Wheeling Gull Isle I am the owner of nowhere land, queen of a castle that’s made of sand.

She intended to keep a close eye on the girls, though that was before Towhee saw something strange on the ground. Cautiously, she sniffed closer to it, squinting and asking herself, What… the fuck… is that? It looked like it could be a fish of some sort but it was more of a blob than anything. And what was it doing here?

Whatever it was, it was definitely dead and partially eaten too, by the look of it. Had one of the island’s wolves killed it and dropped it? Maybe it tasted bad? It looked like it tasted bad…

What? Towhee blurted when the pups reappeared in her peripherals, apparently ready to show off their findings. Oh, right, she acknowledged, giving the dead creature one last odd look before trotting over to meet Dinah and Ava.

Oh, wow, she exclaimed, genuinely impressed by the array at their little feet. Having neither seen nor heard anything of their contentious exchange, she added, You two did even better than I expected, as her eyes swept the gathered blooms.

Towhee eventually looked up at their faces and finally noticed something amiss, her brow furrowing as she asked, Hey, what—did something happen?