Brother joined, hesitant, yet present. The one who stared now stood beside them. Bo let out a delighted sound deep in his throat before bounding forward to mimic Locke, nudging Taijo’s other shoulder. The time was nigh. Their time had come.

Flashing his brothers a confident grin, Bo darted off in a random direction away from the den. Mother will have to catch them first! The thought filled him with glee, and he clumsily scrambled along the mountainside.

But the mountain was dull. Rocks, rocks, and more rocks. Bo did not like it. He wanted more, something exciting, something worth the chase! With a dramatic huff, he trudged on, his tail flicking in frustration. The blood moon drenched the landscape in crimson, and for a moment, the color made his heart soar. This hue, this wild red, belonged here. He could feel it in his very bones.

Then, something caught his eye. Off to the side, a hole.

Bo’s golden gaze lit up. Without hesitation, he bolted toward it. It was Bo-sized. It was Locke-sized. It was Taijo-sized. Perfect.

Without so much as a glance back at his brothers, he squeezed into the dark hole, nose twitching, eyes darting in the dim light. A tunnel! Now this was an adventure worthy of their moon.

He followed where it led, this way and that, twisting and turning, rising and falling. It seemed endless until, at last, the tunnel opened into a wide chamber. A shaft in the ceiling spilled the blood moon’s light onto the stone below, liquid red like flowing water.

Bo stepped into the center of the chamber, bathed in crimson, before turning to see the reactions of his brothers.