Hideaway Strath ragwort,

Developmental stage: 5 weeks/3 human years. For any of the puppies! (@Turmeric, @Thyme, @Alduin, @Lotus , set in Twilight Hollow around, well, twilight. XD)

Mantli was collecting lavender in the Hollow near their den (for her anxiety though Momo didn't know this). Unbeknownst to the gilded girl, her mother had decided to wait until dusk to suggest a trip to the lavender-blanketed meadows -- so their pale skin wouldn't burn under the summer sun beneath their thin coats, and also so Momotzli could see the fireflies emerge. She'd been utterly fascinated when the sun began to set, lengthening the shadows of the trees that dotted the Hollow sparsely -- seemingly burning them from behind as the sky lit in vibrant hues of orange and red, blackening the silhouettes of the trees into flat cutouts against the bright colors. 

She'd wandered from Aerin's side for a moment, chasing after one of the flickering green insects -- giggling and snapping at the flying bug as it drifted away, completely unconcerned or perhaps just unaware of its pursuer. Momotzli could have easily snatched up and killed the lightning bug in her jaws but that would have ruined the fun of it; and perhaps she was like her mother in a way, abhorring needless violence or cruelty.

The pup seemed completely unperturbed by the hushed stillness that fell over the territory as she frolicked through the foxglove, accustomed to the silence of her own company and confident in her safety amongst the Saints and their home -- for she had never been given any reason to doubt it.

This is after Alduin got banged up by Sasha so feel free to have her acknowledge scars/healing wounds and all! ;D

Alduin is doing the same thing Momo is: running off into the night. Except his isn’t to have fun chasing bugs and the such. No. Now, he’s almost afraid to go by himself anywhere after what Sasha had done to him. His hind right leg is still healing from its broken state, but at least now he’s able to slightly walk on it. He’s limping heavily, but he can walk nonetheless. 

So while also he’s terrified to be alone, that’s all he wants to be. The bubbly Alduin the Saints are used to is no longer. Instead replaced by an overwhelming hatred — anger and revenge. Though, now he can’t get revenge. His father already did that for him. Yet, the feeling has not gone away. 

Tonight though, he tries to overcome his fears. Stepping away from his mothers den to find himself in an area surrounded by beautiful fireflies. He’s mesmerized, bloody eyes widening in awe. Until he freezes when he sees movement out of the corner of his eye. He tilts his head ever so slightly when he sees a pup much smaller than him, but somehow she looks familiar. With the wispy hair along her long ears and the soft, inviting features. It clicks then. She looks like Aerin! Perhaps she’s her pup. Now connecting the two, he knows she can’t hurt him, so he takes a risk and moves towards her. 

She looks like she’s having fun. He wants to have fun again, but the hatred and fear lives wretchedly within him since his attack. For a moment, he sighs, allowing it all to sail away with the wind. Not even minding the pain that blossoms in his leg and the scabs that was pull all over his body, he rushes forward. He moves in beside her in his own attempt to catch the firefly. A small smile on his maw and a bubbling but hesitant laugh falls from his lips as he pounced and bounds beside her to catch the fire lit bug. 

He wants to be normal again.

Momo had never known the petrification that plagued the other Dagger but when the brindled shadow of a boy appeared next to her, she startled -- violently and skittishly -- for a moment, drinking him in with wide, mismatched orbs of silver and gold. But this was only because she had not met many wolves and certainly never another child. The older and bigger pup should have been intimidating, especially with his ruby eyes, but he looked like Ky, who Momotzli was familiar with -- perhaps even more familiar than her own father. And his eyes reminded her of the colors painted across the skies as the sun sunk around them and the world shrunk to the shadows between the trees. 

In the next moment, she was invading his personal space -- pressing as close as she dared to sniff him all over, drawing back some and only ghosting around him when she realized he was seriously hurt. A deep frown wrinkled her chimera face, deeply troubled by the smell of blood and fear that was practically soaked into the older male's shadow-cat pelt. 

Her gilded gaze swept the clearing around them, searching for some way she could make him feel better -- metallic orbs lighting up as she spotted the blinking firefly crawling across a shrub nearby. She bounded over to the bush, bending for a moment and waiting until the insect had crawled onto her wine-marked nose before returning to Alduin -- albeit more slowly and carefully in regards of her tiny passenger.

The halfling stopped and settled in front of her newfound friend, leaning forward with a tiny giggle to show him the lightning bug -- and allow it to crawl onto his own blackberry nose if he so wished.

Alduin had been so entranced by the bug for those short few moments he hadn’t even noticed how bad he startled her. Until he realizes that she’s not running along side him. He stops, slowing to a trot and then an uncertain walk before halting completely. Scarlet eyes swirling with something…something not necessarily negative but he only assumes the worst by the way the other pup stares at him with wide heterochromatic eyes that sparkle in the low light of the moon. 

Then in the same second shes on him. He almost flinches as she approaches, sniffing him all over. Only to make a face. Does I smell bad? He wonders. Until he’s distracted by her wandering gaze, seeming to lose interest in him just as quick. She’s odd to him, but so is he. Neither have spoken a word to each other yet. Still, he eyes her with wonder and curiosity as she dips down to collect a firefly onto a rosey nose. Balancing her way back with the little bugger too, he tilts his head, a crease already firing between circular brows.

He has no idea what she plans on doing with it until she invaded his personal space. This almost makes him flinch despite her meek stature and innocent look in those pretty, mismatched eyes. She closes in on him, so much so he almost backs up, such a sweet gesture is foreign to him. So when her nose boops onto his, he almost goes cross-eyed trying to look at both her and the bug. A laugh even bubbles up from her lips and Alduin hardly knows what to do with himself. Sure, the only other pup that’s been so sweet to him was @Thyme, but he considers Thyme his best friend as of right now. But this is a girl ans he almost finds himself getting nervous, the shift of his ears shows this as well as the pensive expression. 

He doesn’t move though, rather he bravely closes the distance between them. This allows the bug to mosey on over to Alduin’s own sniffer. It tickles and he has to wiggle his nose in an attempt to push away an upcoming sneeze. Only then does he look back to her, blood red eyes curious and captivated. 

The tiniest smile quirks his lips upwards and he releases a huff of breath that could be considered a laugh. Such a magic moment spent between two practical strangers, bonding in the way younglings do. 

So he allows the bug to sit atop his snout a few seconds longer before approaching her once more. Alduin tries to mirror her actions, lowering his head a tad to press their noses together again and pass the fiery insect back to her. It’s accompanied by another breathy laugh and for the first time in a while, he feels normal again.

She's too young to take notice of how uncomfortable she makes the other child, or perhaps it had more to do with the Nahuatl girl herself. She definitely lacked social skills, though whether this was due to the fact that she preferred to be alone by circumstance or was owed to an inevitable personality trait was uncertain. The gilded halfling remains blissfully unaware of the anxiety she causes, her own moon-and-sun orbs crossing in her efforts to keep her eyes on the bug that has monopolized her focus. 

It scurries up the bridge of her nose, zigzagging crookedly along the nearly even line that divides both halves of her thin features -- upwards towards her forehead before it stops to lift its wings to the skies and is swept away by a playful breeze dancing through the lavender and purple blooms. Momotzli bursts into a fit of laughter, falling back on her misted haunches the way a small child might roll back and clutch their stomach in uproarious giggling. 

"Bug," she chortles, as if it's the funniest thing in the whole world.