Vater was gone.

That was what máthair said. He was going to heal! Selkie didn't like it. If he would just come upstairs, Selkie could fix him! He was very good at licking. That was what máthair did when he got out of the nest too fast that one time and scraped his paw and cried and cried. Máthair had come and pulled something pointy out of his pawpad and licked and it had been all better.

But she kept closing them in the room, and got sad when they got out and down the stairs, and she had been really sad the one time when Selkie had crept up to the dark stairs and cried for vater until she had picked him up and taken him away. And she wouldn't even stay, so Selkie was alone and sad and cold.

Tonight, when máthair left, it was bráthair who squirmed out of their little pile. Selkie blinked awake and watched him with eyes open wide and round. He had figured out how to get out of room, but máthair was getting better at closing it so he couldn't escape. Bráthair did not seem so bothered, and wrenched it open to scurry out into the dark hall.

Was he going to find vater? All by himself? Not fair. Selkie leapt after him, out into the hall, and then bounced down each stair, tail whipping wildly. They had once been so scary! Now it was easy to get down them.
Someday he would be as big as vater and then it would be even easier!

On the floor, Selkie caught sight of Wendi, scrambling up some broken wood by the wall to stare outside the window. Ears perked, Selkie crept after him, doing his very best to be quiet- and as soon as he was close enough, made an eager pounce for bráthair's hanging tail.

The siblings were always getting into something. It felt like there was no reprieve from their chaos and constant rule-breaking, not that mathair seemed to mind much. If anything, she almost encouraged it.

But she hadn’t been herself lately.

The sadness that clung to her was suffocating, and it filled the little soldier with quiet worry. Not to mention vater was missing. His large form had been gone for so long, his steady presence, his warmth. The last time Honor had checked, he had been down in the dark place. He never came to visit them, yet mathair always smelled like him.

Him… and something else.

Something that made Honor’s stomach twist, nausea curling deep in her gut. It was wrong. A bad omen. Even her young mind could piece that much together, though she didn’t understand why.

It was the scratching that woke her.

The dull drag of claws against wood.

Lifting her head from the tangled mass of siblings, she spotted movement near the door. She watched in silence as the dark figure pried its way out of the room. Moments later, Selkie wriggled free and bolted after Wendi.

Honor hesitated only a beat before pulling herself from the warm pile and following.

By the time she squeezed through the doorway, Wendigo and Selkie were already halfway down the stairs. Pausing at the top, she peered down as they scooted their way toward freedom.

Now, any logical pup would have followed mathair’s example.

Honor, however, seemed to lack that particular instinct.

Instead of scooting, she simply stepped forward, and promptly tumbled head over tail down the entire flight of stairs.

Thankfully, puppies were durable. Aside from a few bruises, she escaped relatively unharmed. Even more impressively, she managed to stay quiet through the ordeal, refusing to cry out.

For a moment, she lay there dazed.

Then she pushed herself upright, casting her brothers a thoroughly judgmental look.

What exactly was standing on a box supposed to accomplish? And was Selkie… playing? At a time like this?

Vater was gone. Mathair was gone.

Shouldn’t they be helping?

Ignoring whatever they were doing by the window, Honor marched to the front door and began clawing at it with determined focus.

If her brother could get the damn thing open, so could she.

Selkie's little jaws clasped tight on Wendi's tail, and then released to send him tumbling to the floor as brathair spun and snapped at him.

Then he just leapt down and walked away, leaving Selkie there on his back. That wasn't supposed to happen! He sprawled like a turtle trapped on its shell and tilted his head back enough to see Honor marching straight past towards the door.

Of course! They were going to adventure! Without Kobold, which was sad, but Selkie would have a story to make him very jealous. Because now both she and Wendi were clawing at the front door, and front door meant they could get outside. And if they were outside, Selkie could just go find vater!

He wouldn't have to cry at the top of the stairs, and màthair wouldn't be so sad all the time, and vater would be back to play and look at his treasures! Selkie rolled himself over and went to join everyone clawing at the door with gusto.

When it creaked open he did his very best to be the first one out. But Wendi was not big enough for him to sneak through his legs, so instead he tried to duck and faceplanted in very cold snow with a startled yelp while máthair looked down at all of them.

But! They were being allowed outside! So Selkie didn't scream, and squirmed on his belly until he could skitter out on careful paws, looking around wide-eyed. It was very dark, so dark he could barely see, and wind howled cold and stinging in his face and made him squint his eyes. He was never going to find vater like this, and looked wet-eyed at máthair in plaintive question.

Annoyed that her brothers had taken over her job, she aimed angry nips at them, trying to pinch skin wherever she could land them. It was really fucking rude to bowl her over when opening the door had been her idea. All they had wanted to do was stare!

Fuming silently, she let them slip out of the Howff first. What was the point in trying to compete? It wasn’t like anyone really noticed her anyway.

Stepping out into the cold winter night, she watched as her small breaths curled into soft mist. It was much colder out here. She didn’t like it, but she would be damned if she got left behind.

When Selkie face-planted into the snow, she scrunched her face at him in annoyance before carefully stepping over him.

The snow itself was intimidating for the little mite. It never seemed to stop, and even with mathair’s constant pacing, the paths were still deep.

Instead of heading toward the safety and warmth of their mathair, Honor deliberately turned the other way and began to march off. Not that she made much progress, but the little soldier liked to think highly of herself and her abilities.

Let them goof off.

She would find Vater.

Her tail arched high over her back as she moved, golden gaze sweeping the darkness that seemed ready to swallow her whole.