Stone Circle i. you were loved

Things were... quiet. Perhaps not for the entire pack, but for Ikiaq, life passed along in a slow, quiet blur. It wasn't a bad thing. Better than that one night, back when Nanook had left for the last time and never come back. Ikiaq preferred not to think about that too much, because it often left him terrified and unwilling to leave his siblings, and he was getting bigger now. He couldn't just cling to them whenever he was scared. 

And that was the funny thing. Ikiaq had had to become braver. Kallik was quiet and timid, and he'd needed someone to be braver. So... Ikiaq had done that. He didn't always feel brave, but... he could be brave, regardless. 

Ikiaq forced himself to adventure a bit further out, each and every day. And he'd made progress, too. Found lots of beautiful flowers and seen some interesting creatures when it had rained so much. He'd found a particularly pretty yellow lily today, and had decided to pick it and give it to someone. Flowers happened to be his favorite form of gifts now, and he knew someone else who liked flowers just as much as he did.

Running into the older boy wasn't intentional, but Ikiaq was happy to see him regardless. His tail wagged and brown eyes crinkled in a smile as he trotted up to the other boy, setting the lily down at his feet. 

"I think the flowers grew more because of the rain," he voiced, flicking his gaze up to the older boy's own. "They're really bright."