Moonspear Madness fills my heart and soul

She listened astutely to every word Bronco spoke. Meerkat knew a little bit about these subjects—recollecting, with an inner laugh, how she'd marveled at her parents' strange dynamic with her Aunt Hydra shortly after joining Moonspear—but his explanation certainly helped fill in some blanks. It all pretty much made sense to her, so when he finished, she nodded acknowledgement.

"Oh, I know. I can't even have a boyfriend until I'm an adult, right?" Meerkat asked innocently. She wasn't entirely sure where she'd gotten that impression but she also didn't question it whatsoever. Meerkat fancied Atlas and liked the idea of calling him her boyfriend, yet she wasn't totally naive. "I like Atlas but I definitely have to get to know him better as a friend first," she said with a smile.

"But speaking of that," Meerkat mentioned in the next breath, "don't I get to enter the adult ranks when I'm nine months? That's next month!"

Bronco hadn't even thought to put a minimum on the age Meerkat would have to be until she suggested one, and he found himself falling into relief quickly as he nodded along. "Yep! Just, like, yeah, once you're an adult, then you can think about that kind of stuff," He said. That sounded about right- and it would at least give him another few months before he'd have to worry about punting Atlas back up onto the mountain if he so much as gave Meerkat the hairy eyeball. And phew- at least she knew that she ought to know more about him, and be on a friendship basis, first. "Friends is a great way to start," He said fondly, and memories of his own childhood came to mind- making him blush when he recalled how even when he'd been younger, he'd doted on those he had admired. 

Of course, his nice, comforting pillow was snatched right out from under him when Meerkat brought to light the fact that at least in terms of pack rank, she'd be an adult within a month. "Whaaaat no," He said, shaking his head. "Nah, no, nah, apfft, no way, man," He said, snorting and fussing. "Yer still just my iddy biddy widdy li'l kiddy sidder-yer-nawt-gonna-be-an-adult-in-a-month," he said, shimmying closer to her with each word he said, with every intention of shuffling her a few steps off the path they were following and into the foliage.

"Pffft," came her response to her brother's babyish teasing, though she grinned at him, the tip of her tail twitching. Even she had a hard time believing it though. Sometimes, she felt pretty darn grown up, but she still had plenty of moments where she felt like a small child. She supposed they grew less and less every day. Meerkat wondered if there would be some sort of monumental shift in mindset when the day came, though she sort of doubted it. Surely, she would feel exactly the same, although maybe more confident and excited about her place in the world.

"Mom told me I won't have my first birthday until we go through the seasons four entire times," she randomly shared with Bronco. "She said I was born on something called Leap Day. She also told me I'd never grow up, though I think I'm proving all of you wrong there, huh?" Meerkat clicked her tongue, eyes sparkling.

It probably seemed the least likely thing to come out of her mouth, though next she proposed, "Wanna head back to the den and hit the hay? The sooner we go to sleep, the sooner it'll be tomorrow, and we can make huge life decisions!" She took a deep breath before finishing, "And the sooner we'll get to see our family!"

It seemed fine, to Bronco, to promote wolves into a place where there was more expected of them at nine months- but he seemed to lean more toward believing that a wolf really ought to see all four seasons before calling themselves an adult. Within those few extra months Meerkat would be challenged to survive, and would have to fight against a much harsher environment once the snow came. 

He wasn't entirely certain what a leap day was, but figured that Towhee might have invented the saying so that she could convince her daughter to stay a child for longer. Meerkat was, after all, Towhee's first child, which gave her all the more reason to try and keep her young, innocent and sweet as long as possible. But fabricated leap day birthday or not, Meerkat was definitely growing up- ad even he couldn't really deny it. He would, though- with a roll of his eyes. "You, all grown up, sure," He said, with a soft chuckle. 

"But you do make good decisions some of the time," He said, feeling a yawn tingle at the back of his throat. "C'mon, less go and make tomorrow come faster," He said, trotting off down the slopw toward the ravine that housed their sparkly cave den.