Wild Berry Meadow the world, the war, will wait, but morpheus knows no mercy

They were fine.

Several more of the soft, pitiful cries escaped the tiny sea urchin, and Szymon’s hackles, wild and unkempt, rippled down his spine; they stood sentinel even as his Doe’s gusty sigh of relief reached his waiting ears. Their tattered points flickered indecisively as he watched the girl drink — tentatively at first, then with a burgeoning gusto he knew to be folly; she would lose it all, he thought, and rumbled uneasily.

“Sy.”

The Atoll’s voice, low and unsteady, drew Szymon with a force so magnetic even the unfamiliarity of the child could not dissuade him. Doe needed him, and he would go to her — perhaps he needed her, too, and perhaps the child needed them both. The notion was terrifying, but he crept forward upon his belly anyway, doing his best not to frighten the girl into running — if she ran while voiding the overflow of water, she could choke. Still humming, though his splendid bass timbre was haggard and breathless, he came up upon the pair — perhaps if he paid little overt attention to the child, she would be willing to ignore him. And he curled his body around his Chosen One, mindful and ready to move should the child regurgitate what water she could not drink or become agitated at his presence or be followed by the dark male from the flatland.

He gave her what she needed, and in doing so, received the same sense of peace and wholeness that Doe so ardently sought. His muzzle rested across her shoulder blades, his teeth and tongue preening through the fur at the nape, and a great shudder overtook his body as he catalogued the scent of the cub — a new scent, but one already saturated with Doe’s. I don’t know how to do this, Doe, he thought with a measure of despair, burrowing his lean muzzle into the fur of her ruff and breathing deeply. Her scent and nearness reassured him, but his tail continued to twitch with frenetic energy and he dared not speak, lest the stutter arise in full force and irritate her. He simply continued to hum to himself, to Doe, and to the small sea urchin that rested on her paws. I will keep you safe, he thought ardently. Both of you.

He would have to learn.