A few weeks had passed. Andrew's days had comprised eating, lending Rah'asu his vitality, and sleeping. To his relief, Rah'asu, who had found out was female, was looking much better. He had also suspected something. It was that, despite her injuries having healed fairly well, he had noticed that she was always tired except for a few hours after Shimeirin's treatments. He guessed Rah'asu would never fully recover from her injuries. On the bright side, Rah'asu had taught him words in her language. Her and their lack of energy meant they didn't spend too much time conversing, but it was nice being able to ask for simple things instead of gesturing. He even found that Shimeirin spoke the language too, so it was nice that he could use more than emotions to communicate. Rah'asu had moved herself to the door and watched whatever was going on outside. She often did this when she was waiting for him to wake up and would return to her bedding near his cage. Today she sat on her haunches and stared at him. He had been able to pick out some of her emotions despite having the face of a wolf and today he felt something scared her. "Leave." She said. "You." Andrew said to her, "Go?" He wondered if she was finally feeling good enough to not receive his help anymore. "Andrew. Rah'asu. Go. Danger." The wolf spoke. Andrew was still weirded out hearing a human voice coming from a wolf. Andrew looked around. He already knew he was in danger and felt that the wolf people would kill him as soon as Rah'asu was better. Was she giving him a heads up? Rah'asu left the building. It was already nighttime and the light bustle of the village had already died down so he felt he had at least until morning and Rah'asu was going back to her family so she wouldn't have to be by him anymore. He had tried to prepare himself for when the time came for them to execute him, but his heart began to pound and his hands started to tremble. Deep down mixed with that fear he also felt relief. Despite the last few years being O.K., the scars of his childhood haunted him every day. He couldn't even escape in his dreams at night. No. Live. Came Shimeirin's thoughts. He also felt worry and sympathy. How? He asked her. How was he supposed to live? He had no energy to run, there werewolf people that hated him, and he knew going back into the forest would be his death either through starvation or becoming a wild animal's meal. Shimeirin didn't reply. Rah'asu returned a few minutes later. She was carrying a large bag made of animal skin. She looked at him, dropped the bag and approached the cage. It was filled with food. Was she doing what he was thinking she was doing? "Andrew. Rah'asu. Go. Danger." There is danger. You and I need to go. Is that what she meant? Andrew shook his head. Helping him would mean leaving her village and he doubted she would make it far. Rah'asu began removing the chains from the cage. She really would help him escape. Andrew had resigned himself to dying, but Rah'asu's willingness to help him made him think he shouldn't be too sure about that. It was small but now he wasn't alone. Never alone. He felt Shimeirin tell him. Andrew looked down at the bracelet. It had been with him the whole time, but he had never felt of it as a companion and more of an oddity. He would have to rethink that. Shimeirin had proven to be intelligent and had shared many emotions. He guessed the real reason though was that he felt it was its fault he was in his situation. He was sure that if it wasn't for Shimeirin, he would still be with his friends. "Come," Rah'asu said as the chain fell from the door. Andrew opened the door just enough for him to squeeze out. It squeaked as he did so, but not as much as he had worried it would. "Thank you." He said as he moved next to the wolf. He wanted to stand up but being stuck in the cage for so long without enough room to stand had made his back and joints protest at the thought. Rah'asu looked to him then padded to the door. There hadn't been guards stationed outside recently so that was nice. He was still confused why but guessed the men had more important things to do. He didn't want to overthink the situation so left it at that and joined Rah'asu by the door. It was hard to see much detail outside the building as it was well into the night. There weren't any sources of light that he could see either. He had at least expected some well-placed torches or a guard with one but saw nothing. Rah'asu searched, then sniffed the air. "Come." She said and limped as quickly as she could into the night. It was dark but he could see far enough in front of him he felt confident that he wouldn't trip over anything. He felt Shimeirin's nervousness and realized he shared the feeling. He pushed some hope towards Shimeirin and felt a little bit of encouragement in return and without further thought; he scrambled after the