A Little Cabin in the Woods - Chapter 1

Story by Glek on SoFurry

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#1 of A Little Cabin in the Woods

So... This is probably the single biggest project I've ever undertaken in my extremely short writing career, and I certainly can't claim all the credit for it. None of this would have happened if chance hadn't led me to meet a very good friend of mine, SkullJack17. I originally met him on F-List over a year ago and we've been role playing ever since. This story is a prettying up of our longest running role play.

Now, there is more to this story then where I'm starting. Turbulence (the Flygon whole will join the story later) has a much longer history with Concorde Unit (SkullJack17's character). The issue is that SkullJack17 and I stopped role playing for almost 3 months while I was busy with university and other things. When we came back together and started this story, it had been so long since either of us had looked back at Turbulence's story that inconsistencies have emerged between this Turbulence and the old one. Thus, I'm taking the more "modern" Turbulence to be the accurate one.

This first chapter covers Concorde Unit discovering the egg of his adopted daughter, Svem, and hatching it. It also covers their first few days with each other.

Anyway, enjoy the fruits of our labors!


Just a heads up, everyone. This story is constructed from logs from a role play. I did minimal editing between the original logs and this "story" version. If you notice certain patterns (such as every paragraph starting with an name alternating between Concorde Unit and Svem), it's because that's how role playing tends to work. There may also be differences in writing styles between paragraphs. Again, this is because I was not the sole writer of this story. For those of you who are Grammar Nazis, just don't read it. You will be deeply disappointed. Everyone else, enjoy the story, and remember to point out spelling/grammar mistakes in the comments as well as any other feedback, praise, flames (which will be used to roast marshmallows), job offers, publishing offers, marriage requests, and anything else you want! Just keep it clean and fun is all I ask.


Concorde Unit sighs, looking over the state of his cabin in the woods. The recent earthquake that hit was a pretty big one alright, and though the foundation of the house wasn't damaged, it was one of the few things that wasn't affected. Going over a list in his head, he's fixed the bookshelves, the kitchen mostly, the leaking water in the basement from the pipes, and the roof from a tree that decided to fall and glance the side of the house. Without water for the moment, he sighs and figures he may as well get a large bucket and ferry some water from the nearby stream. Hoisting a bucket over his shoulder, he trudges down the well worn trail towards the stream, occasionally needing to make a slight detour to get around some fallen trees on the path. Another bit of work that'll need to be done, it seems. At least he was here at the time when it happened, instead of returning later on to find it in such a poor state that could have become worse.

The earthquake had other effects, much further reaching. On a cliff, further down the river, the quake had shifted the rock, resulting in a slope down which a large egg rolled. It had been in the cave for centuries, unhatched because of the lack of proper conditions, asleep. The egg tumbled out of the cave, landing in the river. The current carried it down the water way. As it reached a large bend, the current pushed it out and onto the sandy shoulder towards which Concorde Unit was heading to get some water.

Concorde Unit bent down to the water to start filling his bucket, looking at some of the debris that has washed down the stream from the earthquake. Tree limbs, various bits of sediment being stirred up as they passed, splintered wood, and the like. Even the bed of the lake has changed a bit. Blinking, he then notes a rather large...rock, on the shore. Is that a rock? The coloration of it is all wrong for this area. Moving over, he rubs a hand across the surface of it to examine this strange find.

The surface was perfectly smooth, too smooth to be a rock, even one rounded by water. The shape was perfectly even and symmetrical, something that rarely occurred in nature, especially when water was involved. The surface was a gently cream color, with small darker blotches.

Concorde Unit finds this to be VERY interesting, and worth looking into further. Looking back to his bucket, he hmmms for a moment, and parks the bucket aside for now. Getting this object back to his home first would be best overall. Bending down and grunting as he lifts it from the wet sand, he errfs as he tries to hold it without smearing wet sand all over his clothes. Acking as it slips almost, he catches it with his chest before moving his hands to hold it better. Well, so much for that... Sighing, he adds that as another thing to address as he starts to heft the ovoid object back to his cabin in the woods.

