Pike had said "Try… Just try to refuse her anything!" Before the sun set that day, Tyleet, Ekuar and Rayek were settled in Venka's den. Now the den was theirs; Venka, unwilling to leave Winnowill unguarded, had chosen to move down to the Palace and Zhantee, her lovemate, had gone with her. Ekuar was sound asleep in the den, worn out by the stresses and shocks of the day. Little Rayek had no such problem and Tyleet, in an effort to keep the inquisitive child under control, offered to teach him how to use his new sling-shot.

"These work best with rocks," she explained as she set up some practice targets, "but let's use nuts for today."

Rayek snapped the sling experimentally. "Why?"

"Because they're lighter and easier to use," she smiled.

His face set with determination. "I want touse rocks."

"But the nuts will be easier," Tyleet explained again patiently.

Rayek made a disgusted noise. "You said rocks are better. I want to use rocks."

Tyleet shook her head. "This is the first time you've used a sling-shot. You should start with something easier."

"I don't WANT start with something easier," he seethed. "I want to start with the best."

'Well,' she thought to herself, 'there's no harm in letting him try.' "All right," she said to him and pulled out a pouch of rocks. She picked through them for ones that would fit his smaller hands and laid them out on a nearby branch. "Now watch me carefully." She settled herself and took aim. She held on to the sling a little longer than necessary to give him a clear view of her technique. Then with a whizz the rock flew and struck the target in the center. "Now you try."

Carefully he took aim. His eyes narrowed to thin amber slits as he glared at the target. When he fired, the rock struck just slightly off of center.

"Wonderful!" Tyleet cheered, beaming down at him. "So close on your first try! Great job!"

For a moment Rayek looked pleased. A bashful smile tugged at his mouth as he ducked his head and Tyleet's heart melted. Then he frowned. "I can do better," he muttered and reached for another rock.

The light from the nearly full Mother Moon washed over Tyleet as she sat in the den entrance with a bowl of capnuts in her lap. She hummed little snatches of song as she sorted through them. Clearbrook, on her way to the wolf dens, spotted her and stopped to talk. Glancing around she tried to find Rayek but the only trace of his presence she could find was a rhythmic twacking sound. "Where is he?" she asked curiously. Tyleet looked up with a smile, expertly twisting the tops off the capnuts as she spoke.

"He's practicing with his sling-shot." There was a small note of pride in her voice.

"Still?" Clearbrook exclaimed. "The moons had barely risen when you started!"

Laughing, Tyleet shrugged. "He's determined to get it absolutely right. I couldn't get him interested in the capnuts even when I offered to let him eat the ones that were too little."

Just then the night air reverberated with the howling of the pack. "Ah!" Clearbrook looked up with a smile. "A good hunt tonight." She turned to go meet the returning hunters but was nearly knocked over when Rayek ran smack into her.

"Jackals!" he cried. "We have to get inside!" Grabbing Clearbrook's hand he tried to drag her into the den. Tyleet and Clearbrook exchanged startled glances before amused smiles pulled at their mouths. "What are you smiling about?" Rayek demanded, still tugging urgently at Clearbrook's hand.

"Rayek, little cub," Tyleet said, touching his hair affectionately, "those aren't jackals. They're our wolf-friends."

"The howling you hear is the hunters announcing the success of the hunt," Clearbrook added.

His anger at being made to feel foolish disappeared. "Hunting?" he asked. "You eat flesh?" He stared at them, his eyes huge with a mixture of horror and fascination. "Father says only animals eat flesh."

Now Tyleet and Clearbrook exchanged appalled looks. Tyleet shook her head and took Rayek's hand. "Food is food, little one," she explained, leading him down to the ground.

"There isn't any food in the Sun Village," he admitted. "Not much anyway and I hate it all!"

"Why is that?" Clearbrook asked, coming down behind them.

"Because it's awful!" Both the older elves laughed at the face he made. "I dare you to try squatneedle root!"

By then they had arrived at the wolf dens. Little Rayek was brought up short by the sight of the bloody wolves and the remains of their prey. He hung back, his eyes darting around nervously. Leetah came rushing over. "Tyleet, it may be better to keep him away for now," she said. Tyleet glanced inquiringly over at Cutter. "That's part of it," the healer admitted, "but Ra- the child- has never seen anything like this before. It may frighten him."

"I'm not frightened!" the young Rayek immediately protested, glaring up at Leetah though he still clung tightly to Tyleet's hand.

"That's good," Tyleet said, smiling. She knelt down to be at eye-level with him. "I'll make you a bargain. If you eat some meat, someday I'll try that squatneedle root you were telling me about."

"All right," he said grudgingly. Tyleet lead him closer, looking for a good place to settle. Rayek stayed very close and did his best to keep her between him and the wolves. Clearbrook waved them over to sit with her and Treestump. She was the only one to try to make them welcome. Treestump regarded the young Rayek neutrally but the others pointedly ignored him. Most were angry still; there were a few, like Suntop and Shen-shen, who might soften in time but for the moment were too afraid of Cutter's reaction to make any overtures. Tyleet hoped Rayek wouldn't notice his cool reception.

'This might be harder than I thought,' she sighed to herself.