FSE

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Chapter 4

The Muck

Alice awakes to Danahlia sucking on her ear. She starts, bumping the larger girl's chin, waking her up too.

"Agh, uh? Ugh, gross!" Alice exclaims, feeling the warm moisture left on the very tip of her right ear.

"Wha, what's wrong with you?" grumbles Danahlia, shimming back under some clothes.

"You had my ear, in your mouth!" Alice complains, using someone's shirt sleeve to wipe the slobber away.

Danahlia scrapes her tongue over her upper lip, "Ugh, I thought that dream tasted fuzzy."

Twinkaleni, awakened by the commotion, wiggles free from under Danahlia's other arm and scampers over to the window to announce, "The sky has finally cleared!"

Alice gets up, walking over damp floor boards, to open the door. Water still drips readily off every exposed surface but the clouds have all moved on, making way for the shining sun. Alice takes a deep breath, enjoying the freshness of the damp air.

"Guess that means we can finally get movin'," says Danahlia.

"Yes, at last we can- ugh, Danny, some modesty, please," says Twinkaleni, turning only to avert her gaze.

Alice looks over to find Danahlia, who's risen from the pile of clothes completely nude. She laughs and looks away as Danahlia stretches, "You guys are too bashful."

The girls pack there things and Danahlia dresses, eventually. Alice finds the leg meat left in the crab shell bowl has been smoked fairly well, and with a little scraping, doesn't taste half bad. On their way out, Danahlia gives the weathered shack's door frame a pat, saying, "Thanks for protecting us from the storm and junk."

The path they took to the shack has been entirely washed away but Twinkaleni suggests they try to reacquire it, thinking if this end led to the shack then the other end must lead to a larger path or even a village.

"If we can find a settlement of some kind, we'll be able to get an idea of where we are, perhaps even acquire a map," the little mouse bubbles, clearly very pleased to be on the road again.

"Yer, gat hounds goth," agrees Alice, munching on some of the dry, smoked meat.

Danahlia swallows a mouthful herself and gives the bit left in her hand a shake, "You did good takin' this thing down for us, Twinkie. Maybe we can bag another one before we get too far." The Murin grins widely and starts to nibble on her own breakfast.

Mud squishes under their feet, and the girls soon make a little game of hopping to the driest patches of earth they can find. As they hop along, Alice picks up a strange noise, a sort of high pitched hum just on the edge of her hearing.

Danahlia lands nearby and Alice gently tugs on her tail, "You guys hear that?"

"Hear what?" the Liguna asks, looking around for her next dryish patch.

Twinkaleni comes to a stop, tilting her head to listen, "That humming sound?"

"Yeah, what is that?" wonders Alice, her ears angling in different direction, trying to find where it's coming from.

"I don't hear anythin'," says Danahlia, preparing her next hop.

Alice tugs again on her tail, stilling the taller girl. The hum seems to be coming from everywhere, though looking around she doesn't see a source, only dripping trees and muddy grass.

The girls move on, walking now while listening for any change in the subtle sound that might indicate danger. Danahlia hears it too but is distracted by the discovery of more chickenwood mushrooms growing at the base of an old tree. They gather the lot, Alice and Twinkaleni looking around cautiously, while the lizard girl crams the fungi into their packs. Now standing still, Alice notices the buzzing is joined by a sporadic plopping. The girls own sloshing through the mud must have masked it before, for it sounds fairly close by.

"I believe that may be another of those massive creatures I slew before. Though I don't recall all this buzzing," informs Twinkaleni.

Danahlia scans around, putting the last of the mushrooms into Alice's backpack, "Good, we could use the meat. Make some more soup or somethin'."

"Wanna go hunt it? Maybe we can find out what's making that hum," Alice suggests, curious about the sounds.

The trio decides to make a short detour, following the plopping noises to their source. Both the hum and the wet little splashes get louder as they near their quarry. The puddles are larger and more frequent in the new direction, becoming unavoidable. Twinkaleni holds her baggy pant legs up, but their bottoms are still getting muddy. Grimacing as she plods behind the taller girls she suggests they head back and seek food in dryer locals.

