The bear, rather dumbly, turned to stare toward Mother's den. The expected guidance hadn't come, and so he huffed uncertainly, shifting from foot to foot.

"What do I do?" he rumbled, slowly, at last. She had given many commands; but which of them were intended for him?

He could guard her, or-... or he could feed her--or he could spread her or find the Children, but... but he could not do these all at once. He let out something almost like a whimper in his confusion.

Surely with Zelk wandering off, and Azrael leaving to help Lamia, he should stay-?

That sounded right, but he was still unsure, and let out something not too far off a whimper as he waited for a response.

The bear blinked slowly as the feelings washed through him.

Good... he was a good son... A pleased huff escaped him. He shook himself, his thick ruff throwing mud, and lumbered back toward the den.

Reji was nearly forgotten already. Mother's warm soothing thoughts washed it all away. It washed everything away. The faint hunger in his belly... the worry of what this all meant. It didn't matter; not really. He was safe; he was where he belonged.

That faint, nagging feeling that something was not right... it remained that: faint. Distant.

Unimportant. Unimportant, in the face of all that was.

The bear began the slow work of scratching up leaves, sticks and mud, burying Orlaith's fungus-strewn chrysalis with slow, methodical movements, following Mother's constant guidance.

All was as it should be.