ORIGIN

Chitin wonders how big the caves are. When they were just a little younger, like, just left their chrysalis younger, Momma's garden seemed big enough on its own. There were mushrooms and plants and other fungi and the pool of stagnant water and more mushrooms... it felt like an endless paradise.

And then they finally started wandering out for the first time, and wow, was Canis big. They wandered around it a lot, careful not to stray too far from Mom and the rest of their family, because they were curious but they didn't want to leave their siblings alone, they'd miss them! But... just. It's a lot. And they know that's not even all of the caves; they've only heard names so far, but there's Orion and Gemini and Polaris and they want to see it all, some day.

But today, they're a little bit lonely because they spent all of yesterday staring at some cool mushrooms and watching bugs wander around on the stone floor, and they wanna spend some time with their siblings. Bayo's scent is close—they know their brother must be around here somewhere.

"Bayo!" they call out, hooves clicking in a trot as they glance around, looking for their sibling. "Bayo!"

Oh! Bayo! There he is—they were wondering where he went!

The calm wonder usually held by Chitin rapidly turns into excitement, their own tail wagging as Bayo charges towards them. With all the excitement of a puppy, they bump their head back into Bayo's, body filled with eager energy. "Bayo! Hi! Missed you too!"

They drop into a playbow and leap away just as quickly, trotting in a one-two rhythm to burn off some energy. They did miss him, they missed him a lot even though they definitely saw each other just recently, because Chitin can never see their siblings enough and they love him!

"Okay, okay," they say to themselves after a few moments, initial excited energy burned off enough for them to sit back down in the dirt; albeit, with a restless energy around them, tail still wagging as fast as it can go.

"I was looking for you!" they tell Bayo. "I missed you a lot because I didn't see you all yesterday. Do you wanna play?"

Because they love their sibling's constant energy and they love playing with him and they want to play—uh... something! Hm...

Their good eye narrows in thought, just to snap right back open as they turn their attention back to Bayo. "We can play hide and seek!"

They've never done that before, but they'd like to try!

Ooh—Chitin likes hiding! Hiding is the best way to find cool little nooks and crannies that they'd usually overlook in favor of more obvious things; one time, they found a bug in their hidey-hole!

But now's no time for reminiscing on things like cool bugs and stuff; now is the time to hide.

As Bayo begins to count, Chitin gives him a quick lick while he's not allowed to open his eyes and bounds off, searching for a good hiding spot among the bones. Maybe they can pretend to be a bone? Hm...

There! They spot a half-collapsed bone house, its wall caved outwards, the once-rounded roof now slanting in on itself as the bones are too unsteady to hold its own weight. There are cracks on some of the bones, chipped by some unknown strike of claws or bite of teeth, and if they were a little more focused on their own curiosity, maybe they would have wondered what caused it.

As it stands: they glance around one more time and then dart inside, wiggling themselves underneath the bone pile with a none-too-subtle clatter-clatter-clatter. They're not really built for something like stealth, especially considering how loud their hooves are on the stone floor, but hopefully their hiding spot is good enough to cover that!

Chitin has to stifle a giggle of their own as Bayo's voice comes echoing towards their hiding spot. Their tail would be wagging madly if it wasn't wedged between two bones; their hooves come forward in front of their face to stifle any sounds they might make, eyes wide in anticipation as they watch for their sibling between the crack of a bone.

Bayo's pawsteps come closer. Chitin tenses, holding their breath; is this it? Have they been... found?

Despite their best efforts to keep as still and as quiet as possible, their scent gives them away; Bayo's nose pokes into the hut, quickly followed by the rest of him, and Chitin gasps alongside their brother as his eyes lock firmly onto him.

Dang it.

Their loss doesn't drag them down one bit, however; they're still all smiles and wagging tail as they bounce up from the bone pile, a few stray bones rolling off of their back and onto the floor as they do so. "You found me!" they exclaim, delighted.

A beat passes while they bounce in place, giggling, before they continue. "Okay, it's my turn to count. Go hide!"

Seized with the kind of pure delight that can only come from simple childishness, Chitin's tail continues to wag at a breakneck pace as their brother licks them all over, canines peeking from their mouth just slightly in a smile as they receive his love without a care in the world. This is happiness, plain and simple. Nothing to worry about, nothing to fear; just them and their brother and a cave all their own.

They drop to the ground with a soft thump as soon as Bayo runs off, already counting even as they close their eyes and cover them with their hooves—"One! Two!"

Their voice echoes loudly into the cave, bouncing off the stone as they continue, numbers climbing ever higher.

"...twenty-nine! Thirty! Here I come!"

And with that exclamation, they're off, leaping to their feet and emerging from the bone hut that was their previous hiding spot, looking around eagerly in search of their brother. Wide eyes search and scan and—there! The hint of brown fur against the stone! They don't even have to put their nose to the ground to recognize it; that's their brother's tail, right there!

They bound forward, eager as always. "Bayo! I see you!"

And the wagging tail of their brother resolves itself into something bigger; they can hear him giggling as they get closer, and they can't help but laugh alongside him as they bound around the rock. "There you are!" they tell him, bumping him with their nose, joy still written all over their face.

Just as they're about to suggest another round... a thought occurs to them. An important thought.

"Ooh, Bayo, I just had an idea!" they tell him, sitting down in front of him, hide and seek forgotten in favor of this much more crucial thing. "So, yesterday, I saw some cool mushrooms around here earlier and I was looking at them a lot and I'm thinking about it now and—"

They take a deep breath, caught up in their excitement. "What if we found a bunch of cool things and gathered them up and gave them to Mama? As a gift!"