The dark before the dawn

Walk | Talk | Think

Anais had hardly stirred when Glacier slipped free of their new den, thinking nothing of it and merely making herself cozy in the warm, empty space left behind. So long as the girls slept, she intended to too, and considering how adventurous they both were - they must have gotten quite a bit of that gene between both families - she knew she needed every minute of it. On her side, she lay partly curved around them, both pups nestled in the gap against her stomach between her forelegs and hinds. She slept comfortably, peacefully, and very much content.

Which changed the second she heard Voltage's voice. The unexpectedness of it combined with the urgency as he pawed at her paw startled her into wakefulness, and fighting off drowsiness Anais rolled somewhat quickly to a more upright position, unsettling pups as she went. "What's wrong?" she asked in a befuddled, half asleep, and worrisome voice, a shred of fear seeding itself in her chest as she realized she was being woken up in the middle of the night again. Was there more flooding? Did they need to leave again?

The shock helped to wake her more quickly, and also helped her realize more quickly as well that Voltage was smiling. It should have brought relief to see him smile, for whatever reason that he smiled, but it only brought her great confusion that worsened as he tried to explain himself. Uncle time? Now? She blinked, turning her head slightly to peer outside of the den, and realized the only light to come inside her dwelling was very faint. It was not even morning yet, and he wanted time with the pups now?

"Voltage," she sighed, "I don't think--" She could not begin to comprehend what had possessed him to wake her up - and the children at that - so he could spend time with them before they had gotten their full rest, but he gave her no room to argue or turn down his request and promptly poked and nudged her up off of the floor of the den and on her way out of it. "Wait, you can't--"

Disbelief and surprise left her staring open mouthed at the den as she was essentially kicked out of it, and her mind whirled as it tried to make sense of the unbelievable circumstances behind her very early morning. Her brow furrowed and her shoulders slumped as she glanced about, wondering where Glacier was and if it was possible for him to either explain what in the world had just happened or put it to rights, when she spotted the little glimmer of something shine upon the ground beside her paws. Absently she angled her head to get a better look, and felt a little stirring sense of recognition as she reached out to paw at the objects. A stone and...a petal-less flower?

Something was up.

Anais lifted her head high and tried once more to peer around in all directions, searching within the predawn darkness for any sign of her mate, but there was none. Nothing out of the ordinary...except for a soft, pale flower petal leading away from the den. Curiosity piqued, the golden brown hunter followed after it, feeling her mind and body wake up as the first petal led to another, and that one to another. What are you up to, she wondered as a smile began to spread across her face, feeling her certainty grow that these petals were not placed here by chance but with a distinct purpose.

She followed them as they led away across the Prairie and toward the back of the cliffs that overlooked the beach, ascending the rise to find where the flower petal trail ceased. Her suspicions had grown the further along the trail led her, and by the time she found Glacier at its peak, apparently waiting for her, she could not stop herself from smiling while her eyes stared at him in puzzlement. "What's all this?" she asked gently, curiously, through a chuckle, meaning everything - from the flower petal trail to Voltage rousing her as he had from sleep.