Rising Sun Valley A Stray Ember

'Mac's ears twitched as a pair of crows passed overhead, jeering at the two predators between wingbeats. Pfft, corvids...

His attention was fully on the large, dark female in front of him. She was clearly his elder - wiser, more experienced, definitely someone with more information than him, for sure. It would be remiss of him to not pick her brain a little.

"Okay - Easy, it is!" He smirked. The expression faltered when she made her quip, unable to fully prevent his ears from dropping slightly. "Ah... Haha, yes, of course not. You have a family? You're quite lucky."

'Mac's mind briefly drifted to Ma's bright green eyes, and the delighted grin that always seemed to threaten to break through Da's austere gray scowl. It had only been two seasons, but it was another lifetime ago entirely. His heart ached, and he swallowed, quickly bringing his mind back to the present before the trauma brought the ghosts of their dying screams back to haunt his ears.

"Ah, nah... Just, well, away; away from home. What was home. It's not there, anymore, you see... I sort of just wander, see where my feet take me. This place is nice, though. Do you live here? Speaking of which, where is here?" he grinned, tilting his head to the side in an almost apologetic way. He gave a friendly swish of his tail and silently hoped his babbling wasn't annoying his new acquaintance.