Wild Berry Meadow Tell everybody I'm on my way

Maybe if they starve, they will be easier to catch, Needle gargled through a mouthful of berries. She’d discovered that collecting three or four at a time made for a pleasant burst of juice. She smacked on them noisily, shuddering the entire plant as she snuffled around for more. What do I care anyway? We’re leaving.

Once she’d left a place for good, she’d never seen it again. Like when her family moved from Riverclan to the river of Qeya. Or when she became lost in those woods. There was also that sandy place, those seemingly endless dunes. And all the thousands of acres of wilderness in between. This was simply the latest region in a land of many to abandon.

There was no reason to suspect this time would be any different.

In her haste, she accidentally drew an unpleasant sprig between her teeth and ground it into a disgusting poultice. She slavered and tried to force out the mush of twig and green leaves with her tongue, but mostly managed to just make a mess of it. ¡Qué asco! she spat, giving her head a fierce shake. Okay, that’s enough of that.

Needle looked to the hunter, her face a stained, dribbled mess. And if she had seen the way she looked compared to him, she would’ve been embarrassed. For he, stonemason, lord of cathedral gargoyles, and statue eternal, appeared as regal as ever. His jagged, wartorn edges having smoothed in her eyes. From a figure of warning to one of safety, nobility.

There was still a wild air to him, the promise of savagery behind his cyclops eye, but the tempest of his thinly veiled ire had been turned away from her. All things frightening about him had lifted to unmask the protector underneath. This was all she saw now. All that her mind could comprehend.

I’m ready.