Halting at the mouth of her mother’s den, the girl paused only long enough to ascertain that everyone inside was asleep. She entered slowly, letting her scent (and the scent of the roses she brought along) imbue the air gradually so as not to alert her sleeping mother. As much as she would like to talk to Kisla, if her mother was awake then the pups would be awake, and Karina was tired of having to talk about and feign enthusiasm over the wiggling little lard balls. So what if Lekalta sneezed, it’s not cute-- it’s just dusty in there! And who cares if the other one was learning to scoot across the floor of the den?  That just made the pups harder to look after!

The eldest princess creeped forward and carefully placed her three Nootka Roses down on the dirt floor so she would have use of her mouth. She began cleaning up the mess that her charming sisters left behind, knowing that Kisla would appreciate finding her den clean upon waking. She left the roses to brighten up the smell and feel of the dank little den, but also as her calling card so her mother would know she had visited. Also, by Kisla’s maw she placed a single, gnarled ginger root for her to find when she awoke. Karina knew firsthand that cleaning up after the puppies could cause a bit of a stomach ache, and chewing ginger helped immensely.

Without a backward glance Karina stole away from the den, her mind set on making a beeline for Kjors’  place. Her and Kjors’ place, she mentally corrected herself. Kjors kept his den—their den-- spotless, making it an ideal place to recover after she visited the birthing den. She stopped only to nose around for the ginger root she had brought along for herself, recovering it from where she left it hiding in a patch of grass by the mouth of the den. Just as she went to leave, she heard an odd shuffling noise behind her, and she realized with a jolt that she had woken someone. She whirled around, probably looking very comical with her wide, panicked eyes and the ginger root poking askew from her maw.