“I know you think I'm just mother-henning you, but if you get abducted while taking Disa out for a run -”

“Okay,” Matilda interrupted, “I get it. I do. You think this guy who's trying to take over all of the villages has lookouts here in Carlecroft....What else?”

“A lot,” Castor snapped. Matilda furrowed her eyebrows at the back of his head. They were headed into the woods back behind the string of small wooden homes just beside the ocean.

“I just want to understand -”

“Alright,” Castor began. “Sometimes, if Kings don't think they can trust their subjects, they get them culled.”

“Culled -?”

“Killed, Matilda. If he doesn't think you're of use, you're destroyed. You don't stay in line, you don't keep your head down and do as you're told. There's more to it than banning your evening horseback rides, Matilda.”

Matilda shook her head. “I understand, Cas.” She hesitated a moment, plucking a branch of pine needles from her hair. She wondered how recently her mother had taken Cas aside and begged him to keep close eyes on her.

They rode for the next few minutes in silence, listening only to the footfalls of the horses, and their occasional snorts.

“So...” Castor halted Balfour as they reached a small clearing in he dense trees. “Where is this thing you wanted to show me?”

“Just a little farther, then we go to the left. I really don't know why no one else has found it yet.”

“Maybe because the rest of the village is busy working.”

“Heh,” Matilda brushed some stray hair from her face, “You're probably right.”

“I'm always right,” Castor boasted, urging Balfour onward. “You want to show me...?”

Matilda gave Disa a squeeze and the red mare trotted up past Balfour. “Should be just up here.”

She pulled a branch out of the way, held onto it as long as she could, and passed it to Castor – who wasn't looking and was promptly smacked in the face with a branch full of pine needles. Matilda giggled when she noticed his hair accented with pieces of leaves and pine needles.

“Sorry.”

“M-hmm,” Castor shrugged off the pine needles from his vest.

“Hey,” Matilda exclaimed, “It's through here!” She and Disa trotted forward past another bunch of pine trees and into another small clearing, where a few younger, much smaller pines grew. A small and crumbling structure, fashioned from mud, stones and shells from the beach, stood as the only sign or remnants of human activity. The stones were bleached white from the sun, and dozens of mall shells littered the ground throughout the clearing, turning the ground white.

“Hmm,” Castor slid off Balfour. “Yeah... I still don't know what this was. I don't think it has anything in particular to do with that weird rock you found either.”

“It's a glyph,” Matilda corrected, coming to stand beside him as Disa and Balfour lazily stood in the shade.

“It's a gyph on a rock. Look,” Castor spread his arms out and looked all over the ground, “No rocks at all similar to it here.”

“Which is why,” Matilda bounced closer to him, “It must be significant! Someone went out of their way to put that rock here.”

“Or someone was bored and carved shapes in with their pocketknife, set it down and forgot it.”

“Always the pessimist, huh Cas?” Matilda placed a hand on her hip.

“I'm a realist,” Castor folded his arms across his chest. “You should try it sometime.”

Matilda scoffed and looked around. “You're....”

“I'm a mite more predictable than you, Miss.” Castor winked at her and Matilda felt her stomach distinctly knot up again. “And perhaps slightly less pretentious.”

Matilda could feel herself blushing and she turned away quickly and pretended to fidget with Disa's mane.

“Alright,” Castor said, dropping his arms. “I get it. You're fed up with me.” He held his hands up in mock surrender. “I digress.”

“Do you?” Matilda, now recovered, looked back around.

“Guess so,” Castor mumbled as he mounted Balfour. “We'd better hit the creek if you want to scout out anything, before it's too late.”

“Sounds good,” Matilda quickly mounted Disa and took off further into the forest.

“You ever see any more of that weird green stuff? The watery green you saw on Disa's hoof?”

“No,” Matilda replied. Only a few days before, she had returned home from a ride through these parts of the woods with her horse. Just after she had dismounted and let Disa into her pen had Matilda noticed some strange, glowing and green substance on her mare's right hoof. It had rinsed easily with water.

