Slower and slower became the state of Katna.

Some days she bobbed above the surface of this slowness, most days she swam below it. Today was the later. Which meant she was close to the collection of dens that housed the bodies of Backwater. Perhaps someone had left her here when they went off to attend other duties, perhaps she had settled herself here by mindless choice.

A sunspot. Warm despite the chilled breeze in the air. A comfort to behold for such achy joints.

In the back of her throat built a low hum. A melody lost to time from her young days. Her tail mindlessly tapped against the earth, some outward sign of the contentment she felt in these moments.

A soft putter of oversized paws followed by a name and question. A question that she did not entirely register, as was tradition.

"Hmm?" She hummed as one eye cracked open lazily. She very much resembled an old hound on a porch. Melted into the ground in her weary state and yet just as happy to see whoever it was who had caught her at a good moment.

"Come," She beckoned for him to find a spot either at her paws or her side. Somehow it always seemed easier with children. A connection to her early days of motherhood. To nurture something again. "Did you escape again?"

Somewhere in between she could not decipher if this was one of her own or another. The newer faces seemed to the hardest to commit to a failing memory.

Her aged features crinkled with amusement at the goofy declaration.

Children. Such rowdy and incontrollable things. Bound to cause trouble at every turn.

How long had it taken for her to learn that? Far too long. Still she struggled with it as the young child settled at her paws, big puppy peach eyes stared at her.

"What did you do now?" The words might have seemed harsh if not for the lull in her dull voice. Far more intrigued in shutting her eyes as she listened to him than trying to dole out any sort of discipline.

That was what Aunt Mo' was for.