Freddy:

When I woke up the next day, Rowan was still sleeping. I lay there until she woke up, because I couldn't easily get out without disturbing her.

Once she did wake up, she showed me a new den that she had built.

"It's yours," she told me.

"Thanks" I said, though I was kind of disappointed that I was going to be sleeping on my own again already.

"Do you want to help me build a barrier around the clearing?" she asked me.

"Why?" I asked.

She shrugged. "I just thought that it might make you feel a little bit safer, having more protection."

"Oh, ok"

"Great," she said "I'll go get what we need. You can just stay here."

"I want to come," I said, not wanting to lose her protection.

"You shouldn't be using that leg too much, you should stay here and rest," she insisted.

"Oh, right. Okay," I relented, realizing that she had a point.

I watched her leave, and I realized that I still felt pretty safe. Less than when Rowan was here, but more than when I was with the herd.

I headed over to my den and saw that it was built in the same way that Rowan's was, although it was bigger. I lay down inside and watched for Rowan, but eventually fell back to sleep.

I woke up to see the start of a barrier built into the trees. I left my den and went over to where Rowan was working.

"Why didn't you wake me when you got back?" I asked her.

"I thought you might need to sleep more, so I just left you," Rowan replied.

"Well I'm awake now, so I can help."

She laughed. "Do you even know how to build the barrier?" she asked.

"Well, no," I admitted. "But you can teach me, right?"

"Yes," she said. "You take the sticks and tie them together with the ivy," she said, showing me. "Once you get close enough to the trees, you work in the branches, okay?"

"Got it."

I needed help a few times at first, and I lost count of how many times Rowan had to fix my mistakes, but we got quite a bit done.

It looked pretty impressive and I smiled as I laid down in my den to go to sleep.

I woke up the next day to find that Rowan had already left. I still had a slight limp, but my leg was getting better. I left the clearing and went to the stream to get a drink.

As I was drinking, my ears twitched at a shift in the bushes, but I brushed it off as being a leaf and continued drinking.

A new scent had just registered when something jumped me from behind. I reared, bleating in fear and slight confusion on instinct.

The thing that hit me began to laugh, and I registered Rowan's voice.

"That was hilarious!" she cried out.

"Was not!" I denied, embarrassed.

"Yes it was," she persisted "You sounded like a little fawn!"

"It's an instinctual response when I'm startled or frightened," I said, defending myself.

"Sure, but it's still funny!" Rowan said and I flicked my ears.

"Ha, ha," I remarked, sarcastically "You're a riot."

"I know," she retorted and I rolled my eyes.

"If you're done, I'd like to get back to my drink," I said.

"Sure, whatever," she said, absentmindedly.

"What?" I asked "Is there—"

"Shush!" she hissed, cutting me off.

We both stood there quiet and she glanced at me. "If I say run, run," she whispered.

"Way ahead of you," I said. I could hear something, but couldn't pinpoint where the sound was coming from.

"Run!" Rowan hissed, and she ran into the bushes.

I didn't think twice before bounding back up the bank and towards the clearing.

It wasn't that far away, but my ankle was killing me by the time I got back. I laid down, panting and tried to calm down.

Rowan came back late that night, and a silver wolf was trailing behind her.

I stood up. "Who the heck is this?" I asked.

"This is Alcor," she told me. "He said he was separated from his clan, and I told him he could stay here."

"Yeah, well then I'm sharing your den again," I said, pointedly.

Alcor came up to me. "Relax, deer-boy, I'm just here for the night and them I'm leaving," He said.

"Hey!" I said.

"What? Not like that?" he said, sneering "I'm not a big fan of you, either."

I huffed and turned away, but he darted in front of me.

"And just to be clear," he hissed "Don't cause me any trouble. I've come a long way and I don't want you getting in my way."

"Don't worry," I retorted "I'll avoid you whenever possible."