Castor just shrugged and headed off deeper into the forest ahead of her.

Matilda was glad to have her face hidden from the squire. The weird rushing in her gut and chest had only become worse over the last few months and she was too petrified to bring it up to her mother. The more she thought about it, the more concerned she became, as she realized that her like for her best friend was only just beginning to turn into something far more difficult to bear.

It was only the third morning of traveling together, and the pale young wolf had finally slept a full night. She cracked one eye open as her consciousness took over, and she was aware of the subtle but welcoming and heartwarming sound of birdsong somewhere deep in the woods. She took in a deep breath, preparing to happily sigh, then jerked her head up as she realized she had buried her nose in her new travel mate's ruff.

“Eww,” she huffed, standing and stretching her back legs, then her front. They had finally found a small but clear creek that ran through the woods here and had slept the night nearby. The previous day they had found a few berry bushes to feed off of, and while it did little to quench her hunger, it helped keep her stomach from hurting quite as bad as it had been before she had met Denza.

Lorza glanced behind her to make sure he was still asleep, then made for the creek on the other side of a small line of bushes and trees they had taken cover beneath.

Reaching the shore, she glanced about briefly, then quickly stooped to lap up the cool water. It felt wonderful to her tongue, but hit her stomach like a kick in the gut – her hunger resurfaced and she fought to ignore it as she kept drinking. She lifted her head to test the air again, then noticed her reflection in the water. The small scrapes she had accumulated across her muzzle and face had healed well and only a few spots even showed where her fur had not yet grown back over the black scars.

One thing her mother had often loved to say was how much she looked like her elder sister, Molu. Molu had been a few years older, their parents' first litter's only female. While she may have resembled Lorza in her face, she had been a bright grey, with a dark facial blaze. Lorza always thought her sister looked just like mom, but looking at her reflection now, she saw both of their faces in the water.

Leaves rustled nearby and Lorza jerked her head around, hoping to calm again as she spotted Denza. Instead, she was startled by another wolf – younger, and all black.

Her stomach knotted, more from fear and shock than it already was from hunger. She felt her lips begin to draw into a weak snarl. Just as she was about to call for Denza, the wolf – now she could see no more than a pup – began to make its way towards her with all too much confidence.

Lorza pressed her ears back, and drew her face into as viscous a snarl she could. “Go away.” Unfortunately, she never seemed to have mastered a truly honest and terrifying snarl, or even a warning face.

“Awww,” the pup sat down, and now that he was closer, Lorza noticed he was actually rather frail, scrawny, and had a narrow face, even in his young age. His right ear was torn where something obviously took a chunk out of him.

“I just wanna play!”

He had an innocent smile about his muzzle and Lorza felt torn between letting her guard down to the little thing, and staying extra cautious. He wore a black coat, after all – just like those monsters. She shook her head to fight off graphic memories of what those huge black, bleeding, glowing creatures did to her family.

“Where did you come from?” she inquired as he stooped to drink from the creek. She felt her hackles bristle slightly.

He shook his head as he looked up, licking water droplets from his small chin.

“You don't scare me.” His voice sounded incredibly young.

“Lorza!” Cadenza suddenly crashed through the bushes, skidding to an abrupt halt between Lorza and the black pup. “Who are you?”

“I'm just here for water... sheesh....” the pup continued to lap at the creek.

“Lorza,” Denza hissed to her, “Come on... let's get moving.”

Lorza shot the pup a backwards glance, then made to follow Denza.

“You guys brother and sister?” The pup caught up and pranced besides Lorza, who backed away from him.

“Why are you here?” Denza demanded, rounding on him. The pup stopped and rolled his eyes.

“Okaaaayyy... I was running from my sister.” He sat to raise a back leg and scratch at his right ear. “She's like... crazy or something.”

Lorza glanced at Denza.

“...Crazy?” Denza asked, his face as skeptical as ever.

