Di could not wait for the warmer weather to return. She remembered before the cold, following her mother out into the night and watching the fireflies with a sense of wonder she hadn't genuinely experienced in a while. She'd pestered Mom about winter and fall and spring and summer and what that meant, but she hadn't imagined it would be so cold. She hadn't imagined they wouldn't have their dad, either, or that all of her littermates would suddenly vanish.

At least that scare with the snowdrift had finally gotten her to spend more time outside the den. She'd rather be digging her way in than trying to get out. And today was a nice morning. Maybe it meant warmer weather was finally on the way? The sky was clear and bright already, even if the air was still cold and biting. Di hoped the day would warm as it wore on.

Di hadn't really given much thought to her cousins since they'd arrived, and then some of them left again. She knew their names, knew who they were, but didn't know much else. Trade one litter of pups for another, she supposed, and not much really changed except how sad she was. Even that was slowly getting better, though, especially when she spent time in the sunshine.

Adora's voice rang out and Di turned to see her cousin approaching with a joyful tail wag. Di offered a small smile, the best she could manage, and thought about declining the offer when she paused. Outside. She'd been wanting to rebuild her confidence, right? And exploring didn't mean leaving the territory. Adora was new here; everything was exploring to her. And exploring with someone else was safer - and more fun - than exploring alone.

"Okay," she said, giving a slow tail wag in return. She hadn't heard the birds but was happy to indulge her cousin anyway.

Di had to admit her cousin's energy was infectious, if only a little. She walked alongside her, smiling quietly at the spring in Adora's step as she went on about birds. Diantha nodded along, thinking about birds and how long it would take to learn all of their names. "Birds are cool," she said, matching Adora's volume as she thought back to the time she and Feyre had met Galen, barking at the magpies in the trees.

Just then a strange call met her ears and she paused, listening. "Is that what you heard?" she whispered. After giving her adventuring companion a brief glance Di crawled forward, eyes locked onto the treetops. She pulled up short when she saw several hulking shapes in the barren branches, staring down at them with their wings extended. Sunlight streamed through their feathers, casting odd shadows on the ground.

"What... are those."

Di stood still, staring up at the birds that in turned stared down at them. Her cousin's answer distracted the girl enough for her to shoot an annoyed but amused glance at Adora. "Yes, of course they're birds," she snorted, a small laugh to break the tension. Apparently it worked for the birds, too, because when Di looked back up one was lightly shaking its wings and another had stretched out its neck and was shaking its head.

"They don't seem very interested in us," Di noted, relaxing slightly. She didn't like the look of those talons or hooked beaks. And the bald heads were unnerving, not to mention their immense size. "They're kinda ugly."

Laughing with her cousin felt good. Really good. It didn't erase the sorrow she felt, the holes in the den where her siblings usually slept. But it helped. She laughed again at Adora's giggled admonishment. "They are," she said, but she did turn her face back up to the birds. "Sorry for calling you ugly!" she shouted, her fear gone. How could she be afraid when Adora was laughing away with her?

Di considered the birds as they in turn considered her, their attention drawn by her bark. One of them shifted, but none folded their wings. "I think they're enjoying the sun," Di said.