Arrow Lake Because all of us are normal and to be otherwise would make us outcasts

As the bird clawed noisily skyward, Dragomir shrank back onto the ground and held his breath. His eyes were blown wide as he watched its brown form, so like the leaf litter beneath his paws, disappear into the trees. An adult might have swore in response to a scare like that but all Dragomir could do was remain plastered to the ground, heart racing and hackles lifted, until Sadiq reminded him that he wasn't alone.

Adventure was well and good until something like that happened. Dragomir wasn't feeling quite so confident about wandering around on his own now; he responded to Sadiq with a wordless, frightened stare and then gradually peeled himself up off the ground. That was enough for one day, he decided. When he found the strength in his jelly-like limbs to move again, it was in the direction of home, not the direction he had been going previously. That was likely to settle Sadiq's nerves; it certainly was helping Drago's.