"She is precious." Said Ani as she examined the human child. "But how they ever survived with so little fur is a mystery."

Ani was a full blooded Suomenlapinkoira and had a thick double coat capable of withstanding the harsh cold of Sühi. Braverhund had always loved his wife's fur, which was a good thing because there was a lot of it.

She also tended to shed constantly. He was always finding "reminders of her love" in his clothes, books, even his shoes. But he didn't mind. He would look at the long brown hairs of various shades and smile because it meant his wife had been there. Though of course now hers was mostly gray, just like his.

Ani called him her "sweet soft southern Döbian" and he called her his "valkyrie". Both of them had lived interesting lives before they met and had continued to live just as fully after they were married. To say it had never been boring was an understatement.

They had dealt with racism against them and their children(mixed race marriages tended to be frowned upon), political upheaval, and most recently the frightening beast that was church politics. But together they had conquered all. Not just through love, but sheer determination and power or will.

"It has to do with heat dissipation. Not having fur helps them cool down." Explained Braverhund as he removed one of his wife's stray hairs from the child's red blanket. "Or possibly they evolved near water. Nobody really knows for sure."

"Fascinating." Ani said with a laugh. "It's amazing that such a small thing will grow up to be so fearsome." She tugged at one of the infant's toes playfully. "That is right little pup, isn't it? You're going to grow up to be a strong warrior, aren't you?"

Braverhund smiled sadly as the child cooed and giggled. "Do you really want her to have to walk that path?"

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"No, but you and I both know it is better to be a warrior in a garden than a gardener in a war." Ani said sagely. "We could hold on a little longer… perhaps train her. Raise her as our own."

Braverhund looked down at his hands, they were an old hund's hands. "I fear we are running out of time. Humans age more slowly than us, we will be dead and dust by the time she is ready."

"Bah!" Ani snorted. "We aren't that old."

"My love, we are ancient." He sighed. "Even our children have children. We will have some time with her, but it will fall on someone else to finish raising her."

He squeezed his wife's hand. "She will be alright without us."

"Will she? If she is related to the Warden…" Ani let that hang.

"Ei nimi miestä pahenna, jos ei mies nimeä." Braverhund replied back in Sühi.

"Oh, you use my own words against me?" Ani said with mock annoyance that might not have been entirely fake. "But yes, I agree. Her name doesn't make her worse if she doesn't make it worse. However, she is skyborn."

Braverhund shrugged. "That is something that will mean a lot less once she is grown."

"Will it?" Ani asked. "Or will it make her and her new family a target? Can you promise that nobody will come for her someday? Can you promise that they won't take her and cut her apart to try and see how she works?"

Braverhund winced. His father had experimented on the Katzen to steal their secrets during the war. It was a painful memory, but she was right. There were those that would stop at nothing to acquire the technology inside the child's head.

Ani continued once she saw that her words and the meaning behind them had been understood.

"She needs someone who can protect her while she grows and raise her right so she doesn't end up becoming like the Warden. Do you know anyone else who would even understand the risks associated with raising this child?"

"Would you rather put our children and grandchildren at risk?" Braverhund countered. "Because if she stays here eventually someone from Haven or the Howl is going to find her and we both know how that would go."

Ani looked at the rifle hanging over the fireplace. It had enough tally marks scratched into the stock that at a distance it could be mistaken for texturing.

"Poorly." Replied Ani. "Any attempt to take her would go poorly."