Moonspear your protector

His lack of reaction frustrated her, as did his continued friendliness. Anxiety over the valley's current state of affairs had her running high on frustration, and truthfully, Alya was spoiling for a fight. But it seemed like she wouldn't get one from Rannoch, and besides - he was blood.

With a sigh, the girl seemed to deflate somewhat. "I'm always out," she replied, beginning to sound as tired as she felt. Lately, her days consisted of short hours of sleep and long hours of patrol, always with a sense of dread hanging over her head. When would this end? Would they always live under threat?

(Even though she would never dream of it... well... she'd begun to have dreams of running off and finding Nikai, and living in safety with him and his mother, and his sister Keoni, and his 'baby sibs'. But even if she dreamed of it, she would still never dream of it. Not even if the thought of cooled the heat of frustration that had taken up root in the back of her mind.)

"I just wish we could stop worrying," she admitted, looking out toward a land that she'd never seen, but had grown to fear either way.

Blackfeather Woods. The name alone sent a shiver rippling down her spine.