Hushed Willows falling, everything burns

thanks for joining! <3

if there is any warning that she is not alone, as towhee jr lingers unknowingly downwind of them, it comes in the form of ghost. the circle back from his recon, the soft tap of his sharp beak against her left shoulder. a clever way to communicate with her. perhaps he was learning that she could not hear or perhaps he just thought she was helpless and it was his duty to warn her of what he considered probable danger.

she slows, the two — and adult and a child, likely somewhere around her own age — come into view.

ghost settles between her shoulders, a beady eyed sentry.

towhee hesitates as the adult draws nearer, muscles tensing slightly. though forcing herself to travel, to complete njord's task to prove she is old enough to handle herself out here int he world for good has pushed her out of her shell ( though she has never been shy, just hostile as hell ) ... but still wars with that instinctual desire.

it prickles along her spine.

her paws itch to sign out in ptero the question she desires to ask but each experience tells her that she is the outlier and ptero is special between her kin and those close to her family's hearth.

so, she watches the adult and then the child, though her gaze never strays too long from the adult.