If she were to be entirely honest, both with herself and others, her heart did not ache as it should for her lost twin. Yama had often looked to her sister to understand how she was supposed to react in each situation, and she’d mixed their identities up several times months ago, but she’d not had the chance to develop a true, deep connection with her; with her focus being on just watching Yami, she hadn’t been able to find the time to simply exist with her, mimicking her every response.

In another life, perhaps she would spend less time fussing over silly things, and more time connecting with those she should hold the closest to her heart.

Yama had spent much of her time that day wandering—exploring would, perhaps, be a better word to describe her antics. With deep snow, there had come some intriguing formations, all of which caught her eye and made her take a closer look; really, there were just various mounds of snow that she’d taken a liking to after digging down into. Nevertheless, it had been time well spent and, by the time she’d returned to the rendezvous site, she was tired. She dragged her feet, the muscles in her forearms throbbing, and wanted nothing more than to curl up and take a nap—until she saw Charon. It was like day and night as her tired body was shocked back to life and her tail began wagging, the excitement that came with seeing him being her greatest source of energy.

“Papa!” she exclaimed, a touch of surprise to her voice—was he looking for somebody? “Hi... who’re you looking for?” She cocked her head to the side momentarily, curious and hoping to be able to help.

Yama leaned into her father as he nuzzled her, tail wagging all the while. She froze for a second, though, when he said he’d been looking for her. “For me...?” she asked quietly, wondering to herself. Had she done something? She picked her brain for anything that might not have necessarily been good, but came up with nothing—and she was then relieved when she caught the rest of his sentence. “Oh... sure!” was her next response, accompanied by the helicopter-like waving of her tail.

Usually, her siblings were there, too, but not today! She had his attention fully—which, as she thought further into it, might not be a good thing. What if she said or did something that she wasn’t supposed to? Biting her inner cheek, Yama just went for it and asked, “What’re we doing?” She was still learning to take initiative and control her encounters with others so, for now, she left the decisions all in his paws.

What did she do when she was assigned no tasks? Well... that was a good question. She stared off into space for a moment as she thought about the question and recalled the memories from her time spent alone. What she found, however, was something that she didn’t believe her father would be too interested in, as it lacked an objective. She often did little more than wander and observe the sights but, ultimately, that wasn’t much. Frowning—or perhaps it was a pout—she gave a slow shake of her head and then shrugged, gaze averted.

“I don’t do much,” she decided. “Can we do something you like?” That’d make him happy, right? She hoped so.

A secret hideaway?

Yama stared at him silently, rolling the idea over in her head, before a smile broke through and she nodded. “That sounds like fun!” she declared, tail a’wagging. Although she’d never gone searching for anything of the sort before, the idea sounded like it has a great deal of potential to be fun—that, or frustrating. Either way, she liked the fact that she’d be able to spend the time searching with her father. What would they find? Would their hideaway remain a secret forever? From everyone?!

Wait... everyone?

“Will mama know about the hideaway?” she asked, brows scrunched together. They should tell her, right? Once they find something. She wasn’t so sure about hiding anything from Amekaze—it didn’t seem like a good idea. “We’ll have to tell her,” she decided. “It can be between just the three of us!” Yeah, that seemed better. Hiding information was the same as lying, right? Yama couldn’t imagine lying to either of her parents, never in a million years.

Whether he agreed or not—she was going to tell mama either way, she had to—the girl flashed another excited smile before beginning upward; after several steps, she stopped and looked to Charon, a newfound eagerness in her gaze, though she made it clear that she’d gladly let him take the lead if at any point he wanted to.

That the place they found would be hers set her tail to wagging. A place on the mountain that would be all hers and no one else’s—it was almost too good to be true! Of course, she’d have to tell mama—she couldn’t keep anything from her or Charon—but who else? Her mysterious darkling of a brother, perhaps? He might like to know. Oh, she’d figure out all of the details later. For now, she focused back on the task at hand: actually finding a hideaway that she could tell others about.

When papa didn’t take the lead, she stalled momentarily, brows pinched together with obvious confusion. Didn’t he want to lead the way? Wasn’t that what papas were supposed to do? She waited a bit longer to see if he might change his mind but, ultimately, it seemed as if she were to decide which way they went. Gradually, the uncertainty faded from her eyes and she wagged her tail again before proceeding forward, determined to both find a place and impress Charon with the navigational skills that she totally lacked.

Yama trotted northward, sights set on the peaks of the mountain. Whilst she herself was not too fond of the cold that came with the higher altitudes, she figured it might be better hidden that way—more of a secret! But she hardly made it up the first incline before her eyes narrowed in on what she thought could be a good Special Place; the opening was small and the actual depth unknown, but its placement in the ground seemed ideal. “Papa, look!” she exclaimed, rushing over to point it out. What she didn’t quite realise, however, was that the opening was scarcely big enough for her to fit through, let alone her father. That, and the fresh scent of a badger—which had likely dug the hole out to begin with—that clouded the hideaway and its surrounding area. “Do you think anyone else would be able to find this?” she asked, remaining oblivious. It was just so difficult to utilise her sense of smell when excited!

At first, her cheery expression faltered and her ears slid back, flat against her head. Others would find it? It wasn’t good enough? Although she knew deep down that she shouldn’t expect to find the perfect place on her first shot, she couldn’t hide the disappointment she felt towards herself—up until he spoke again, anyways.

As if a switch had been flipped, Yama’s ears popped back up and the sorrow was replaced with curiosity. What did her nose tell her? She lowered her snout towards the ground and started taking slow, deep breaths, inhaling all that she could. There was a musky odour encircling the burrow, leading in and out of it, but she wasn’t sure exactly what it was. Cocking her head, she glanced back at Charon with a quizzical look in her eyes. “What is it?” she asked, taking in more of the scent. “I don’t recognise it... should I know?” Did it belong to another member of the pack? No, it definitely wasn’t canine but... but what?

A badger!

Truth be told she’d never seen one up close, but she had heard of them before (nothing good). That they weren’t dangerous made her a bit more curious, and she wondered if she might ever find one—but that was an adventure for another day.

Yama’s ears splayed out as she felt her skin becoming increasingly warm beneath her fur. “Oh...” she muttered absentmindedly, staring intently at the burrow. “I guess it wouldn’t be big enough for very long, anyways.” Yeah, she wasn’t done growing. Before either of them knew it, she wouldn’t be able to fit inside that burrow, so it definitely wouldn’t make a very good hideout (the current residency was not the biggest issue anymore). With that reasoning, her ears popped back up and she tore her gaze off of the burrow, finalising the decision that it was best left alone. But, if this one wouldn’t work, then what would?

“What do you think makes a good secret hideout?” she asked, trying to move further past her mistake. “What makes one better than another?” It had to be hidden away from everyone else, of course, but that was the extent of criteria that she could formulate. But, surely, papa would know what was the best!