Valley of Gold you may encounter the body

am so honored \o/ congrats tj on 300 posts !!

tvar watches the boy, tense. he studies the way towhee signs and the panic in bushtit’s movements. the kid's body language speaks enough—fear, guilt, and confusion written across every inch of him.

fuck’s going on? he mutters, his gaze shifting to his wife. he can feel the stress radiating from her, and it stirs a protective instinct deep in his chest. but then he reminds himself: this is family. now, his extended family.

towhee's brother turns away to spit a curse, and tvar sighs, stepping closer to towhee, his paw brushing lightly against hers.

we’ll find her, he signs. then his gaze flicks back to bushtit. towhee must rely on reading his lips now, because tvar lacks the confidence just yet to efficiently sign as quickly as the other two. start from the beginning. what happened? where did you go? how long exactly has she been missing?

he needs facts, details—anything to ground the situation in something they can act on. panic won’t help anyone right now.