Chapter 17:

Flara took Koga to a river, where she knew there was always fish to catch. She stopped andsmiled as she took a deep breath of the forest air. Tree surrounded them, and nothing and no one for miles. The grass beneath her feet was healthy and green, the way it should be, and tree that stood tall and surrounded them had blossoms on them of all different colors; pink, purple, blue, white, and more.

"Is this it?" Koga asked.

"Yep. Best fish are caught here." Flara said as she spun around to look at Koga. "Isn't it beautiful?" She asked as she caught a blossom that fell from a tree gently in her hand. "I love it when the tree blossom. I don't think there's anything more beautiful than seeing all the colors of the blooming blossoms." She said with a smile before she turned back to the river. "You wanna go find soe wood? Twigs work best. I'll get the fish."

"Sure." Koga replied with a nod before he started to walk away, in search of wood to make a fire with.

Flara squatted by the river and stared into the water, then she slowly and carefully stepped into the water, searching for a good fish to catch. Then she saw a nice big one, slowly swimming passed her. She slowly got as close as she could to it, without scaring it, and pounce, grabbed the fish and holding onto it tightly, not about to let it slip from her fingers. Then she pulled it out of the water and threw it onto the land before getting out of the water herself and holding it down to the ground until it died from lack of water.

Flara stood just in time to see Koga return from gathering wood. He had a few large branches that held dead leaves (perfect for a fire), and a few small twigs. "Is this good enough?" Koga asked.

"Perfect." Flara replied as she took some of the woods from him. She arranged the wood so it looked like a TeePee, and then used her magic to light the woods and make a good fire. She looked around and saw a flat and thin rock and that was just big enough to put the fish on. She picked it up and placed it on top of the fire, careful not to smoulder the flames, and then placed the fish on top. Then she saw a plant with very large leaves on it and went over and broke to large leaves off of it. She handed one leaf to Koga.

"What's this for?" He asked.

"It'll be your plate." Flara told him and as she sat down in front of the fire, grabbed a stick, and started to cook the fish and Koga watched her.

"Thanks for bringing me here." Koga thanked Flara.

"No problem." Flara replied. "You just seemed a little on the stressed side, so I thought bringing you here might help. I mean, it helps me when I'm not happy."

"It's a nice place." Koga said.

"Yeah." Flara sighed. Then she looked back at the fish. "Hold out your leaf. This fish is done." Flara told him before he held out the large leaf and Flara put half of the fish on it. Then she put the other half of the fish on her own leaf, and started to eat it. Koga was already eating his food.

"This is really good." Koga complimented.

"Thanks. My dad taught me how to cook fish over a fire." Flara replied.

"You're dad?" Koga asked.

"Yeah. Umm... My mom walked out on us when I was a baby, so it was just my father and I. It was alright; I learned a lot from him, and I like it too." Flara replied with a smile. "But hurry up and finish that. You don't want it to sit long or else you'll be tasting the leaf instead of the fish."

Koga looked back down at his fish. He took a few bites of it and was quickly finished. Flara also finished her food quickly and cleaned up everything, leaving the area looking the way it had when they first arrived. It was dark out, and the stars were seen clearly, the night sky like a black ocean that hovered above the world. Flara looked up at the stars, amazed at how beautiful they look. Then she looked at Koga. "We should probably get back to your pack before anyone worries about you." Flara said.

"Yeah." Koga replied with a smile. He was glad Flara had brought him here. It helped him relax, especially after an encounter with Ayame. It was just what he needed. Then he waited for Flara to catch up to him before they both ran back to the mountains.

AN- Yeah. I'm sry I haven't been updating, but school is a lot of work this year. So I'm sorry if I don't update as much as I used to. K? Plz R&R. Thanx! TTFN!