Now that the Great Beyond had been determined to be as safe as the den (and far more interesting!), Haruki had taken a fancy to milling about just outside it, not exploring quite as far as Sumi yet but still managing to stray further and further away with each day. During the daylight hours, he enjoyed the warmth the bright thing above provided, as well as the curious happenings that he had discovered between the blades of the grass underneath his paws.
Today found the young prince staring intently at the dirt, his features crumpled in a look of deep concentration. He watched as a worm lazily dug its way through the earth, being dragged back onto the topsoil by Haruki if it begun to disappear from his sight. This continued for a good few minutes, before the boy began to grow bored, and with a soft, "hmm," he parted his jaws and dived headfirst towards it, grabbing the wiggly thing between his needle teeth with a joyful squeal.
When she came upon the little prince she was admittedly a bit flush, a bit distracted. There was a lot going on within the Vale for her to keep track of. Today, on her way to make another offering to Reiko and ham it up in a sisterly manner, she carried the dis-articulated limb of some hoofed beast. In life it may have been a roe deer, while in death, having had its body broken down and stored, it was now some kind of toy or - perhaps a bludgeoning tool. It was not enough to stuff her sister with nameless herbs and hope for the best; she had to appeal to the royal children too, now. They were old enough to be an irritant. She needed them on her side for when they were older.
So when she approached the den and watched for signs of life, Hime noticed the pale shape of one of the kids. They were not within the den, and for all Hime could tell, they were alone. Something interested them in the dirt and - with some level of revulsion and clear horror playing across her regal face - Hime watched as the child grabbed, tugged at, and then consumed a thick-bodied worm.
Her jaw hinged. The hoof dislodged and hit the ground with a thunk. Hime turned a little green but shut her mouth, swallowed her true feelings and then cleared her throat. Ahem... Little prince, this is for you. It is much better for your teeth than... That.
He threw back his head and devoured the creature completely, nose crinkling at the taste as he chewed. It wasn't the worst thing he had tasted, but Haruki still made a mental note to maybe not consume those wiggly ground things - fun to play with, not so much as food. Wiping a forepaw across his face (for surely some dirt had smeared across the white fur there), Haruki turned to see if he could recount his findings to one of his sisters, but instead saw mother approaching with a gift!
At least he thought it was mother. Something was slightly off, her expression was strange, her smell ever so slightly different. The leg she suddenly deposited however stole his gaze, and the prince perked up as she spoke, tail beginning to wiggle in delight at both the gift and attention he received. "Me!" he responded happily, looking from not-Reiko to the hunk of...whatever that was on the ground.
Yet for all his exuberance, boy trotted warily towards it with a tilt of his head, sniffing tenderly at its surface from a distance. He spoke again, quieter this time, stealing a glance back to the adult. "What's it?"