Hushed Willows valley;hand;inflect;impression;loom;last;molten;you;

for @Olive!

he liked the minnows. he liked watching them, but he also liked how they tasted. it had been horrible having to stop drinking milk; he'd pitched such a fuss that mummy had let him suckle for longer than the others. . .although once she noticed he had a liking for fish, she made sure that there were always fish a-plenty in the nearby cache. the jig was up.

but that was okay. they tasted different than milk—not better, just different. it wasn't the worst thing in the world to make the transition. cam's only concern was, if he was hungry, and there weren't any fish by the den, how was he going to eat?

how did one catch these things?

gingerly, he stretched out a paw into the cool water, bringing it down, down. . . only to have all of the minnows scatter in apparent fright. they were very small and very quick. and small and nimble as cam was, himself, he was no match for the flighty creatures. he frowned, caught a glimpse of his reflection in the clear, rippling stream—and made a face, grotesque and exaggerated, before pulling away.

he shook the droplets from his paw, blowing air in a frustrated snort from his nostrils. maybe he should go try and play with the sparrows. that seemed a better use of his time than this fruitless errand.

Olive was very much on guard these days, for two unfortunate things had happened. The first was the great injustice done to Elysium by the family who had sought shelter here, and the other was the disappearance of Minnow. Olive was not one to linger upon things that had passed, so she tried her best to channel her anxiety into the matter that was still active — Aliac and Sunny’s missing child. Sunny was doing his best to retrieve her, and Seabreeze and Ariel had also played their part in searching (how far could a puppy go, anyways?) but it was to no avail. The child remained at large.

So the druid spent much of her time watching over her litter and guarding them from any harm. Olive felt safe within the willows, but recent events cast a pall over the innocence that once was. As much as Olive loathed to even think it, she questioned the safety of the willows. They would need to speak to their fellow packs that surrounded these areas, warning them of the danger and seeking their support and protection. Perhaps they should bring on more wolves — ones who did not enjoy violence, but could protect the innocents within the willows all the same. 

This day, Ariel and Seabreeze took over the duties of watching the children, allowing Olive to wander aimlessly and somewhat melancholically. It was a hot day, and the woman desired a dip in the easygoing river that ran through the heart of Elysium. When she saw that Cam was already there, panic struck through her heart — what was he doing alone, at a time like this? — but Olive quickly calmed herself, certain that Lily would not let her child wander if she believed it to be unsafe. Smiling despite herself, she approach the small boy, who appeared to harbor frustrations with the water.

“What are you looking at?”  she inquired, cocking her head and looking down at the little boy and the rippling water.

he started slightly at her sudden voice, back arching, catlike, bristling. . .but quickly settled, once he realized it was the kind-voiced woman with pups of her own. what are you looking at? cam glanced back down at the water, eyes following the slim, silvery shapes. oh, what did mummy call those? meh. . .mih. . .min—

minnows, he finally responded, quickly, like someone finding the correct answer in charades. he lifted his head to look at her, slightly sheepish, not knowing what quite to say or do next. ah. . .minnows. wanna play.

wanna eat, was more like, but he wondered whether they'd make good playmates as well. of course, that would require getting into the water. . .and cam wasn't quite sure about that, yet. was there even anything to stand on, down there? water seemed markedly different from the earth; you could step right through it! perhaps the minnows could come up to play, sometime.

why they in the water? cam asked, ears folded slightly back in disturbed query. his voice was an almost perfect mimicry of his mother's broad, cheerful accent, but still missing a few words. can we go in water?

and olive thus explained the ways of the water to him, in her gentle tones, and he clung to every word.