At the end of the rainbow

His eyes slid closed, almost against his will. He still needed to walk the perimeter of the spot he had chosen to bed. Astra would be set on watch for the first half of the night, and Meteor would wake for the second. He was not comfortable sleeping without eyes in this strange part of the world. Right at this moment, it seemed almost like more effort than he could bear. He had been walking from sunup to sunset, and a few minutes of shut-eye could only improve his life...

What he had not expected, was for his ward to appear, dropped on his lap like a star falling from the sky. At the sound of a voice, his eyes shot open, and he leapt to his feet. Fur bristling, teeth bared, and then common sense caught up with him. He blinked, startled, and his maw parted in surprise. “Nebs? Nebs? Is that really you?” he looked out into the fading light, and found her star-marked coat with ease. She was lit like a starry galaxy, and by the gods, was she a sight for sore eyes.

"Speech"