Danahlia dismisses the little mage, claiming she sees something up ahead. Through the trees, Alice can see the source too, or sources of the noise. Things that look vaguely like giant toads are hopping madly around in the shallow muddy water. Their mottled skin blends in well with their now swampy wooded surroundings as they leap about on large hind legs, just like the ones the girls had eaten. Bulbous yellow eyes peer about from under thick rough looking brows, but most impressive are their mouths. The creatures' jaws are significantly larger than the toads Alice is familiar with. The edges of them curve up, giving them the impression that they are grinning rather sinisterly whenever their mouths are shut.

When open, a long fleshy pink tongue would often come lashing out at what looks to be giant mosquitoes. The beating of their wings is clearly the source of the high pitched hum as its loudest now. The insects must be at least as long as Alice's arm, sporting a proboscis nearly as long. The toad monsters are feasting on the mosquitoes, hitting them with their apparently sticky tongues and bringing them back to engulf the bugs with their abnormally large jaws. Strangely, the mosquitoes seem drawn to the toads despite this. The girls soon see why.

While eating a giant mosquito, one of the toads is surrounded by several more of the flying stick-limbed insects. Landing, they stick their straw like probes into the toad's back and after only a short while, the toad begins to deflate as if its insides were being sucked right out of it. Then, as the toad withers away, its eyes dissolve in wisps of smoke. Once the toad is only a skeletal husk the mosquitoes move on.

"Ticks and fleas! Did you see that? They just sucked that thing dry," Danahlia exclaims, pointing with her spear.

"Danny! Not so loud, they may hear us," Twinkaleni whispers harshly.

"We, we need to get outta here before they do that to us," Alice whispers, trying to keep calm.

In agreement, the girls start to sneak away. By this time, it seems the whole area has been engulfed in this bizarre battle. Giant mosquitoes buzz around getting eaten by toads, while some toads, and various other creatures, are literally drained of their life. Alice and Danahlia hand their packs to Twinkaleni so they may fight without hindrance, both readying their weapons. The girls try to avoid them but occasionally a mosquito will take interest. The insects seem unafraid or perhaps unaware of what the girls are capable of and the trio leaves a trail of dead bugs in their wake.

Alice and Danahlia stay close to Twinkaleni, guarding their little pack mouse as they try to find a way out of this mess. Fortunately, the mosquitoes' approach is very audible, which keeps the insects from surprising the girls, though even trying to avoid them, the frequency of encounters steadily increases. Alice cuts through wings and part of a body only to see another flying towards them in awkward, short swoops. The trees are hampering the insects, preventing them from gaining much altitude, which aids the girls in dispatching them. Lashing toad tongues frequently rip a mosquito from the air, but as the three press on, Alice notices the toads' numbers dwindling while the mosquitoes persist.

"Geez, they're freaking everywhere," grumbles Danahlia, beating a plump mosquito to the ground before piercing its body with the tip of her spear. Whatever poor creature it slurped up comes oozing out with a puff of steam. "Ugh, gross. Watch your feet," the Liguna warns.

The smell of whatever the massive insects inject into their prey to liquefy their insides is acrid and intensely so, making Alice's nostrils burn and eyes water. She hears another mosquito's high pitched wings coming close and through blurred vision she slashes upward, taking off a wing and a few limbs. The giant bug falls to the mud, stick like legs waving frantically as it fails to regain its footing.

As Alice turns back toward her companions, something warm and wet, slaps her ankle. She looks to see a fleshy pink tongue extending several yards away to a toad that hops eagerly toward her, grinning mouth open wide. Fortunately, the toad doesn't have a very good hold and Alice manages to pull away, but the tongue is so sticky that it tears a bit of fur off as it snaps back to its owner, making her cry out. The toad is quickly distracted by the swarming mosquitoes letting the girls hurry away.

