The place was haunted.
That was the only explanation, even if the girl had no way of knowing what the word 'haunted' was, she definitely noticed there was something 'off' about the trees here --about the whole thing really. Since she had gotten here she had not seen a single bug (which was a big relief but also very strange), no flowers and not even the faintest trace of mud.
So as she sat under the trunk of a small tree, chewing her lip while trying to figure out the puzzle, a small leaf tainted with a russet hue fell on her head. She jerked her head back, thinking that her luck had run out, and that finally the bugs had found her. OH GOD NO!, she screamed in her mind as she shook her body vigorously.
Thankfully it had been a false alarm. With an audible, phew! the girl returned to her initial position, only this time her eyes were not fixed on the swaying leaves on the tree but on the one laying in front of her. Maera scrunched up her nose and narrowed her eyes, inspecting closely the rust colored leaf at her feet.
Everything here had a different light, a different color.
Something the stubborn girl still refused to comprehend.
![[Image: girl_gang.png]](https://image.ibb.co/b82KNa/girl_gang.png)
"I wouldn't get too close," Danica warned, though she smiled as she said it. "Don't you know what makes the leaves change and fall?" She walked over to where the girl sat and looked down at the leaf knowingly. God she loved lying to kids. Did that make her a bad person? Maybe. Did she care? Not so long as they came to no harm. Such fibs lent magic to the world anyway.
The level of concentration of Maera's stare was such that she didn't even notice Danica approaching. Her hazel eyes were inspecting every bit of the leaf's side, that until the heavy footsteps of the blonde female made her jump up with surprise. Instinctively the little girl pressed herself onto the ground, allowing a frightened whimper from her lips. Then as her eyes fell onto the light coloured female, the whimper was replaced with a happy bark. She had forgotten Danica had come along!
They had left so much behind that Maera had thought the mud loving female had also stayed. The flame kissed girl wagged her tail until the eerie warning issued reached her ears. Without second thought the girl jerked her feet away from the leaf, almost stumbling in the process. "What is bad??" she barked while eyeing the small leaf with hatred and suspicion.
"They turn the leaves colors then ride them to the ground. If you meet one, though, you never know whether they will give you a gift, or a curse." She was pulling this pretty much out of nowhere, but her father had said something similar about winter sprites to her when she was a pup. Sadly she was always much too grounded to believe most of his wild tales, but she enjoyed them all the same. The memory brought back a small pang, but she ignored it.
"I think this one has flown off, though." She gave the leaf another experimental nudge. "So we are safe!"
Though Danica's words were a little more comforting this time, Maera didn't cease to look at the small reddish leaf with suspicion. The mention of the word, fairies though didn alert the young babe. Not knowing its meaning, the baby tilted her head to the side. The way the female used it gave the sense that it was something bad, but the little ring to the word sounded beautiful. "Fairies are bad or good?" she questioned.
For the young girl, all things in the world could fall onto two categories, bad or good. (bugs were a definite BAD). And while she still believed firmly in this black or white persperctive she would soon begin to see the the inbetweens. As Danica continued to give her a little insight on what these fairy things were, the girl's hazel eyes fell again on the leaf.
"Can you eat it?" she mumbled suddenly, not referring to the leaf of course, but to the fairy. It was hard for the always-hungry babe to ask relevant questions with an empty belly--whoops.
She had to laugh at the next, rather unexpected question. Can you eat them? That was one she hadn't heard before, and she certainly hadn't asked the like of her father! "I suppose you could, if you could catch one! But I wouldn't recommend it, for it would make the others upset, and then they would hardly be nice to you." She nosed the girl affectionately. "I don't know about you but I would rather have gifts than curses any day."
"This one is probably already gone anyway, off to find another leaf. You can chase them though, they are playful things and would enjoy the game." Chasing the falling leaves had always been one of her favorite parts of fall. Even now she was older she still did it at times.
Driven by the monsters inside her belly, the girl opened her mouth and swiped her pink tongue over her muzzle as Danica continued to describe the fairies. Their physical descriptions sounded a hell lot like bugs, which was a complete turn-off for the fire dipped baby. Still the monsters inside of her, clawed at her sides, yelling and screaming for supper time. It was almost too strong to ignore.
