Northstar Vale I know a woman who should’ve known better.

She left Phox at Wraen’s Nest and walked back to the roost hidden beneath the willows on the other side of the spring. Once, it had been among Towhee’s favorite places in the world. Now, it just reminded her of everything her little family had lost.

She found @Jack Snipe outside the door. He was unusually quiet and still as she approached. Towhee caught his eye and then nudged his shoulder. She would save their talk for last. Aside from her, he would be the one taking this the hardest.

Towhee took a steadying breath and stepped inside. @Towhee Jr was fast asleep on the goatskin, sprawled beside a well-chewed scrap of hide. @Sable might have claimed it had she not distracted him with a nudge to get his attention.

-“Come with me,”- she said, turning and walking right back outside, past Jack—who would keep an eye on his dozing baby sister—before hanging a left.

She paused there to look backward, ensuring Sable was right behind her.

He hadn’t seen father in many days, but Sable did not understand the passage of time much. He was young, he did not really “get it” much yet.

Mother was there. He knew her. So, when he gently nudged him, he moved to his feet and trotted at her heels. At near two months old, he had begun to sprout up into a lanky creature, with overlarge paws and an ear that liked to flop down, and keen eyes that were muddled in color, halfway between puppy blue and a flavor of green.

He did not speak. He had never needed to. His learning of ptero was coming along instead. But he didn’t use it now, instead just moving to look up at Towhee when she stopped. 

As if it would help, he gave her a gummy smile, and a quick wiggle of his tail.

His smiling face went a long way to soothe her battered heart. Towhee couldn’t resist bending down to press her nose to Sable’s forehead. She then lifted her head and faced forward, trotting slowly toward the two forking streams feeding into the spring. They waded across a shallow point and then she led her son toward Wraen’s Nest, just like she’d done with Jr.

-“This is Wraen’s Nest,”- she told him when they arrived, -“where we’ll come to live in a few weeks. Take a look around if you want.”-

She glanced across the meadow toward the tree where she’d met Phox moments ago. Her brother was gone, probably off to hunt. Towhee quickly returned her attention to Sable. She kept an eye on him even as she slowly padded closer to Leo’s grave.