Sun Mote Copse Refuge in breathing.

Towhee might've laughed, only Q's screams fell on deaf ears. She felt the rapid expansion of the child's lungs, the vibrato of it. But it didn't slow her down one bit. In fact, she sped up her movement for a few beats before abruptly releasing Quetzal, letting the pup drop unceremoniously to the ground.

"YOU ARE NOW DECEASED!!!" Towhee exclaimed as she rocked back into her haunches and flailed her forelegs in the air, a crude mimicry of a gorilla beating its chest. She then dropped forward onto all fours again, thumping the ground with her forepaws on either side of Q's little body.

In the background, Meerkat somehow slept through it all.