Arrow Lake Fight the break of dawn

It felt apprehensive at first, watching her every movement carefully, still mistrustful of those bladed teeth, those blunt paws. Still, she made no motion to hurt it and didn't even acknowledge it save for an occasional passing glance. Mostly, she kept busy searching, until eventually she found what she was looking for: a temporary den.

She wedged herself in there, leaving enough space for Toothless to join her, like a tiny kitten slumbering beside a German shepherd. Toothless remained at a distance, sitting suddenly and blinking at this development. It sort of understood, yet it didn't. Its head canted and its black nose wiggled. It whined lightly under its breath, scaring itself, and lapsed into abrupt silence again.

Finally, it tiptoed forward, though its rump remained stationary. The result was that it lay like a watchful sphinx, still several dozen yards away from the big she-wolf. Yet it did not flee. In fact, it made a decision, though not consciously, that it wouldn't flee—not ever. It would cling to the dark wolf like a black sock fresh out of the dryer, happy on some basic level to be welcomed by its own kind for once in its life.

It did not want to sleep, did not want to let down its guard, yet time took its toll on the sylph-like critter. Its heavy head fell and its eyelids drooped. It slept with its eyes partially open, its breath coming in quick, restless pants, but it stayed. And when its new leader rose thereafter, Toothless would—after fearfully bursting to its feet and scurrying behind a bush, naturally—unfailingly fall into step behind her.