They stumble on for some time, quickly becoming exhausted from having to fend off attack after attack. The mosquitoes are relentless and the toads are dangerous allies at best. Danahlia leads with Twinkaleni following while Alice covers the rear. Alice's sword, Jellybane, glows frequently to shed the various vital fluids that attempt to stain it. Even enchanted, the sword is still heavy and costs Alice precious stamina with each swing. Her breathing is rapid, arms tired, and lungs burn but she shambles on, her friends looking no better.

She nearly trips over Twinkaleni when the mouse girl falls face first into the mud. The backpacks she holds tumble from her grasp as she is immediately jerked away several feet by another toad's elastic tongue. The mage burbles and flails, the tongue having taken hold of one of her small bare feet.

"Twinkaleni!" cries Alice, using what little she has left to charge after the small girl as she is reeled in by the hungry monster. Danahlia turns in time to see Alice dash between the toad and its potential meal, coming down hard with a mud splashing chop that severs the toad's tongue. Alice rips off the fleshy pink bit stuck to Twinkaleni's foot, and then helps the Murin to her feet.

Danahlia takes the little mouse by the hand and pulls the sputtering girl along, calling, "Come on, we gotta go!"

Twinkaleni spits enough mud from her mouth to shout, "The packs!"

Alice turns to where the mouse girl had dropped the others' backpacks, but several mosquitoes are already too close to get to them safely. The Tokala gauges her remaining strength and how much she would need to dispatch the insects, take up the bags, and rejoin her companions before more arrive.

She's about to make her move when Danahlia shouts back to her, "Leave 'em! We gotta get outta here!"

Alice is about to try anyway but then notices more mosquitoes have already come and are attacking the tongue-less toad. It manages to hop at one, grabbing it in its mouth before the others pierce it with their proboscises. Watching this, she loses her chance and Danahlia shouts from further away, "Forget 'em, we need to go NOW!"

The girls limp along fending off more attackers, though their numbers steadily drop as the swampy forest gives way to more open country. A few of the hostile bugs managed to penetrate Alice's defenses and have left a handful of shallow stab wounds from where they tried to stick their sharp, rapier-like mouths into her. Danahlia has collected her share too, winding trails of blood running down her arms.

The Liguna turns around to scan for pursuers. Not finding any, she finally calls for a break. The trio collapses in to the damp grass, taking a moment to drink from their waterskins, assess wounds, and catch their breath. No one is badly hurt, but they did lose much of their supplies, mostly clothes, but also Alice's tent, bow, and shoulder bag, all their arrows, the crab shell bowl, and the core stones the two packs held.

As soon as she is able to speak, Twinkaleni gasps, "I'm... I'm sorry... I'm sorry."

Alice checks her ankle to find a small patch of black fur missing, the flesh underneath an angry red, "Don't pant it, it was just stuff. How's your foot?"

"Yeah, we can always get more," says Danahlia, distastefully wiping up a bit of her blood still oozing from a small puncture in her arm.

"I should... I should have, held onto them..." the little mouse goes on from where she lies on her back.

Alice crawls over to her and examines the foot the toad's tongue had stuck onto. Some of the skin has been removed and it looks dirty and painful, though Twinkaleni doesn't react to it. With a little water and a relatively clean bit of her blouse sleeve, Alice wipes away the mud around the wound. Twinkaleni twitches a little but otherwise stays still.

"It's ok, we can trade for more supplies in the next village. We still have your core stones," assures Alice.

Danahlia rolls the mouse girl to her side and removes one of the oversized shirts from her pack. The Liguna then begins tearing the garment into strips to be used as bandages. The girls patch themselves up and lay about for some much needed rest.

It's well into the afternoon when Danahlia, fiddling with the white fluff at the end of Alice's tail, asks, "Well, what should we do now?"

Alice looks to Twinkaleni, who has fallen asleep, her own movements feeling sluggish, "I think we need to find a village to get some supplies and rest. It's too dangerous out here in the open."

Danahlia sighs, but agrees. A village meant people, and people increased the chances of Danahlia's Liguna features being discovered, plus word of their passing might reach whoever was sent by the Order to find Twinkaleni. But now, hurt, tired, and low on supplies, their options were few. Danahlia crawls over to Twinkaleni. She then gently strokes her fur until the little Murin wakes.

