Ryuu's POV:

"Shall we eat then?" Kuro changes topics and the dark atmosphere around her disappears. She nods and sits next to the fire with her legs crossed, but the pelt droops enough to cover everything important (I can't help but feel disappointed). We all follow after her and wrap ourselves in the pelts once more while she removes hers. She lays the amulet on her leg and materializes bowls and silver wear for us. I stare at the bowl and spoon on the ground in front of me in awe, and seriously wonder what her magic could possibly be to allow her to summon black painted, clay bowls and real silver spoons. I soon lose the train of thought when Kalan fills our bowls, by manipulating the water in the soup, and remember how cold and hungry I am. My brothers seem to realize the same, since I see them dig in with the same gusto I do when I look up. I also see that she isn't eating, but staring up at the ceiling, leaning back on her hands. I shrug and continue eating, too cold to care if she's hungry.

Warrior's POV:

I stare at the ceiling while they devour the soup, and think through every reason I can find that they would choose to lie to me like that. They didn't try to make me do anything after that, so they weren't trying to coerce me into doing anything. They could have tried to break me emotionally before they attempted to kill me, or abduct me to sell me, but even now I can't sense any ill intent. I sigh and sit up as my thoughts continue chasing themselves. I look at mother's amulet on my leg and feel my shoulders droop. I know that they had to leave me here so that the villagers wouldn't hunt me down, but I still miss them. I gently grab the amulet and move over to the corner of my nest of pelts. I cover myself with the Yeti pelt and pull the amulet over my head. Mother would wear this everywhere, and tell me stories of how the amulet would find the one you seek as long as it's met that person before. She used it to find my father, when her mother started talking of an arranged marriage. She said the more the wearer believes in the one they are trying to find, the closer the amulet will guide them.

I position the blood stone in the middle of my chest and close my eyes to sleep, but sleep never comes. Instead, I'm sucked into the memories of the amulet.