Duskfire Glacier everyone hail to the pumpkin song

Lane wagged her tail as she was reintroduced to the Tatkret, trying once again to memorize his behemoth of a first name. Issorrtuyok. She was glad to see that he had taken her advice and applied to Wintersbane for admission. Just seeing him beside Meerkat-- their two newest, most promising recruits-- standing there by a pile of pumpkins, a symbol of fall and therefore change, made Lane feel like things were moving forward again. She might have almost begun to feel hopeful about her future here, if not for...

Makatza.

Seeing the girl skip around gaily and hearing her sickly-sweet tones fill the air made Lane feel as if she'd plunged into an icy river. Lane knew that she was not supposed to hate children, but if the girl ever found herself needing a medic.. she'd better hope Lane wasn't the only one available. 

"She should be.." Lane answered Meerkat's question about @Wayfarer, although her tone would make it clear she was distracted. Her amber eyes were honed in on Makatza. Her ruff lifted involuntarily.

Lane's heart squeezed as she saw Makatza approach her scarred boy. She held herself in place by sheer willpower, body rigid, fighting the urge to run up and drag the little brat away from Veteran by her sassy little tail. The girl had the gall to tease Veteran about his face, as if she had no idea that her own teeth had left the very scars she gasped over. 

Veteran handled the situation better than Lane would have herself. Lane forced herself to relax as Makatza moved on to attempt to butter up Meerkat. Lane would have no part of this nonsense. She moved away from Makatza and Meerkat, leaving them behind as she approached Imaq. 

Lane met Imaq's gaze with eyes full of empathy. They shared the same pain-- both Imaq and Lane now had sons who had been scarred by Makatza. Lane greeted Imaq with a friendly nudge to her shoulder, and she settled beside the merle. "They make a sweet pair of friends," she commented, noticing how well their boys seemed to get along. 

Then the pumpkin innards started flying, and Lane's jaw dropped. In the back of her mind, she knew she ought to scold Veteran and try to put a stop to it, but her first instinct was to laugh.