Reiner Candori merely snarled in disgust, stepped forward, and cracked two of Oust's teeth that day when he delivered a swift, unrestrained, backhanded blow to the side of his wailing cub's skull. Oust barely remembered hitting the dirt after.

"And that's pretty well what happened. Or what I can tell you about it... My father did something heartless, and my sister went along with it like she always does, his perfect executioner." Oust finished his recount with a blank expression, staring down at the dirt with idle eyes.

Sir Corper had been listening silently to the tale, his eyes closed to mask his own heated rage. The bear steadied himself a little before he spoke, careful to hide those emotions from his student. That anger wasn't what Oust needed.

"What bothered you the most about it back then?" Oust took a breath in as he thought on that question. He answered confidently.

"That I lost the first friend I made because I was careless. That I got him killed." The bear asked his next question.

"What bothers you the most about it now?" It was Oust's turn to go silent. Finally, after a long pause, after he had carefully pondered that question in his mind, Oust answered the bear.

"I've changed my mind, I don't think I want to talk about it anymore." Sir Corper wasn't expecting the tiger to withdraw like that so suddenly, but as much as he wanted to chase him on that subject, the bear knew that whatever his student had thought of for an answer must have greatly unsettled him to warrant such a response.

Pursuing the matter would only make the tiger shut down even more at that point, so instead, Sir Corper moved the topic along for the time being, and left it up to the tiger to find somebody to talk to about it. Even so, the bear's own thoughts lingered heavily on the tiger's story for a while afterward.

___

As the pairs of beasts slowly trickled back to camp among the night stretching into the later hours, they found that none of them felt like conversing much more.

They were all either too tired, too caught up in their own thoughts, or simply just not wanting to be around others, so the small caravan called it an early night, and peace fell upon their camp within a few hours. They slept until dawn, when they packed up, and pressed forward.

They reached the edge of the Thorned Thicket before the afternoon sun took its place at the peak of the sky.

As the Prince's party gathered their supplies from the wagon, Aster couldn't help but gaze upon the forest looming before them. There was a line of tall trees that stretched on for miles, the land leading up to the tree line was littered with thorny bramble patches that jaggedly curved up towards the sun above.

There was an air of humidity near the forest, with an impressive variety of plants already visible from Aster's current position. It strangely made the boy homesick for the dense forest near his own home estate. Stahl stole away Aster's attention as she casually spoke beside the human.

"It's kind of pretty in a way. There's something mysterious about it." Aster simply nodded, adding his own opinion to that statement as he did so.

"It is, but also something unsettling." Stahl had to agree with her mate as well. It was Dally who interrupted the pair.

"Don't worry, it only takes about five days to make it to the other side. The forest has some surprises, but nothing a group like this one shouldn't be able to handle." Stahl turned to the husky with a smile of kinship.

"I'm not too worried. Are you going to manage, alright? I know how easy I am to start missing."

The husky laughed his cheery laugh before replying.

"I think I'll survive, may just have to drink myself to sleep to cope with the loss, though." Stahl smirked as she gave the canine one final jab.

"No different than usual then?" The husky only smiled before lightly tipping his feathered hat towards the prince's convoy. The bard gave a final word of goodbye before departing the group.

"Your majesty, Aschefell, it's been a pleasure. May the gods sing your stories for all to hear." Prince Tyfin gave the friendly beast one final bow in thanks, and the wagon was off, Dally driving while Milky strummed their lute beside the sleeping Mist. The prince watched them leave for a moment before turning to face his crew once more.

The lion took a deep breath in and turned his attention towards the thicket with a renewed drive to reach what was waiting on the other side. They would finally be back in Alora soon, and the convoy was never more ready to see it. Prince Tyfin spoke in an affirming tone, more for himself than those that listened on behind him.

"Come, our home awaits us."

___

Stahl studiously scoped her surroundings, waiting for the impending attack to launch. Her opponent was an adaptive one, using their abilities and the landscape together to form quick tactics and launch unpredictable attacks in barrages of flashing steel. Rust was quickly proving himself more than both formidable and capable in battle.

Stahl focused herself as she strained to hear the lightest rustle of leaves left by the nimble fox's footsteps. She almost didn't turn in time to intercept the cub, striking down at the leaping fox with her sheathed blade, catching Rust across the back in a quick counter. The fox fell to the ground with a grunt, huffing as he spoke in disappointment.

