This Little Light of Mine

As

long as his family had grown from one birthing season to the next, it was important for Cian to spend time with each of his children individually. He wanted to get to know each of them on a personal level, to see how each was growing and how their little personalities were blossoming. Besides, his own sire had never bothered to get to know Cian or his brothers. The three were only ever addressed as a group, and almost never outside of the brutal training they had endured. Cian had decided, even before his first litter was born, that he would be the opposite of his own father in every way.


Tonight was one of those evenings, a time to make memories with his littlest daughters. Only tonight, he was to spend with his not-so little youngest daughter, the one who most appeared like her father. Now, summer was only weeks away, and the pups were old enough to venture further and further from their den.


Despite the blazing heat of the season, Cian had always loved the summertime. He led the way away from Mama and the rest of the Eithne clan, into the mysterious forest. ”There are lots of magical things in this forest, Soraya. Depending on the season, you can see different things,” he explained, beaming from ear to ear. He loved to see the looks on his offsprings’ faces when they experienced something brand new. It was one of the many benefits of fatherhood. "It's just a little bit further!"



@Soraya

art and code by Yahtzee-Penguiduck

She wasn't really sure where they were going or why they were doing it - but when your father asks something of you - you do it. He had a much larger stride than she did, but she was sure when she got older, she would be the same. But for now, her little paws were working in overtime. She was waiting for his paw prints to show in the grass and dirt, where she would try and pounce into them. It was a lost cause, even as he was moving faster it had seemed. She finally stopped and just tried to keep pace with him, not worrying about if she were falling behind or not stepping as he was. "I can't wait to see what they are!" She said aloud, but quickly quieted her voice. "Do others live here too?"

@Cian

table ; bunny

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eeper into the forest the pair wandered, with Cian only a step or two ahead of Soraya, who seemed to have some trouble keeping up with her father’s long stride. "i can't wait to see what they are!" The brute smile at the sound of Raya’s voice. It was amazing to see how quickly the girls learned, and how swiftly they had changed from helpless newborns to adventuresome, curious little wolves who could form entire sentences, and have their own thoughts and ideas. Cian cherished these times.


Young Soraya inquired, "do others live here too?" Cian nodded, his pace slowing just a little as the night grew darker around them. ”Why, yes. I believe other wolves call the Fae Forest home, but many of them are too..” He considered his words carefully. ”They don’t want to live here because they don’t understand the magic of these woods.” In truth, it was because lots of them were fearful of the Fae. But the Eithne clan was not among them.

When they reached a clearing with tall grass, Cian paused. ”Here we are,” he said in a sing-songy voice, being his usual dad self as he stared into the darkness. At first, there was just a flicker of light here and there, easy to miss if someone was looking the wrong direction, and even easier to dismiss as a figment of imagination.


But as the fire-painted wolf and his daughter stood silently, more and more of these tiny lights began to appear. They moved as if carried by the wind, but were only alight for a second before seeming to vanish again into the darkness. ”They’re called fireflies. But in the Highlands, they– or, we – call them lightning bugs.” Cian looked down to see if the sight impressed his youngest pup as much as it enchanted him.



@Soraya

art and code by Yahtzee-Penguiduck

He had answered her, saying that others did live here and even that some were afraid to do it. That was odd. How could you be afraid of the forest? Were they afraid of the bugs or spiders? Soraya was fascinated with them, as they were very different than she was. They had more legs, more other things, and no fur. It was weird and they moved weird on top of it. As they came to a stop, she was very unsure of why they were here. But her father would not lead her wrong. He always wanted to teach her the best things possible. She took a moment to give whatever this was a chance. She stared into the darkness and then like magic, little lights flickered in the sky before them. Soraya's eyes grew wide as she gazed up to them, their light reflecting on her face.

She was speechless for the first time in a long time. But just as magically as they appeared, they were gone. She wished they would come back. "Lightning bugs... I like that. But why would someone call them fireflies?" She turned her head to look at her father. "Where do they come from? Will they be back? Do they only come out at night? What do they eat?" She had lots of questions, and more could come pouring out at any moment.

@Cian

table ; bunny

T

he sudden barrage of questions caused Cian to laugh, and his eyes turned away from the scene before them, glancing down at his look-alike daughter. ”I suppose it’s confusing to understand the fire part of that name if you’ve never seen a fire before, huh little bug?” The last time he had seen the dancing flames had been years before, and he had found Clover there – one of many unintentional meetings that had led up to this exact moment, for without the randomness of fate, he never would have met her. He wouldn’t have left the army behind for her, he wouldn’t have his pups.

”They come from – well, from what I understand, they live under the ground all year long until summer. This is the only season they come out. And yes, you can only find them at night!” His eyes turned upward toward the forest again, where little points of light continued to appear and vanish. ”They’re little bugs that shine like that because that way, they can see one another. That little flash of light helps them to find their family.”

He added with another laugh as he leaned closer to nuzzle his daughter’s cheek gently. ”And I have no idea what they eat!” As he spoke, one of the tiny points of light drifted closer to the lupine pair. ”Alright Raya, this is the fun part. You have to see if you can catch a lightning bug on your paw.” He extended an enormous paw to demonstrate.


@Soraya

art and code by Yahtzee-Penguiduck

He had a good explanation for things. Soraya listened intently as her father talked to her. These little bugs were very interesting. How could anything stay underground all year and then come out to the surface but only at night and in the summer, no less? It seemed like not the best time to her, but she couldn't reasonably argue with the bugs about their activities and just took her father's word for it. After all, why would he lie to her. It seemed she had given him too many questions, and yet, one was still unanswered. Maybe she should study them herself to see if there was something in particular that they ate? She would plop that thought into her mind for another time. Right now, she was focusing on what dad was saying. She was asked to try and catch one on her paw. Wouldn't they be afraid? Would they bite her? Watching her father, Soraya's eyes grew wide as she watched the little bugs flying around them, but the more still Cian's paw was, one finally landed on him.

