Moonspear lay with the lion-hearts

Given the fact it would take quite some time for his ribs to heal up to the point where he'd feel comfortable roving up and down the mountainside, Bronco had remained largely within the interior territories well within the pack borders, not straying too far from where he lived in the crevasse with Meerkat. The forests on the mountainside were vibrant green from the rain, and it provided a nice contrast against the constant grey of the sky. He had to wonder- if it rained this much in the summertime on a mountain, would it also snow as much in winter?

He decided to try and find something relatively easy to hunt down for a meal as he didn't want to rely too heavily on the pack's caches during his recovery. He flushed a few birds, and passed a porcupine in an aspen grove, but couldn't be bothered to even attempt that sort of a hunt. It bristled at him as he sauntered by, but he continued on without even curling a lip or casting a glance in its direction. He knew how much porcupine quills hurt. 

He heard a high, sweet voice call out from nearby, and caused him to jerk his head up. Alyx? Quetzal? He was so familiar and endeared to the sound of a child's voice that immediately he fell back into big brother mode, and picked up a trot to see who it was that was nearby. Of course, he knew it couldn't be one of his sisters- but he could tell by her tone of voice that she was somewhere around the same age that his sisters had been when he'd left the Firebirds. 

The child he found was more or less caked in mud, but didn't seem too perturbed by her current appearance, and was more distracted with something- oh, a snail. Alyx would've screamed had she seen just how muddy this kid had allowed herself to get- but it made Bronco chuckle and smile. Quetzal probably would've loved this kid. "What'd you find there, kiddo?" He asked, lowering his head and peering toward her with an inviting gaze.