In the coming days Littlespark grew quickly. She learned to crawl within a few months and soon after could climb over the low cushion barriers that they had used to keep her in place. The practical necessities of raising a child soon became an everyday part of their lives. Breakables had to be out of reach, as well as dangerous objects. Aidan grumbled a bit, but packed away his huge collection of daggers readily enough. Sleep patterns were thrown out by midnight wails, and daytime was filled with more feeding, diaper changing and everything else that comes with babies.

Flame Song explained Littlespark’s fast development as a part of her firecat heritage. “The northern plains of my home world are a harsh place. We have to grow up fast in order to survive. I was considered adult enough to find my name song and join the hunters when I was only about twelve. She’ll probably go along a bit slower than that, but she’ll most likely be grown by the time she’s fifteen or so.”

Fifteen seemed forever away, but right now there were other things to think about. At four months Littlespark, whose name had further been shortened to just Spark, was starting to teethe. This was a bigger nuisance than usual because some of her teeth were very sharp, and she would chew on anything, including her parents. She was also starting to babble nonsense words. Flame predicted that she would be talking at least somewhat coherently by the time she was eighteen months old.

About that time they also decided that she was old enough to take on the short trip to Coppertop. The summer was beginning to wind down, but the weather was staying fairly mild thus far. Aidan quipped that there ought to be a monster of a storm later to make up for it, but for now the days were beautiful, if somewhat chilly. On one such crisp day the trio set out to town with the baby and with Flame's usual load of furs to sell and trade. They finished their business fairly quickly and then stopped by Belak’s on the way out to show him Littlespark. She smiled and cooed at him and quickly had him wrapped around her tiny finger.

“Be careful of this lass, my friends. She’ll soon have all the fellows mooning after her,” he said with a grin. Littlespark, who was sitting on his lap, pulled his beard. He winced but kept smiling. “Aye, she’s a charmer, so she is.”

They laughed and told stories for an hour or so. Belak got a hearty chuckle about the way she was chewing the house to pieces with teething. Then glancing out the window, Flame Song said, “We should be going. We don’t want to be out with Spark after nightfall.”

“Aye, that ye don’t. Well then, just one moment more and I’ll send you on your way.” He disappeared into a back room, and emerged with something in his hands. “Here lass,” he said, handing it to Flame. “For the little lassie. It’s made from ironheart, so she should be able to gnaw on it without chewing it through or getting splinters.” Flame turned the object over. It was a little wooden cat, with stylized rounded features that left no sharp edges or points on it anywhere.

“Thank you Belak.”

“Ach well, it was the least I could do.”

They said their goodbyes and Flame Song and Aidan headed back home.

The good weather that had graced their trip to Coppertop persisted surprisingly long. It was well into autumn and Spark was nearly five months old before the weather began to turn truly cold. Now the air was biting, but there had been only an inch or so of snow. The days were also beginning to get shorter as autumn ended and winter neared.

On one cold but sunny day Aidan set out as had become his pattern to check the trap line. It was a bit of a reversal of their usual roles, but he liked it. Sometimes it seemed that Flame Song did all the real work and he just tagged along. Of course he did his part too, and he didn't really mind being a "house-husband." But it was nice, every now and then, to go out and accomplish something other than cleaning and cooking. He hummed to himself as he checked the first trap. Nothing. This time of year things were keeping under cover in anticipation of the winter, and the traps weren’t catching too much, but every bit helped, especially since with Littlespark nursing, Flame Song was now eating for two.

The day wore on and Aidan tromped through the thin layer of snow. He could have gone faster by flying between the traps, but the winter air had a bite to it and it was hard to keep warm when moving at speed. And anyway, he wasn’t really in any hurry. He was dressed warmly against the chill, only his face and his wings, well insulated against the cold, were exposed.

He whistled cheerfully as he walked, a rabbit now thrown over his shoulder. One wasn’t bad, and there were still three traps left. He glanced at the sun. It was nearly to the horizon. Bother, he thought, I hadn’t noticed it was that late. By the time I finish, it will be dark. Flame is going to worry, and I’m going to freeze my wings off! With a sigh he considered flying, but that would be even colder. Oh well. Guess I’ll just be a little late. It shouldn’t be too bad.

The sun had set by the time he reached the next trap. There was a rabbit in it, already dead. He grinned at it. You will make a most marvelous lunch. One down and two to go. The sky was dark and filling up with stars as he reached the next trap. It was empty. With a shrug he continued on. Suddenly he was grabbed from behind a lifted off his feet. A powerful hand clamped around his mouth. He tried to yell, but couldn’t make a sound. He tried to grab for his daggers, but the strong arm around him had his own arms pinned to his sides and he couldn't reach. He fought all the same, kicking and struggling, but though he felt his boots connect solidly several times, whoever had him didn't even flinch at the impacts.

And then the hand over his mouth shifted to cover his nose too, cutting off his breath entirely. He fought harder, shaking his head and struggling to breathe, but the iron grip was infinitely stronger than he, and soon blackness rose up around him. His struggles grew weaker, and eventually he went limp, out cold.