I opened my eyes to see it was still dark out. Glancing around, I noticed everyone was still asleep. Then it dawned on me. ‘Who’s guarding?’ Sweeping my eyes around again, I noticed Flare leaning against a tree with his head hanging as his chest moved lightly with his breath. ‘I’m going to explore then.’ I got up as quietly as I could manage, making sure to avoid Tiara. Deciding to see what exactly the hole was that made us stop here. Finding my way through the trees, with the light of the moon making it easier to see, I stopped, seeing a large empty spot in the ground. ‘Found it.’ I sat at the edge, trying to see what was at the bottom. A rustling came from the other end of the hole. Snapping my head up, I could see a shadow standing there. It was small but that was all I could see.

“Looks like you came to find me.” A childlike voice came from the shadow, oddly familiar. “How was the scare from yesterday?” Staying quiet I let it talk, but it stopped for a moment. “What is it you truly want?” A hand reached out to me invitingly.

“I want to protect my friends.” I found myself speaking before I could think, almost as if the words weren’t my own. The light of early morning showing me a smile on the face of the figure, a cloak making it hard to see the true face. “I want to protect them.”The words continued to slip through my lips without much thought. “I want to go home.” The last sentence came out quietly.

“Then let me help you.” The words rang familiarly in my ears.  I was about to move towards the figure when I saw something shiny fly through the air, unable to see where it came from. It flew towards me, before I could bring myself to react, the sound of metal colliding rang out as the object landed point first a few feet away from my hand.

“Flare is going to pay for this.” The familiar voice of Ember rang out above me as I heard rushing footsteps ring out around the hole. “Now, this is the second time you’ve tried that trick.” She spoke firmly to the cloaked figure, who was no longer smiling, as everyone surrounded it. “There’s no escape.” In the same moment Ember spoke, the figure flicked it’s arms sending two more weapons towards us. Ember deflected them, or that’s what it looked like to the others. She deflected the one that was headed to me, but missed the other one as it grazed her neck. She fell onto my lap, the cut from the dagger somehow barely bleeding, instead it looked coated in a thick film. ‘So that's why the other one didn’t bleed.’ Panic taking over my mind.

“Ember!” I yelled out without thinking. The sudden scream caught everyone's attention, distracting them. The cloaked figure using this as it’s time to escape. Looking around I could see everyone was shocked to see Ember lying across my lap, her weapon still in her hand, as she looked like she was struggling to breath.

“Ember.” Flare sped over before anyone else could react. He knelt beside her, his knees touching mine as he faced me. “What do we do?” He sounded like a kid, but the looks on the others' faces said the same thing that I was thinking.

“If those daggers were in fact poisoned as she thought, then this doesn’t give her a good chance.” Once again Pearl was the one to break the silence. As they all gathered around, the air felt thick with sorrow and distress. “She’s not gone yet, but if she was right then she doesn’t stand a chance.” Out of instinct I found myself petting her hair, slowly combing my fingers through the strands.

“Let’s head back to the camp.” Phoenix leaned down to pick Ember up off my lap, but out of some instinct I found myself leaning over her, protecting her from him. “Amari…” He gently placed his hand on my shoulder. “Alright, you can bring her back when you’re ready.” He motioned for the others to follow, Flare grabbed the sword as he stood up, heading back to the camp, his tail just hanging.

Finding myself still sitting, petting Ember. ‘I’m hopeless.’ I thought to myself, feeling tears roll down my face. Finally feeling ready, I held her in my arms, struggling to carry her back to the camp, but not feeling like I deserved the help. Eventually reaching the camp, I sat down still holding her. Unable to bring myself to put her down, I stayed holding her, not letting anyone get too close. “Thank you again… I know you don’t like me too much, but you’ve still put me before yourself… Even getting hit for me...” I looked at her as she slowly opened her eyes. Frozen in place, my jaw dropped while tears formed in my eyes.

“Stupid pet.” She said so quietly, it was barely audible. “Just because I don’t agree with you or anything doesn’t mean I don’t like you.” I stayed silent, nervous that she might just fade if I spoke. “It’s the job of a warrior to protect those who are unable to protect themselves.” She lifted a hand putting it on my ears. “Such a strange creature you are.” She was speaking more and more quietly. The others soon noticed she was awake, coming over and creating a small circle. “Flare,” she tilted her head towards him. Coming closer, he took her hand in his. “Looks like you won’t get that lecture.” She slightly laughed. Curling herself into me, for the first time since I knew her she looked frail, seeing her like this made my heart hurt. Lifting her eyes, she glanced at Phoenix. “Follow your heart. Don’t let anyone tell you what’s right or wrong.” She lightly laughed again then looked at me. “Don’t let me become a stupid philosopher.” I nodded, trying to smile for her sake. “Stay safe you clumsy pet.” She curled up once again. We all held our breath hoping she would just talk again. Her head slowly slumped onto my shoulder. Finding the need to hug her, I brought her closer to my chest. Hearing her give out one last sigh. I felt her start to change, as she turned into a wolf in my arms. ‘Their natural form I guess…’ As I sat there holding her trying to process what had just happened, a chorus of howls erupted as Phoenix, Flare and Pearl howled at the loss of their friend. The sound itself was eerie making it feel all the more real.  We all spent the morning like this, in our small circle.