Its behind flashed three times at the same beat. Soraya wondered if he was trying to call his family. Feeling the courage to do the same, she lifted her paw and took a deep breath. She feared that if she breathed on them, they would fly away. Soraya watched as they flew around her paw, still holding her breath. When one finally landed on her paw, she let out a soft gasp, and breathed again. "How do they know if they are family if they all look the same? Can they smell like us?" She had lots of questions, but only two would be whispered from her lips for now.

@Cian

table ; bunny

C

ian watched and waited in silence as the flickering insects moved slowly through the air around them. Before too much time passed, one of the little bugs decided that the wolf’s giant paw looked like a fine place to take a rest. It landed delicately, glowing in little sparks, three times total. Like his daughter, Cian wondered if the lightning bug was attempting to signal to his family. After a few lingering seconds, the firefly spread its little wings and departed from the extended paw, which returned to the earth below him as he looked to see if Soraya had been similarly successful.

When a lightning bug finally took a chance on the pup and landed on her little paw, Cian smiled even bigger (if such a thing was even possible). Her voice was a whisper as she asked a couple of questions that even Papa couldn’t answer. He responded in a whisper of his own: ”Hm. That’s a good question, Raya. I don’t know if lightning bugs can smell. Do you see a little nose there on your new friend?” Cian squinted his eyes as if trying to see better. The little bug was nothing extraordinary at first sight. When its little light wasn’t flickering, it looked much like any other beetle that one might find during the day. But as soon as there was that yellow-green glow, it was obvious how magical they truly were.

”Do you suppose that to them, us wolves look rather the same, as well? They must be able to see the tiniest differences that we can’t. Maybe they even flash a different color that’s just a little bit different from the rest, that just their families would recognize.” He acknowledged with a chuckle, before his inquisitive child had a chance to ask, ”Then again, I have no idea how big lightning bug families are. Maybe even bigger than our family.”



@Soraya

art and code by Yahtzee-Penguiduck

F

ascinated by the little bug sitting on her paw, she stared at it for as long as it would allow her. When asked, she tried to see if there were in fact a nose, but the details of the body were so blended together, and with the cover of night, the only detail that was easily known was the glowing of its butt. Soraya wanted to inspect it some more, but as her nose got closer, the bug flew away. "Ahh shoot," she whispered to herself. "Sorry daddy, I couldn't see if it had a nose or not." She summed it up to an unsolved mystery they may never know the truth of. "Ummm..." she said softly to the questions her father now gave her in retort. She supposed it was only fair that her father made her think of these hard to answer questions as well. She turned her eyes from the bugs and then to him. "Maybe... just maybe... we might look the same, but the coloration patterns of other wolves might be able to differentiate? I wonder if they could see color? We don't have flashing butts though, so they might also think we are just giant rocks, huh?"

But then when she said that, she started to think about textures. She did not feel like a rock, and neither did her father. "Well... maybe not a rock... Do you think they can feel texture? They must sit on flower petals and feel how soft those are, compared to the smooth feel of a rock or the bumps of a log?" So many more ideas came flooding the child's mind. "Daddy, what do you think it feels like to fly?" She knew it was a random question, but it was a good one to ask.

@Cian

code by Yahtzee-Penguiduck

”A

hh shoot." The lightning bug that had fascinated the pup was soon off, back to whatever it was that fireflies did when it was their time to literally shine. ”It’s alright, Raya. You’ll see lots of lightning bugs, ever summer for the rest of your life.” And in her father’s mind, naturally, there were many, many summers still awaiting Soraya. The girl pondered over how the bugs might perceive wolves, earning a proud smile and a soft chuckle. ”I guess wolves can look rather different from one another, can’t they? Well, unless it’s you and me,” he joked, leaning his head down to offer Soraya a gentle nuzzle.

Cian blinked as his youngest asked a question that came with no easy answer: What does it feel like to fly? The fiery-hued wolf peered down at his look-alike pup. Leave it to a youngster to ask the impossible questions no one else bothered to think of! ”I imagine it’s like – well, maybe like when we run really, really fast, and the wind rushes through our fur. But since wolves don’t have wings, I suppose we’ll never really know.” He eyed his daughter closely, quickly adding, ”Raya, please don’t try to find out.”

If it had been Daisy, perhaps, Cian would have been less concerned. But Soraya was an adventurous sort, and it didn’t take a lot of imagination to conjure up an image in his mind of Soraya doing something wild – like jumping from a tree to see if she could, indeed, jump. Or standing on a ledge, too close to the edge…

He cleared his throat in order to clear his mind from these frightful scenes. Then, an idea came, and his apprehension was swiftly replaced by a bright smile. ”But you know who might know what it’s like?” The words had barely been spoken before Cian whistled, using his tongue and the roof of his mouth to emit a loud trilling noise. Within moments, a dark shadow blotted out the stars overhead. Soon, the shadow descended, revealing a feathered friend: Owly, who was… well, an owl. Cian had befriended Owly nearly a year ago, and while the two were not close, the wolf knew that the nocturnal bird was never too far away. As the owl came to land in front of Soraya, enormous yellow eyes turned to the pup, and the owl asked in his own language: ’Whooo?’

The owl looked quite a bit bigger compared to the pup, who was the biggest of her litter, but it would surely not take long before his daughter outgrew the bird. ”Raya, do you remember Owly?”



@Soraya

art and code by Yahtzee-Penguiduck