Silvertip Mountain What you perceive to be the truth and what is real

Phocion gave the girl a honeyed smile, bowled over by the sweetness and simplicity of her speech. What she lacked in size, she made up for in curiosity, that was for sure.

"There are lots of stars," he began, voice filled with an almost childlike wonder. "Sirius, the wolf star, is my favorite. Yes, perhaps you and Niita and I can go look at the sky one night."

As he spoke, he found himself disturbed by her bony appearance--the famine had taken its toll on her, even as most of the food went to the pups. This was no sort of childhood for a young wolf. A feeling of guilt washed over him; perhaps he needed to hunt more for these youngsters. They deserved every morsel of meat he could find.

"I will go bring you back more food," Phocion said quietly, poking the pelican with his muzzle. "Eat this, sweetheart. You need all the strength you can get." With a parting glance and smile at the pup and at Niita, he trotted away, a mixture of joy and of crippling fear gnawing at his insides.