Hushed Willows refraction;faction;ultra-action;hunter;interest;bullet;market;

it was too hot, and white-blob had just kicked him in the head.

life in the den was the pits. now that cam had the glorious gift of sight and smell—limited, but still!—his world in here was growing much too small. he dreamt of worlds far bigger and wondered whether he had been unfortunately born into one so tiny or if there was more to it, here. the light that shone through gave him the idea that perhaps there was more.

every time he tried to get closer to the light, though, mum-shadow seized him back. his ever-vigilant prison warden. hmmmph. what would it take—bribery? flattery? none of that, actually; he got his chance when he rolled away, and noticed she didn't go after him right away. she lay still, as did the other two.

sneaky. hehehe.

as furtively as his roly-poly body could allow, cam began to wiggle toward the light, paler today than it had been before. slowly, his eyes adjusted, adjusted more, until everything was not so overwhelming and it was more drab than anything but then—

oh! oh, it was too much! he was caught between rapt euphoria and terror, jaw agape as he stared at all the nameless colors and shapes and forms around him, the feeling of new terrain under his paws. he made quiet little noises, but didn't wail quite yet; he was stunned into silence because—because!!

there was so much to see! what were you supposed to look at, anyway?!

Aeliana returned from a short hunt with Spring came new life and more food and she was quick to start hunting, she was starting off small of course, she managed to snag her self a Goose who was a bit overconfident for its own good. Yeah, it got a few good pecks on her but she'll be alright. 

As she passed by the dens she notices something, a pup sitting just outside the Den entrance, she drops her kill for the moment, "Well what do we have here? A little escapee, hm?" She said as she went over to the pup with a smile, giving it a few sniffs, "Where do you think you're going huh?"

and then a big dark shadow appeared. well, no—dark. . .and light, too? like a mix of mum-shadow and shadow-thing, and totally unfamiliar to him. he gaped at its approach, and squirmed away when the muzzle drew near, whimpering and trembling. he even peed a little; he felt it trickling down his rear legs, though he couldn't put a name to the sensation just yet.

it was just. . .so close!! why was it so close? nobody but mum-shadow and shadow-thing, and his smelly siblings, got this close. were there more big things like this? would he ever know them by any other name?

cam stared at the thing with round, fearful eyes, waiting for its next move. golly, he wouldn't have made such a grand escape if he'd known what lurked just outside the den!

Aeliana realized what she was doing as she saw the pups big fearful eyes and backed away a little, "Oh. Sorry, little guy. I must look really big and scary to you, huh...?" She said as she then laid down and laid her head down looking at the shivering pup, "See? I'm little now. Not scary." 

She knew the little pup couldn't hear or see her quiet yet but she still spoke to it. Mother said that speaking to a pup gets it use to your voice so does touch but to her, it didn't feel right to just touch someone's pup unless she had permission, "I wish I knew your name... For now, I'll tell you mines. My name is Aeliana and I'm your packmate. Nice to meet you, little one."

laying down kind of helped, but not really. it was still quite big and scary, although not so looming, now. its voice was booming, though, and he cringed as it spoke. loud, so loud! his ears flattened hard against his tiny skull; he was trembling still, and soaked in urine to boot.

none of the words made any sense to him, anyway. after a while, cam mustered up the courage to move closer, then closer still, pressing a nose to the massive paw close by.

oh. . .oh! it felt like mum-shadow, just like mum-shadow! maybe this other shadow was to be trusted, after all. he concentrated on pressing his muzzle between each toe, sniffing and worrying at the flesh with toothless gums. now this—this he could wrap his head around.

Aeliana smiled and laid quiet as the newborn pup pressed his nose in between her toes. So cute. It made her wonder who's pups where these... Wait, wasn't Lily pregnant? At least she looked like she was pregnant... Maybe these were her pups. 

If so they were adorable and it made her feel even more responsibility to protect them from harm. It made her look around as well even peer into the den to see if she was inside, "I wonder where your Mama, huh? Asleep on the job, hm?" She said quietly before looking back at the pup, "It's dangerous for a pup like you to be out here, a lot of creatures would like to make a snack out of you and it would make your Mama very, very sad."

why, yes, lily was asleep on the job. that was how cam had made his grand escape, after all, slipping past the normally-vigilant shadow. all of her words went in one ear and out the other; instead, cam continued to nibble at the toes, squinching his face tight at the taste. very different, not like milk at all. very earthy, musky.

and the texture! well. . .the texture was quite pleasing, actually. soft and sleek and kind of crunchy. he gummed to his little heart's content, without a care in the world, and aeliana be damned.

good luck getting this little leech off your toes.

Aeliana watched with a smile on her muzzle as the pup continued to nibble on her toes. Very cute but she couldn't stay here long, mostly because she wanted to put the goose she caught into the cache, "Alright little pup, I have to go..." 

She tried to move her paw away but the little bugger doesn't let go, "Come on, time to let go. Time to go back to your Mama..." She said as he tried to carefully get the pup off of her paw, she didn't want to hurt the little guy, she carefully wrapped her maw around the young pup, not using her teeth and pulled gently.

suddenly, she began to tug him away, and he let out a piercing whine. not a scream, but a full-out whinge, annoying, demanding, shrill. god help aeliana—

oh, for god's sake, came mum-shadow's voice, exasperated and rough with sleep. suddenly, he felt a very familiar nose against his body, and curled up into it, suddenly exhausted and overwhelmed by this small adventure. so sorry, aeliana. he must have slipped away while i dozed off. i hope he's not been trouble, besides, you know, being so loud.

his eyelids fluttered shut, ears comprehending none of the words above his head. all he knew was that mum-shadow was here, and everything was okay. dreams began to pull at the edge of reality, blurring the lines, further and further and further until it all. . .fell away.

cam let out a tiny, contented sigh as his chubby form relaxed into slumber.