Moonspear there upon your perch, say the words

Being recognized by his parents as as trusted guard and occasional hunter had bolstered his morale considerably, so he kept it up all the same day after day because he was just about good at it--if he said so himself. This did give him many opportunities to loiter around near the den, and he was often sure to make use of them. However, since he did not yet have all the confidence to really go nosing entirely into the dark den (not with a strong chance of mama's teeth within), the best he got were quick, shadowy, glimpses when he dropped off snacks and reported in; the newest Ostregas were still very much curiosities to him, ones he was anxious about getting to know whenever they were finally ready. But he smelled them every day, and heard their weird little noises.. Accordingly, expectation was all over the place.

Time, too, had steadily made him bolder.

Aiming to appear nonchalant, and only halfway scanning for Vela to see how her patrols were, he came jogging on into sight of the den in time to spot a little flash of unfamiliar motion from just beyond the darkness. Zeroing in on this, he perked all up and didn't take his eyes off the depths. He could certainly hear them in there... and when he took a tempting step closer, he realized with a start just how close he was.

Now very careful with this information as he hoped to decide what to do with it, he dropped down and flattened out on his belly a few paces in front of the threshold. After about two whole seconds of seeing nothing, the eta proceeded to whine quietly at it. Bug-eyed, he waited to see what that would get him, if anything.