Inside the egg, Svem shifted slightly at the disturbance. It was barely more then a twitch. She didn't know what was happening. Only that it'd been so long since anything had happened, so long that she'd been asleep in the darkness, sometimes in the cold, sometimes in the heat, floating there in what could have been an infinite void.

Concorde Unit soon enough takes the rock back to his home, getting a bunch of towels to clean it off and lay it upon in the corner of the room. Sensitive to movement though, he feels a little...something, shift as he handles and carries it. "...Curious..." It'll hold there for the moment, while he gets the water he needed. Moving quickly, he's there and back in a few moments, and sets to boiling the water so he has some warm water for himself. Looking back to the rock, he ponders...could this be an egg of some sort? Deciding to try a few quick tests, he places his fingertips on the egg and sends a slight pulse of sound through it, to see if he can tell what's inside of this find of his.

The sound would show that the inside was hollow, filled with a liquid, and that there was a dense object curled up inside. The sound caught Svem's attention. She murmured to herself inside the shell, causing a sound to reply back. It was faint, but it was there.

Concorde Unit is...awestruck, to put it mildly. "This is...." Hearing a little sound come back from this as well, he's certain that whatever this egg holds inside of it is still alive, too. "...Well, it seems I have something to do, now, after the house is fixed." Smiling to himself at the possibilities, he starts to work eagerly and quickly now so that everything in the house is 100% so that he can focus all of his energies on the egg as soon as he's finished! There's a lot of noise from this occasionally, with sounds of hammering and banging all the while. As a way to monitor the egg too, he's left a 'handprint' on the egg of nanites to try and take in mineral data on the outside of the shell, as well as scan the structure inside to see how it reacts to the stimuli that's around it now.

All the noise and banging brought little shifts from Svem inside her egg. Each loud noise triggered a twitch. The shell of the egg was composed of a complex mineral compound that was almost indestructible. Even CU would have had a tough time breaking the shell, though the mineral offered no protection against molecular disassembly. Svem was becoming more aware as time went on, but didn't seem anywhere near hatching any time soon. She was still floating in the void, in her mind, peaceful, comfortable.

Concorde Unit is finished a few hours later, having found and addressed all the problems in the cabin. Looking to the little 'nest' he's made for the egg, he sits beside it as he ponders what to do. It's obvious that he COULD just take it apart piece by piece, but that wouldn't be right. The creature inside this egg is alive, and deserves the chance at life just as anything else does. Mulling it over a little, he nods to himself. He'd study it as he hatched the egg! It's the most reasonable thing to do after all, considering. With that thought driving him, he sets to his workshop, starting to construct a furnace-like container for the egg that could expose it to various temperatures, so as to see what would work best for hatching the egg. Another few hours pass quickly enough, and in the morning he has finished! "Woo...all nighter! Well, this should work..." Popping the front open, it is made like an oven to cook things...specifically the egg itself, so to speak. He starts at a lower temperature to see how it will respond to the warmth first.

Svem felt the warmth build around her, seeping into her being, infusing her with warmth. She stirred in her shell, not much more then she had been previously, but the nanites would detect that her heart rate had raised towards more "normal" levels.

Concorde Unit makes a note of this, the nanites along the shell spreading to make a criss-cross, grid pattern to use sound to map out the insides in a 3 dimensional image of sorts, so he can better 'see' what is inside the egg. Probably a reptile of some sort...not likely a fish egg, as they don't have harder shells like this. A bird is possible as well...perhaps a phoenix, or a distant offshoot that resembles such?

Svem squirmed a bit, the warmth was making her drowsy. She drifted off into a semi-slumber once more. All movement inside the shell stilled except for her triple hearts, which beat strong and steady, forming a triangle beneath her breast bone.

