Cerulean Cape The awakening

Gunnar didn't keep her waiting long. It occurred to her that this was the first time she'd ever come to the coast and summoned him. She felt vaguely bad about it, for their previous two meetings were because of him, but her bad feelings disappeared as he materialized from the foggy bay and loped toward her. Her tiny tail switched back and forth gleefully, but as he got within viewing distance, it faltered. Everything about her faltered. There on his cheeks were lines drawn into his fur, matted down by tears that hadn't yet been washed away.

Her heart plummeted even as he greeted her with wagging tail. "Oh my god, Gunnar, you've been crying," she pointed out. Obviously he knew that. Fearing the worst (that something had happened to one of his young siblings, who must've been born by now, or that something had happened to his mother in the process), she closed the distance between them and touched his cheek gently with her nose, then ran her tongue soothingly over the tear track there. "What happened?" she asked gently, hoping that probing would not upset him further.

If he'd lost his mother, then she could relate. Suddenly, telling him she'd found a place for them all was the furthest thing from her mind as she waited with bated breath to (hopefully) hear what had upset her friend.