Adventure is out there!

The sun had just begun to dip beyond the western horizon, veiling the land in twilight. At Tamsyn's instructions, Artorias followed close beside his mother while she led him back in the direction they had come from, Corbin perched perfectly on his back while he walked. If it hadn't been for all the physical training Resin had been putting him through, Artorias might have found the bird to be too heavy to hold for long periods of time. Thankfully, his developing body and growing muscles made the bird's weight manageable, and as he got older and stronger, he would barely notice it at all. He followed in his mother's paw prints left in the sand, literally trying to match each step she made, although ending up more jumping from paw print to paw print with a giggle. Once they arrived at their venue of choice, Artorias sidled up beside his mother and pressed into her leg, leaning himself against her while they watched out over the water. The sky exploded with fiery colors as light faded away into early evening. The lick Tamsyn gave his fore head made the boy giggle again and nuzzle into his mother's legs, happy to be able to spend time with just her. Between all the other siblings and "other siblings", it felt like his parents' attention had been fractured between them all. He was happy to take whatever time he could get with them.

Just as Artorias was beginning to wonder what they were waiting for, a sudden faint glow over the water caught his attention. He had missed it, but kept peering out over the lake, trying to spot whatever he had seen from the corner of his eye. It took a minute, but then there was another glow! And another! And another! Soon it looked like a miniature starry sky had appeared over the lake as fireflies danced and twirled in the autumn air from seemingly everywhere! Artorias gasped in awe, eyes wide and mouth hanging open. He had never seen fireflies before! Because he and his siblings hadn't been allowed to leave the den til mid-autumn, seeing fireflies in the wild hadn't been something they had ever experienced. "Wooooow! Mom, look at them all!" he exclaimed, rising to his paws and walking right to the very edge of the water to get as close as possible to the glow bugs. "What are they?!" As he asked his question, one of the fireflies buzzed right in front of his face, almost landing on his nose before glowing once and flying off again, bringing a huge smile to the boy's face.