"Bark!"

"RAHHHH!"

A wooden stick slammed into the side of the wolf's head as it went in for the kill. It didn't throw the wolf, only change its trajectory midair. White hit the ground pivoting on its front legs the face her target.

"Come on, I can tell your aiming for my neck. Don't go for the same spot" White leapt at Joseph, "every TIME!"

'Not going to let me speak huh.' Joseph barely dodged the attack by stopping it with another strike to White's head.

"Huh!"

Snap. 'White went for my spear?'

White spit out the broken piece of the spear and watched Joseph who now stood with a much shorter spear.

'I swear if I didn't know any better I would think you could understand me. Not only did you attack my spear but you took away the sharp end along with a third of my spear! Without it I can't beat you head on...but.' Joseph snapped his spear in two over his knee while kicking off his boot. White instantly leaped forward after it.

"Every time." Joseph threw a piece of spear knocking the shoe to the side of White and the wolf's head followed it. Using the opening Joseph grabbed White in the air and used the momentum White already had to slam the wolf into the ground. Joseph held his hands tightly around White's throat, "Woof!" a frustrated bark came from the defeated wolf.

Joseph released White, "Haha, you wouldn't have lost if you didn't have that obsession with my bootlaces. Now thinks to you I have to make a new spear so you better go fetch me some dinner fast."

White went to bark in protest but was cut off, "No, don't you dare. That was a fair fight and I won! You wouldn't be complaining if I lost and had to get dinner, so I don't want to hear it." Joseph turned away not glancing back.

'Breaks my spear and doesn't even apologize? I liked that spear!' Joseph walked around looking up and kicking the trunks of trees.

'This one looks like a good one. That branch right there--no, there looks good.' Climbing up the tree Joseph hacked away at a branch with a sharp rock until.

Snap.

Pummff.

"Owch, darn branch broke faster than I thought. Maybe it isn't a good one after all? No, it was too much work not to be good." Joseph picked up an end of the branch and put it on his shoulder, "It's a good size around too so I won't have to whittle it down, and it's got extra branches for firewood, perfect."

Dragging it along Joseph walked, almost hopping with each step. A tune came to his mind and he began to hum it, 'It's been so long since I've hummed this what was--' Joseph stopped, walking and humming, looking up into the sky.

"Trying to slip your way back in I see?"

Silence.

"Don't think I've forgotten about you! I'm getting stronger every day, without your help and without your power!" Lowering his head Joseph spoke so only he could hear, "Trying to trick me into singing 'that' song. Ha, as if I would." Joseph then picked up the branch, this time completely off the ground, placing it on both shoulders and resting it against the back of his head. With it secured he took off running.

"Stronger...hhh... Stronger."

After making his way back to the cave Joseph saw a small bear lying by the fireplace. Joseph smiled while whipping the sweat from his face, “Didn’t expect that, must have been a cub who wondered off...kind of like us." White sat next to it drooling, occasionally licking its lips.

"I'm very impressed you didn't start eating it already." Patting White's head he continued, "It's been a while since we've had bear, you must have remembered how much better it is cooked." Joseph started a fire with the little bit of dried wood they had left. He then went to his branch, tapping it with his foot. "Do you mind giving me a hand with this, I could do it but I'm pretty tired from the hall and I could cook the meat faster if--"

White walked over to the branch and began biting off the smaller branches coming out the sides of the main one. "Thanks, White."

Using one of the now many sharp rocks he had in the cave Joseph skinned the bear, 'Man I've gotten good at this. Not too long ago, I was cutting myself left and right whenever I skinned something.' Joseph looked at the many scars on his hands. 'If only I hadn't lost that knife, it had a handle. These rocks are sharp everywhere so if you not careful how you hold them you end up cutting yourself.'

Joseph placed some meat on his makeshift cooker that was made of sticks, interlocked with each other. It had two levels, one for the food and one for drying wood. Joseph took the little branches White had broken off and put them up above the food on the second level.

"Hopefully by the time our firewood runs out these will be ready to burn. Time to get to work." Joseph clapped his hands and then yelled at White, "Don't go trying to get the food early, okay? The last thing I need is you burning your nose again." Joseph then began hacking and grinding the branch. It took him a while just to get the knots where the smaller branches had been out, so he currently had a staff, instead of a spear.

"Alright! time to eat." White began biting the air in anticipation of the meal, the sound of the wolf's jaws clamping shut echoed through the cave.

CHOMP. CHOMP. CRUNCH

White began eating her portion of the meal and Joseph dug in too.

"WHOOOoooo!"

"Oh quit it, If you eat any more you're going to pop, we'll just save it for tomorrow."

"Whooo."

"Here, chew on this for now." Joseph grabbed one of the small branches drying and held it out to White, who looked away from it.

"Don't be like that, I know it isn't that big around but you'll just have to be careful with it. Like you are when you bite me, haha."

White glanced at it with its left eye before turning and biting down hard on it.

"White!? You didn't have to break it on--" White removed its mouth from the stick, looking at it with a cocked head, "It's not broken?"

Joseph pulled the stick close and looked at it, 'No teeth marks either, how is it this strong? I wonder if.'

"White attack!"

Joseph threw the stick at White and the wolf caught it in its mouth.

SNAP!

'It broke instantly this time?' Joseph grabbed another stick, instantly slamming it down over his knee... 'Nothing.'

Joseph yelled, "Attack!" this time holding the stick instead of throwing it.

"Woof!" Chomp... nothing.

Joseph let go. SNAP. 'Amazing!' Joseph picked up the broken sticks and threw them into the fire, he then grabbed his unfinished spear and held the end he planned to sharpen into the fire.

Eagerly Joseph and White sat, watching the staff. The other sticks burned easily, crackling, and popping.

'Wait for them to turn black. Then we’ll see if it works, if not I'll just go ahead and sharpen the end and get rid of the burned parts.'

The small sticks finally began turning black as they burned and Joseph pulled the end of his staff out of the fire.

"Amazing, not a scorch mark on it!" Joseph held the end close to the fire spinning it, looking for any imperfections. Joseph swung the staff against the wall and White leapt back at the sound.

"Sorry, I should have warned you but look." Pieces of the rock wall fell to the ground but the staff was unharmed.

'I didn't notice while I was grinding away at the branch since I stand on the stick and hold a tool as I work, but for some reason, if I'm holding the staff it becomes unbreakable.'