Blacktail Deer Plateau i bring trouble, i'm sorry, don't hurt me

There - that seemed to settle her, at least a little bit. Grayday began nosing through her fur, blowing warm puffs of breath into her undercoat. Though he was certain she was feverish, his mother had always tried to keep him warm when he was sick. If her limbs stayed too cold, her body would run hotter to make up for it. The trick was keeping an even body temperature, and comfort was important to that process.

"Fat and healthy," he agreed, though he had trouble believing Sorrel would ever put on enough weight, at this point. She was far too wan and sickly for Grayday's comfort. He worried she might not make it through the winter.

He felt the girl settle into him, causing more protective feelings to surge to the forefront of Grayday's mind. He'd have to get her a skin to wear, like Lavender sometimes did. He'd have to make sure she got a little extra meat, the fresher the better. He'd have to keep an eye on that cough, he'd have to make sure the kids kept their distance. She'd certainly been a great deal of trouble, but Grayday didn't say that, of course, and he could hardly resent her for having come to them damaged.

"In the springtime, you'll be well again," he said to her, not sure at all that this was true, but knowing it would be good for her to have something to look forward to. "We'll be going on a great adventure - you and me, your brother and father. Everyone together. We'll travel by the stars at night, and sleep in the sun all day. The air will be warm and sweet-smelling. The land that we are travelling to is full of endless plains and hilly lands. You can run for miles and see nothing but green. But we'll find ourselves a little stand of trees to shelter under, and a little river to sit beside, and we'll spend all summer doing nothing but hunting and playing. You'll see."