Dragoncrest Cliffs clip, pole, smoke, fade

val's reflexes as a general rule were terribly slow. and children, it turns out, keep one on their toes. constant vigilance was not in val's nature, and so whoops! there goes the rolly poly.

blech! val grinned as chani spat the offensive taste from her tongue. he remembered that lesson well. the slug fared no better; he watched as she gobbled its slimy pelt down. careful, you don't want a tummy ache. he wondered if slugs weren't like other wormy denizens of the dirt - russian nesting dolls of worm upon worm, nematode to filiform, each designed to parasitize upon the other. he was grateful to be born something as noble as a wolf!

as chani cast about for a rock, val listened to the breathing within the den. at some point he imagined he would overstay his welcome -- but for now he was content to revisit a younger side of himself, playing chaperone to chani as she overturned rocks as if some tiny godzilla among a city of rubble.