Dragoncrest Cliffs I put my hands in the fire

following the unfortunate seafoam run, (which had done nothing at all to assay valravn's fears of the ocean) val trailed belatedly after his sister.

the walk gave him enough time to ruminate; he'd become aware that he'd been so engrossed with his own feelings of hurt, that he had not stopped to examine why she had been huffy and moody as well. it occurred to him that her sensibilities had likely been injured because she'd been excluded. why had she been excluded from the race anyway? val wracked his memory, and recalled the race had been hosted for those in his rank.

it was weird thinking of his sister as anything less than his equal. he felt uncomfortable designating her a rank separate from his own. for whatever reason, the thought just didn't jive with val -- who looked at chacal and was struck by how worthy she was, and how unworthy he was in comparison.

he meant to give her the rabbit he'd caught on his way to finding her, as a token of apology. his own selfishness had caught him by the tail and he intended to fix it -- except, as he trailed after chacal he became aware of another scent.

his mother.

hmph. val's expression cooled immediately. he walked past rosalyn without even acknowledging her -- a first for the boy who usually was so jocund -- and dropped the rabbit by his sister. she was preoccupied presently with digging and ignoring rosalyn as well -- good. val set in line next to her and dropped the hare, beginning to dig his own small excavation in the cold earth.