Dragoncrest Cliffs I put my hands in the fire

valravn's eyes widened to be called an adult; if he had crossed any milestone, he certainly felt no different for it. his gaze studied chacal a moment, for they were close in age -- and to him, she was still his young sister. adult had such a final ring to it.

he found he wanted no part in it. valravn vied for the child's life -- the wild imagination, the days spent endlessly exploring. the magic of discovering a stone that was different than others, or finding a new cave -- or even, seeing the way a tree grew against its brethren and bent against the sky --

all of this would be lost, the day he became an adult. the joy, the wonder, the imagination that he saw in himself and saw dead in his parents -- it would all bleed away like a tow tide, never to return.

no, not him. not his sister, either.

valravn swallowed, feeling much the same as chacal. while he had the wherewithal to utter it, and she only yowled, he still felt her frustration get clearly across. and frankly, while he was being immature, he didn't really recall things the way rosalyn did. which meant either he was wrong, or rosalyn was --

and as a child, valravn refused to admit it was him.

"dis be unfair." val commented in a rare form of his other maman's heavy accent. with a flick of his tail to announce he would have no further talk, valravn turned to his nudging sister and pressed his shoulder to her in a silent let's go.