Chapter 2.

The pack had left, with the big move coming up they had waited as long as they could for their pack sister to leave her new feathered companion, or at the very least for it to die. Neither had happened, although Silverfoot had pushed Daine to do so. The pack couldn't understand the connection that their pack sister had made with a meal. They nuzzled and crowded around her as they yipped their goodbyes. She would catch up with them once she was done with the bird. It would be a hard journey by herself but without having to care for the pups, she could handle it. Silverfoot was not happy to say goodbye to their pack sister, but when no amount of prodding and pushing would do it, they gave in to Daine's stubbornness and let her have her way.

As the pack left to continue their journey, Daine questioned her motives. Even she was not sure when she would leave the bird. The pack had hunted and protected Daine, while she watched over her new self appointed responsibility. But as the pack moved away the realization of being all alone descended upon her mind. She hadn't left the pack since she joined it all those years ago. They had been her support and family, when hers had been taken away-and she had gone and thrown it away, for a strange bird, for Mithros sake! With a huff she shook her head and resolved to catch up with the pack. It would be a hard run but she could do it.

She trotted away, following the packs scent on the breeze. It was just a bird! It had brought with it nothing but strange thoughts and worry. She picked up her pace, her mind lingering on the new flow of strange thoughts that had recently made an appearance within her brain.

She came to an abrupt stop, when a meandering badger crossed her trail. Normally, small rodents and prey zipped away, scenting the predator that existed within Daine. Not this badger apparently. Daine snuffed at the badger, confused by its idiotic bravery in the face of a predator. The badger glanced Daine's way, with an indignant look it meandered closer to her. Standing on its hind legs it quickly bonked her on the tip of her snout with a claw, and then continued on its way, never picking up its meandering pace.

Daine, astonished and shocked, watched as she was abused by a walking snack, unable to move due to the bizzarity of the situation unfolding in front of her. It wasn't until the badger was out of sight, within the forests foliage that conscious thought came back to her.

Slowly, mind still on the bizarre interaction that had just taken place, Daine returned to her bird companion. Still waiting where she had left him, the bird watched as she returned to the clearing, and lay down a few feet away from him. returning his gaze.

It was then that she wished her pack back, at least to discuss the strange events of the day, or to feel their heat as they prepared for sleep. Looking back at the bird, the cause for all of this. This winged brother would have to be enough. She wished that this new pack could at least communicate, but the silence she felt from him was not that of any normal wilderness dweller.

Daine and the bird spent several days exchanging glances. Daine was uncomfortable leaving the bird for any significant period of time. This meant that meals had to be a fast affair. Local rabbits and the occasional deer sustained Daine, and the little that the bird ate. He largely refused any meat that Daine deemed ok for him to eat. His picky eating habits forced Daine to go out searching for berries and the occasional mushroom, and present it to him as he occasionally nibbled like a snobby monarch.

Daine was un phased by the uncommon direction her thoughts were taking. Never before had she thought about the foliage that surrounded her constantly as food. Blood and guts were food, not leafs and twigs. But isolated as she was, she did not consider the implications.

The days began to become patterned but within several days a cold front had found them. Food was moving away, as the cold grew closer, the twigs that had sustained her companion were withering away, and her winged brother was taking a turn for the worse. The little that Daine could scrounge for him was left uneaten and a rasp could be heard from the weak exhales of his lungs.

Disliking leaving her new pack brother alone, the occasional rabbits that had been sustaining her were not enough. Hungry and tired, Daine scavenged the surrounding finding little to feed either her or her companion.

As dawn broke, the next morning Daine left her companion in search of food. She didn't want to go too far, but began following her nose searching for a meal amongst the trees. It was only a little while later that the shifting winds brought a new scent on them. Daine's hungry nose picked up the scent and immediately had her ears pitching downwards, sleek against her skull in wariness. Fur raising, she held in the growl that threatened to erupt.

Humans were close by, too close by. Instincts told her to flee, but she had had enough practice within the last days to dismiss those thoughts. Rather curiosity took held, and Daine found herself inching towards the smells, human sweat, and large warm earthy smells of their load baring horses.

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