Deepwood Weald older than the trees

For @Minnow

Dutch had left them in a wide clearing, rushing off to find his wife. Valiant was understanding of this urge, feeling it himself rather acutely. He would be running back to Moonglow as soon as he saw Minnow settled. His heart was divided on the matter, but not nearly enough to keep him away from Vaire.

"It's peaceful," he said, stepping into a shaft of sunlight. Beyond the clearing, fog eddied and swirled between the trees, cool and inviting and just a little bit sinister. But in the clearing, sunlight dappled the deep, green grass. He paced toward a knot of fallen trees. He tested a few different crevices before he found one that he could wiggle his shoulders into. "How 'bout here?" he asked his sister, scraping his claws across the mossy earth. It would be easy enough to dig out, albeit not in an afternoon. Dutch would have to take over when he left.

With the time of birth nearing she found herself eager to find a place good enough for her babies. Tuft had still been absent and she didn’t know where he was. She only hoped that he was safe. But of course her thoughts got the best of her but for right now all she thought of was her babies. 

She set her nose to the ground and nudged the spot softly moving the moist dirt around before scraping her paw a few times. She could easily dig a den here. He was right. She licked the dirt that she knew was no doubt all over her nose before speaking. “It’s perfect I think they should be here by the next moon.” She could feel that they were restless.

Valiant held his breath while Minnow assessed the location, and then let it out in one great sigh when she seemed to like it. It was a check off the list, but there still seemed to be an impossible amount to accomplish. He couldn't exactly name anything other than seeing the den completed, but he still felt the heaviness of imagined tasks.

"I wish I could be here for it," he said. It felt like a waste of time, standing here instead of digging — but Valiant could do nothing but gaze helplessly at his very pregnant sister in that moment. "But as soon as my kids are born — and when Vairë's settled'n'all — I'll come back. And you can introduce me, and I'll tell you all about their cousins."

He tried to will this future into being, but the truth was that he was afraid this might be the last time he saw her alive. All too easily, he could lose them both.