Meadowlark Prairie Misery is contagious.

Penn was feeling mighty proud of himself as he walked across the white landscape. This was the furthest he'd ever been from home and while it hadn't been difficult to get this far, it still felt like quite the accomplishment. He'd spent two whole nights on his own and he totally hadn't been scared. Except the first night. He hadn't cried though! Except... just a little. But! No one would ever know, because as I said--he had been alone.

The only bad thing was his hunger was starting to get to him. He'd been able to ignore it for a while, but it got harder as time wore on. Elwood had given him permission to be gone for a whole week and there was no way he would turn back early, especially not for something as insignificant as hunger. Besides, Penn fancied himself to be quite the impressive hunter, and he had all the stubborn determination it was possible to inherit from his Blackthorn bloodline. He totally had this.

And hey! Looks like he managed to find some help too! "Hey!" Penn called out to the dark shape that hulked through the snow ahead of him. He had never been taught not to speak to strangers. Not that there would've been any point to the lesson as being told not to do something merely guaranteed he would do it as often as he could. But it might've encouraged him to take a little more care of what strangers he did approach.

Oh well.