Concorde Unit is picking up one...two... "...Three heartbeats? No...three HEARTS, it seems....heh, like Link when starting a new game. Still, that's...different. There's no animal I know of that's got three hearts..." He's quiet a moment, letting the egg sit in the incubator he's crafted for it all the while as he thinks. It takes a little bit, but he nods to himself. "...Ok! Well, this might be an interesting development...but we'll hatch, and raise what's inside...yeah, that's the ticket! Who knows, it should be pretty interesting overall."

Svem slumbers, her mind drifting through dreams, dreams of flight, of soaring through the air. Of swooping down and snatching a beast of burden from a field. Of being lord of all she saw, from the sky to the land to the sea. One leg gave a small kick in her sleep, her wings twitched in response.

Concorde Unit picks up more movement in the egg, charting out a more distinct image. "...Hmmm...wings. Structure isn't of a bird, as they are on the back..leg is muscular for an infant...a species primarily for hunting, a predator perhaps?"

Svem 's eyes flickered in her sleep. She curled tighter, reducing the clarity of his scans, making her seem more like a solid mass. She then relaxed, uncurling slightly. Her tail tip twitched as she dreamed. Then all was still. There was still not enough heat to make her feel safe in awaking.

Concorde Unit: "Hmmm...tail...no feathers or structure supporting such, so a reptile of some variation. There's little movement now....hmmmm..." He doesn't know how he should go about this, for now....though, perhaps he should start by creating a living space for the creature he's going to be responsible for raising and caring for, first. Nodding to himself, he makes a mental listing of what needs to be done and building supplies, food, toys, bedding, and the like. Lifting his head as another idea comes to him, he smiles as he thinks of another thing to do. This creature might not be able to communicate with him, but at least hearing and understanding how he talks would be good. With this in mind, he re-routes some of the nanite network around Svem's egg to broadcast sound into it, keying in a few English lesson tapes to play on a loop for the unborn creature before he turns up the temperature a little bit. With that setup, he starts sketching out plans for the additions to the house.

Svem stirs in the egg as the words resound within the shell. She mumbled in her sleep, already picking up the sounds and the meanings behind them. Dragons learned exceptionally fast, especially in the shell when their minds were so unoccupied by other things. Already, the mumbled sounds were taking the shape of words, though without any coherent meaning to them. Her dreams shifted around the sounds, forming images to match the words.

Concorde Unit isn't taking too much note of this at the moment, recording what is going on as he sketches out what he plans to do in a hurry. Lists are made, checked, and double checked as he tries to figure out what is needed to raise a creature like this. Meanwhile, the tapes have switched to a preschool song session, with various songs like 'The Itsy Bitsy Spider', 'The Alphabet Song', and other timeless classics that preschool teachers no doubt have had drilled into their heads from years of singing them!

Svem hummed along to the songs in her dreams, and in those dreams, she danced and twirled to the music, singing the words along side the tapes. It showed as more vigorous twitches and movements, the warmth making her feel better and better as time went on, more and more awake, more and more alive.

Concorde Unit is busy over time for the next few days, starting to collect lumber and cement and other building materials for the addition to the cabin. He doesn't know how big it will get, but setting up a separate room for it wouldn't be a bad start he figures. Building, sawing, drilling and laboring for about a week, he's soon done with the new addition to the house, panted a lovely shade of green inside! He doesn't know the gender of the baby, or if it even has one, so figures green would work as a good 'medium' for the different available possibilities. The tapes even have educational parts, like what colors are and what colors objects are, like a RED apple, or a GREEN leaf.

Svem murred. Her sleep was getting less restful and more restless. She was beginning to feel confined in her shell, like it was suffocating her. She began to move more vigorously. Time was running short, she was fast approaching her hatching. Eventually, the nanites would sense her starting to twist inside her shell. She was suffocating in here! It was too small, to tight! She snapped her head up, piercing the air sack above her head, giving her a good blast of air to use in her hatching struggles.

