Heron Lake Plateau under stars

For all that he'd been scanning behind him specifically looking for the guy, Owen nonetheless startled a little as Quixote's voice and then his face loomed up out of the darkness that that inky-black fur blended into all too well at times. Owen skittered over to cuddle up beside his father's furry bulk before offering a glad lick of gratitude to Eljay's proffered nose. Owen first awkwardly tried to place a paw on the freckly Blackthorn's nose to hold it there—he wanted those bigger teeth on call, in case more inanimate monsters were going to make an appearance tonight—and then he squinted and pointed his ears in concentration at Towhee as she put herself before him and started signing. -Hi, he signed at her as he bobbed his head in acknowledgement, but the rest of her words took a moment for his puppy brain to digest. -Out an' about, all, yes. ...Sisters...sleepy, rest behind there, behind me.- Owen wagged his stubby red tail in pride, thinking he had made himself pretty clear. He was doubly glad to not only have Quixote behind him but also two more of his trusted protectors ringing him; surely with this many and this big of attentive adults around, nothing could get at him to harm him. Owen reached out his other paw toward Towhee before craning his neck up, over, and around to blink with some confusion at Ceara and her words. Why would anyone watch stars? They were just boring little pinpoints of light, weren't they? It wasn't like wolves could hunt or eat them, so far as Owen knew, even if there hadn't already been some pretty interestingly tasty smells pre-hunted and awaiting them off to the side.

He was less frightened and more puzzled now as he turned his eyes toward the heavens once more. He stifled another gasp as more and more of the stars did indeed come to life, now, streaking across the heavens with a brighter and briefer trail than any rabbit, dazzling his young eyes more than the brightest whitetail's retreating stub. Owen pulled his chosen protectors closer and squished up against them as best he could, but with the comforting scents and bulk of those adults nearby—albeit unable to all three be compressed into the same small space all around him as Owen might have preferred; hopefully Qui and Towhee and Eljay weren't claustrophobic—Owen felt reasonably confident still that none of the strange shooting-star-creatures could get to him. -Up...up!- he managed, staring, and then, breathlessly quietly yipped aloud in case anyone had missed it: Up! He wasn't quite certain who all of these others were, many of their scents only vaguely familiar to the boy, but he didn't really want those zippy sneaksome stars to catch any of them unawares, either.