Four whelps gathered around an awkward pair of Xunari, who looked as though they'd rather be anywhere else. Boppler and Honovi had decided to bring up their concerns with the nearest colony, but had not expected to be greeted by a contingent of whelps. A mostly-white tsab, Lora, gazed in open awe at Boppler's large ears while a cerulean tark'ee, Sweetpea, attempted to pounce on Honovi's tailtip. Glow, a grey and blue tark'ee, hung back by Roam, one of the adults who had accompanied the group, along with Leemur, who had simply been curious at the approach of two natives. A final whelp, Sunlight, had positioned herself in front and taken it upon herself to interview the pair. "So, what did you hear, again?" she asked, her young face completely serious.

"A howling- not a creature we've heard before. We're concerned it's dangerous," Boppler explained, while Honovi yanked her tail out of Sweetpea's grasp for the third time.

"Maybe it's a flowering hound?" Lora piped up, tilting her head.

Leemur nodded, ready to back up the whelp, but Boppler shook his head before he could speak. "Honovi says they don't come this far north. And that they don't sound like what we've been hearing," he said.

Roam leaned over to murmur in Leemur's ear, "This is concerning, and we're only visitors here. We should speak to the rest of the colony."

Leemur sighed. "It really just sounds like flowering hounds," he replied, but began to gather up the whelps anyway. Glow was eager to leave behind the strangers, but Lora, Sweetpea, and Sunlight were less easily convinced. Roam picked Sweetpea up, forcing her to abandon her new toy, while Sunlight refused to move at first, staring up at the two natives.

"Thank you for voicing your concerns," she said, with all the gravitas a whelp could muster, and finally turned to leave. Lora gave a small laugh at the words.

"Yes, we appreciate you coming to speak to us. We'll let the rest of the Station know," Roam added. Boppler nodded gratefully, and Honovi murmured a quiet "thank you." With that, the group set off toward the stone spire that marked Wayward Station's position. The afternoon sunlight cast its long shadow over the ground, darkening the path through the grass they walked on. The ever-present wind churned up dust and made the grass stalks bend and wave.

Fortunately, it was not a long walk back. Yayaloc, the Station's researcher, came out to greet them as a mix of prefab and sod buildings rose up around the group. Leemur stepped forward to explain what the two natives had heard, while Roam stayed back, watching the whelps he had been asked to care for. Lora started a game of tag, which the rest took up enthusiastically. Glow quickly proved herself the fastest, with Sunlight, who had been tagged not long after the game began, struggling to keep up. "You're such a slowpoke!" Sweetpea called, and Sunlight turned to chase her instead.

Meanwhile, Leemur's report had concluded, and Yayaloc tilted his head. "We haven't heard anything about increased predation around here, so the unknown creatures are likely to be dangerous," he mused. "Perhaps you should check it out," he added, then turned to where the youngsters were still playing tag. "The whelps might enjoy an outing as well. A stakeout, with the six of you?"

Leemur's eyes gleamed at the prospect of finding a new creature. "I'm sure I could convince Roam to come with," he said. "And I'm sure the whelps won't need convincing at all!" Yayaloc nodded. It was settled.

--

Darkness soon washed over the prairie and the stakeout crew were in position, arranged on one of the taller hills for the best vantage point. Roam and Leemur sat at either end of the group, watchful, just in case something tried to sneak up on them. Just because the unknown animals weren't likely to be dangerous did not mean the known ones weren't.

The whelps whispered amongst themselves, coming up with ever wilder theories about what they might find. Suddenly, Sweetpea's voice rose above the rest: "It's not going to be some hundred-paw-long megasnake, bratsauce!"

"I'm not a bratsauce!" Lora snapped back, voice shrill. Both adults got to their feet and Glow hopped between the arguing whelps, but before anyone could get another word in a long, low howl rippled across the hills. Everyone fell silent.

Another howl answered, from their left this time. "That's….that's a flowering hound?" Glow asked in a quavering whisper. Roam shook his head. He lived in L'Hatzif, and he knew what flowering hounds sounded like. They did not sound like this. Sunlight, however, sat up straight and pointed. Two tall, lanky, four-legged creatures loped across the grass below them. One was pure white, nearly glowing under the light of the three moons, while the other had darker patches and far shorter fur.

Everyone stared at the doglike creatures. Sunlight recognized them, and she explained, "Those are tokotas. They're like terran dogs, but way bigger. Offworlders bring them here sometimes." Her expression saddened. "These ones look lost. Maybe we can help them," she added. She stood up, starting to make her way down the hill. Leemur reached out, nearly stopping her, before glancing at Roam. Roam shrugged. At Sunlight's confidence, Lora, Glow, and Sweetpea got up to follow, and the two adults had no choice but to follow as well. The two tokotas noticed the Xunari's approach and turned, not cautious but friendly, wagging their tails, and soon all four whelps were playing with them as Roam and Leemur looked on.