Come the afternoon, we went out to find a place to bury Ember. Flare was the one that found a nice clearing where the sun shone through the canopy. Watching them as wolves go and dig a hole big enough for her, was calming. I gently placed her in the hole, with the help of Kyumi. Once she was placed in the small grave we began to bury her, using her sword and armor as a grave marker. We stood around, nobody feeling the right to speak. Until Phoenix’s voice rang out, loud and clear.

“A sad day has come, Ember has left the waking world, but she will still live on in our memories and in our hearts, rest now Ember, safe travels.” He bowed onto one knee and the others followed. Even Tiara bowed her head and bent one leg. I copied what they did since I myself did not know this ritual, feeling that following along would be enough to show Ember I cared about them.

After we finished burying Ember, we sluggishly made our way back to the camp. Getting lost in my thoughts, I stood where Ember had taken her last breath. Tears building in my eyes as I fought back the urge to cry. A hand was placed onto my shoulder making me jump. Turning to see who it was, I was greeted with eyes that reflected the feeling in my own, as Phoenix stood with his hand still outstretched.

“I’ll take it that this is your first death.” He smiled caringly, his eyes still pained. I nodded, bringing my hand to wipe my face. “Let’s use this to move forward and show Ember that she made the right choice to protect you.” He turned away heading to help Pearl scatter our campfire, so that it was harder to trace us. Not that it mattered since whatever was hunting me seemed to always know where we were.

-----

No words were exchanged as we walked on. My heart was heavy, and the silence of the group gave me a sense of loneliness. I missed her harsh tongue and stupid nicknames. Feeling as though eyes were following me, I scanned the trees. Only to see that it was Tiara hopping from branch to branch, as she followed us, she had kept a distance from me since I had come back holding Ember. Flare kept to the back of the line now, saying it was his duty, I didn’t understand what he meant, but I could see that he just wanted to be alone.

“We should rest a bit.” Kyumi seemed to be out of breath. “I get that the rest of you are tall and comfortable with this pace, but I’m short and tired.” It was strange to hear her say something like this. We stood waiting for someone to make a decision since a leader had never been fully decided.

“I’m sorry Kyumi, but we can’t stop right now.” Pearl spoke up, making Kyumi look smaller. “We are all tired, so please just hold out a little longer.” Turning back around, she started on her way again.

“Kyumi, I’ll carry you, she doesn’t mean any harm, hop on my back.” Phoenix knelt with his back to Kyumi, inviting her up so he could carry her. Hesitating for a moment, she climbed up, whispering something into Phoenix’s ears. Then they continued on, but I found myself frozen in place, examining them.

“I’m not carrying you again.” The sudden voice near my ear made me jump, as Flare lightly pushed me to keep walking. He snickered, wrapping his arm around my shoulder, pulling me as he started walking again. “Come on, we don’t want to lose them.” He sounded relaxed, making me feel more at ease as well. ‘I’ll protect him.’ I made the silent promise to myself and him.

The sun began to set as we continued to travel through the trees. Pearl kept up the front of our group, keeping a steady pace. Phoenix never let Kyumi down as she fell asleep on his back. Tiara was now sitting on my shoulder, somehow still feeling distant. Flare just stayed next to me. I found myself glancing back, still feeling watched.

“Hey Pearl!” I called to the front of the line. “Can we stop here?” The person named at the front of the line stopped, looking back. Her ears were back as she looked annoyed with me for the first time.

“We can’t stop now!” She snarled, the gentle demeanor I was used to suddenly gone. Her eyes were sharp making everyone stop in their tracks.

“Why not?!” Flare chimed in from behind me. Pearl’s gaze softened as she saw him. “We are all tired and we haven’t stopped all day and now it’s getting dark!” Now he snapped, making Pearl flinch as if he hit her directly, clearly she wasn’t used to him speaking up.

“Don’t fight now,” Phoenix stepped up, putting Kyumi on the ground, “I get you want to keep moving Pearl, but we do need to stop and eat.” He stood tall, taking the role of leader again.

“Fine.” Pearl agreed reluctantly, as we already started to find what we needed to set up camp.

Eventually our camp took shape, as I had gotten used to setting up. Finally I was beginning to feel useful. Still unable to hunt or fight, but I was starting to understand how to at least make the fire and cook the meat.

