Winter had settled in Auster and it was a wet one, sheets of rain fell from the sky, hard enough for it to slip through the bamboos canopy. Thick water droplets bounced off the bamboo leaf litter, swelling the few shallow streams that meandered through the territory. Hattori was not overly concerned about the prospect of flooding, they were close enough to the sea that the water tended to roll out that way regardless, but if push came to shove they could dig out the waterways. He had options, nothing was pressing just yet.

He paused, his ears flicking as he caught the sound of rustling thicket. Clumsy paws trying and failing to be quiet. His lips pressed thin, curving just so at the corners in a loosely amused frown.

If a shape could be used to describe the white, red and black child it would be round. The ball of puppy fluff and still pink skin accents were barely broken by too large paws and ears that were starting to grown faster than the rest of her. Now that they had some freedom, it didn't seem lack of movement had ever been her problem. This was just the way she was as she trundled along through the bamboo, still learning the markings that led the way home.

Her tiny head tipped upwards, pink nose scenting the air. At least the shade in the maze didn't make her skin or eyes hurt, but what was that? It smelled so familiar... Daddy! Was he on just the other side of this wall?

Sure, she could have gone around, probably would have been better for her truth be told, but Mochi was still a baby and dove into the long trunks of bamboo, aggressively and effectively trying to swim her way through the undergrowth. Her head emerged first, pink oversized puppy eyes blinking, a blank expression on her face as she spotted her target. She tried to lunge forward but suddenly stopped, her plush hips caught between two towering bamboo trunks. Her wriggling set the whole stand to clunking like wind chimes, her indignant grumble and an expectant look thrown at her father as she sighed her annoyance. He was the reason she was in this mess, so what was he gonna do to fix it huh?

"speech"

Hattori exhaled as he went to help the girl, tsking in displeasure in her attempt to brute force her way through the bamboo. He would not admit that her line of thought was understandable, after all why go around when you can go through? But it was hardly the proper thing to do, least of all when he felt as though the bamboo deserved some degree of respect, for without it they and their secrets would be exposed. Using a paw, he reached back and hooked it under her rump, pulling Mochi free of her entanglement and dropping her none too gently. Not enough to hurt the growing girl, but even now he was not the sort to coddle his children.

"Did you get lost?" He asked, looking down at her with a judgemental, quirked white brow.

An indignant oof left her lips as she was dumped on the ground, her back slouched and rear limbs akimbo, front legs propping her up out of the mud that she hated so much. She took a moment to get her bearings before looking at her father accusatorily. Just who did he think she was?

"No." she responded shortly, lifting her chin and daring him to call her bluff. Despite her demure size, she had already mastered the skill of making others feel like she was looking down her nose at them, not that she realised she was doing it, truth be told. Lifting her rump out of the mud with a huff of annoyance she clicked her tongue and sighed her annoyance out her nose. "When is the rain going to stop? Is the ground always muddy dad?"

"speech"

Hattori shot his daughter a sharp look, she was young so her lack of manners probably ought to be excused, but the girl carried a little more sass then he could appreciate. This was something he would speak to Kiriko about later, for now he just exhaled through his nose. I supposed to her it seemed as though the world was forever dripping wet, the leaf litter damp and muddy beneath paw.

"It is winter, it rains more during this season. Come spring it will be drier and warmer." He explained, moving his paw to gently push her into standing more upright, shoulders not so hunched. "What else can you smell, aside from the rain and mud?" He asked, thinking it a good point to start honing her hunting skills. It would be difficult for her young nose to parse through all the smells, but it was important that she try all the same.

Her father's sharp look noted, and pointedly ignored as her eyes slid over his face and focused somewhere over his shoulder. If she didn't acknowledged it, it never happened. The curl of a lip over a tooth more than spoke the girl's thoughts on winter sticking around, but her nostrils flared as she followed her father's instruction. She was already learning which buttons she could lean on without pushing them all the way in, and which ones were best left alone.

She couldn't stop her brows from pinching as she tried to pick apart the scents that surrounded them. Mud, mud, mud, rain and mud, and... something else. Not pleasant, sharp and warm and rodenty. The girl gagged, "Rats.". She finally answered, pulling another face, something... airier... dustier. "And birds?"

"speech"

Rats and birds, the girl wasn't wrong. Larger prey animals often didn't stay within the bamboo long once they realised it was occupied, but there were plenty of smaller creatures about, hiding between the bamboo walls, living in the long, willowy grass. Something, somewhere was always rustling within the bamboo, the sound was comforting to Hattori at this point, as natural to his ears as his own breathing.

"Mm,"Hattori confirmed, his gaze flitting down to her once more. She looked very much like her Mother, smart and clever in her testing of boundaries, toed the line better than even most adults he knew."Listen carefully, can you hear any nearby?"