Great Bear Wilderness don't want anybody else but you

This time around, Fox planned to take more time for herself in the beginning. The first few weeks with the Firebirds had been utter hell for her in a lot of ways, and she didn't wish to repeat that. The loss of her smallest had been hard on everybody involved, and the last thing she wanted was another life-ending mistake like that. The mere thought of the sandy boy brought that sickening feeling right back into her heart.

"Too early," Fox replied with a half-hearted smile, "Where I’m from, we don’t name the kids until they’ve made it through one turn of the moon." The deceased sandy child was one of the main reasons for that. Her birth culture assumed that at least some of the children would die in their first weeks, and it was easier when they weren't named. Not easy, but definitely easier.

The rain had started to let up, and Fox looked upward to see the sky beginning to lighten. "Say, you want to find something a little more cheery to explore?" she asked. Surely there were dozens of happier places than this dreadful soggy wet place.