It was great to be home. The wedding in Dawnbreak had been beautiful of course, but there was still nothing quite so beautiful as the sight of your own bed, and Valeska had it fully in her mind to enjoy it upon their return.

Normally she rose with the sun, but today she had chosen to sleep in.

If Pennyroyal had been any further away or approached the packlands from any other direction, she would have completely missed his call, and in wake of the silence he probably would have left dejected to live out the rest of his life in permanent exile.

As it stood, she was enjoying a dream about caribou and boar-meat, and as her short legs kicked in her sleep she could swear someone was calling her name. Valeska frowned. Since when did dinner talk back? Yet the voice was persistent, and as the taste of caribou grew ever more distant with each chew, the little wolf was finally pulled out from her dream as she lifted her head to blink in the warm sunlight filtering through the den.

Now who on earth? She hadn't heard that voice in a while - her memory sifted through a sea of faces.

Wait a minute.

Valeska nearly slammed her head into the ceiling as she shot up, stumbling to her paws and emerging from the den a disheveled wreck. She didn't even think about the passage of time; how much greyer she was, how... tailless... she had become, how her joints weren't quite as limber as they once were. It had happened so quickly.

Penny? she called out, spotting his bright fur nearby. Valeska trotted faster. Penny!

And - there was a small Penny! And more!

It is so good to see you again! Valeska crowed, wagging her nub as ferociously as she could. She still missed her magnificent silver banner. How have you been? Who are your friends? Are they guests?