Honeyed Pasture nowhere left for me to go

Dutch's smile turned to a smirk.

"It is good for a young man to be challenged," he claimed, his tail whisking. "Lest he think too highly of himself."

Katmai, he knew, suffered little of an ego. Kindle, on the other hand... Well. Dutch supposed his young brother could have grown up a bit in the intervening months.

"I am sure she is as wonderful as you are," Dutch asserted, smiling again at this description of a girl. "But I suppose I will meet her. I should see him soon. He departed so quickly — we did not have much of a goodbye."

This troubled him. Moreso, he was troubled when he wondered what sort of reception he might receive.

"How have you fared?" he asked, a frown touching his eyes more than his mouth as he shifted focus once more. "I am sorry to hear about your village, my friend."

Dutch could relate. He hadn't stuck around to see Moontide's inevitable fall, but... Well. It had seemed dead to him already with Chakliux and Marina both disappeared. He regretted his hastiness all the same, moreso now that he knew Marina had lived.