Verdant Basin reason and strength

@Kaori - I took some very minor liberties pls let me know if they aren't okay <33

After having followed Toshi across the wilds in search of his friend and the new home that was promised to them, Kiyoshi had found new strength. He was still growing swiftly each day, but he did not still have the same pudgy puppy features that he had carried when they lived beside the stream. After he had lost Toshi’s scent and had relied solely on the remnants, Kiyoshi had felt as though he’d grown even more.
 
It hadn’t been too hard to find the foundling pack and he had even managed to seal their acceptance into the group’s numbers. After doing so and resting himself for a day, the young Draconid had set out of the forest and ventured toward where he had last seen their mother. When he had caught a hint of her scent, the boy drew back his head and called to her. He had found their new home.

Whereas the boys trekked ahead, the dragoness lingered behind; skeptical still, she struggled to approach. But when her son’s voice brushed by, she could keep away no longer, drawn forth by her family. And so she sought and found Kiyoshi, to whom she offered a gentle touch of her muzzle to his cheek, should he accept it.

“Do you think we might be well with them?” she questioned, curious. Kaori could not help but be cautious.

The boy gladly accepted the touch of his mother, drawing his crown upward to meet her halfway.
 
Kaori questioned him about the wolves of Kingslend and their willingness to accept the Draconid family; she wanted to know if he believed that they would do well with their kind. The child blinked a few times at his dark parent. The insides of his brows turned in with curiosity. As much as he wished to tell her that he though they would be fine, Kiyoshi knew that he didn’t have a frame of reference. The stream pack had really only been their home for the first vital months of his life. He hadn’t learned the dynamics of what a good pack would provide for its members.
 
“I do not know. They liked Toshi and said any of the Draconid are allowed in their ranks,” he told her with a small nod and a few gentle sways of his tail. Did that mean they would do well there? He was not certain. It could only be discovered by trying.

The boy was uncertain but answered anyways, words to which the young mother listened closely. She considered it, considered what it could mean, whilst remaining silent; ever thoughtful, weighing their options. She worried, too, though—for the future and what it held, and for how it might be influenced by their decisions. But...

“If that is the case, then I suppose we should accept their offer,” she decided. A voice still nagged at her, wondering what her mother’s choice might be, but she did her best to ignore it. She was not Asterr, after all, and thought it best that she remember it, for all of their sakes.

The boy’s mother seemed to accept his explanation without further query, but Kiyoshi could not help but feel that she wasn’t entirely convinced just yet. Though he knew that he trusted her opinions and her reasoning, he did not know if his were worthy of her trust just yet.
 
“Do you have second thoughts, mother?” the young Draconid boy inquired with a stern glance in her direction.
 
The way that Kiyoshi saw it was that the Kingslend wolves had been the last to see Toshi. He had tried to lead their little family back before he’d become lost. If there was any chance that they would find that missing piece to their home, it would be with the wolves of Kingslend. It was all the stalwart child wanted, the safe return of his brother. He would do all that he could to make that happen.

The boy was a perceptive one, seemingly wise beyond his years. Her uncertainty was clear to him, a realisation that she could only only smile softly at. “Perhaps I do,” she answered. “But I will overcome them. This is what our family needs.” Her choice was the best option, she was sure. And gone from the forefront of her mind was the voice of her own mother, faded.

The boy listened to his mother express that she knew it was necessary, but it did not stop her from having her doubts. He was much too young to understand the intricacies of navigating in that world, with wolves who had different beliefs from their own. They had settled well into the pack by the stream and he imagined that they would be capable of settling well within Kingslend too.
 
“Lady Deorwine is very nice, mother,” he said to her in his deadpan tone. When Kiyoshi glanced back to see the dark figure of his parent as she followed behind him, he felt a peculiar sense of peace fill his frame. It was good to be with her and if they found Toshi, their small family would be restored. He could not help but to hold onto that dream.