“Look, I’m just saying you’re spending too much time with that fox.” I could hear the distant voice of Pearl, as her and Phoenix returned from hunting. “There needs to be a limit. The last thing I need to explain to your mother and our father, is that Ember died and you went off to frolic with a fox.” Her words were soft but there was a hint of a threat in them.

“You know nothing.” Phoenix snapped back at her. Leaving it at that, he came to me where I was preparing the fire. “Let me help you.” He took the tool out of my hand. ‘Our father? Siblings?’ I smiled, feeling like he needed to see a happy expression. “Don’t worry, I know you heard, she’s just having trouble dealing with this whole thing.” He glanced at me, smiling gently. Letting him take over what I had been doing, I got up to sit by myself. Leaning my back against a tree, I sat resting my arm on my bent knee.

“Are you and Pearl related?” The question slipped from my mouth but I had gotten comfortable enough with them that it didn’t feel wrong to ask. Phoenix glanced at me before bringing his gaze back to what he was doing.

“So that’s what you decided to focus on.” He smiled to himself. “She’s my half sister, Boulder and my mother got together after Pearl's mother disappeared.” he trailed off hinting that this was all the information I'd get.

“This place really is nice.” I mumbled to myself, deciding to leave our conversation there and not press further into it. Movement above my head caught my attention. From a branch I could see Tiara as she leaned over the branch glancing at me. “You’ve been distant.” I felt more alone now since she started to keep a distance from me. Only coming to me for rest. “Come down please.” Spreading her wings, she chirped, gliding down next to me. “Thank you.” I could hear her purring. “Don’t leave me as well. It’s bad enough Kyumi barely spends time with me anymore.” Letting my mind wander, I couldn’t help but feel as though time was passing slower now than when I first got here. Everyone had gotten used to me being here, so I couldn’t help but think that I wasn’t being forgotten, but rather I was being treated as an equal of sorts.

“Hey Amari?” Flare was walking towards me, a shaved stick in his hand. I eyed him questioningly as he came closer. “I know you don’t have much training, and I know I said not to use a weapon, but I figure that I might as well just teach you how to defend yourself.” He smiled and I could feel my cheeks flush a little. “Lord knows you’re accident prone.” He laughed again, causing me to be hesitant towards his friendliness. Ignoring this he handed me the shaved stick as he took a step closer, offering me his hand. Reluctantly, I took it as he pulled me up. “Perfect! Now, I know you’ve got the right stance since I saw it with Ember, you just don’t have the skill.” His eyes changed for a moment, showing that he hadn't forgotten what happened, but that he was distracting himself from it.

“Let me help.” I looked over to see Kyumi coming towards us. Again Flare’s eyes changed, but I couldn’t read this expression, his ears were slightly pulled back. Which I had learned meant they were usually annoyed. “I may not know sword fighting , but this way he can learn against a different style.” She eyed him carefully, her own ears lying flat on her head. She seemed suspicious of him but I couldn’t see why. They eyed each other for a while, making me uncomfortable.

“Alright, you can spar with him and I’ll give him pointers.” Flare nodded, taking up a stance behind me. Kyumi stayed where she was, not looking like she was going to do anything. “Now the big difference between you guys, is how tall you are compared to her.” I held the stick trying to picture it as a sword. Flare stayed behind me, fixing my stance. “Now, since she’s small she will be faster and able to dodge you more easily, just try to keep her from getting anywhere vital, don’t swing to attack, try to watch her movements.” He kept his voice low as he gave me the small instructions, feeling like I understood, I nodded. “Go!” He called as he backed away and Kyumi came at me in the same instant.

 She was in fact fast, I found myself barely able to keep track of her movements. She took a jump for me, her foot heading for my gut. Pulling the stick to protect that spot, she brought her other foot up, kicking me in the face. I staggered back, my head feeling rattled. Before I could recover, a knee dug into my gut. Collapsing to the ground, I felt a hand on my back rubbing, staying hunched, I let myself calm down before getting up again.

“Sorry!” I could hear Kyumi call, clearly concerned. “I didn’t mean to get so intense!” I waved her off, wanting to focus on trying to figure out what she did.

“There you go,” Flare rubbed my back, “now stand, let’s see if you can figure out how to stop that.” I could hear he was smiling, as I smiled back enjoying this actual lesson. Listening to what he told me, I stood looking over to Kyumi. “Now, remember when I said she was fast?” I nodded, unsure of where he was going with this, “She might be fast but you have size. The only way she can reach your face is if she jumps.” I stood straight feeling dumb for not having thought of that. “You can take a hand off the stick you know.” He patted my back, taking a step to the side. Not yet feeling confident in this, I took my stance again. Kyumi came at me with the same speed as before. I could tell she was aiming for my face, because she kept looking at it. Getting ready for her to jump, I froze as she dropped, sliding between my slightly open legs. Confused, I stood trying to think of what to do. Before I could come up with a final idea, I saw something shiny in a tree. Next thing I knew the shiny thing was flying towards me.