A voice was carried by a bitter gust of wind, freezing his nose and tickling his ears. Llewellyn broke into a sprint, eyes wide and smile hopeful...only for it to fall when he found himself leering up at a man and not his Ma.

The disappointment scrawls across his expression, curls tight in his gut as he stumbled a few steps back, the blonde hair along his spine rising with unease. The wise words of his Ma drift through his mind; do not trust strangers, Llew.

And even though the man looks nice enough, the fear instilled still lingered. He looked up at the stranger ashamedly, his lips pursed and tail curved against his inner thigh.

H-Hi. Have you seen my Ma? He croaked. She looks like me b—but with dark eyes.

That flicker of hope is back, glimmering in his pallid eyes, as he waited on a bated breath.