Concorde Unit blinks, an alarm being set off after all this time. He'd been reading reports daily on the baby's progress, and getting a better picture and idea of what he's dealing with in all this time. Still...when he finds out that the baby is coming, he feels like he has NO idea what he's in for! Just like most fathers when the time comes, it seems! That, and he left the baby in the oven too long! Rushing over to the incubator, he moves to take the egg out of it and carries it quickly into the new room for the baby! "OW! Hot egg, very hot egg! Forgot how hot, pain! PAIN!" Setting it down quickly in a fireproof blanket, he douses his hands in water in the sink before rushing back to see what's happening with the egg!

Svem was struggling to crack the shell with her egg horn. It was actually quite good that he'd left her so long. Dragon eggs were near indestructible, but to pierce such a shell and warm the hatchling within, they normally had to be set on fire. From the inside, however, it was easier to break. She snapped her neck back, poking a hole in the shell and giving her air to breath.

Concorde Unit is on the edge of his seat, watching this! If he were sitting down. At the moment he's hovering a few feet away from the egg, watching with great interest. The web of nanites breaks apart, letting the creature use it's own strength primarily in this miracle of life to break the shell!

Svem paused, her nostrils at the hole, breathing the clean, fresh air. She wanted to be out there, in the fresh air. She bashed her nose against the shell, breaking the hole large enough for her nose to stick out. She breathed deeply. She had a lot of work to do. She kept bashing at the hole, slowly breaking it open. Suddenly, she retreated from her efforts. She shifted her core muscles, the powerful ones in her chest and back, trying to uncurl herself. With a heave, she shattered the egg, flopping to the ground. She was slick with egg fluids and had the remnants of the yoke hanging from her belly. She squirmed on the ground, trying to get her feet underneath her.

Concorde Unit is amazed...the tenacity and strength that a creature can show just in the act of being born is so amazing. Almost missing the key moment when it breaks out, he snaps out of his thoughtful daze as he moves to stroke the newborn creature, smiling all the while. "Hello! Hello! Welcome to the big world, little one! You're a tough fella huh?" Speaking in gentle, soothing tones, he has realized awhile back that it's probably impossible for it to not 'imprint' on him, if it does that, so he may as well start out warmly and all, and act as a parent should as he moves the towel behind it forward so it can catch itself on it to pick itself up, and to see if it can stand or not even though it was just born.

Svem coughed and gasped on the fresh air as her lungs started working, inflating truly for the first time. The fresh air burned her lungs, but it felt so good, so right. She wiggled, getting up and tottering before crashing back to the ground with a little thump. She gave a little coughing yelp, followed by a cute, but needy squeak. She tried to get up again, but fell to the side, right onto the towel. Feeling the soft surface under her scales, she curled up against it. She wasn't like some creatures, who could walk from near the moment of birth. She needed some time to get going. Her eyes were still glued closed by egg fluid, and she didn't want to get that in her eyes. Normally, a mother dragon would lick her young clean, as well as eat the remaining egg yoke for her own nutrition. Svem gave reedy whine of need.

Concorde Unit is there to assist as best he can, moving to scoop her up and cradle her in his arms. Though she's a little messy and all, it's alright to him, as he wipes away the gook from her face and eyes gently. "There there, it's OK. I've got you little one...oo, you're a heavy one too..."

Svem felt the sticky fluid wiped clean. With her eyes clear, she flicked them open, quickly closing them again. The bright light hurt. She gave a little squeak of surprise before trying again, edging her eyes open. It was blindingly white first, but slowly her eyes adjusted. The first thing she saw was a person above her, holding her in his arms. She gave a curious chirp before snuggling into his chest. She was still getting used to her body, so it might be a bit before she could speak as well. After the snuggle, she looked up again, giving another reedy, demanding squeak, muzzle opening wide, looking for food.

Concorde Unit hmmms...he had considered a few ideas for this as she looks hungry...and he smiles to her, carrying her carefully all the while. Moving to the kitchen nearby, he begins warming a container of milk for the critter. "You're a cute one, yes...but you're a little squeaky! Heh! Just hold on and I'll provide for you." After a few moments, he has a warmed bottle of milk, and holds it carefully to her mouth, letting a few drops into her mouth to taste it.

