Stone Circle are we awake, or are we asleep?

Leta was glad to see her mother. Alive. Well. Her cousins were not so lucky, she realized suddenly, and was quick to pick up her pace and attempt to bury her head into her mothers shoulder as gently as possible. Breathe her in. Inhale her life. Exhale the idea of her death. Alive. Alive. Alive. She felt guilty for her relief, and pressed her eyelids tightly as if this would make the feeling go away. 

It was awful, she murmured, potentially muffled by her mothers furs should the embrace have landed. I am so glad you're okay, mama, she withdrew to get a good look at Valette, gaze flitting from the tip of her nose to the end of her tail as though she could memorize all the little things about her. The changing furs, that to Leta had never lost their sheen. The wetness of her nose. The curve of her tail, and how the wind caused it to sway just so when it picked up as it did in this moment. I love you. I... I want to be stronger, mama, but I don't know what I would do... if I lost you, or papa, her cheeks were warm with her own embarrassment, but it was the truth. How could she be strong when she felt so weak?