Shiki Was In A Deep Slumber, His Paws Twitching As He Dreamt. The Den Was Slightly Chilly, Enough To Offer Him A Slight Shiver. Though It Was Summer, He Was Alone In The Den And Had Not Yet Realized It. Not Until He Woke Up With A Start. His Head Rose Instantaneously, Blinking Away The Sleep As He Grew Accustomed To The Light Pouring In. His Backside Was Warm From The Sun, And As Soon As He Came To The Land Of Reality He Realized With A Start That His Mother Was Not There. Yawning, He Shuffled To His Paws And Stretched, Fluffing Out His Fur He Made His Way Out Of The Den. It Was Not Quite Afternoon Yet, But The Morning Was Quite Warm.

Stepping Out Into The Clear Air, He Stood At The Entrance To The Den As He Glanced Around For Any Sign Of Pamela. Her Scent Was Still Warm. Maybe she went to get breakfast. We're His Initial Thoughts. Tail Wagging Slightly, He Decided He Would Hunt Her Down, And Surprise Her With His Growing Tracking Skills. And So He Set Off. He Followed Her Trail As Best He Could, Occasionally Getting Distracted With The Other Scents Crossing His Path. However Far She Chose To Go, He Would Eventually Find Her. And Yet As Minutes Passed, He Would Begin To Call For Her. "Mom? Are you out here?" He Wasn't So Afraid, But He Also Was Never Left Alone For Long. And To Be Left Alone For Too Long, Or The Fear Of Being Left Behind, Scared Him. But He Had Never Gotten The Sense Of Being Abandoned, He Was Always With One Of His Parents. But The Tales Of Hearing About Other Pups Being Abandoned For One Reason Or Another, Frightened Him. He Had Never Really Interacted With Another Pup Before, However. It Had Always Been Him, His Mother, And His Father. "Mom? DAD!?" His Heart Began To Race, As Did His Feet.

Pamela had been going to get breakfast for herself and her son, taking her time. Kau had not been around for some time... at least a season. Where had he gone? The female was worried, though more for the boy she had been asked to help care for. Soon enough he would start asking questions and she honestly wasn't sure what to even begin to tell him. Wherever Kau had gone she doubted he was coming back now. Perhaps something had happened to the male. Pamela would let out a soft sigh through the rabbit she had clenched between her jaws, heading back to the den with a bit of a dampened heart. Every time she thought of Shiki's real family it made her sad... though she didn't quite know why. She would hear the sound of little pawsteps and look up to see Shiki, recognized by his scent, running off to her right. He would call out for her, for his father, and Pamela would drop the prey to the ground and rush over to him, trying to calm him. "Shhh hunny it's alright. What's wrong?" She would call to the child ahead of time, trying to make sure she didn't end up chasing him all over creation. "Listen to me talk," 'but read my thoughts.'

Table by:: Riv

Tears Began To Trickle Down The Boys Face, About To Call Out Once More When A Familiar Voice Reached Him. Whipping Around While Skidding To A Halt, He Ceased His Tears And Ran Up To His Mother. "Momma! I Didn't Know Where You Were! Where's Papa?" He Knew He Hadn't Seen His Father In A While, But He Wasn't Exactly Sure How Long It Had Been Since. His Heart Pounded As He Rubbed Against His Mothers Legs, Tentatively Licking Her Chest As He Whined In Relief.

At Last He Steadied His Breath, Standing Still As He Gazed Up At His Mother. Her Red And Blue Eyes Were Much Different Then His, Vibrant And Clear. His Were More Of A Honey Color, And He Wasn't Entirely Sure If He Liked That About Himself. She Was A Much Darker Color, As Was His Father. Why Did He Have To Be The Color Of Dirt? He Wished He Could Be Different, Maybe He Would Change When He Was Older? Pushing That Fleeting Thought Away, He Returned His Attention To Pamela As He Then Eagerly Awaited. "I'm Hungry, Momma." Waiting For Her Response To His Sheepish Question.

