395Out of Character text
Even with most of the family bustling around getting things ready for the night the was a tense feeling filling the air, the combined unhappiness of the family painfully obvious even without anybody talking. Very few of the group, including even the adults that had MADE the decision, seemed happy to be leaving Ichika no Ho-en, making Keldava wonder why they had wanted to leave in the first place.
Out of the lot Keldava was probably the least upset. While she was somewhat sad at the thought of leaving her home her love of adventure had come through; sheer excitement of leaving Ichikan territory and going on a trip days long blunting the sorrow at leaving. The loss of her beloved mountains stung somewhat but as she had walked Keldava had lost even that pain, reasoning that the added distance would just make climbing to the top of them all the sweeter when she finally did it and (incorrectly) assuming that there would be nothing to stop her making the climb when she was older.
A more pressing concern was Keldava's recent encounter with a bobcat, an encounter that had left her missing a sizeable chunk of her left ear. Even with that though the mental effects were limited; Keldava was young enough for her mind to be flexible and just plain didn’t scare easily, especially when around Mahnaya. The wound would mark but Keldava hadn’t seen it yet and would simply think it looked cool when she eventually did, her main concern about the wound was that it itched. A lot.
With little to do and her siblings either sulking or fussing around their parents Keldava had little to do. She had been trying to cheer up her Talnala but her efforts had been largely ineffective and she had retreated, frustrated both at her failure and the continued sadness of her family.
Keldava had settled a few metres uphill from the others beneath a towering pine tree. The pine needles littering the floor made a soft bed and Keldava was putting it to use, curled up in a ball and alternating between cleaning herself and scratching at her tightly bandaged ear with her hind leg. The cut still stung and her efforts had produced dots of red where it had reopened but these bothered Keldava little, the puppy more bothered about that damn itching.
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