Hushed Willows all we know is falling

Maybe another puppy? But All Welcome!

With only his father now available to run herd on the litter of three, Valiant was finding it a little easier to get alone time. Not that he wanted to be alone, exactly -- just away from Dad, Minnow, and Aeryn. It felt wrong to be around them when his mother was not also there; as if their presence underlined her absence, and made it the sort of unbearable that tightened his lungs into a hard little fist of discomfort rather than the sort that made him want to make noise and throw his young body around.

That was what he was doing, now: growling incessantly at a grasshopper as he tore after it through the willows, pouncing with vengeance on his mind whenever he got close. It was faster than him, however, and he soon lost sight of his prey. The young boy began rooting noisily through the undergrowth for want of it, not knowing that the creature was now long gone.

rescues this, and myself from the sweeper

for all the time he spent with his nephews, cortez didn't really know the other kids all that well. there were lily's, and then there were sunny's, also left motherless. one of them—valiant? maybe?—was rooting around in the brush nearby, clearly looking for something, as the shakti made his rounds. intrigued, he diverted course, headed toward the boy with a warm smile on his face.

what'cha doin, buddy? he drawled, head cocked in query. he sat back and curled his tail 'round his paws, looking for all the world like a curious housecat, watching a laser pointer. maybe because his writer has no practical experience with dogs and, alas, resorts to cat metaphors and personification whenever she can. probably that, yeah.