Svem squirmed gently. She understood rather well what he was saying. She snuggled against his chest as he went about preparing some food for her. "Meep, eeap. Meee-ap." She licked at the bottle, tasting the milk. In the wild, a mother dragon provided pre-chewed food, but milk was an excellent substitute since Concorde Unit probably wasn't about to start doing that. She lunged as best she could, grabbing onto the bottle's tip and chewing on it gently. Her small teeth wouldn't have punctured paper, let alone plastic. She gulped down the milk.

Concorde Unit has a lot prepared and ready to be heated for her as she needs it. Letting her eat, he looks her over carefully. "Such red scales...you're so pretty too. A lizard...though, you have features that separate you from them. You're a cute and pretty mystery, that's what you are!" Smiling all the while, he lets her drink her fill as he holds onto her.

Svem lifts her front claws up to grip at the bottle, already having drained half of it. She was going steady, pausing every so often to take several deep breaths, like someone chugging a drink. Eventually, the bottle emptied. She squirmed a bit before giving a loud burp and then sighing in contentment. She curled up against him, feeling the warm milk in her belly settling pleasantly, giving her a sleepy feeling. She yawned, curling into a tight ball and tucking her head under one wing.

Concorde Unit is pleased that she's healthy and alert, and responding well to stimuli, along with that she's eating well too. Having finished the milk, he puts the bottle aside to let her sleep as she needs. "Well, tuckered out? That's fine, little one. You go ahead and have sweet dreams. I'll be here when you wake up."

Svem had very pleasant dreams. Every so often, a leg or wing would twitch. It was only a few hours later that she woke up with a jerk, looking around in near panic. She gave a worried cry, the cobwebs of sleep clinging to her mind, whatever dream she had been having still in her mind's eye.

Concorde Unit is nearby, monitoring her as well as preparing the room for her. A smaller bed is set up for her...it's a bit big, but it's certainly servicible alright. "Ah!?" Looking back, he's next to her quickly. "It's ok! Hello! You're safe! You're here with me!"

Svem calmed down almost as soon as she heard his voice, shivering slightly and curling into him. "Mheep..." The dream was already fading from her mind, and she was feeling better. She uncurled, trying to get onto her legs again. She was steadier this time, but she still couldn't get up all the way. "Ehheep."

Concorde Unit is with her, watching and smiling and trying to reassure her, rubbing her head and stroking her sides to comfort her. "There there...you're OK, my little one! Heh, did you have a dream that was upsetting?"

Svem nodded. Very upsetting, scary, but she couldn't recall what it was. With a little oof, she fell back to her stomach. She'd done better this time, but she still needed to do some work. It was a bit tricky with a tail and extra pair on limbs on her back to manage at the same time.

Concorde Unit nods back...and blinks, a little surprised. "Ah? You can understand me little one? Well, that's something amazing!" Moving to crouch down a little lower to watch her, he sees her moving and flexing her wings and limbs. "It's tricky walking around at first...and I imagine more difficult with four legs. Just put one in front of the other, and you'll get it!"

Svem heaved herself up to her feet again. Her legs were a bit shaky, but she was standing. She had her wings braced against the ground for balance. She lifted her front paw, and her wing lifted up at the same time, putting her off balance. She started to tilt, teetering dangerously to the side on which she'd lifted her leg and wing.

Concorde Unit eeps, seeing her tilting, and he he moves his arm to lean against. "There there, it's ok! I've got you. Try not to lift your wings and legs at the same time."

Svem leaned against the offered arm. It took a few moments to plant her wing again and rebalance. Her foot was still lifted, though. She moved it forward and put it down before lifting the rear leg on the opposite side. Her tail moved along with it but she planted it back down soon. She was quickly getting the hang of it. Before too long, she was walking, though with her wings dragging for balance. She was getting better and better.

