Other noises filled in around me. Aviya--I knew that was me, my name. I liked it. Blinking I turned my head and my body some, my rump leaning against Mother Kou's back leg. I watched as two approached me. A dark one with light markings, and a light one with dark markings. The light one was huge, larger than Mother Kou; the dark one was small, just a bit larger than I was. They spoke and Mother Kou seemed to be calm in their presence. Looking up at Mother Kou I watched her mannerisms and then turned back to the newcomers.
Mother Kou pressed against me again, urging me to turn my body. Carefully I turned, hoping my legs would stay underneath me. Instinct took over and without hesitation I lifted my head to feed from my mother. She was my strength. My tail moved furiously behind me, a fuzzy stub. As Mother Kou's milk poured into my system I felt even better. Detaching from Mother Kou I turned again but before I could do exactly what I wanted something racked my body. My mouth opened and remnants of the nourishing milk splattered to the ground. My chest shook and burned as my body pushed horrible, frightening coughs from my body.
Trembling now I struggled, gasping for air. Something was wrong. With wide eyes I looked up to Mother Kou, panic striking my little body. Help me.