Blacktail Deer Plateau blue sky black death

She came to him, burrowing into the nest of his thick black fur in a big hug she'd clearly been waiting a long time to give him. At first it felt strange and intrusive to him, this youth that he didn't even know pressing into him in such an intimate gesture. But a moment later, something clicked and it just felt right. This was his child. His baby. His blood. He tentatively reached an arm up around her skinny, narrow shoulders and pulled her into him. Somehow, the hug was a balm to his own soul, which had been chafed raw with the recent drama and angst between himself and his brother.

She pulled back from him a moment later, assuring him that she could take care of herself. He detected a sort of childlike pride in her, and he remembered feeling that way himself not so long ago. It was liberating when one learned to feed and provide for oneself instead of relying on adults to do it for you. Still, he was impressed that she could make such a claim at her age; he himself hadn't made his first successful kill until he was close to nine months old. He looked at her, again marveling and awestruck that this pup was his. "If you're my kid, then you must be quite a hunter." He grinned at her again. "Have you been staying anywhere around here?"