smiled, nodding as Jagger weakly attempted to turn down Chicky's pampering. Turning one ear back as she padded down the slight slope to her den, Chickadee was pleased to hear Jagger following along behind.

"Oh, the least I can do is ease the itching so you aren't tempted to reopen those scabs," she said happily, glancing briefly over her shoulder before turning to the array of herbs layed out at the entrance of the den. It took just a moment to find the correct plant. She snipped a bit off, clipping the stem expertly between her teeth. Immediately, a yellowish sap began to ooze out.

Carrying the bit of plant carefully between her teeth, Chicky turned back to Jagger. But seeing how her sister looked then, with her hair bristling and her face all contorted in some emotion Chicky couldn't read, the poor girl was so startled she dropped the bit of plant. It lay forgotten in the sand as Chickadee listened to Jag fumble for the right words. She waited with baited breath to hear what Jagger would say, but nothing would have prepared her for what came next.

"Your imprint?" Chickadee gasped, her tail wagging enthusiastically. "Well that's wonderful!" And yet, Jag seemed anything but pleased. Chickadee didn't understand -- she had thought of the whole business of imprinting as being something magical and wonderful: a fairy tale ending, of sorts. Chickadee slowly sat down, tilting her head.

"Rid of him.." she breathed, looking more puzzled than ever. "But what's wrong with him?"

---

CHICKADEE
^{you're not alone}