Concorde Unit is watching, smiling all the while. "Good...good! Very good! Heh, you're starting to trot around like a champ!"

Svem smiled, giving a happy chirp. She lifted her wings, trotting happily. Her tail was held up as she did. "Heee-ap, chee-ee-ap." She was beaming at the praise. Then one wing got trapped on her rear leg and she tripped on it, tumbling to the ground in a mass of scales and limbs.

Concorde Unit smiles, clapping as she trots along in time with her steps. "There you go, there you go! My goodness, look at you! I...oh!" Unable to reach her before she fell, he bends down to help! "Oh! Are you ok?" Knowing that falls and the like can be dangerous for children at a young age, he's immensely concerned for her, all sorts of horrible 'what if' thoughts racing through his head.

Svem gurgles happily, the noise sounding suspiciously like laughter. She rolled over onto her back, legs kicking in the air playfully. She seemed perfectly fine, better then fine. Dragons were tough, her scales were already like armor, protecting her from bumps, bangs, falls, and even attacks by wild animals.

Concorde Unit still doesn't know how to identify her as a dragon...though he's beginning to make some comparisons of his own to her being such, possibly. "Oh, you! You're a silly thing! You gave me a scare though!" Laughing along with her, he reaches down to rub at her belly since she's on her back. "Tickle attack!"

Svem bursts into a fit of giggles and laughs, legs kicking madly. Her claws were rather sharp, though, and one back leg kicked up, catching the underside of Concorde Unit's arm. Claws meant to slice flesh, tendon, and ligaments scraped harshly along his arm. Her giggle fit instantly stopped, since she'd realized what she'd done.

Concorde Unit is eager to see her laugh, tickling all the while. "Ooo, you're a wiggly rascal too, aren't you? You're just full of spice and vigor, an-ow!" Pulling his arm away as he's cut through his shirt into his skin, he winces a little. There's a visible slice in his forearm that stretches along almost half the length of it, and it's about an inch deep. Yet...there's no blood? "Yeowza...we need to get a nail file for those, or perhaps cover them in wax...but I'm ok!" Seeing her reaction to the cut he has, flexes his arm and hand to show. "See? I'm a little different from most folks." As he talks to her, the gash in his arm seems to pull closed, like a zipper being drawn down the length of it.

Svem rolled onto her stomach, getting back up and stretched her neck to sniff at the cut. It was... Strange. Instinct told her she should have expect blood from the cut, but none came. She smiled. That had been a bad scare for her. Her hearts were pounding. A fully grown dragon would have scales more then tough enough to handle her small claws. She was going to have to be more careful, though she was less worried now that she knew she couldn't truly hurt him. She gave a little twirl, happy again. "Cheee-eee-aap!"

Concorde Unit smiles back, nodding to her. "Heh! Sorry to worry you too, little one!" Rubbing the top of her head affectionately, he bends down to examine one of her feet, picking up her front left after she's done twirling. "Here, let's see your leg there...hmmm....yeah, wax or something might work best...you'll tear the floor to bits otherwise with sharp points like that, and the bed too, even if you don't mean it."

Svem let her paw be lifted, teetering a bit. She laid her tail on the ground to steady herself and snorted. Scared was an understatement. Her hearts were still going a mile a minute, and only just starting to slow down again. In fact, for anything other then a dragon, her heart rate would have been dangerously high. She nodded at his assessment. She didn't want to ruin her home any more then he wanted his home ruined.

Concorde Unit hmmms for a moment, looking thoughtfully to her as he sets her paw back down. "Though, I could make the floor a little stronger in here at least. Hmmm...I think I have it. I'll make shoes for you, so you can go around the rest of the house as you like, and another pair for when you sleep. That way you won't mess up the bed!" Nodding to himself, he thinks it is a clever solution to this problem. "You'll be able to trot around in here all you like though, of course!"

