Redhawk Caldera She's got an appetite for lightin' dynamite

Eljay was rarely from either — or preferably both — of his parents' side these days. He had kicked and screamed when forced apart from mommy before, but now the youth kicked and screamed when either of his parents wanted to leave his side. He feared that leaving them out of his sight would make them disappear forever, and so mommy and daddy ideally were both by his side all the time.

Of course in practise, this was not always a doable feat. If anything, at the least the boy was more undertaking these days, for he wanted to follow his parents everywhere, even if it was far away from the den, even if it was a little scary. Being somewhere scary with his parents was better than being alone at the den. Eljay would often follow daddy when he would go get something to eat, hunt, or do whatever; mommy was hurt and tended to stick around the den, so Eljay had a little more faith that she'd still be there when he and daddy returned.

Today he lay by mommy's side, but he had his face turned towards daddy so that he could keep an eye on both of them. Eljay vigilantly watched both his parents to make sure neither took off or, even worse, left him with Raven. Raven was nice, but she wasn't mommy and daddy, and he didn't want to run the risk of losing either or both parents while they were out.