Twinkaleni blinks sleep from her eyes, "Oh, I, I must have dosed off."

Danahlia smiles, "Yeah, you ready to get movin'?"

"Uh, yes, yes of course." As the little mouse girl rises and hikes up her back pack, she wonders, "Do we have a plan?"

"We need to find a village or somethin' to restock our supplies," answers Alice, adjusting the sword on her back.

"Right, so, the same plan we had this morning?"

"Yup, minus the monsters," Alice grins.

"Very well, which direction shall we wander in?" asks Twinkaleni, looking around.

"I got a good feelin' about thataway," announces Danahlia, pointing roughly northeast.

The girls walk for a few hours, the sparse trees giving way to flat grassy plains, and eventually find a road. This one is well defined and looks recently traveled, unlike the small path to the shack.

Danahlia conceals herself the best she can under her cloak, grinning, "See I knew this was a good direction."

Spirits up, they follow the road to wherever it may lead.

By evening, the trio can see a small town in the distance and as they near, the tiny light of candles can be seen in several windows. They travel off road for some time and into a crop of oak trees where Danahlia can keep hidden.

"We can probably fill up on water, but any shops are gonna be closed by now," says Alice, looking over the huddle of buildings.

Twinkleni takes a drink, "Indeed. The darkness will, however, be an excellent cover to search the town for those who may be willing to aid us. Danny, we cannot afford another incident like last time, you _must_stay hidden."

"I know, I know, geez, shed it already," the Liguna says, handing Alice her empty waterskins.

Danahlia then climbs one of the thicker oaks and, in the growing darkness, disappears into the branches. After back tracking to the road to help avoid suspicion, Alice and Twinkaleni head into town.

The moon has risen by the time they arrive on the outskirts. Fields for growing crops surround the town and look well-tended to. Few are still out and about though the sounds of the residence can occasionally be heard settling in for the night. The buildings here are largely composed of wood, just as the ones in Alice's village, though there are a few made of mud brick, and even some burrows dug into mounds.

Alice feels like an intruder, skulking around in the night within these unfamiliar surroundings. She whispers, "What should we look for first? A shop or a well?"

When her question goes unanswered, she looks to find herself alone in the middle of a main road. Looking back, she spots Twinkaleni a few houses away feeling around a fence post with a small gate leading into someone's front garden.

Alice makes her way over to the Murin, "What're you doin'?"

"Looking for the marks," she replies, feeling low on the fence post, particularly the back side facing the house. Not finding what she is looking for, she hurries on to another post before a different house.

Alice follows along, confused, "What marks?"

"It's a sort of code developed to aid refugees," she whispers, moving on to another.

Twinkleni explains while scampering from house to house, "Considering the long peace before the war, many do not harbor ill will toward the Cold Bloods. Few even lend aid when they can, despite the harsh penalties. Refugees, like Danny, have created a simple code to help others of their kind find these people when they are in need."

Alice crouches by Twinkaleni, "Are there lots of refugees?"

"Of course, some thousands were likely cut off from their homelands when the war broke out. Many travel in secret trying to avoid capture, just as we are."

"What does that have to do with touching fence posts?"

"I'll, oh, here, feel this," says Twinkaleni, gesturing for Alice's hand. Alice holds one out to her and the little mouse girl places it on the back side of the fence post, just above the ground. "Feel those?"

Alice feels around with her fingers where Twinkaleni guides her but aside from some scratches she doesn't feel anything unusual, "No, what?"

Twinkanleni guides her fingers with her own, "Those scratch marks."

"Uh, yeah, I feel those. Is that what you've been looking for?"

"Yes, two scratches and one dot. We found one," Twinkaleni whispers excitedly.

Alice moves her fingers around and can feel two horizontal scratches parallel to each other, maybe an inch long, and a tiny dip just under them like someone stabbed at the wood.

"What do they mean? Found what?" asks a curious Alice.

