Snatch stood up tall, digging her claws into Tanrial's scalp so she didn't fall off. "Where we goin'?"
"To the Great Lakes," Bernon explained. "We're going to find some other humans there and ask if they want to help us."
"With what?"
"With…fighting this other human and rescuing some humans that are in trouble."
"Why can't you just do it yourself?"
"Uh, the other guy has an army."
"What's an army?"
Mike glanced over his shoulder at them. "Listen up, kiddo. We're the adults here, and that means we don't have to answer all your questions. It also means you do what we say or else. Clear?"
Snatch stuck her tongue out at him. "Nyaa, you're not my parents. You're just a buncha wimpy humans. I don't have to listen to you!"
“Hey.” Tanrial removed Snatch from her head and held her in front of her face, “They might be wimpy humans but I’m not. Either you listen to us you we drop you right here and you can go on your merry way, got it?”
Snatch narrowed her eyes. "I'm a big girl. I can fight for myself. What's so special about you?"
Tanrial flicked her gaze to the right of Snatch, a small fire burning in the trees then disappearing, “Listen, I could kill you without muttering a word so either listen or…” She indicated to the burnt grass.
Snatch stared at the grass, her eyes widening. "Wait, howd'ja do that? Teach me!"
Tanrial smirked and put Snatch on shoulder, “I’ll think about it, only if you do what we say and play nice.”
"Oooh!" Snatch whined in frustration, but stopped trying to boss everyone around. It seemed to be a great challenge for her.
Bernon sighed in relief. "At least we can negotiate with her," he said.
Mike grinned at him. "Not so in love with her now, are ya? I told you the babies are nothing but trouble."
"I'm not going to dignify that comment with a response," Bernon sniffed.
Tanrial snorted, “Alright, calm down you big baby.” She said, rolling her eyes.
"Yeah, calm down ya big baby," Snatch echoed loudly from her shoulder. "What's a a dignify? What's a comment? What's a response?"
Bernon gave the cub a reproachful look. "It means that what he said was dumb, so I wasn't going to bother answering."
"Oh. Okay." Snatch turned to Mike. "Yeah, you talk dumb, so we're not gonna say anything to you!"
Mike looked unimpressed. "Your name should be Copycat, not Snatch."
(brb, havin supper)
Tanrial laughed, “Alright Snatch, Mike isn’t dumb he can just be too serious sometimes.”
(Okay)
"Hm. Yeah." Scratch refolded her wings with some fluttering and fluffing of feathers. "Are we there yet?"
"No," Mike said flatly. "We won't get anywhere until the sun's setting."
"Ugh, boring. Also I'm hungry again."
“If you can be quiet for another hour you can have some more food then, alright?” Tanrial said, looking at Snatch sidelong.
"You ask so much of meee!" Snatch wailed, making Bernon snort with laughter. "Fiiine. I'll…..try to be quiet. For a while."
"Thank the stars," Mike muttered.
They walked in silence for almost an hour. The terrain changed very little in that time, only sloping up or down according to the wrinkled skirts of the nearby mountains. The sun was slipping further down by now, turning everything orange and gold. Mike made them changed direction regularly to avoid being easily tracked. Snatch almost spoke up many times, but always caught herself just in time. Finally, her head dropped onto Tanrial's shoulder and she started to doze, still clinging tightly to Tanrial's shirt.
After a little more walking, Mike brought them up onto a ridge devoid of trees and stopped. "Welp, there's the great lakes." Below them and a few miles away was an enormous body of water, turned into pure light by the setting sun. Another lake stood to the east, even larger than the first.
"Doesn't look like we'll reach them tonight," Mike continued, "but I do see signs of humans down there. We should head over in the morning and see what we can rile up."
“Sounds like a plan, let’s set up camp before the sun completely sets.” She said, walking a little further away from the ridge and into a more sheltered area, hidden from any prying eyes.
Snatch looked up blearily as they started setting up camp. "Where are we? Watcha doin'? Can I eat now?"
“We’re setting up camp, and you can have some more food after we’ve finished.” Tanrial explained, lighting the fire.
"Oh….kay." Snatch yawned and stretched, then hopped down from Tanrial's shoulder and started exploring the area. "When can I learn how to do the fire thing you did earlier?"
Tanrial shrugged, “If you’re sure you want to learn it, I can teach you when I’m on watch later.”
Mike sat down and took out his medical kit again. "Hey you," he said to Snatch. "Come here, I need to look at your wing again."
"You'll put sting-ey water on it," she grumbled rebelliously.
"Only if you got it dirty," he replied. "I just have to change the bandages and see how it's doing. You don't want that to get infected."
Snatch glared at him a moment longer, then walked over sulkily and allowed Mike to remove the dressing.
"It's healing fast," he remarked. "Forest beasts have super quick recovery times. She'll be all better in a few more days."
“That’s good to hear.” Tanrial said, sitting across from Mike and leaning back on her hands, watching Snatch, “Means she won’t have to dig her claws into my shoulder when it’s finished healing.”
"I wouldn't bank on it, but maybe."
Bernon looked up hopefully. "She could ride on my shoulder tomorrow, if she wants. I wouldn't mind."
Snatch considered him critically, having woken up completely by now. "You have bigger shoulders, so….I guess I could let you carry me. A little." She wriggled out of Mike's lap and shook herself. "Can I eat now?"
"We can if you left us anything," Mike said. "You ate like half of the fish we caught already, and I don't think you'd like these cattails."
"Ew, no," Snatch said, wrinkling her nose. "I only eat meat."
“I guess I can go look for something. There might be deer or something in these woods.” Tanrial said, reaching for her bow and arrows.
Bernon stood up. "I'll go with you. Maybe I can find us more herbs and stuff."
"I'll go too!" Snatch said, only to be pulled back firmly by Mike.
"Nope," he said. "You're staying here. I need somebody to help me watch the fire."
"Oh! Okay!" Snatch stared intently at the flames, completely focused on them.
Go, Mike mouthed at Tanrial and Bernon.
Tanrial nodded and inclined her head to Bernon to follow as she stood and grabbed the bow, making her way into the trees, away from the camp. She hoped Mike wouldn’t kill Snatch if she borthered him too much.
Bernon stayed a few yards away from her so he didn't interrupt her hunt while he foraged, but didn't go too far in case they lost each other in the near-total darkness. There were no deer that they could find, but there was a flock of turkeys that got startled up which looked like they might do just as well.
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