Moonspear E.T. phone home

It had taken him a little longer than he'd meant it to, but eventually Penn made good on his word to @Meerkat to drop by to see her kids. He'd found the seed pods without too much issue, but then the challenge had become how to get them back to the den. He didn't fancy stuffing them all in his cheeks like a hamster—the spikes on them weren't dangerous sharp, but certainly uncomfortable sharp. Plus, he wasn't actually a hamster. And the thought of kicking them all the way to the other side of the mountain seemed far too tedious.

In the end, Penn had impressed even himself with his brilliance by finding a different tree (one he could climb), and tearing off a branch full of the little seed pods. He carried it over to the Sveijen-Corten ulaq like it was the branch of a Christmas tree, seed pods dangling from it like glittering ornaments.

Penn knew it was early, and so he'd planned to just drop the branch off outside of the den and leave it for the pups to find when they came out to play for the day (more Christmas metaphors!). But when he dropped the branch and turned to go, a tiny little howl stopped him in his tracks and had him turning around to peer into the den's dark depths.

He smiled and dipped his head low, uttering a very soft, low "Awooo!" back to her. He waited then, eager to see if he would get an answer back.

Meanwhile, underneath his warm exterior, he battled silently against the feeling of terrible loss and devastation that had suddenly roared up in his chest at the sound of that tiny little awooo!