At least the sun kept shining above her head. Even if it was beginning to drape it's rays with thin mantles of fog, the light kept bursting though the small holes left behind; only to spill onto her back like a river of golden champagne.

Things could be worse.
Even if she had a beaten side and an empty stomach, life was still beautiful. Juno's heart still swelled with optimism (or was it lack of cynism?), even after walking through the storm, she kept the her eyes on the sky, waiting for a rainbow to come. Every day, Juno awoke with a smile on her face, even if the weight of being away from her mother(s) stung as badly as her bruised ribs, she always dismissed the heavy clouds of melancholy with a gentle smile.

Even the food shortage, had turned delicious because she had her belly full of butterflies.
So far, the girl's innocent spirit and dreamer soul had found no harm - but how long could that last?

The pain on her side had ebbed away slightly, though it was still impossible for her to sleep comfortably, and the sole act of walking still sent rippling waves of pain along her flank, she was better than before -- even if it was only a 0.99% of improvement it was still better than none.

Juno continued to limp slowly across the vibrant scenery of the Emberwood, though she had not eaten anything in the past twelve hours, she still wore an optimistic smile on her face -- it would've been a sickening sight for any other creature whose mind wasn't clouded with the hollow promise of a new tomorrow, something Juno believed in firmly.

Before she could continue to drag herself deeper into the Autumn pained forest, the voice of a man called to her. She turned as quickly as her injuries would allow her, lifting her head to meet eye-to-eye the irreverent male that questioned her without previous intoduction. "No, honey I am not your maid -- I am as new as this place as you are" she barked with a feigned smile and a sweet bat of her eyelashed, then without further ado she turned once more ready to continue her afternoon stroll through the woods.

Juno had played this game too many times.
While she could be a complete ignorant towards certain subjects, she was noo fool when it came to witty responses and sarcastic remarks. Her rash thinking and rebel attitude was almost equally balanced with her impressive decieiving skills. She had been the kind of child that always said, 'it wasn't me'.

After turning her back on the male, she gave a rapid swish of her tail as if to give him a last 'so long', but before she could continue to limp away lamely he barked back a response. "HAHA!" she barked hollered back with an exeptionaly dry tone, "Why don't you be my maid instead.. I could use one." she responded while stopping and turning to face the stranger once more.

Obviously the awkward limp she carried came up into the conversation; and while she was slightly tempted to make up a wild excuse for it she decided not to stretch the truth -- at least not too much. "I had to jump into death's arms from a cliff. It was either to take a chance and dive into the abyss or get eaten by a horrid bear." she lied after he was done speaking, thinking that if the goat were to take it's horns off it would look still make a fugly bear.

Then without even waiting to see if he had fallen for her story she answered his other question, this time a wide grin shinning on her face. "C'mon, you're such a tourist -- it's written all over you! You're a lost pup "

A broad grin stretched across her dainty features as he swallowed her tale whole. He was a guillible one -- which made him by default likable by the russet pelted girl. She chuffed in agreement, she had been lucky not to have any punture wounds in her body or any bones twisted in unnatural angles.

She continued to limp ahead, feeling the boy sticking to her heels like a shadow. The crunch of the leaves under her feet was almost loud enough to tune out his voice so she stopped and swung her head around as he claimed he was not lost. Juno opened her mouth to disagree, that until the last part entered her ears.

Juno was a girl with no concrete beliefs. She didn't adore the moon, or bow to the sun -- she simply assumed there was a greater 'something' that balanced things out; but she had never stopped to wonder what or how exactly. "Oh yeah? Have you asked the clouds too?" she joked innocently, not intending to mock him but rather know if he considered the clouds guides as well.

What she thought would be a tease for the guy turned on her, as soon as her little joke reacher his ears he jumped up, completely outraged by the fact she had mentioned the clouds. "Chill, I didn't follow anyone or anything" she interjected before the guy could continue to scold her for following the puffy clumps overhead.

Weird and gullible.
What a combo she had found herself huh? The guy was funny and would serve as company, not to mention protection ; a skinny she-wolf like her was no mathc against a bigger predator especially with her battered up side and her limp.

"Ok, so what have they told you so far?"she asked, feeling like a complete lunatic for even bothering to ask about his presumed conversations with the luminous beings that lighted the night. That was crazy -- but then again, so was chasing a mountain goat near a cliff's edge.

Though Juno didn't stop walking -- no, limping -- she twisted an ear back to hear every syllable, she was a sucker for stories and surely the stars would've told him some good ones. Assuming they could communicate of course.

She was surprised to hear they didn't actually speak, then how could it be that he thought they were trying to give signals to him. Did he believe that they arranged patterns every night with the sole purpose of guiding him? Didn't he know the sky was the same for everyone, the stars he saw were the same ones she would see when she looked to the sky. If patterns were the maps he followed how did he know he wasn't following another's path, or what was even worse, a meaningless figure? .

She turned her neck to look back at him, a mocking, yet genuinely interested smile hangling loosely from her lips. "So you're not in the wrong place -- if they dropped you here I suppose it's for something.." she barked, not sure if she should allow her childish mind to believe in the magic of the nightsky or if she should just leave the topic to him.