"It means we can go get Danny, come on," says Twinkaleni, grabbing Alice by the wrist to pull her back the way they came.

Alice trails the eager mage, staying low, back to the crop of trees where Danahlia is waiting. Once they're out in the grassy field, she asks, "The marks mean that house is safe?"

Without turning to her, Twinkaleni answers, "In all probability, yes, but we must still be cautious. Just because one house offers safety, doesn't mean the neighbors do as well, and we mustn't attract undo attention to those who would offer us respite."

Navigating by starlight, the two approach the cluster of oaks and call for Danahlia.

"Yeah, I'm here. That was fast, find anything good?" she calls from above.

"We found a sympathizer, two talons and a tooth," answers Twinkaleni.

Alice looks to the Murin, "We, what?"

Danahlia swings down to land beside them, "Wags, let's go."

The trio heads back to the house, Alice repeating, "Two talons and a tooth?"

"Oh yes, the marks. A talon is a scratch and a tooth is a dot. It's often wise to refer to them in code encase anyone is listening," says Twinkaleni.

"What do they mean?"

This time Danahlia answers, "It's a check list. Top mark is food, middle is shelter, bottom one is danger. If the top mark is a talon that means the people in that house might have food. If the middle one is scratched that means they may let you stay and rest for a little while. But if the bottom one is scratched that means the house and probably the rest of the town is bad."

"Indeed. Ours is a fortunate find. Two talons means they may offer us food and shelter," Twinkaleni adds.

The girls quiet down as they near the town, not wanting to alert anyone to their presence. Though the other two seem confident, Alice remains uncertain and cautious. In her experience, it was very rare that people gave without wanting something in return. When they approach the house, Danahlia feels for the marks too and nods her approval. A candle is lit in one of the windows but other than that the house is dark, as are most on the street.

They quietly open and close the short gate, a wooden fence extending from it and around the house, standing guard over a lovingly tended garden. The trio then follows a few stepping stones to the front door. The house isn't large but is definitely more than one room. Danahlia under her cloak, raps on the door a few times with a claw before looking away. After a few moments, Alice spots the shifting of a shadow by the candle light in the window. The candle then vanishes and after a few seconds more, a woman's voice calls through the door, "Yes?"

"Good evening madam, the moon is shining brightly tonight," says Twinkaleni and Alice looks at her, confused.

"Oh, and the luna lilly will bloom again at midnight," the woman replies as the door opens a few inches. The head that pokes out is that of a Lotarin in her middle years. The raccoon woman's black nose wiggles as she sniffs, white whiskers shifting on either side of her white furred muzzle. Black patches extend from her cheeks up to surprised, brown eyes. Her raised brows are white and fade into the dominate gray of her coat. "Why, you're only children."

"Yes. We seek refuge from the night, if you have any room to spare," says Twinkaleni.

Danahlia keeps silent but turns her head to the woman while Alice, unfamiliar with the situation, let's her companion do the talking.

The woman sees Danahlia and nods, "Of course, of course, come on in, hurry now."

The door opens fully and she ushers the girls inside, looking back along the road before closing the door behind them. Once in, the girls thank the rather squat, kindly woman for letting them into her home at such an hour. She shakes her head and gestures for them to follow her. She has a thick, ringed tail poking free from the back of a light blue night gown that covers most of her figure. The candle she carries only dimly lights the immediate area, covering the rest of the house in shadow.

The girls follow the woman in silence until she leads them to what looks to be the kitchen/dining area. Placing the candle on a counter top, the Lotarin woman pulls away a rug from the hardwood floor and then paws around as if feeling for something. Alice looks to her companions who simply wait patiently, so she does too.

The woman takes hold of something in the floor and pulls up to reveal a trap door concealing a stairway of packed earth. She then hands Danahlia the candle and gestures for them to go down, "Make yourselves at home, I'll be with you in two shakes."

Danahlia thanks the woman again and gets a smile before she hurries them below.

