"But the dream, the echo, slips from him as quickly as he had found it and as consciousness comes to him (a slap and not the gentle waves of oceanic tides), it dissolves entirely. His muscles relax as the cold claims him again, as the numbness sets in, and when his grey eyes open, there’s nothing but the faint after burn of a dream often trod and never remembered." --Brigade, written by Laura
Tamlin is lazing about, thinking about how wonderful it’s going to be to have another litter of puppies to play with once their mother gives birth. Although he is dimly aware that it is more likely that she does not have another 4 siblings again, that’s where his mind is as he lays sprawled out on the jungle floor with one of his wolf friends. Two boys and two girls again, obviously, otherwise things would be mis-matched. He hopes they have wings so he can teach them how to fly.
Perhaps he might be able to name one of them! It only seemed fair - their mom and dad got to pick the names of him and his siblings so it was obviously their turn. And Tam would be there first to make sure none of the others got to put in a claim. Surely they would all agree on a name - but he wanted to be the one who said it.
When he hears a cry in his mom’s voice, the idle boy leaps to his hooves - wings almost smacking the young wolf in the face. It’s through magic that the wolf has learned to trust Tamlin, and vice-versa, and the snapping of his attention draws their bond thin so that the canine leaves while the greying boy hurries forward.
There are his parents, and he’s surprised that his new siblings have come ahead of schedule. Those sneaky buggers!
Oblivious to what is happening, he pokes a head around a tree to try and get a good look at the new lives that are curled up against Wonder. Only two? Where were the rest of them?! And they weren’t even furry! “Oh. I wanted them to be puppies.” Tamlin states with an obvious note of disappointment as he more fully comes onto the scene, wings drooping a little as the excitement fades - but he still does not picking up on the distress of his parents. It does not occur to him that there is anything that could touch their family, any hardship that would break his mother’s heart nor touch his own. All of his siblings are so full of life in such wonderful ways - even their Old Man in his own funny way.
It’s only when Nightlock mentions his brother that Tamlin starts to grown uncomfortable, this boisterous boy is not made for serious situations. He cannot think of what to say - a first, for he is not often speechless - but his mind works for him. He is sure that Thorn is not far, but he calls out to his friends the wolves anyway - asking them to see if his brother is close and to encourage him (nicely) to join them if he can be found.
