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Morning came about with the noise of trees being dragged around, various grumbles and comments from outside the hut. Granh's clan already hard at work, even as the sun just crept over the horizon and started to filter through some of the trees. I gave Jes a soft squeeze and a kiss good morning before slipping from her arms and stepping outside.

Most of the camp had already been cleared of debris, and half of the huts and tents were already mended and were in the process of being set back up. Granh was standing in the center where the camps fire had been, watching the progress carefully. "I wish I could have done more to keep this from happening Granh, I really do."

He rested a paw on my shoulder and nodded, thinking for a moment. "You saved most of our homes, kept the land ours, and importantly, none of my clan were hurt. I should thank you."

"That's what friends do. What can I do to help?" I ask, shifting a bit from the weight on my shoulder.

He laughed softly, "Get yourself something to eat and wake your mate. Once you're both up and moving you can help us by gathering new wood for the fire and perhaps do some hunting."

"Sure thing," I turned to wake Jes before his comment registered between my ears, "Did you just call her?" Again he laughed softly and nodded, "Even my mate isn't at my side as often as she is to yours. You two should have a word about that."

I shook my head in disbelieve and again turned to the hut we'd claimed for now, dipping my head in to see Jes still happily napping, curled up. "Hey sleepy, time to get moving." I kissed about her ears, neck, and lips until she started to giggle and squirm. "Come on then, lets get you fed and get started" I offered her my hand and she whined slightly before taking in and standing.

The two of us left the tent, heading over to some of the racks of meat that were still left standing. Granh watched us casually and my gaze met his for a moment. He laughed again softly at me, then returned to supervise his clan. Jes tore a pair cooked boar sides from what hadn't already been cut away and set to dry out, handing me a piece to eat.

"So how hard did you have to hit Granh to sneak back here last night?" I teased softly before starting my breakfast.

"About half as hard as I was going to hit you when I got here" was her reply before starting in on her own slab of pork.

We leaned lightly on each other, finishing our breakfast in short order then turning to face the camp. "Well, shall we go gather some wood to relight the fire?" I asked, petting a hand at the small of her back, pushing gently in the direction of some of the trees hauled out of the way from the storm.

"Sure thing, you cut, I'll stack" Was her simple reply, she wiggled back against my hand with a smile before heading over to the fallen trees, myself a step behind.

I relaxed some and with little effort was able to reach out and touch earth once more, followed by air and water. Using just one element at a time, I went to work, quickly cutting the logs to size. Water to dry out the wood, Earth for strength and air to cut deep into the bark. Once, twice, and the third would usually go through the full thickness of the tree. The pattern was a little mind numbing, but the touch of water and air kept my mind clear and focused with each strike. Jes giggle just a little at me as I worked, my progress was swift and precise and she was having to scoot just a bit to keep up with me as I cut down the last two thirds of the last tree. Jes had been busy, we had a nice pile of wood ready in the center of the camp and a decent stack ready to go nearby.

Granh seemed to have everything under control here, so I figured we'd see about gathering some food as we'd been eating some of their stores almost since I arrived. "Jes, care to come hunting with me?" I asked with a smile, I knew she'd want to go, to break away from the routine for a little bit. Plus, it'd give us a little private time to talk.

Jeseia nodded over to me once before slipping over to rummage around the camp, finding a spear we would use for the day. She scooted back over quickly, spear in hand and ready to go. "Lead the way my dear" I teased, motioning to the woods.

I was rewarded with a tail flicked at me when she turned and started trotting lazily ahead, myself behind keeping pace with just a little bit of help from my elemental communes. She stopped a few hundred yards from camp, looking about before settling down in a crouch. "This path leads to a water hole, and it looks like some of the game come by. We'll wait here."

I crouched softly behind Jes, leaning on a tree truck while we waited. After half an hour or so of silence, I just couldn't hold back my question. "Jes, where is your mate?"

Her tail bristled a moment and she glared at me for several moments more before her features went soft and she closed her eyes, remembering with a slight whimper. She turned again to keep an eye out for game. "Why do you ask? And why now?"

"Granh suggested I ask actually, Sorry, I didn't know it was a touchy subject"

"I swear that wolf has more fox in him than most foxes I know." She mumbled quietly, "He died, 10 years ago. He was taken slave, I tracked him to the village that you came to. Torrnal. I worked there with a blind apothecary while tracking down what I could of his captures. One morning before I left the old woman to her shop to do some scouting she held me back."

Jes again closed her eyes, remembering painfully, "She had me sit and drink tea with her, she wouldn't let me leave until she'd finished her tea and I handed over mine. The old woman was a scryer, a far-seer. She could pull water and spirit and see what has happened. Her eyes were lost, but she saw better than most. And she told me to stop my hunting and searching. She told me to let it go, he was already gone and wouldn't be coming back. I looked for another week before hearing that a fox clan had been caught and killed for escaping a traders caravan and fleeing to town. That was my mate."

"I'm sorry Jes, I shouldn't have pried into things."

She nodded just slightly before smiling and leaning over to kiss me once delicately. "That void in my life hasn't been so bad the past two weeks. Don't worry about it. What about you? No girl in your life?"

I blushed slightly with a shake to my head, "Not really, I left everyone at home to come here. Though there is one, but I'm afraid my parents wouldn't like her one bit."

Jes visibly pouted just a moment before asking, "Oh? And what's she like?"

"Well, shes kind, excitable. Orange, fuzzy, and letting a deer sneak by her while staring at me right now" I smiled as the foe bounded off when Jes turned sharply to look for the animal. "Excuse me, let, not letting. It's gone now" I teased.

Jes laughed softly and flopped down onto her backside, leaning lightly against me with a contented sigh, idly watching around the woods. "There'll be another one, some time."

We spent most of the evening there, watching for game and enjoying our quiet company together. Another deer, or for that matter any game, never did come by. But we were not that disappointed, the down time was a pleasant diversion.

Come dusk we slowly made our way back to the wolf clan camp, Granh nodded as we stepped from the trees. "You do not carry any meat back with, but you didn't come back empty handed either." Jeseia muttered passively, "More fox than foxes I know," and I chuckled quietly. For being a gruff old wolf, he seems to know quite a bit more than he lets on.

"It will be a half moon in two nights Jeseia, and you have a days travel ahead of you." He stated softly before turning back to the rest of clan, lighting the fire for the evening.

"I know Granh, we've already talked about it and I think I have it control. And that's awfully nosy of you to mention." Jeseia teased back at him before turning to our hut and stretching out cutely right in the middle of the straw mat.

I slowly lowered myself next to her, slipping a paw just under her blouse to pet at her soft belly fur while getting comfortable myself. "What happens on the half moon?" I idly asked as we settled in for the night.

"We'll be going north so I can train you to commune with the final element Tan, then you'll have all I can teach you. Now get some rest, We'll get up early in the morning, pack up, and head out." She wiggled just a little closer to me and rested her paw lightly atop my hand on her tummy, petting her fingers over mine before yawning sleeping and drifting off to sleep.

I laid there quietly, taking a while longer before I could sleep as well. She really hadn't mentioned much about the next and final training. I didn't know whether to expect sitting in water or sitting in fire. Sleep claimed me soon enough, I'd have to worry about that tomorrow.