"I really thought I had you that time..."

Stahl chuckled at her nephew, not hiding her glee as she made the jab.

"You almost did. Guess all those years of sneaking around and eavesdropping on everyone may come in handy for you after all. I barely heard you that time."

Rust flushed beneath his orange fur at the callout but quickly steeled himself with a shake of the head when he replied.

"Let's go again. I have an idea."

Stahl crossed her arms as she sighed a bit, answering the cub with far less enthusiasm.

"It's already been nearly two hours. I only promised you one. Besides, the sun is setting on us anyway. We should be getting back."

Rust stood, looking up in his auntie's eyes with his best pleading face, emphasizing his words as he spoke.

"Just one more? Please?"

Stahl took a single look into Rust's sparkling blue eyes before she folded like a napkin with a partially hidden grunt of annoyance.

"...One more."

Rust nearly jumped in excitement as he walked away a few paces, gazing off into the forest as he whispered ever so softly among the trees.

"Mark." The cub was gone in a flash, Stahl took her stance, listening carefully around her as her eyes darted around for clues. Rust had discovered he needn't speak the trigger loudly at all, that barely an inaudible whisper would work, making it far more useful for stealth.

Stahl had been directing the cub well the passed two evenings, and the third day of training was really showing the progress the fox had made already. She hadn't told him too much about it, and Rust didn't pry since he was finally getting treated like an adult, but the wolf did do her best to help her nephew understand how his bloodskill worked.

A rustle to her left drew the wolf's attention for a split second. Just in time to see the fox vanish once more into the shadows of the dense forest. A bead of sweat rolled down the Stahl's brow, the heavy humidity in the center of the thicket made the forest feel more like a jungle in the heat, something the wolf assumed had to do with the river running through the heart of the thicket from the mountain visible to the north.

The camp for the evening was only a short ways away, but there was no doubt they had made steady progress in their travels. There was one thing that was bothering the noble she-wolf, though, something she just couldn't shake, ever since stepping foot into the thicket. Somebody was watching them.

Another crunch of leaves to Stahl's right side drew her attention, the wolf catching the fastest glimpse of her nephew before the fox flashed away once again. Rust was playing the long game here, waiting for Stahl to slip up and lower her guard.

She couldn't help but smile. She still had some reservations about teaching her nephew, but she was enjoying how dedicated the cub could be. Rosten Aschefell just may be the next head of the Aschefell line one day at this rate. Another rustle to her left drew her in.

Stahl turned quickly this time, taking a step forward just as her nephew disappeared again. A snap to her right made the wolf turn, right in time to see a stone bounce off the earth from where it was released midair.

Stahl realized the fake out immediately and turned as fast as she could. Rust had his sheathed dagger at the wolf's throat before she ever finished turning around.

The fox's shit eating grin at his victory was smug enough to give Stahl's own a run for its money. The wolf just smiled at the cub, winked once, and motioned down, to where her left handed, sheathed sword was poised against the fox's ribs, ready to pierce his heart in the mock battle.

Rust deflated a little, but Stahl quickly perked him back up with a compliment.

"Quick thinking. Good distraction. Did you teleport after dropping the rock? That was smart. If I were any slower, that would have been a sound defeat, Rust."

The cub's smile returned, nodding in thanks for the praise. He spoke to his auntie-turned-mentor with respect.

"Thank you. I was hoping it would work how I thought it would. I really do appreciate this... You're a really good teacher, you know... Ready to head back?"

Stahl admittedly beamed in pride at those words.

"Well, you're a good student. I'm surprised you aren't pushing for another round, though."

Rust stood a bit straighter, using that best attempt at a grown-up voice of his.

"I told you I wouldn't argue with you if you teach me. I agreed to one more."

Stahl nodded at the statement before she answered in a lighthearted voice.

"So you did... But we still have a little light left, and a few more minutes won't hurt anything. Want to go again?"

Rust's eyes lit up as he happily accepted the offer. Stahl was enjoying it almost as much as the cub was.

They ended up going for three more rounds before finally calling it quits. The sun was disappearing behind the dense line of trees as they made their way back to the camp area a short walk away. As they trailed into the small clearing, the glow of firelight casted itself against their forms.

Stahl paused for a second to process exactly what she was watching before he started towards the campfire, questions burning in her throat.

***

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