The Bracken Woods zindgani ke safar mein

He raised his head in such a way that it afforded Masque a better look at the contraption around his throat. They swallowed, full of misgivings at the sight of such an object. It wasn’t just foreign to them, it was alien.

There was a slight edge to the question he posed, causing the yearling to blink in consideration. They shook their head. They weren’t in the mood for socializing with strangers and small talk at the best of times… and this certainly wasn’t that.

I should get back to my hunt, they replied.

It was true Masque needed sustenance. But they also had other mouths to feed. And their search for Avicus to consider, of course. They took a deep breath, aware they were being brief to the point of rudeness. But that wasn’t entirely unusual for them and they simply didn’t have the bandwidth to care.

Goodbye, they said, and would have included his name, except they’d never gotten around to exchanging them.

Masquerade did have the presence of mind to dip their head before they turned and loped in a random direction through the woods, passing as noiselessly as a ghost.