Anyu grinned when he took the marmot and began to eat. She was pleased that he had accepted her gift. She knew that he needed the meal more than she did, but she assumed that he would not let her give him both. Besides, her stomach was rumbling. She had given him what appeared to be the larger one anyways. Hopefully that would give him the energy that he needed, if not the strength.


She began to tear flesh away from her own meal, savoring the taste of the marmot in her mouth. It wasn't quite as good as deer or rabbit, but it wasn't bad either. It only took her a few minutes to eat - she was able to eat fast thanks to the ability that wolves had to eat a lot all at once because of the scarcity of meals. The marmot was vital if she was to stay alive until she joined the pack.


Wait... she thought to herself. Am I really considering joining the pack? She hadn't realized that she had subconsciously made a decision. It frightened her a bit, but she knew that it was what she wanted. She had to trust Kano and Kashi at this point, so that was exactly what she was going to do. She was surprised that it had been so easy to make a decision like that, even after all the time she had spent thinking about it.


After she had finished off as much of the marmot that she could, Anyu stood and stretched. It was about time to find somewhere to rest for the night. She looked over at Oya and said, “Do you know where you're going to spend the night?”

“It's not a problem,” Anyu said dismissively in response to his thanks, looking away shyly at the same time. She never took thanks very well, but at the same time she was offended when someone did not thank her.


Anyu shrugged her shoulders. “I built a den in the Thicket of Secrets, a little ways from here,” she responded. “But I haven't been there much. Mostly I just travel around and sleep out in the open, or under anything that offers cover.” Though she had built the den some time ago, she had only spent a handful of nights in it, having wandered quite a ways in order to explore the area. She had been back recently, but then she had felt the need to move again, and so had ended up here, where she had run into Oya.


Anyu began to look around for some place to spend the night. She would not be able to return to her den tonight anyways, and she needed some kind of shelter from the cold of the night. However, the main purpose behind looking around for a safe place to bed down was so that Oya would have some kind of safety during the night. She could find her own place to sleep easily, but he was clearly tired and she wanted to make sure that she was okay before leaving him.


Without a word she began to walk through the trees, hoping to find some place that would offer shelter for the older wolf. She didn't even mention that she was looking for him. She just decided to do it and then went off. In the distance she spotted two fallen trees that were leaning against each other, just on top of the ground. One tree had hit the ground, and when the second had fallen it had fallen at an angle and now lay on top of the first, creating a somewhat large covered area next to the first fallen log. There were a few gaps, but it appeared dry inside. She headed over and explored the area, sniffing for signs of other creatures. There were none, luckily, and she turned her attention to the top of the den-like structure. There were a few gaps in the roof, but that was easily fixed. A nearby pine bough had broken off of one of the trees and she grabbed it with her jaws and dragged it up onto the fallen logs, covering the gaps quite nicely.


She looked back at Oya, not sure if he had followed her or stayed back. When she spotted him she called out, “Oya, why don't you stay here for the night. It's nice and dry and sheltered.”

Anyu half-shrugged her shoulders, taking his question as serious rather than teasing. “It gives me something to do,” she said casually. “Makes me feel useful.” Suddenly she felt tired, and more than a little sad. But that was typical for her at night. Most of the time she went through a routine of trying to sleeping and thinking about every bad thing that had happened to her and then hating herself intensely. Rarely did she fall asleep quickly these days. That was part of why she was finding it difficult to appreciate the male's teasing now. She did not like the night, when she was sure to lie awake for hours, trying to think about something that didn't hurt.


“I don't want to burden you,” she said sadly, backing up a few steps. “It's probably best if I try to make it back to my own den. I tend to be a restless sleeper.” If I sleep at all, she thought to herself. She smiled sadly and began to turn to leave, truly believing that it was best if she let him be. She was not a fun wolf to be around, especially at night when the ghosts of the past came to haunt her.