Alice follows her friends, noting how much cooler the air is underground. The candle light is obscured by Danahlia's body, but she can smell the dirt around them and reaches out to her sides to feel the earthen walls. After only a few steps, the girls come to a small chamber that must have once been the house's cellar, though now it has four old bedrolls on the floor in a loose circle around an end table. A thick, well used candle is on one corner of the table in a puddle of wax. Danahlia lights it.

"We can stay here?" asks Alice, breaking the silence.

"For a little while," answers Danahlia, setting down her spear and bow against a wall.

Twinkaleni removes her pack to let it rest against a table leg with a relieved sigh, she then begins rummaging through it. Alice looks around, finding a few vegetables hanging from twine along the inside of shelves carved from the earth. Seeing some garlic, potatoes, and carrots, Alice's stomach growls, reminding her they hadn't eaten since this morning. She's about to ask if they can eat the vegetables when the sounds of movement, back the way they had come, alerts them to the raccoon woman reappearing with a tray laden with a large bowl of something steaming, three spoons, and another lit candle.

"It's not much, but it'll get you through the night," she says, setting the tray on the table.

Twinkaleni approaches the woman and holds out three core stones of various colors, "For your trouble."

"Oh, those are beautiful," the woman says, peering down at them.

"You can trade them, they're worth quite a bit," informs Alice.

The woman smiles picking only one, the blue core, saying, "Blue's my favorite color." She then closes Twinkaleni's fingers over the others, "You hold onto those." With that, she looks over the girls in the greater light of the candles and shakes her head solemnly, "Goodness, you're all so young, and where did you get all those- never mind, never mind that now. Go on and eat before it gets cold. I'll see about changing those bandages." She lingers a moment more as the girls gather around the table before retreating back upstairs.

"What'd ya think?" asks Danahlia, picking up a wooden spoon and stirring what turns out to be a thin vegetable soup.

"She seems nice," says Alice, joining in.

Twinkaleni replaces the core stones before sniffing the soup, "Indeed. And a town of this size should have a few shops where we can trade.

"You guys did this kinda thing before, right?" Alice asks, looking around.

"Sure, lots o' times," Danahlia replies.

"If not for the sympathy people, such as our host, have for the plight of trapped refugees, we undoubtedly would not have lasted as long as we have," admits Twinkaleni, bringing a spoon to her mouth.

Twinkaleni goes on in length about various other times Danahlia and she had stayed with other sympathizers as the girls drink the soup, letting the warmth of it settle their rumbling bellies. Danahlia often interrupts the Murin to add her own colorful commentary and Alice listens, thinking how different her life has become since meeting these two, how fluid. Life back in Toki was uncertain but the tasks from day to day were fairly similar to each other. Now though, everyday seemed its own adventure.

The kind Lotarin returns with another large bowl, this one of plain water, and a modest stack of torn rags just as the girls finish the soup. The three thank her and she smiles, introducing herself as Anna Ringtail, while exchanging the empty soup bowl for the one filled with water. Alice and her friends introduce themselves in return as she sits beside Alice and starts to untie one of the bandages on her arm, saying, "You girls look like you've been on the road for a while now. Why not wash up a bit and we'll get these wounds checked."

Twinkaleni and Danahlia grab a rag each, dunk it in the water and begin cleaning themselves. They've all accumulated an unappealing amount of grime in their recent travels and eagerly scrub it off. The puncture wounds they received from the abnormally large mosquitoes have stopped bleeding but still look unpleasant.

Alice twitches uncomfortably as Ms. Ringtail removes the bandage, sticky with partially dried blood, asking, "Are you girl's traveling alone? Where are your mothers?"

The other two hesitate, so Alice answers, "We haven't any."

"Oh, oh I'm so sorry dear. I don't mean to pry. It's just been a while since I've had visitors. The last was a young Iguna man, a bit older than you dear," the raccoon woman says to Danahlia, "That was well over a month ago now. He didn't talk much or stay long, but he was a polite one."

Ms. Ringtail goes on about previous visitors, seemingly very eager to talk, while the girls do their best to clean up. After a few minutes she is looking curiously at a couple of the puncture wounds on Alice's body, "Now these remind me of the bites from those monstrous culicades. You girls didn't come from the southern muck did you?"

