The boy hurried behind the older agouti, his brows narrowed in determination. They were almost there—he could feel it. A smile tugged at his lips as they crossed the gully between the slop and the line of viridian trees. The blue pines. The ones he had promised. His smile widened at the realization. Tikhon had kept his promise. He nearly squealed with excitement, but he remained composed, only his wide smile giving away how he was feeling on the inside.
We’re here.
Coming up at the agouti’s side the little Leigh stepped past the older male, his head falling to the side as he drank in the sight before him. The trees before him were not quite green, but they weren’t quite blue either. Closer to denim, maybe, but the colour… he couldn’t find a name for it. But he did not mind. It didn’t make it any less spectacular. The boy turned to his companion, the smile still pressed to his dark lips as his tail wagged gently behind him. “Thank you for bringing me here,” he said, finally, in a small voice. This was a place that he would keep tucked in the corners of his mind—where he kept his favourites.