Hushed Willows Night swimmers

hope you don't mind your ol' mommers!

Larkspur was not the only one who had trouble sleeping still. Harlyn laid silently with her head rested on Mordecai's flank and would have appeared to any to be asleep, but for the watchful gaze that she kept upon her son. Where Larkspur and Silas had seemed to be making improvements in their new surroundings, Pippin's continued silence and solitude worried her deeply. In the small slivers of moonlight that played upon his pale fur, Harlyn watched his sides rise and fall steadily as he slept, barely blinking as though afraid that if she looked away for even a second, he might grow still forever.

The sound of stirring stole her attention finally and Harlyn turned to see Larkspur stepping away towards the mouth of the den. She waited for a few minutes thinking the girl was only going to relieve herself, but eventually stood and followed after her when she did not promptly return. She gave a glance back at the other wolves that slept soundly deeper in the depths of the Crook, spying Ishi and Shikoba together. If sleeping spots were anything to judge by (and she believed they were), there was still some distance to close between the two merging families.

But that was perhaps for another night, for Harlyn's attention passed quickly to Larkspur as she came to sit at her daughter's side. She said nothing for the moment, merely leaning to place a kiss upon her golden crown before looking out into the night.