Dragoncrest Cliffs soldier, take your time

He was settling in well among the other pups in Hougeda, for the most part. Kiwi he still avoided when possible—her stern and far more mature demeanour made him nervous—but he felt good enough around Tux and Bat to come out of his shell a little. He hadn't spent any one-on-one time with his guardian's look-alike, but there would be time for that. All in all, his life in Hougeda was going splendidly, enough so that Ephraim no longer sobbed at night to think of his family.

He missed them, of course, and always would—minus the pale pup Caiaphas had picked up from somewhere—but their absence didn't hurt as badly. He thought of them with fondness rather than misery. He was on his own, laying on his belly and staring off into space with a memory of Raleska playing through his mind when Étoille came along, and it took him several seconds to register that he was staring at his foster parent rather than the grey-green of the cavern wall.

The masked man had given his name, Ephraim knew what it was and meant to use it, but it was automatic and immediate when he said, "hi, pa," before even realizing what had come out.