Noctisardor Bypass no context.

when arbiter approached him, pike stood still. half of him was unsure if he would be in trouble... or if his mother would be glad to see him. it seemed the ladder, much to his relief. thought affection was not how like showed his love, he did desperately want to press himself into his mother, who he dearly missed. as he stood stiffly, healthy and fed, he wondered if she had noticed. she didn’t say anything about it.

but there was more to account for than just himself. his emotions could wait. 

dads dead, he blurted, his black ears slicking backwards, brows turning upwards as he waited for a reaction. he waited long enough for the words to sink in, but not long enough for her to say anything. 

we were hunting. following that herd— did she remember the one? — and we got em! but we were by the uh, the mountains — east of here — and we were preparing to travel back... he paused. he’d practiced this story so many times, damn it. it was so much harder in person.  damn it!! he coughed. there were mountain lions, he finished, quietly — though that wasn’t the end of the story. but he turned slightly to more fully reveal a now-healed gash, from his shoulder blade down his side. her trained eye might’ve noticed a resemblance between it and a scar that terance himself had worn — the association had not been made by pike, though. 

i tried... he added in a soft mutter.