“Yeah, she went off with this guy... he had some creepy name... never the same after and she's been after me ever since she saw me again.”

Cadenza felt Lorza stiffen beside him. “Well...”

“W-we should be going,” Lorza began to turn away again, “It's nice meeting you.”

“Huh?” The pup looked up, eyes wide. “Oh... okay....” He turned away, sniffed once and continued to sit, looking into the creek.

Lorza sighed, casting the pup a long glance as Denza shouldered past her.. “Just... go find your mother. She must be worried sick about you.”

Denza did his best to stifle a snort.

The pup looked right into Lorza's eyes. Lorza watched him back, ears pricked in tension. “I don't have a mommma... she was... taken from me.” The pup suddenly began to sob uncontrollably, hiding his face as he did – yet it did nothing to stifle his cries. “...Just the other day....”

Denza pulled a face and made to turn away once more but stopped when Lorza immediately rushed forward to join the pup at his side.

“I'm so sorry,” Lorza shushed him, placing a paw over him. “You poor thing.” She turned back to look at Denza. “Let's take him with us too -”

“Absolutely not,” Denza puffed up as best he could – his scrawny and starved stature did not help. Lorza was certainly still bigger than he. Embarrassing.

Her reaction stunned him. Her eyes hardened, she glared, her hackles ruffled. “And why not?” she hissed.

“I... we don't know anything about him!” Denza stepped backwards, aghast at her reaction. “You said so yourself -”

“He has nothing.”

“We don't know where -”

“You didn't know anything about me,” Lorza growled. Suddenly, she looked much bigger and Denza found himself stepping backwards again. “Did you think you could handle taking me along just because I'm a girl?”

What? “What does that even mean? Why would I – I – I don't understand -”

Lorza glared at him even harder, lips threatening to pull into a snarl. Unwilling to waste precious energy in such a ridiculous situation, Denza flicked his tail and looked away.

“No.”

“Good.” She turned to the pup for a moment. “I am taking him with me. You can come or leave if you like.”

It was as if something else had possessed her for the few moments she had turned against him, and Denza was shocked to realize that he was truly at least somewhat frightened of her – not true fear, of course, but something more along the lines of mistrust. Her ease to switch alliances so fast told Denza she could not be trusted or followed – ever. He was the leader here, she had no place charging him with commands or decisions if she didn't have a proper plan.

He gaped at her as she gathered the pup beside her and began to escort him past. Denza had a sudden urge to glare at the pup, to frighten him, to make sure he himself wasn't the smallest one left out of this odd predicament he now found himself in – but stopped himself when he caught what seemed to be an apologetic expression on Lorza's face as she strode past.

No good bye, no thanks for traveling and offering to keep you alive, no nothing? Denza watched incredulously as she just moved on past with the new pup. They began conversing but Denza found himself hesitant to travel alone again.

“So... what's your name?” Lorza asked the pup. Denza shuffled onward, behind them. Neither of them even looked back. Why should he care? They were going separate ways once they reached the edge of the forest anyway.

“Caspar.”

“That's a lovely name!”

...Weren't they? Where would he go next once he reached the edge of the forest? Lorza had no family, she was on her own and could go wherever she pleased. Denza might have family, but truth be told he was not close to any of them....

“It was my mom's favorite.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I had a sister named Fay. My dad named her after my momma.”

Always talk about families... that's all Lorza had mentioned during their two days together.

“Was your mother named Fay also?” Lorza questioned.

“Yeah,” Caspar replied.

Maybe it didn't matter. Maybe his family had deserted him for leaving them. He had left them... and possibly destroyed his sister in the meantime. If Thrush was alive, she may have chosen not to go back anyway. But then why didn't she come to find him? At least he had tried to find her....

Maybe none of it mattered. Everything was just going to be the way it was. It was time to look ahead and do what was necessary to survive and make a life on his own.

“I'll bet she was lovely,” Lorza cooed, as she and Caspar disappeared over a large boulder and deeper into the dense forest.