((Set before the challenge))

Recluse was making a point to connect with each of her children in the wake of Kali's death and today was Mac's turn. Her paws carried her down the mountain and his scent was easy enough to pick up, she knew each of her children's scents so intimately it wasn't hard to pick any of them out from the rest and the woman followed it idly, she wasn't in a rush, just wanted to make her way towards her son. She didn't need anything from him, outside his presence maybe. It was ultimately a selfish request, because she needed this time to reconnect... The last thing she wanted was to feel like she'd not spent much time with any of them if a single one of her remaining children followed in Kali's paw steps, and she lost them too. "Speech"

Mac was, as per usual, attempting to perfect his lovely craft, paws bausily working on the project he had prepared in front of him. The nook made for a change of scenery when the volcano's broad, rocky terrain no longer entertained him, its flourishing flora and fauna providing a pleasant backdrop, white noise, and of course..materials for his taxidermy. The yearling set upon himself to make a new mount of a dead racoon, the creature's body sprawled out in front of him. He'd emptied its innards, offering them to Ghoul's caiman's and now was busily drying out its pelt and remaining limbs for posing and stuffing. Dead, beady eyes stared back into his luminescent ones, and the boy giggled softly to himself, muttering brief monologues to himself as he prepared a stuffing of dead leaves, cobwebs, and various sweet scented herbs. Just as he began to fill the animal's cavity, ensuring it was well-stuffed, he scented his mother before he saw her in the moonlight that illuminated his work. That, and the soft orange glow of a small candle he'd made from animal fat. He turned his head to meet her, his cheshire grin curling up in its visceral, yet affectionate manner. He did always love his mother, adored her even. Who wouldn't love their mother, the one who cared for him and his siblings so? Even with his odd mannerisms, the glow in his muddled eyes, and that grin that never landed just right. But she knew he was trying his best. "Hello, mother!" He said to her, rising from his work station and approaching her with a soft wag of his tail. "How have you been?" ”Speech” ’Thought’

Macabre might had had a smile only a mother could love... But Recluse did not notice that, because well... She was his mother and she adored him, she could understand if someone said he unnerved them but she would never jump to that conclusion on her own, he was, to her eyes at least, just unique in his own way and she loved him for it. She stepped forwards to meet her son as he approached. One of the few children of his litter still small enough for her to hold him, she leaned down slightly to bump her nose into his head. "I just wanted to check in and see what you were up to." Recluse said in response to his question. She tried to keep just how tired she was from her voice, but she couldn't keep the slight sadness from her eyes, she was desperate to make sure each of her children knew she adored them, had to make sure they were all safe, were all happy. She had been forced to realize just how easy it was for one of them to slip away and now she feared they all might. "Speech"