Before the dawn arrived the hunters of the pack were up and heading to the stream to get their fill of their morning drink. When they returned Werson approached Garius. "Just over the hill where you were scouting yesterday?" he asked for reassurance.
"Yes, stay low and be close to the rising sun. Its brightness will shield you from their eyes and give you some easy kills. I do not plan to be gone long, but if I am you know where to take the pack next, downstream from here."
Werson looked at Nibelski then back at Garius, "I know. You watch yourself out there, if you need I can send.."
"There is no need Werson," Garius replied "It is a simple scouting mission and hopefully I can find her missing family or at least some foxes that will take her in."
"Well I hope you find what you are looking for." and with that Werson howled and ran off with the other hunters following behind him as they vanished over the hill.
He walked over to her and asked "Are you ready to go?"
"As ready as I guess I can be. Let us get a drink and then head upstream" she told him. "I feel that is the best direction to go." She was unsure where exactly she had come from and it had been years, but she decided to follow the familiar path and avoid the unfamiliar paths. It seemed like a good plan and having Garius close by was going to make her life easier for the upcoming days.
They set off down towards the stream to drink their fill, then began to head upstream away from the rising sun. It would warm their backs and light the way. As they walked just a little way a large black crow landed on the branches of a tree they would be walking under and began cawing.
"Caw, caw, Garius has a new friend. Caw, Garius is leaving home" it baulked.
"Hello, Augustus" Garius sighed out a heavy breath.
"Wait, it talks?" Nibelski replied.
"Caw, it? It is he, Augustus you speak to. Caw, caw."
She looked over at Garius who rolled his eyes and she giggled to herself. "Why hello, Augustus, forgive my misunderstanding. I am Nibelski"
"Caw, hello, Augustus, Augustus" he yelled "Why are you going, why? Caw"
Garius let out another sigh, "Well our friend here is missing her family so we hope to find them."
"Lost family, caw, no good. I have all my family. Hundreds, all here, caw caw"
"Yes well you should be with them, there will be a big kill today, the pack is hunting. We are not joining them, but looking for her family at a place where the earth ran away….sound familiar?"
The crow went silent, his head jerking around looking confused. "Large history I have, I may know the place, but it is far from here. I know an owl who definitely knows, but he is far from here, caw, we move with the light. We left there a while ago as the light grew weaker….caw caw….yes the owl would know" He stopped then puffed out his chest "Caw, I will go with you, we will adventure, caw"
"You have a large family and are needed with them, we can do this, just tell me where the owl is and we shall go there."
"It is far, very far, caw. My family will be fine. I will tell them, caw. I will tell them. Augustus, caw. I know the route by sky, not by land. I must help you. I will be a softie like Garius, caw." and with that he flew off.
"Garius stopped and snapped up at the sky "Softie?! You little…, come back!"
Nibelski found herself laughing. It was all so cute and Augustus was so entertaining. "You know that bird?" she asked.
"Yes, Augustus, like you didn't know that. I used to feed him from time to time, but now his family enjoys the leftovers from our kills. In return he provides useful information to me for our hunts….sort of a win win for us both."
"So he is like your scout and you make sure they are well fed?"
"Yes, it is a good arrangement and he is highly intelligent, though the way he talks leads one to doubt that. He speaks many languages, he can even speak a little human, they are the ones who gave him his name that he is so proud of. He can be a little tiring, and he doesn't speak to the others in the pack, but they know to leave them alone. I have taught them to maintain the balance."
"Softie?"
"Ehh, I said he was smart, not that he was always correct" Garius looked frustrated. "Let's pick up our pace, maybe we can lose him if he tries to come back." Garius knew Augustus had a keen eye and a great memory, he knew he would be back and he wondered how much he knew about where they needed to go. Maybe he could help.
Nibelski giggled to herself as they marched on nudging Garius in the ribs "Sofite"
He shook his head and sighed "I'm going to kill that bird."
They travelled far enough for Garius to hear Nibelski's stomach call out again so he stopped and scanned the forest in front of them. He leaned down to her ear and whispered "Wait here, do not move" then he was gone.
It felt at times like he had magic powers the way he could vanish, predict things, or maybe it was just the way he carried himself. She knew she could trust him so she waited there, then a rabbit caught her eye and she lowered herself to the ground as it moved closer to her. Every little inch it moved in her direction gave her a chance to show him how well she could hunt on her own, she felt her body twitch a little wanting to spring up and grab the rabbit, then she remembered she was not supposed to move. Then before she could react, Garius was on the rabbit and it was dead as he carried it in his mouth over to her. Where did he come from? She was awestruck as he dropped the rabbit at her feet.
"Eat, you are hungry"
"What about you?"
"I will be fine, I will kill again when I am hungry, or maybe I can eat these" He walked over and grabbed a bundle of berries and tossed them at her as well.