Svem smiled, giving a happy chirp. She liked the idea, it was a nice compromise. She could still walk around. Though she didn't know that she'd find them somewhat uncomfortable once they were on her feet. She twirled again, before her legs crossed and she tumbled once more. She was getting there, slowly but surely.

Concorde Unit: "Oooh...heh heh! You're getting better! Just take it a little slower! Or are you eager to go all around and see everything? I bet that's it, huh?"

Svem gave a loud chirrup. She wanted to see everything! There was so much to see! She leaped up, balancing on her hind legs, leaning dangerously backwards until her tail hit the ground and balanced her out again. Her front paws waved in the air, as if asking him to pick her up and carry her around to see.

Concorde Unit smiles, seeing her standing on her back legs like this. "Well, you're certainly turning into an acrobat, huh?" Moving to pick her up, his arm holds her midsection and his other hand moves under her rear legs and tail to support her, away from her claws, so she's stable as he holds her to his chest, adjusting for her wings after a moment. "There we are! Well, let's look around the house!" With that, a tour is made, showing off her room to her. He neglects pointing out the toys for now, as he wants to show everything else before getting to that point. Moving to the kitchen, the bedroom, at least his, and the other parts of the house, he shows them in turn to her and tells her a bit about them. "This is the kitchen! Lots of yummy foods can be made here for us to eat! Your tummy is probably rumbling already for all the good foods you can have, no doubt!"

Svem licked her lips. Her stomach wasn't rumbling, but she could smell the food and it was making her mouth water. The house wasn't big, but she was also eager about her own room. She'd seen some colors in the corner, and she was curious what it was. She also wanted some food. She couldn't decide which should be first. Her head flicked back and forth in indecision.

Concorde Unit makes up her mind for her, leading to another area, his workshop! "This is my work area. There's lots of stuff in here that's very important to me...and I don't want you in here without me. There's neat stuff in here, but it can hurt you if you break them, and I would be very upset with you if something happened...to my things, or to you. You're important to me too after all!"

Svem nodded. If Concorde Unit was watching her eyes, he might know there might be some trouble later about this. Her eyes sparkled at all the things in the room. Things that made her curiosity burn like a fire. It showed in her wide eyes that sparkled with wonder. The nod was rather absent minded.

Concorde Unit hmmmms, looking back to her as he talks...and seeing that she's not fully paying attention. Well, she's still a newborn, so it's not like she'll understand EVERYTHING right away. Moving a finger, he pokes the end of her nose lightly. "Just be careful in this room, ok? I don't want you hurt cause of the stuff in here, ok?"

Svem flinched back from the poke before looking back up at him. She nodded, this time more attentive to his words. She squirmed a bit in his grip, but stopped after a moment. "Eeee-aap..." She opened her muzzle again, whining in the reedy, hungry manner. Seemed Concorde Unit was going to have to feed quite often, if this was any indication.

Concorde Unit hmmms, and chuckles a little at her needing food. It's only natural after all. Carrying her back to the kitchen, he starts to make another bottle of warm milk for her. "Wish I knew more about what you ate...it's clear you'll probably like meat with the claws and all, but variety is important too. I want you to be big, strong and healthy after all!" After checking that the milk is warmed up, he holds the bottle for her so she can drink from it.

Svem latches onto the bottle with just as much vigor as last time, though now that she'd developed a methodology, she drained the bottle in half the time. She gave a little rumble of satisfaction, curling against CU, eyes starting to drift closed again. Warm milk seemed like a good way to make her sleep, something that might come in handy later on.

Concorde Unit lets her drink her fill, helping her feed as she needs. In this way things pass fairly eventfully for the two in their cabin in the woods, and already a year and a half has passed by. Photos and small items of significance to the two are now dotting around the cabin the two reside in, and as the seasons changed the relationship between the two becomes less dependent on Concorde Unit helping his adopted daughter, which he named Svem. It's a name he feels is appropriate for her, given her mysterious origins, and she likes it as well, so it all works out.

It was on a bright day, in the middle of winter, that things changed for the pair.

That, however, is a story for another chapter.