Redhawk Caldera Serenade to the cobwebbed chandelier.

Towhee woke before dawn to answer a persistent call of nature. She stumbled out of the Hobbit Hole to find a dense fog wreathing the caldera’s inner slopes. It would be another hour before the sun rose, two before it would breach the territory’s interior to burn away this thick brume. Something about it made the hair raise on the back of her neck. The Elder quickly finished her toilet and hastened back into the den.

It was very dark inside, though Towhee carefully navigated toward the back, where she and @Hotah slept beside their three children. Her place was still warm as she flopped down to the ground. Blindly, she nosed at her companion before reaching out to tuck the three pups closer to her body. She found Tawny Lark first, then @Splendid Fairywren. She couldn’t find their brother, which wasn’t that unusual; often, that little booger curled up under his dad’s arm.

Trying her best to avoid disturbing Hotah, Towhee pushed her muzzle into the spaces created by his motionless limbs. She still couldn’t find Peregrine. The fur all along her scarred spine suddenly stood straight up. Towhee froze, debating whether it was worth raising the alarm, though only for about three seconds. She slung out a foreleg to push at Hotah’s shoulder, trying to shake him awake.

Aware that signing would be useless at this hour, Towhee mumbled, I can’ fin’ P, and just hoped he would get the gist of it.

Giving him a chance to wake up and process that, the Elder stood—glad she girls hadn’t yet had a chance to latch, else they might have fallen with how swiftly she moved—and began sniffing around the den. Her eyes had adjusted somewhat, though she primarily relied on her nose and whiskers to navigate around the Hobbit Hole’s interior and its residents, who were likely stirring awake as Towhee’s movements around the den grew more frantic.

It soon became clear that Peregrine wasn’t in the Hobbit Hole. Towhee burst outside, breathing in sharply as she was met by the wall of white again. The pups were barely old enough to peek their heads outside the den; she’d only just showed them the dooryard the day before. Her small son had seemed particularly excited by the outdoors, so perhaps he’d puttered outside while everyone else was asleep. He couldn’t have gone far, especially with this fog…

Towhee bellowed into the still-dark air, calling Peregrine’s name, and then whipped around to read the faces of those who would be able to hear a child’s cry.