[Embsay]

OOC: Soooo late getting to this. The naturist naturalist arrives!

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Everyone seemed so preoccupied; the adults with the logistics and all the anxiety that moving a great number of children over any distance entailed and the puppies with their own politics. Politics was not the word Embsay would have chosen, squabbles, was how he would have wrongly described it in blissful ignorance of the depths of darkness that lurked around him in siblings and stranger alike. Embsay had a smile for anyone, whether it was returned or not, but even he could sense where he was not welcome and tended to stick closer to his own family, usually trailing doggedly behind his mother, determined to set a good example and cause her at least one less worry. Every time she turned around he would have been there, long tail wagging, if somewhat tiredly. The perfectly behaved and brave little shadow.

On arrival he sat himself down, feeling the relief in his legs. Walking and walking and walking! He had started to think they were just going round in circles and would never reach Inaria. He listened to his mother’s instructions, head nodding along to her words even as his eyes wandered off to the trees and his awe drowned out most of what was being said. PURPLE! So much purple in every direction, he had to look down the check that the grass was actually still green and was disappointed to find that it was. A fallen flower rested softly on the grass at his feet and he delicately turned it over, marvelling its fluted shape and painterly markings; it wasn’t just purple, it faded in from palest blue, the throat was flecked with crimson and dusky yellow stains of pollen. It was a marvel to him.

Serrate’s speech had actually been over for a while before he realised it and looked up from his botanical study, blinking as if he was suddenly coming to from a dream… And most of the other puppies were already gone. The last of them were disappearing into the shrubbery as he looked around confusedly. One brown tail tip that was probably - but not certainly or he would have dashed after it - Twitch’s snaked out of sight and he stared after it wistfully.  Who was he going to catch bugs with now? He’d have to do it alone… All alone? In a strange place full of strangers? You know what they say about strangers. He looked around the trees and swallowed, actually come to think of it all these purple trees were beautiful but really a bit well… Daunting, too.

“They left me behind.” He said to no one in particular as he pulled himself to his tired feet. Purple was exciting and frightening, but not enough so to make his legs forget how they got here. He took a few steps forward, looking about, deciding where to go and what to do, at the same time as trying to get up the nerve to go off, he swallowed again, alone. “They probably have some really interesting bugs here...” He added, louder, clearly soliciting a response. “Really interesting. You’d like to see them I- Er… Bet?” He trailed off, still talking to no one and yet everyone collectively.

The little shadow wasn’t sure he was all that brave after all.