Still, the girl tried to listen closely to every word her favorite adult play-mate had to say, and though her stomach growls interrupted her beautiful narration a couple of times, Maera was able to grasp a very interesting word out of her speech. Gift. Naturally, the small and greedy child pricked her ears "Can they give you many giffs? Like many food?" she piped up, again letting her rumbling belly place words into her mouth.
Then as Danica went on with her explanation, the babe grew quiet once more, her eyes falling onto the fairy-free leaf laying on the floor. "You wanna catch one fo' me?" she asked, not embarrased to admit she was too lazy to actually say 'catch one with me'. Chores were gonna be exceptionally hard on the babe once she was old enough to do them
"I can chase them with you sometime, but you have to help. I'm afraid they are far too quick for my old bones." She sighed melodramatically. "But for now, I think something a little better for dinner is in order, yes?" Danica was feeling rather peckish herself and wouldn't mind sharing a catch with the girl if she could come up with one. Surely there had to be something in the area.
"Would you like to help me find something? You have to be very quiet, though." It might be fun to show the girl some pointers on hunting. After all, they would soon start needed the advice.
Maera was quickly discouraged to eat the faires as soon as Danica reminded her that just as easily as they could give a present they could also give a curse. Even if the girl didn't know the exact definition of 'curse' it didn't sound pleasant..
As for catching one of the critters, Danica stole all the girl's desires as soon as the mention of having to actively participate in the chase was mentiones. Maera even pouted in protest as she claimed the things were too fast for her to catch alone. If they were to fast for Danica, Maera wouldn't even bother trying. Though she was certaintly letting go of the lethargic coat she had been born in, her sluggish nature continued to be an impediment for the developing pup.
Many times she had missed games and expeditions because of the strong weight of her eyelids upon her eyes. It wasn't life changing for her at the moment but it'd be bound to bring problems in the future, especially when she reached the age in which the choosing of trades became important.
The girl's hazel eyes rose to her companion's face, a strange glimmer shining on the pup's iris. While the idea of going with the female roused the naturally curious side of her, the sloth monster inside her head groaned with annoyance, especially because going required being quiet --something that pretty much everyone knew Maera wasn't good at.
"Quiet why?" she quipped, her brow raising slightly and her head tipping to the side.
Danica was well aware that it was not likely the young girl would be able to keep her mouth shut enough for her to even spot prey, let alone catch it. However, if that were the case, they could visit a cache to get her a bite to eat and Danica could catch her own meal later. She just enjoyed the challenge and chance to perhaps give Maera a head start on some skills for future use.
"Because if you aren't quiet, then your food will know you are coming to eat it. And, surprisingly, food doesn't like being eaten." She never got the questions she expected out of Maera, a good thing in her books. She liked the way the kid thought.
"It's a bit like hide and seek. Only you get the prize at the end." And what a prize it was. Food was one of Danica's favorite things, second only to sleep. She wasn't lazy, but she was a real bear when she didn't get her necessary shuteye.
Despite Danica's good intentions of giving the girl a glimpse of what her life would be like in the future -- more specifically if she chose the trade of Gamekeeper -- Maera had no real interest or even idea of what she'd do when she grew. The fiery babe lived in an era of today-and-now; she did not worry of what would happen when the sun went to bed, she worried about what she'd do until it did.
Maera listened closely as Danica described the necessity of remaining silent during a hunt -- it was no fun to be silent; but if there was a prize at stake the babe would bite her tongue for as long as she could. With her eyes fixed on Danica, the girl bobbed her head up and down in understanding.
"Alright-y" she half-whispered, clutching her jaw shut as soon as the last syllable floated from her lips. Then with quiet and slow steps she positioned herself next to her blonde caretaker, waiting for her to take the lead
Although she got an affirmation, Danica wasn't going to bet too much on the pup actually following through. She wasn't even sure she fully understood her explanation, but if even a bit of what she had said made it through, then something had been achieved here. Teaching the young wasn't about shoving information down their throats and expecting them to memorize it right away. Their attention spans couldn't handle that. It was about repetition and practice, showing them little by little how to go about doing things and letting them pick it up as they went.
At least, in her opinion. And since, in her mind, her opinion was the only one to make any sort of logical sense, she ran with it.
Danica started off, taking care to walk with as much silence as she could manage, her little shadow in tow. She'd show her the ropes if they could manage to find a rabbit or bird of some sort, but if not, at least this was some sort of a lesson. There was always another day to get to the specifics of the catch. After all, before you could catch prey, you had to learn how to find and approach it.