what brings us together

Balsam wasn’t sure what to make of the festival. There was nothing really to compare it to back home. Sure they had their gatherings and celebrations, but they didn’t have anything quite so...trivial. Was it a celebration of fireflies? If so why? What made them special enough to get their own festival? He was confounded by the whole thing. There had to be more to the story than he was aware of.

So far he’d caught himself a few fireflies, but in doing so he’d felt like a little pup and quickly abandoned the game to save his dignity. It was just too weird for him.

His hackles rose as an angry shout echoed off the rocks. With head and tail low Balsam stalked towards the noise. It was a shame there were no trees around otherwise he would have been up it in a heartbeat.

Balsam too arrived just as the mountain lion was gearing up for its attack. He could see it coming; how the lion tensed and drew his legs underneath him. Both pointed to a feline preparing to attack. Balsam was no stranger to fighting cats. They were admirable fighters both on the ground and in the trees and they were, save for the smallest of their species, too wily for a pup to take on.

Though he was not one to rise to the defense of a giant - and this boy was certainly one - he was the sort to defend a pup. For the child’s sake he couldn’t simply stand by.

Balsam came at the mountain lion from the opposite side. He was so focused on the cat that he didn’t see Odysseus coming his way. He struck the mountain lion’s left knee just as Odysseus struck its left hip. Though he had anticipated tripping the cat up, Balsam wasn’t prepared for a much larger wolf to strike the opposite side of the cat. The combined blows of the two adult wolves caused the cat to roll directly onto Balsam.