Hoshor Plains We picked up the shards and formed them into shapes of stars

Sumac's smile was like the light of the sun - it radiated such warmth and joy, reflecting the radiance bathing his soul. Gone for now was the murky gloom that had earlier that night dominated his experience. The tension he always carried in his body seemed to have melted out of his muscles, his ears erect and expression easy. His golden-tipped tail swished contentedly behind him, and if one were just seeing him for the first time, they would hardly suspect that this amiable figure was usually the victim of his own traumas and insecurities.

"You think so? I've kind of felt that way, too, but I thought it was just my imagination," he replied softly, closing his eyes gently as she kissed his brow and bestowed him with another name. Anurag. He was often naive to the ways of the world, but even 'Mac understood the significance of this gesture. A lump formed in his throat, his eyes reopening wide with a mixture of love and wonder.

It took a moment for his breath to return.

'Mac felt the dust gently dislodge from his memory as he reopened the book of his family history. Images flooded his mind, and warm, old feelings.

"Pinebreeze. We called ourselves the Pinebreeze clan, but that wasn't very often 'cause we didn't get a lot of visitors asking about it. Ma said we were named after the sound of the breeze whistling through the big pines of our home. It was such a nice sound, almost like the trees were singing," he mused, then stopped, his expression turning somber once more, "Those trees felt so... stable. Steady. Permanent. Like they were our guardians, and they'd always be there. They were friends, and now... Now they're probably dead."

He sighed and lifted his nose to the passing wind, gulping in a few airfulls to help clear his turbulent mind.

"Ma and Da left their families to start their own. There was one litter before me, and only two lived: Oak and Cherry. Oak left during his second spring, which broke Ma's heart and made Da angry. Cherry stayed and helped Ma and Da. There were four of us in my litter: me, Hawthorn, Maple, and Sycamore. Then there was Birch and Willow after us, and Sitka, Juniper, and Spruce after them. I can still see them, sitting in the Grove in the moonlight," he smiled again, meeting Easy's gaze, "We were a happy bunch. Life was good, y'know? We had just enough and didn't want for anything."