Dragoncrest Cliffs siliwa hay

With his siblings, Sobo could be outgoing. He was straightforward and vocal with them, could even be a little brash if the right mood seized him, though often he was gentle and encouraging. With his mothers and father, he was attentive, eager to please, and hungry for knowledge. Prior to today, those were his two modes. If it was a sibling or parent dropping off food, he would've rushed right out to grab a bite.

Today, he discovered a third mode: the Sobo that met strangers. That Sobo grappled with a spiking heart rate and the ineffable impulse to run and hide rather than any inclination toward the food. When Haunt spoke, his nerves erupted in his chest. He sank back in the grass until only the tips of his brown nose and brown ears were readily visible. It was less scary if he couldn't see her, even more apt because she was missing an ear and most of a leg and was particularly frightening to behold. But Rosalyn was also frightening to behold for most, and Sobo saw none of her flaws. There was no real reason for this response, no bad encounter with another amputee Sobo could trace it back to. He should have taken it in stride, given who his mothers were. It turned out that he was less frightened of Haunt's terribly unusual appearance, and more that he was really very shy.

Sobo's brain flatlined over the words Haunt spoke in the midst of his social panic. They went in one ear and out the other without so much as a blip of recognition for their meaning. They slipped through his fingers like water, leaving him to wonder what an appropriate response was when he couldn't remember the question.

No, he attempted in a very quiet and mousy voice, unwittingly contradicting himself and answering Haunt's question in the affirmative.