taltos had wanted to embrace peregrine the day that his daughter's body had been exhumed from the waters, the opinions of the willow and atticus be damned, but in the ensuing conflict surrounding kaskara and her accusations, he had not seen fit to press himself forward in such a way. the remainder of the days since had been spent in quiet contemplation, in the continued stocking of the caches — they grieved, but life could not end for them now.
but as the moon flickered into being over the horizon, lasher lengthened his stride and began to search out peregrine, gait carrying him unbidden toward where the little one had been buried. his maw gripped the stems of a half-dozen damp lilacs; he would place them upon the earth of her grave, but not until he had found his panther and lent whatever comfort peregrine required.