wolf. Rah'asu stopped just past the tree line and watched the village while Andrew caught up. Thanks to the wolf's injuries she hadn't been able to go much faster than he had, and if he had run normally, he imagined he would have passed her easily. Andrew turned to get one last look at the village. He only saw the outlines of the nearest buildings and was certain that if someone was hiding or following them, it wouldn't be hard to miss them. Light? Shimeirin said. Later. Andrew wanted light, but not until they were farther away. Shimeirin had always been insistent on having some light at night, but the wolves got angry any time he let Shimeirin use any of its abilities other than healing Rah'asu. Rah'asu turned from the village and headed into the forest. Just before he turned he saw the shape of a wolf sitting next to the prison building. It was sitting and looked to be turning towards them. It made no cry or made any attempt to give chase. The journey was difficult. With Rah'asu's condition they had to make many stops, and she could not traverse some more difficult terrain. Andrew had even carried her much of the time, which was only possible because she was so light. Too light. He and Shimeirin were both worried that she would starve to death. On the bright side, when Rah'asu had energy she taught Andrew many things. Foremost was how to find food and how to prepare it. To Andrew's surprise he found that many more edible plants than he had thought. Most tasted horrible, and many had to be boiled but it was enough. *** "Nice!" Andrew said as Rah'asu's dirt spear pegged a rabbit into the ground. Andrew found that Rah'asu could form projectiles using dirt. The wolf did the best smile a wolf could at the praise. He felt a twinge of envy from Shimeirin. Look more rabbit. Shimeirin told Andrew. It didn't take them long before another rabbit shot out of a bush. Moments later a spear of magic hardened dirt shot towards the rabbit but was too slow and shattered on the ground before turning back into soft dirt. Grrrr! Shimeirin shouted in his head. Andrew laughed. It had surprised him at how competitive Shimeirin had become. What amused him more was that Rah'asu had no idea that Shimeirin was feeling this way. Shimeirin had yet to kill a rabbit. I'm going back. Andrew told Shimeirin and headed back to Rah'asu. Mnf. Shimeirin grumbled. Despite her trying so hard to kill rabbits like Rah'asu, I could tell that it relieved her she hadn't. It made Andrew smile. Andrew picked up Rah'asu's rabbit and began to skin it. While Andrew did this, Shimeirin levitated some rocks and woods into a fireplace and lit it. Rah'asu formed a pot out of rocks and filled it with water, both using magic. It still amazed Andrew at the growing number of things these two could do with magic. He wished he could do use it too as he felt useless. "Almost done," Andrew said and rotated the rabbit on a stick over the fire. Rah'asu's head shot up and looked to the forest. Andrew looked in the same direction and soon heard something rustling nearby. Andrew and Rah'asu stood up and Shimeirin formed a one of her horrible dirt spears. Rah'asu sniffed. "Rabbit kin?" Rabbit kin? Rah'asu called herself Wolf Kin so that meant... "Giant rabbit?" "Yes." Rah'asu and Andrew looked at each other. Shouldn't be too dangerous. "I am sorry." Rabbit ears and soon a rabbit head emerged from a bush. "(?) share (?) food?" Andrew was happy he understood most of what the rabbit said. Rah'asu sat on her haunches, made a barely audible whine, and shook her head. "No," Andrew said. The rabbit kin looked from Andrew to Rah'asu. "Please." It said and stepped out of the bushes revealing the largest rabbit Andrew had seen by far. "Rabbit kin, huh?" Like small rabbits more. Shimeirin said. Big rabbit more scary. Andrew said as he gave the rabbit kin a closer look. It had long brown ears, that weren't floppy, the left one having a large black spot of fur at the tip. Its face was pointed with a twitching nose, brown fur, and a large black patch that covered part of its mouth and chin. The rest of its body was much the same as one would expect for a rabbit with brown fur and the occasional black patch. Its white-furred tail twitched. "Ah, names." The rabbit kin said. "I am called Insu." It turned to look at Rah'asu and Andrew again. "Wolfkin and... wolfkin?" "Eat him?" Rah'asu said and turned to Andrew. "I do not taste good," Insu said. "Typical answer." Andrew grinned. Both Rah'asu and Insu looked at him. He had slipped into English again. Andrew shook his head. He didn't feel like translating it into their language. "No eat you." "Thank you... um..." "Andrew." "Thank you, Andrew," Insu thought for a second, "You have strange name." "From far away." "Me too." "Oh?" Insu pointed to the north, "About a week's walk that way." Andrew and Shimeirin laughed. "We traveled three