What had started out as a glorious Spring morning was ruined by cloud, which crept in with the promise of rain. Sundance and his brothers were shepherded underground by their guardian when the distant rumble of thunder grew nearer and the skies dimmed considerably. He curled up lazily with his siblings, content to doze for a while to wait out whatever storm might pass through, until the time came for the family to play outside again.
The silver babe woke to the pitter-patter of rainfall above, and a soft lobe twitched as he propped his pale chin atop Reif's peppered shoulders to listen. There was something soothing about the sound, he felt - a familier warmth that accompanied the lull of his mother's voice when she sung him to sleep or the soft kisses to his brow.
He lay there for a time before curiosity got the better of him and, unfurling from his brothers to venture quietly toward the hollow's entrance, Sundance peeked out into the gardens to watch the water with wide-eyed wonder as it fell from the willows above.
ariel spends most of his time these days in the dens with his children, determined to make up for missing most of his previous litter's childhood. there is some anxiety in his guardianship, as if they will die suddenly should he look away for a second, but his wives mostly soothe this neuroticism, and he trusts them.
it is peaceful in the dens.
he is dozing when sundance begins to shift, the small movements lazily rousing him, though he does not move until his silvery son comes to a stop near the entrance. delicately he extracts himself from his other children (atwood complains noisily, but settles), and comes to lay next to sundance, watching his expression with a small smile. "what do you think?" he asks, not expecting any sort of answer, but amused by his son's wide-eyed wonder and hoping to encourage it a little.
Drip, drip, drip.
Seemingly never-ending, the rain fell continuously in heavy droplets. Sundance watched and listened quietly, his stormy gaze drifting between the sodden willow branches to the rippling puddles at their roots. The world he knew beyond the den was sodden wet, while he and his family were snug and dry inside. How did that work!?
The mystery water that fell from the sky roused his curiosity, but fear of the unknown kept him rooted to the safety of his mothers' den. Torn, little Sundance lowered his hindquarters as his guardian settled alongside him and, lifting his eyes to look upon the adult's slim features, he responded to his question with a breathy whine of uncertainty.
a soft laugh escapes him at sundance's uncertain whine. he reaches down to gently groom his son's crown, feeling momentarily overwhelmed by the love of his children. "it's okay," ariel murmurs reassingly, looking back up to the rainfall, "it's only rain, little dove, it can't hurt us here." to demonstrate, he rises slightly, enough to reach a paw out into the downpour and pull it back quickly, bringing some water with it. he holds his now wet paw to sundance curiously to allow the child to examine it, if he wishes.
His mother's reassurance was effective at once, and Sundance allowed himself to soften. He blinked up into Ariel's smiling face, recognising the calm in his mercurial eyes so that he can feed from it, seeming to absorb the calming energy that his parent's relaxed posture emitted.
"It's okay," he told him softly. "It can't hurt us here."
And he believed him, of course. His parents always kissed away the ouchies when his brothers nipped too roughly, when the thorns of bramble bushes pricked his sensitive skin, when the stones proved too sharp for his delicate little paw pads. He could trust them, he knew, and always would.
Sundance brightened considerably, shifting to examine the adult's paw with a curious whiff as it was presented to him. It smelled damp, a scent that he often detected on early morning wanders with Olive when the grasses were wet with dew. He enjoyed those trips, and so his scruffy grey tail twitched to life as he associated this experience of "rain" with the anticipation of a new day.