Bearclaw Valley here without you

She missed him, but she did not want to admit that she did. Piper often thought of the goofy smile that had turned his features upward, and the easy sway of his body. She hated how vivid her memories seemed in some moments, and how faded they were in others. The more she tried, the more his voice seemed to drift out of her mind. All of it was frustrating to her, but she wasn't capable of putting that into words. So, the young Redleaf did what she could to keep herself hopeful and busy while she waited for word on where her jovial brother had gotten off to. Surely, he would have had plenty of stories to share when he got back.

“Maybe I can find one for you!” she exclaimed with a happy smile and a swift wag of her tail that was forceful enough to wiggle her back end. “What's your favorite color?” Piper then inquired with a canting of her skull. Her bright gold gaze roamed the tired features of her mother with concern. She wished she could carry all of the pain that was nestled between the shoulders of her parent; she wished she could use her youth to release the burden. Life wasn't that simple, though.