The cub glided steadily on past the man below her. Over the next hill she could see the thin frames of the antelope. She gestured below to Dai and made a wide arc to the other side of their game.

Jakko was given his cue. He ran down the hill barking furiously. The antelope ceased their grazing and sprang away.

Above, the cub saw the herd begin to turn away from where Dai was lying in wait for them.

Stupid dog is driving them the wrong way! She fumed and tucked her wings in for a sharp dive. As she came to the front of the herd just a few feet above the ground, she spread her wings full to break her speed, held her hands up to her ears, wiggled her fingers, and blew a raspberry at them to frighten them.

The foremost buck hunched onto his heels and prepared to quickly change direction.

With the twang of a bowstring and the solid thwock of the arrow connecting with its target, the buck never changed direction and instead collapsed to the ground.

The cub cupped her wings to break her flight and land. She poked the protruding arrow curiously.

"A feathered stick?" She mumbled to herself. She had been trained only to hunt by her claws and was not familiar with any weapon. The Sylvan saw it as a disgrace for a young and healthy kurach to hunt with anything other than their own bodies. Aside from the occasional ceremonial knife awarded to the most capable hunters, she had never even seen a weapon before.

"Cub?" Dai rode up to her and the fallen game quickly. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine." She looked up to him. "Why do you ask?"

"You dropped out of the sky so quickly I was worried I had shot you instead."

"Nah, you missed me," she said absently as she watched him gather the buck. "When can we eat it?"

Dai suppressed a grimace at the calloused nature of her inquiry. "I will dress it tonight," he said and draped the buck across the saddle of his horse. "Why did you dive?"

"They were going the wrong way," the cub said hotly. "I had to fix it."

"No, they were going the way I needed them to go," Dai said patiently. "It's easier for me to hit their broadside and know they will die quickly rather than take a chance missing them from the front or causing them to suffer."

"Oh," the cub muttered.

Jakko came up beside her with his tail wagging, obviously pleased with his performance.

"Quit rubbing it in, Jakko," the cub grumbled.

"Would you like a ride back to camp?" Dai offered her.

"Yes!" She chirped and hopped up onto the backside of the horse. Her footing quickly became unstable as she remained on her hands and feet instead of trying to sit down. "How do you keep your balance on this thing!?" She yelped before tumbling off the back end.

The horse turned his head towards her, obviously annoyed.

"Are you alright?" Dai asked.

"I think I'll fly back instead," the cub growled from her position on the ground.

"Would you like to try again?" Dai asked politely.

She glared up at what part of him she could see above the horse's rear. "Ask me again when the view is better."

"Suit yourself," Dai shrugged and nudged the horse into a trot.

The cub spread her wings and leaped into the air. As she glided along she took note of Dai's position atop the horse. She dove and landed with a loud fwump behind him.

"I thought you were flying back?" Dai asked skeptically over his shoulder.

"The view was better! I figured out how to sit on this thing," the cub said proudly.

"This 'thing' has a name. Speaking of which, what is yours?"

"Shanku! Your name?"

"Dai, and the horse's name is 'Sage'."

"You named him after a bush?" Shanku asked incredulously with her ears half laid back.

"That's what happens when you eat the neighbor's spice garden!" Dai laughed and patted Sage on the neck. "You don't have a normal name either, Shanku."

"I was named after my great-great-granddam. She was a magnificent huntress," Shanku boasted proudly. She cocked her head to the side in curiosity and asked, "Do you have anybody like that in your family?"

"Well, my grandfather was one of the first to breed the urych that I'm watching over," Dai said simply.

"Where is he now?" Shanku asked. They had arrived back at camp. She remained atop Sage as Dai dismounted and removed the buck.

"Knowing Grandpa he's probably flirting with an angel. He was never very reverent. Grandma was always fussing at him to mind his manners in life," Dai said wistfully.

"No kidding," Shanku mumbled, eyes wide.

"How about your grandparents? How are they?" Dai asked.

"Um..." Shanku paused and remembered back to one of the last meetings she had with her grandparents. Her mother's sire never seemed to remember she wasn't male and was always warning her to never marry as "dams are nothing but trouble", with her granddam all the while scolding him and reminding him that his opinion was very different when they were courting.

"As well as can be expected, I guess," Shanku muttered. "So your grandsire raised those things? What about your sire?" She asked before Dai could ask about her family further.

"He helped Grandpa with the herd until he passed on, and I helped my father with the herd until he also passed on. Likely my son shall continue the tradition with me," Dai said as he gutted the buck.

"The herd sounds more like a death warrant than a tradition," Shanku shuddered then suddenly sat up. "Wait, you have a cub? Do you feel sick?" She asked worriedly.

"Don't worry, it's not my time to go yet," Dai laughed.

"Ma was right. Humans don't live very long if your sire and grandsire have already died," Shanku laid back down on Sage and propped her chin in the palm of her hand.

"You haven't been out much, have you?" Dai asked. Unlike men, kurach were known to live well past a century.

Shanku scrunched up her face and crossed her eyes, her ears and wings also askew. "'Under no circumstances do good little kurach ever leave the forest'." It was a lecture she had been given many times and had long ceased to have any respect for it.

"I take it you're not from the Red Wing or Long Ear tribes then?" Dai ventured.

"Do my wings look red to you?" Shanku barked and gestured to her black feathers. "Speaking of long ears, your thieving dog is about to do what he does best," she growled as she glared at the husky.

Dai turned to find that Jakko was trying to sneak part of the meat Dai had cleaned from the buck.

"Jakko, patience!" Dai snapped as Jakko whined, flashing big, pitiful puppy eyes. "You'll have your share, now drop it!" Dai turned back to his work.

"Now, where are you from?" Dai asked the cub bluntly. There seemed to be a forest on every edge of the plains and he wished to narrow down the general direction of the particular forest she came from.

"Jakko!"

Dai looked up and felt very confused.

Shanku had leapt off of Sage and tackled Jakko to the ground. Apparently he had been in the process of sneaking more meat.

"'Drop it' does not mean 'skulk off with it'!" She barked at the pinned dog.

"Good job stopping him, but you startled Sage in the process and made him bolt," Dai said tiredly. Sage was standing on the other side of the herd, snorting loudly.

"Oops," Shanku blushed and dismounted from Jakko. The dog looked up at her submissively. His tail thumped slowly against the ground and he ventured a questioning whine.

"Go into my pack and get my skillet. I'm going to go retrieve Sage," Dai sighed.

"Bad luck follows me!" Shanku grumbled and huffed off.

Jakko raised his hackles and growled indignantly at her.

"Not you, Jakko," Shanku rolled her eyes.

"But not forever! My luck'll change, I just know it! And then I'll do something really great," she said dreamily as she dug around in Dai's saddlebags in search of the frying pan. "And make Gramps and Granny and Ma and Da proud, eh?"

Jakko barked encouragingly. The sooner she left, the better.

"I guess I'll just have to stay with you guys until I figure out how to do that," Shanku said confidently.

Jakko yipped at the thought of keeping company with the volatile cub for an indefinite length of time. He had a long road ahead of him now. He flopped to the ground and gave a mournful howl.

Dai returned with a wary Sage and began to build a fire as Shanku helped him prepare their meal.

"Hey, he dropped it!" Dai said happily.

"Yeah, he wanted to take a nap instead," Shanku laughed.

"Lazy dog," Dai shook his head and began to cook their supper.

And so Dai gained a new cub and Jakko had a new friend to torment. Shanku helped them guard the herd and occasionally would hunt their dinner, even Jakko's.