Stone Circle When the party is over

It seemed, at first, to be a night like any other; Kallik was snuggled in with his siblings, wrapped in their mother's warmth and safety. His belly was full, and he was slowly drifting off to sleep, his thoughts already somewhere between coherent and dreaming. Flashes of the day played through his mind—the sunny afternoon they had spent just outside the den, the bright world around him that was just a little overwhelming still, and of course, the comforting figures in his life that brought him care and stability every day without fail. It had been a good life so far, and he wasn't even old enough to really appreciate it yet. 

An unfamiliar sound from outside the den woke the little bear with a start and a whimper. And then his warmth and safety was gone, outside the den before he could even register what was happening, her firm command making dread pool in his stomach for reasons he didn't understand. He sat up and cried out a little louder, confused by the sudden change in routine. The sounds outside only unsettled him further because he had never heard them before. The voices he heard were familiar but they sounded wrong—not the soothing, comforting tones to which he was accustomed. And although he couldn't understand what exactly was happening, fear and discomfort settled over him like ice cold water. He shivered in the moments that they were alone inside the den without the faculties to process what was happening just outside. But then suddenly there was a familiar scent, one he associated with food and contentment, and he toddled forward, desperate for the comfort he knew she would bring. He had come to know her as their other mother; they were lucky enough to have two, although he had only ever known a life with two and so was unaware of how lucky he had been. 

As Valette crouched over them protectively, he attached himself to her shaky front leg. He was still trembling himself, and so he thought her shaking was his. Still, he pressed into her as much as was physically possible, fretful whimpers escaping him every so often. He was confused and scared, and he could hear and smell strange things outside—it was all so wrong and so different from anything he had experienced in his short little life. But all he knew how to do was seek reassurance from his caretakers, and so that's what he did. Kallik eventually slumped down to the ground, his front half lay across Valette's front paw; he was frozen there, too overwhelmed by everything as he waited to feel normal again.