Larksong Grotto I'm a blank page in a notebook waiting to be filled with countless drawings of cocks

Tis the season. In honor of it being Christmas Eve, I wanted to post a quick thread for the family. This one's for @Astik and @Tapat -- and @Jhala can pop in too!

After the incident, things around the grotto had been somewhat quiet. His family deserved that much, Hiram thought. Some peace would do them good. Still, despite the status-quo of silence, winter made its slow creep into the Taiga. The rocky terrain was blanketed in a fresh layer snow and spirits were as low as the falling temperature. Especially for young Tapat, who had been deeply shaken by Laurel's violent fit. Hiram tried his best to make his son feel safe and to bring a smile to his face again. It was a hard thing to do, but he was determined not to ruin them too.

When he returned to the grotto's mouth, slipping inside to escape the frigid cold and the falling snow, he carried with him the skull of a doe recently felled in the last hunt. Flesh being stripped completely, all that remained was white, dry bone. Hiram remembered long ago his mother giving him a toy similar to this when he was a boy himself. He had loved it, and he played with it until it cracked and fell apart. He hoped his sons would enjoy playing with skull just as much as he had when he was their age.

"Boys?" Hiram called after setting the doe's skull down at his feet, his voice echoing through the deepest reaches of the cave.