Mabel had been to this place once before, when she had gotten lost and Lila had had to come and getter much to her displeasure. Now that she was a year older the Donata was confident that she would be able to find her way home before nightfall as long as she kept a good pace. And, if she was a couple hours in the dark she hardly cared. While things were less tense between her mother and father things still weren’t the way they were before and after her conversation with Ayla she could no longer ignore it.

But, it had all been enough to light a fire under her ass to buckle down and really work at becoming a scout. Or at least that was what she told her parents when or if they asked why she was spending so much time out of the territory. She was exploring and practicing, honing her skills at tracking and finding her way back. If she got good enough then by her second birthday she could officially become a scout and there would be less questions asked about her lack of time.

If only she had somebody she could be doing this with. She had her litter-mates, and the occasional visit to Sachiel but Mabel longed for more. She wanted a friend who could be with her on her adventures, or that she could rendezvous with, some kind of meaning to her life other than avoiding her parents.