Heather was bored. Mommy wasn't around anymore, most of the time her siblings were out playing with aunty amalia and athena. She just wasn't interested, she wanted more of her father's attention. The appaloosa female hadn't had a fun adventure in weeks. Now that she was six months old she was ready to cause even more trouble than she previously did. Straight early in the morning, she rolled up from her bed and started to jump around Leo in a circle. "Daddy, hey psst, dad." She stopped at his nose, lightly pawing at it. "Let's go for a walk, justtt the two of us." The pup landed herself on her front paws, letting her butt wiggle in the air as her tail made a fast movement back and forth. A wide smile spread across her face as she giggled. A walk for the two of them sounded nice. She could ask him all sorts of questions then. "Talk" "You" Think

Leo had just gotten back to the den from his morning patrol and had settled back on his stomach and rested his head on his paws. Most days he would wake up before the sun to do his patrol, mostly because he had such a heard time getting to sleep and staying that way. That was the case today and when he got done he thought maybe he would take a nap. However, it seemed his energetic daughter had other ideas. He had only had his eyes closed for what felt like a few moments before he suddenly heard her tiny paws moving in circles around him and her insistent words. He blinked his eyes open when she pawed at his nose, her request bringing a small grin to his lips. How could he refuse a request like that? "Okay, okay," he replied with a chuckle, pulling himself back to his paws. He let her lead the way out of the den, pausing for a second to stretch and shake out his fur before they began their walk through the mangroves.

He glanced down at Heather almost expectantly as they walked. She was a never ending fountain of questions and he was sure this early morning walk would be no exception. He never wanted to discourage her from asking questions. As long as she was asking questions it meant that she was learning and he wanted to teach her everything she wanted to know. Every time he looked at her pale gray, tan marked face and pale blue eyes he couldn't help but see a little of Svetlana there. For a while it made his heart hurt from how much he missed her, but now he could feel happy knowing he still had a part of her with him in his children. A small smile lingered on his lips while they walked, his mismatched ears twitching slightly as he listened to the birds in the trees above them singing their early morning songs.

"DOTHETALK"

It was no lie that she had started to notice the absence of her mother. Though, in her mind - it didn't bother her. She assumed her mother had gone on a grand adventure and she and her siblings just couldn't go along. As she pranced next to him, she let her paws dangle forward as she walked. A skip in her step anyone could see as she had a smile on her face. Looking up towards the sky. "Why aren't the stars out during the day daddy?" she asked. Noticing how blue the sky was, then at night it got dark and white specks covered the area called stars. "Is it because they don't like the daylight?" Heather's head tilted to one side. To be afraid of something, what was it to be afraid? Heather flicked her ears for a moment, it wasn't something she had felt or understood just yet. Her little tail wagging behind her as they walked. It felt nice to be by her fathers side. "Talk" "You" Think

Just being near his daughter left a smile on his lips. He wished he could keep her like this forever, so sweet, small, innocent, and light hearted. Just watching her hop along beside him brightened his whole day. One of her many questions was finally posed to him and he'd lift his gaze skyward as he pondered how to explain his answer. He had to chuckle at the idea that the stars ran away from the sun during the day though. It was the kind of idea that only a pup would come up with. "Not quite, my imaginative girl. The stars never really go away. They're always there, you just can't see them because the sun is sooooo bright." He brought his gaze back down to look at her again as he spoke, a small smile forever lingering on his lips. This was absolutely worth losing sleep over. "The sun is between us and the rest of the stars so when it rises it blocks their light out. The moon isn't as bright so the sky gets dark when the sun goes down and the moon comes out. That way we can see all the stars." He knew he should be making his children focus on learning how to hunt and fight and other things like that, but he just couldn't bring himself to disrupt their massive creativity. At least not yet. They could just be pups for a while longer.

"DOTHETALK"