the rest of our lives

His mother assured him that she wouldn't leave his side, and he nodded while swallowing down the lump in his throat. It seemed he had no other choice. With a hesitant sigh, the child stood and prepared to exit the den with his siblings, only to realize that something was attacking him while he was still inside. He yipped nervously, whirling around to see his brother who had only just released his tail. A halfhearted growl spurred in his chest, but he resisted letting it grow any louder for fear his brother might only retaliate further. Pound for pound, Cassius didn't have a chance when it came to squabbling with his brother.

When it became his time to exit the den and enter the real world, Cassius swallowed once more and then scrambled up the slight elevation and into the morning air. The sun was bright - incredibly bright. He squinted involuntarily, recoiling half a step back. If only he could go back inside where it was safe and dark and warm. As his bi-colored eyes adjusted to the brightness of the sun, Cassius noted that his sister was prancing about quite awkwardly - like she was just starting to walk for the very first time. He tilted his head, still standing on the dirt and unaware of the sensations of the prickly looking grass. Quintus moved forward next, answering her inquiry about what 'Shewachicha' was. Cassius smirked slightly, not wanting to venture a guess as to how to pronounce whatever his father had called this land.

Just as Quintus was acknowledging the apparently strange sensation of the grass, a woman came forward. She was stormy gray and huge compared to the children, and the young Adravendi-Mathias ducked beneath the careful shelter of his mother's bodice. He stood just beneath her, his head centered between her front paws. The woman's voice split the air, explaining what this place was, and introducing herself as Loccian. Tentatively he stepped out so that the front half of his bodice was out from under his mother's shadow. Bi-colored eyes stared warily at the woman. "D-d-do you know her m-mama?"

"speech"