Ouroboros Spine hey there, it's all gonna be fine

Valiant smiled thinly. He appreciated Raindrop's words and her steady support, but she was right — things were hard. Things were changing, all the time, and Valiant just wanted to hold on.

"I hope he finds them," he murmured, thinking of his own brief reconnection with Minnow. He didn't want to talk about her, though. Or about Vaïre. The only happy thing left in his life was his kids, and they were all a very distant happy thing.

His kids and Raindrop.

"And I hope they find their way back soon. It's hard with the wolves you love. Hard to be so small in such a big world."

He, too, felt he could say these things to Raindrop. Things about feeling small, and lost, and helpless. It made his throat feel tight, for a moment, but to cry would be just a step too far. He swallowed it down, and then opened a welcoming arm to his old friend. Perhaps to comfort her. Perhaps because no one had held him since Dutch had come to say goodbye.