"We did travel here from the southwest," offers Twinkaleni.

"Oh goodness, then these are from those awful insects. You girls are lucky to be alive. Everyone 'round Carton knows not to be out in the muck after a good rain-"

"Carton, is that the name of this town?" asks Danahlia.

"Why yes, yes it is," Ms. Ringtail acknowledges, redressing Alice's arm, "Lucky for us those nasty things don't last. Pop up only long enough to be a bother to anyone not bein' careful, lay their eggs, and then, thankfully, die. Was a time before all this bloody war nonsense when folk would head into the muck and gather up their eggs, used to be somethin' to look forward to. My momma made the best culicades omelets in town, you ask anyone. Course, these days, with so many gone, there're just too many dangers out there now."

Ms. Ringtail goes on about better times and asks the girls a bit about themselves. Alice notices Danahlia and Twinkaleni are hesitant to answer questions fully and takes the cue to do so as well.

Out of nowhere, a strange feeling overwhelms the young Tokala while Ms. Ringtail is tying another new bandage over her shoulder. Tidal waves of nostalgia and grief have her vision blurring as she recalls times when her mother used to fuse over her whenever she got a cut or scrapped her knee when she was a kit. She tries desperately to force the intense feelings aside, shaking her head as if it might make the thoughts tumble out, but a tear rolls down her cheek instead.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, dear, was that one too tight? Here, let me loosen it," Ms. Ringtail offers taking hold of the cloth again.

Alice pulls away an inch, sniffing, "No, it's fine, thank you," and looks to the ground, more tears falling.

She burns with embarrassment, unable to face the others' gazes, as she frantically wipes her eyes. Suddenly, Danahlia is beside her, pulling Alice gently into her chest.

Cradling her head, the older girl whispers into her ear, "I know." Alice tries to pull away but Danahlia holds her tighter, repeating the words again and again.

Somewhere inside the young fox, a weathered dam finally breaks and she begins to cry.

The lost hope after she had heard of her father's death. The slow torture as she watched her mother slip away, and the feeling of abandonment after. Seeing her house after she was told she couldn't live there anymore. The times she'd stood alone after the other children were called home to dinner. The scrapes and cuts she had to patch herself. The long limps back to her hill after a nasty fall. The days of uncertainty when she wandered on an empty stomach, not knowing when or from where her next meal might come, and the hollowness that lingered even after she could eat. The late evenings she lay with no one to tuck her in. The dark nights when she had bad dreams and could only wait for dawn.

She thought these struggles had made her stronger. Stronger than the kids who still had at least one parent to rely on, who still had homes to go back to, and had someone to assure them that they were loved. To cry now would be to admit it was all a lie. To cry now would be to admit that she was just as weak and frightened as she had always been. But she just can't force it back any more.

To burden someone else with her weakness makes Alice feel horribly ashamed even as she bawls in Danahlia's arms. Danahlia had lost her parents too, and Twinkaleni never even got to know hers. They didn't cry. How could she be so weak, so frail, after all she endured? It makes her furious with herself, until she feels moisture dripping atop her head, just before Danahlia's damp chin comes to rest between her ears. As the two share their wordless pain, Twinkaleni offers a small hand on both their arms, though the youngest of the group only stands in silence.

An unknown time later, Alice feels completely flushed out and exhausted. Ms. Ringtail has long since left them and Twinkaleni is already asleep atop one of the bed rolls. Danahlia pulls away and Alice immediately misses her comforting warmth. She looks up to the Liguna, who grabs two of the rags by the bowl of water. Handing one to Alice, Danahlia wipes away her own tears and the snot running from her nose, giving Alice a smirk. Alice grins back, doing the same. The fox wants to say something, apologize or give thanks, but when her mouth opens she can't seem to find the words. The girls just look at each other for a moment before Danahlia turns and crawls over to one of the bed rolls. Alice settles on her own. They exchange goodnights before quickly falling asleep.