Pamela would gently nuzzle her son, adopted or not at this point Pamela certainly viewed the child as her own. He was precious, a young being who needed her. He was... Beyond innocent. The female would speak gently to the boy, not wanting to upset him further. “I’m sorry my love. I was out searching for breakfast for us.” What about Kau though? How did she explain to the child about the man? “I honestly don’t know where he is sweetie... Maybe he’s on a trip somewhere.” The female would lift her head, gaze searching for some shadowy, hulky form. Yes... Something had undoubtedly happened to the man. But it was too soon to tell her son that. As far as he needed to know he was her child and no one elses. His coloration could easily come from another relative. Shiki would then state he was hungry, and the female would chuckle softly. “Hungry huh? Well, come over this way then. I was returning with breakfast when I heard you calling.” The female would lead the way to where the prey lay, giving a nod to it once it was in sight. “Eat up. You’re gonna need energy if you’re gonna grow big and strong..” "Speech"

Table by:: Toothless

The boy nuzzled his mother with great affection, though his ears would fall in a sad display when she said she didn't know where his father was. He suppressed a sigh, surely he was used to it already. He followed her to the fallen prey, tail wagging and forgetting all about how scared he had been earlier. He wouldn't scold himself for that either. As far as he knew, he was an only child and had no company around except for his mother. No other kids to play with...hell, he didn't know anyone. And almost immediately those thoughts were shoved back and out of his mind when he approached the prey.

With mouth open wide, he dug into the prey. Tearing flesh and gulping down what he bit off. After a few moments, his belly was fat and full. Sitting back in satisfaction, he cleaned off his muzzle and turned to his mother. "Thanks Momma! That was a tasty great catch! Can I help you hunt next time? I'd really like to learn!" He looked up at her in excited expectation, hoping that she would teach him.

Hearing his sigh the young woman couldn't help but feel just a tad guilty. She would sit, letting him eat in peace. She would nuzzle his head, thinking about when she had seen Kau last. It was as if he had known something was going to happen... and now... now... she would give a soft sigh. Her poor boy knew little of the world, was so sheltered and loved. The slate female would nuzzle Shiki gently, showing him love and tenderness. If anything ever happened to him... she was sure that she would be devastated. Pamela would wait for him to finish eating, finding a smile touch her lips when he asked if he could go with her next time. "Alright. You can come with me next time." Her words were gentle. "I think you're big enough now to learn a little more than just that." She would use her paw to ruffle the fur on the top of his head. "I'll need to teach you how to fight soon too. Just think of all the wonderful things you'll be able to show your father when he comes home~" Her tone was light and gentle as she spoke to the child. "Just pick the lesson you want to learn first. We can even start today if you'd like." "Speech"

Table by:: Toothless

He gazed at her with excitement. She was going to teach him hunting and fighting and everything else he needed to learn to become a wolf! He'd leap to his paws and run tight circles, yipping as he did so. "Yippee! I get to hunt and, and fight! And I bet I have the best teacher in the world for that!" He'd stop, body swaying momentarily from dizziness as he stared up at her, tail wagging fervently. Usually he was alot more calm and collected, but today his paws itched to do something he'd never done before. He wished his dad could be here to teach him too, but his father seemed to be busy elsewhere. Nevertheless, he had his mother and he knew she'd be a great teacher!

"Can we start now?" He began to wonder what he wanted to learn first. There were so many things! Hunting? Fighting? Tracking? Navigating? How to tell what food was good and what food was bad? His mind reeled with different things, and he began to feel overwhelmed. He didn't know what he wanted to learn first...though he figured he should learn something important. "I wanna learn how to protect myself...just in case I'm alone again. I want to protect myself from bigger wolves, momma." That was definitely what he wanted to learn first. Shiki was such a tiny thing, no where near as big as his dad had been. And frankly, he wasn't even sure he could protect himself. But he would try his best, with Pamela as his teacher he felt he could prevail!