When he woke up that morning, the den was empty. "Mamaí? Dadaí?" His youthful voice pipped through the silent ravine like a soft bird call. "Regulus? Zuriel?" Even Báine was absent. He stilled for a moment to try to listen for any response to his calls but there was no sound to be heard. He didn't know where his máthair and athair had gone to - probably something as simple as a trip outside to pee - but it was rare enough that that they were left completely without supervision, especially with Regulus and Zuriel to watch them too, which was probably why Báine had taken advantage of the moment to conduct her own explorations or something. Tórnach lasted about ten seconds sitting politely at the mouth of the den waiting for his family to come back before a flash of red at the far end of the ravine caught his attention. Regulus? No, it was something fluttery and tiny. Curiosity piqued the chubby little pup sprinted after it, his chubby little puppy legs working hard to try to catch up to the red fluttery thing. What was it? Why was it fluttering through the sky? How was it doing that? Why did its teeny tiny muzzle look so weird? Why didn't its front paws match its back paws? Why did its fur look so weird? Going entirely too fast for his big clumsy paws and paying entirely too little attention the pup found his legs suddenly tangled in each other and his roly-poly body was suddenly sailing through the air too, though it was destined to be a much shorter flight as his fluffy little butt out distanced his head and he found himself flipping heels over ears to land splat on his back. OOF! He lay there a moment to process what had gone wrong. Had the weird fluttery red pup tripped him somehow? Where did it go, anyway? ""

Regulus Anatolii Adravendi

He was coming back with a live rabbit hanging in his jaws. The animal had stopped screeching finally, seeming resigned to its fate as a pup toy. That or shock had taken over. It was part of nature. His mother had done the same with himself and his sisters when they’d been around this age. It was as he reached the ravine that he felt the heartbeat slow and fade between his teeth. His ears drooped out sideways in a bit of frustration. This was the third rabbit so far today. He’d given the other two to his mother and father. So this one would go to Zuriel. But first, he figured maybe it would be a good idea for his baby siblings to get a sniff of the rabbit so they would know the smell of this prey when they were able to take on hunting. He drew close to the wide area of the ravine and paused, in time to hear his little brother calling for each of their family in turn. His ears flicked back. He knew his mother was taking a break; she was with their father on the meeting boulder, catching the last rays of sunlight before winter set in and made the rays useless for basking in. He scaled the natural stone steps and peeked inside to find his brother on his back. But no sign of Báine. He dropped the rabbit and entered the cave, sapphires scanning about for the albino girl. "Sa chás go bhfuil Báine, Tórnach?" He asked, an edge of concern in his baritone voice as he glanced around again before lowering his head to sniff his little brothers frame. "Agus cad a tharla duit? Cén fáth go raibh tú ar do dhroim?" It honestly delighted him that his mother had been as diligent with the Old Tongue teaching with his baby siblings as much as she had with himself and his littermates. It felt special to be able to speak with his siblings this way, a connection to their grandmother. He found no hurts in his inspection and sat back, turning his head to howl for Zuriel, relaying a message to keep an eye open for their wayward baby sister. His message sent, he turned to Tórnach. "Ar mhaith leat chun cabhrú liom cuardach a dhéanamh ar an phluais do Báine, deartháir beag?"

The loss of the weird fluttery red thing was devastating. How was he ever going to be able to figure out what it was and why it looked so strange if it just disappeared? He didn't even try to get back to his feet, the devastation was so immense. He was distracted from his gloomy air, however, when another bright red form - albeit a more familiar one - appeared. "Maidin mhaith, deartháir mór," he chirped politely, rolling over to his stomach. "Níl Báine anseo. Bhí mé tar éis an rud beag bídeach dearg a bhí ar siúl ar an aer agus thit mé. Níl sé anseo níos mó an oiread." He sighed, still disappointed that the red thing had gone away. At least Regulus was here now so he didn't have to be bored, though following his brother back into the caves where he'd spent his life so far wasn't exactly thrilling. The thing Regulus had carried back with him, however, was certainly of interest. "Ní miste liom cabhrú fhéachann tú. Cad é go bhfuil tú?" ""