Duskfire Glacier everyone hail to the pumpkin song

Veteran's pumpkin goo projectile landed squarely upon the intended target, and the boy let out a whoop of victory. He turned immediately to share his triumph with Arius and Sikuliak. Arius had drifted away, seemingly unimpressed by the messy, childish antics, but Veteran didn't let that bring him down. No doubt he would find a kindred spirit in Sikuliak, and the young Qeya-Black would be game to get a little messy. 

As wrapped up as he was in leading the Great Pumpkin Goo Initiative against Makatza, he didn't immediately recognize Makatza's rage as dangerous. He assumed that she would simply join in the goo battle, but she had an entirely different idea for revenge. Veteran only understood her intent when he saw the flash of her white teeth. 

He braced himself for the impact and the (at this point) familiar sting on her bite, but it never came. In a flash, Ensio materialized and intercepted Makatza before she could reach Veteran. In the time it took Veteran to blink, the adults descended upon the fray, and Veteran found himself roughly shoved aside. A bit dazed, he watched the events unfold from the outskirts.

A voice broke through the chaos, and Veteran looked up at @Issorartuyok. He asked if Veteran would like to learn to defend himself.  Veteran met the man's eyes with sincerity. "I want to learn to defend my pack." Self-defense was important-- he'd learned that the hard way-- but the real sting of his loss came not from his wounds, but from the knowledge that he had failed to bring Makatza to justice for the way she had hurt Sikuliak.