Dragoncrest Cliffs Time will not slow down enough for me

Ephraim was older than Drageda's pups but might as well have been the same age; his mixed blood made him small, and developmentally, he had some catching up to do. Fleeing for their lives and getting by on minimal had not caused him to grow up faster, but to regress a step or two. Where once he had been bold, adventurous and even a bit arrogant, Ephraim was now uncertain and shy. When he looked away from the tree tops to see the solid brown pup headed his way, all authority and business, he shrank down without a second thought and snatched back his tall ears.

Words came out, but he couldn't grasp the meaning. There was something spidery about them that made him screw up his dark face. Ai dou nou get yu in, was what he heard, and he couldn't help but reply with a timid, "what?" They sounded like words but in an order that didn't make sense to him. The tone translated well enough, though, and the tip of his tail threatened toward a defensive curl, but then Thuringwethil arrived and his attention shifted up to the Heda.

"Hi," he breathes in greeting, accepting her touch with a faint and nervous smile. It was obvious by now she was important among the wolves here, like Caiaphas but different somehow. This similarity with his mother afforded her all the respect he could muster, even if he didn't quite understand it all. "I's Ephraim," he said, this time to the dark-furred Kiwi, whom he hoped would talk normally from now on.