weeks," Rah'asu said with a huff. Andrew hadn't been counting days, so he had lost track. It had seemed longer than that. "Wow! Wolf Kin travel far." He looked to Rah'asu. "He is Andrew and you are?" Rah'asu ignored him and grabbed the rabbit from the fire. It was a little burned. Insu turned back to Andrew. "She ... me." Andrew was fairly certain the second word was 'ignore' based on Rah'asu's snub but wasn't sure. "Will Andrew tell me?" "Nope," Andrew said and began preparing to eat some boiled tubers. Tell him. Shimeirin said and gave off a stern feeling. Nope. Andrew replied. Tell him. Nope. Mean. Yep. Mnf! Andrew laughed. "What is so funny?" Insu asked as he sat across from Andrew. Before Andrew could reply Insu began to transform and in a few moments, a tall lanky man in what looked to be his mid to late twenties replaced the rabbit. He had brown hair the same color as the rabbit's fur with a black patch near his left ear. His face was angular except for a short nose. His body was in fairly good shape though it was obvious he had eaten little lately. His clothes were roughly made of what looked to be wool. Andrew's biggest question was where the clothes went while they were animals. Magic... "Nothing..." He wasn't sure he wanted to reveal Shimeirin just yet. "Hmm..." Insu looked disappointed. "What are you eating?" "Rah'asu eating rabbit," Andrew looked to Rah'asu and saw her smirk at Insu. "I eating tubers... again... maybe find insects later." Insu sniffed at the rabbit. "Can I have? I have not had rabbit in a while." My mouth fell open. The rabbit kin was a cannibal? Maybe? "No," Rah'asu said. Andrew felt Shimeirin also found this situation weird. He agreed with her. "Tubers it is." Insu looked at the rabbit and Andrew could see the hunger in his eyes but he slowly turned his attention to the pot. Andrew was happy at how much of the conversation he had followed. He still couldn't speak well himself, but he could understand much of what I said to him. He was thankful the language wasn't difficult to learn. "No eat tubers," Andrew said. There was barely enough to satisfy himself. Grrrr! Shimeirin was mad. Share! But... Andrew really didn't want to. Share! Shimeirin was mad. Andrew had never felt Shimeirin like this before. Something smacked the side of Andrew's head. "Ow!" Share or more rocks at head! OK! OK! I will share! Andrew knew at this moment that he would respect Shimeirin far more than he had been. "Attack!?" Both Rah'asu and Insu stood up and looked around. "Shimeirin," Andrew said as he rubbed the side of his head. "Oh..." Rah'asu said and looked at Andrew. "Shimeirin?" Insu looked in confusion between Andrew and Rah'asu. Andrew really didn't want to explain Shimeirin and he could tell that Shimeirin wasn't too sure about the idea either. "Tubers OK Insu." Andrew distracted the rabbit kin with food. His eyes lit up. "Thank you! I ... should have learned to find food before I was (?) from my village." That last bit caught Andrew's attention. He was what from his village? "Rah'asu, what (?) mean?" Rah'asu thought for a moment. "Now that I ... about it, Andrew speaks like a child (?)" Insu gave Andrew a close look. Andrew looked back to Rah'asu. "Village leave push." Andrew thought. They pushed him out of his village? Banished? They banished the rabbit kin? Probably for eating rabbit. Insu's eyes lit up. "Andrew does not speak the kin! You are human?" Insu looked Andrew over. "Are all humans like that. So (?) but big meat." Andrew looked to himself. Big meat? Muscle? Andrew laughed. He guessed comparing to the lanky and fragile looking rabbit Kin his muscles looked bigger. On Earth, he was average but here where rabbit men looked almost anorexic he looked beefy. Shimeirin likes Insu. Insu become friend(?)? Shimeirin's comment caught Andrew by surprise. Shimeirin was usually so passive. If Shimeirin trusts Insu. Insu seemed to be a genuinely good... person... and if Shimeirin trusted him Andrew would too. If worse came to worse, it would be easy rabbit meat... No. Shimeirin said to the thought of eating Insu. Shimeirin's attitude was making Andrew thrilled. He hoped that this meant Shimeirin was opening up more and he would get to know more about it/him/her. It still wouldn't tell him anything about it, though did bracelets even have a gender? If he had to guess, Shimeirin was a girl. With this and his kin language skills improving every day, he hoped his relationship would keep improving. "Cloud," Insu said after scrutinizing Rah'asu again. "I will call you Cloud." Rah'asu looked conflicted, as weird as seeing a conflicted wolf was. Andrew wondered if she would surrender to the rabbit and tell him her name or accept the name 'Cloud.' Shimeirin was very interested. "No," Rah'asu growled. "Rabbit kin..." "You are Cloud. Andrew, Cloud, and Insu. New friends." Shimeirin not need to ask make