"Thank you" she replied as she started to eat her food.
He walked over to the river and drank his fill. He would eat only one meal on a day like today, there was no hunt. He sat on the river's edge watching her eat and the sun shining off her coat. He felt a sense of responsibility for her now and he would do his best to get her home. He had never sat watching foxes before, usually they ran away, so she was a pleasure to behold. Her mannerisms were wolf-like, her looks fox-like and he found himself forgetting where he was and began to lose his thoughts watching her enjoy her food.
A large slap in the water made him jump as a beaver was close by working on moving some wood.
"Ah, caw, caw, you jumped. Got the drop on you, haw caw"
Garius looked up to see Augustus laughing at him as he said nothing, only snapping his jaws as if to kill.
"Fox is pretty, fur is nice….so distracting"
"Shut up, Augustus or I will climb this tree" Garius "You'll be pretty too, pretty dead."
Augustus laughed. It was a rare moment to catch Garius off guard and it brought him great pleasure as Garius always seemed too perfect. It was a nice change for him to see. "Caw, ok, I stop" yet he continued laughing.
Nibelski laughed too although she did not see Garius jump, she just heard the commotion and found Augustus very funny in his tormenting of Garius. The big bad wolf who was arguing with a crow. It made her laugh even more as it now got Garius's attention who now walked up to her and looked down with his meanest look.
"Remember where the food came from," he told her.
"You're just grumpy because of a little crow…he's harmless"
"Well maybe I need to eat the crow" was his reply as he stopped after realising what he said.
"I think you already have" and Nibelski and Augustus howled with laughter.
Garius knew he lost this battle, but he assured himself he would take the war. He watched her and found himself laughing along with them. It was a long time since he laughed like this and it felt good. It felt real good so he let himself go, howling as every creature nearby ran for their lives. They laughed until they were worn out.
The sun was setting sooner and he let them know about a cave he saw close by that could fit them for the evening and they could set up their camp there. He looked at the half eaten rabbit and asked Nibelski "Are you going to finish that?"
"No, these berries and water will do for the rest of the day"
Immediately Augustus had swooped in and grabbed the leftover rabbit saying "thanks"
Garius looked at Nibelski and said "Crow behaviour, I'll be right back". He made his way to the stream and pulled out a fish and brought it over to eat. He watched her snarl a bit at the fish and he asked "What is wrong?"
"I don't like fish," she told him.
"I don't like them either, but I do like to survive." he finished it and then told them "follow me the spot is over here" as he walked over to a large group of trees one of them was uprooted and under its large roots there was a cave just underneath and behind it. It was an amazing find and no one would see them there. The crawled in and would camp until dawn as he marked their location so it could be found.
Garius and Nibelski settled in and Augustus landed and bounced in staying close by them. Nibelski was fascinated by the crow as she had never seen one so close before or the way the colors bounced off his feathers. Up close he looked so much larger and he had a curious nature about him always looking this way, then that way, like he was absorbing every detail around them. She asked Garius "What is he doing?"
Garius, who was also observing, told her "He is mapping. He is committing everything to memory in case he needs to flee quickly, more interesting is when he returns home he will make some crow sounds to his family and they will know about this spot too.
Her eyes grew wide "Really?"
"Yes, really. Watch this…Augustus , could you describe the beaver that scared me?"
"Caw, small, young, two years old, black legs and hands, brown fur…caw, building his first home just down the stream, he has gone off to sleep….caw….made you jump."
"It is all so fascinating to have a friend like him. Augustus, how did the hunt go today?"
"Caw, went very well, much meat, more than even my family can consume. It will last a long time. I talked with my family, they know I go with you, caw, told me where the owl can be found too. It will be a long hike, but Augutus knows a shortcut….caw Augustus."
"That is good, Augustus, thank you. We will do this together"
"Caw, adventure"
"Yes, as long as your family will be ok, we will go on an adventure.
"Caw caw" he hopped around a bit and vanished behind a tree root like he was never even there.
Nibelski's eyes widened as she looked at Garius who told her "He is going to sleep for the night, he will stay close but you will not see him or hear him. They disappear like magic"
"Like you," she said. "You are so large yet there are times you can vanish"
"You are the same, I have seen your stealthy ways. It is built into you."
She came over to lay close to him as the light of the day started to fade as he placed his paw over her "I hope this is ok, just my way of knowing where you are".
"Can you not smell me?" she had him cornered with that question.
"I can, I just like the extra security. I don't have to if you don't like it" he tried to pull his paw away as she bit it and pulled it back over herself.
"No, keep it. I like it and it helps me feel secure as I rest. I am glad you are helping me. I never really had friends before."
He realized they were all friends, not just creatures living out their lives alone. They were trusting and growing because of it. It was a pleasant thought and one that he fell asleep to as she moved in closer to his fur to steal some of that warmth.