“What that bird ever do to you?” Vaken’s tone was fairly light, but his words were rather emotionless. He was only speaking to let the male know he was there, relaxing under the warm sun. It was very hot, so he curled up under a tree in the shade. It did very little to bring down his body temperature, but he had no better ideas. Salivating off his tongue in quick, frantic breaths, the yearling was warmer than he had been in days. 


He drooled onto the ground and groaned, trying his hardest to catch a cold breeze. There wasn’t much air circulating. He sighed, dropping his head on his paws. He couldn’t imagine what it was like for Ferrieran, since the male was completely black. Vaken’s legs were a few degrees hotter than the rest of his body because of it.

Letting out a loudly obnoxious yawn, the tangled haired boy rolled onto his back. He felt carefree and comfortable, but the heat was negatively impacting his mood. Trying to brush it off, the small yearling scrambled closer into the shade. “What are we gonna do today?”

There weren’t a lot of options. It was too hot for a lot of activity. He glanced around the woods, trying to figure out his plans. He didn’t want to go swimming. He wasn’t hungry- and it was too hot to hunt. He wasn’t necessarily thirsty. Exhaling deeply, Vaken stretched out his hind legs and wagged his tail slowly. They just had to rest for now. Once sun began to set, maybe they would practice fighting with one another. He wanted to work on his combat skills, and Ferreiran was the best wolf for it. “You must be dying with all that black fur. You feeling okay?” 


He looked over at his buddy with a quizzical glare. It was hard to tell what Ferreiran was thinking and feeling sometimes, but it didn’t hurt to ask.

Bubbling laughter rose through the small wolf’s throat. He chuckled for a few minutes under his breath, shaking his head in disbelief. The other wolf didn’t speak much, which made it funnier when he did. His blatant honesty was well respected to the yearling, something he admired. Showing a rare sign of empathy, the speckled wolf opened his mouth to speak. “You can sleep for a bit if you need too, I can keep watch.”

Vaken wasn’t tired, and was certain he’d manage to be alert and on guard for the other wolf. The heat took all the energy out of him and he knew that the other wolf could probably use some safe sleep. Rolling back onto his belly, Vaken stretched his neck by tilting his head left and right.

If Ferreiran was going to rest, it was up to Vaken to distract himself. Slowly the male rose to his feet and yawned. He wasn’t going to stray to far from the black male, not when he was meant to keep watch, but he had to do something. If he just stayed laying there, he was going to want to sleep too. There had to be something worth entertaining himself with.

Sniffing along the forest floor, the small boy tried to count the small flowers he saw. The grass was getting incredibly dry, almost turning yellow. There weren’t many flowers at all. They weren’t getting the water they needed to thrive. Walking about ten feet away from his resting companion, Vaken could only count three- no wait four- flowers. “Are you asleep yet?” he called towards his friend.

When his companion got up, Vaken smiled. Even though he had offered the wolf his protection, he didn’t want Ferreiran to sleep- not really. He wanted to do something. The most important thing he could think of was travelling, learning more about the area. Drinking water would be good, if they could first a clean source. There was a lot for them to do now that the sun was setting, but Vaken craved leaving the area more than anything. 


Shaking out his fur, the yearling gestured towards the east with his nose. “We should move out. The coyotes are going to come for us if we keep hanging around.” He didn’t feel like fighting any of them tonight, especially just to defend a piece of land that wasn’t theirs. He’d much prefer leaving, finding something with better prey to feast on. Now that the night breeze would be on them, they could afford to waste some energy.

He started to walk back the way they had come, a slow walking pace, keeping pace with Ferreiran. Together the two of them drifted off into the shadows.

*fade*