fwend... frend... friend. Andrew said seeing as Insu liked them for some reason. No, it was because of food. He liked them because they had given him food. Insu fun. Rah'asu... not fun. Shimeirin felt bad after she said how she felt about Rah'asu. Rah'asu always tired. Andrew agreed that Rah'asu wasn't the most fun to be around as she either slept or taught Andrew. Rah'asu... Shimeirin felt sad. What surprised Andrew was that she also felt guilty, not about saying she wasn't fun but something else. "Rah'asu!" Rah'asu growled. "My name is Rah'asu. Stop calling me Cloud!" Rah'asu lost. Andrew said and smiled. Rah'asu lost. Shimeirin agreed and some of her earlier happiness came back. "Who is Rah'asu? All I see here is Andrew, Cloud, and me." "Ahh!!!!" Rah'asu growled and covered her head with her paws. Andrew, Insu, and Shimeirin laughed. "So where are you going?" Insu asked Andrew. "Don't know." Andrew really had no clue. They had been heading east, so he had assumed Rah'asu was taking him some place Terrans were more common. "How about you?" "I do not know either! Stayed in my village my whole life. I was (?) I would find someone and go with them. Thanks to my good rabbit Kin hearing I could find you." "Better not stay with us. Rah'asu says most kin won't like me." "I do not see why. You seem like a good person." "I'm a Terran." "Never heard of a Terran before. You from far away?" "Very." "Oh, you said you have been walking for three weeks. Is that how far?" "Can't walk to Terra from here." "Oh! Are you from the other side of the Barrier and the other side of the ocean? How did you get passed it?" A barrier? This was the first Andrew had heard of it. "Andrew?" "Oh, yes, came through the barrier. Don't ask how." "What is it like?" "Uhh..." How much should he tell Insu? "Came from city so. Not many trees or animals. I didn't travel much." "Oooh. A big city? How many people?" Andrew didn't know how to go into the high numbers in Kin speak. "Higher than I can count in kin speak." "How high can you count in Kin speak?" "Uh... to I never thought to ask but lots." Andrew spent the rest of the day trying to explain things to Insu and thought he did well despite the language barrier. It surprised him at how well he could speak despite only speaking it for a little more than a month. He guessed it was because learning kin speak was the only thing they could do to pass the time. *** "Where ARE we going, Rasu?" Insu asked the wolf after another tuber and grub breakfast. "Rah'asu," Rah'asu growled. Andrew looked at Rah'asu. She looked tired as usual but now she looked tired in a different way thanks to Insu. Andrew felt the same way. It had taken Insu well passed sundown to stop talking. Andrew hoped he would talk less after he got his weeks of being alone out of his system. "I want to know too." Andrew still didn't know either. Granted, he hadn't asked and Rah'asu hadn't volunteered the information either. "Melche's ... to the north," Rah'asu said without looking at him. "Oh! But why are we heading east if we need to go north?" Insu looked just as confused as Andrew felt. "You..." Andrew felt at that moment that Rah'asu's opinion of Insu went even lower. "There is a way through the ... to the east. Or we could climb over them." "I think I will take the easy way." Insu laughed and rubbed the back of his head. I really need to ask Rah'asu more things. It's been almost a month, and I finally found out where we are going. Still, three weeks ago he could barely speak to her... Too busy finding food and learning. Shimeirin said. How easy were his thoughts to read? It was true. Do you know where this Melche place we are going is? Yes. Shimeirin offered nothing else. "Thinking about something?" Insu asked Andrew. Andrew had been staring at nothing when he was talking to Shimeirin and jerked his head towards Insu. Did he always do that when he was talking to Shimeirin? He would have to ask Rah'asu. "Ah, yes. Curious what this Melche thing is." "I bet it is better than my village chief's house looks like." "Of course it would. Rabbit kin are notoriously bad at building anything." Rah'asu said. Tell Rasu to stop being so mean to Insu. Shimeirin said. Heh. You're calling her Rasu now. Andrew liked Shimeirin's growth since Insu had arrived. "Stop being so mean Rah'asu." Andrew was so tempted to call her Rasu too. He could feel slight disappointment from Shimeirin when he didn't. "I don't mind. We do have the habit of chewing on our houses when we are rabbits." Insu transformed into a rabbit and acted like he was chewing on something. Insu should stay that way. Shimeirin said with some adoration. Yes. Especially if predators find him more tasty than me that way. Andrew teased. Well, rabbit tastes good. Shimeirin felt guilty at admission. "Let us go. We are only a few days away." Rah'asu said as she got up and headed into the forest.