Shade chose a place to live that was only a few trees away from the spot he first saw her. It wasn't a great home, but he worked on it until it felt comfortable. A sturdy bush with overlapping leaves that sat in the center of a patch of ferns. The ferns were great, because they parted easily enough to walk through and did an excellent job of disguising the entrance.

The bush was built like a small tree, with a trunk type thing in the middle and leaves that created something of a canopy above. He fashioned a bed of fern fronds in the center, which was really all he needed.

He did all this the day after he saw her. It took longer than he would have liked, but by the next day, he was finished and was able to make his way back to the river. He sat down, found a sheltered spot that was quite comfortable, and waited.

She emerged slowly, tentatively. Her nose poked through the ferns, huge lavender eyes darting around, watching for danger. He stayed perfectly still, trusting his brown fur and the river plants to hide him. Once she deemed it safe, she crawled out and lay down, the sun shining on her fur. She closed her eyes and sat there for a while.

Shade watched her for a while before his eyelids drooped. The warmth of the sun and the mist of the stream were lulling, and so he closed his eyes, rested his head on his paws, and let himself drift off.