Shadewood The stars, they make me wonder so

She stood, head still bowed as her gaze dropped to the dull forest floor. She was sensing something in this wolf, father or not, a form of dark hunger clawing at him from the inside out. Nowadays, all creatures she had come across were painfully thin, their fur a bedraggled mess barely clinging onto the jutting bones, much like the brute that stood above her yet she knew the gnawing blackness was a trick of the mind and not a physical infliction. All the while, she was amazed at how collected he appeared to be, regarding her presence but barely moving an inch. Looking up at him now reminded the copper lupin of a true wolf; proud, stoic and chivalrous, bear-like; closer to how she remembered her sire to be than just an illusion dipped in shadows.

As he spoke, his words confirmed the last of her doubts. "You have been strong, father," she voiced, letting out a breath of air before burrowing her muzzle into the course fur on his shoulder. All tension built up in her frame was released the moment she made contact, the tremendous amount of weight and responsibility since his departure had diminished for the time being and she relished it. For the first time in days, she forgot about her hunger, forgot about the terrifying confines of the forest and silently thanked the stars, for if fate had lead their paths to cross, then fate certainly was a miracle.

"Me too." It was the terrible truth yet seeing him now in flesh and blood seemed to ease her mind of the thought. "No, I am not hurt. I've been eating all I can scavenge which, in truth, is not a lot." She sighed, her yellow gaze travelling up from the leaf litter to graze that of his own. "How about yourself?" It was a meagre query to make; she was bursting with thoughts that she just couldn't put into words, but this was all she could muster for now.