Dragoncrest Cliffs with a crew that’s bound to pack them in

can we touch that? their indefatiguable voices chimed. can we eat dat? they piped up. papa val, what is dat? and the more common one: but WHYYYYYY, papa val?? belabored in a chorus any time val steered the twins away from something potentially dangerous.

the trip home had been otherwise pleasant. val had been anxious to return to the cliffs. while he held no love for the ocean that was his neighbor, he did not like the noise of inland either. too many packs, too many moving bodies, too claustrophobic.

it seemed the camp was not without its chaos. word of sobeille's perplexing behavior troubled val, but as he learned of her early excusal, he only shared a silent look with her chaperones.

there were many things val worried about as of late -- and this only added to his troubles.