It’s late.
The forest is falling to a hush, and the stars were just beginning to peek their heads from the clouds.
Many of the forest’s inhabitants were already asleep, but deep within the veil of trees, there were
people still stirring - children and adults running about, either to play or to make themselves busy.
“C’mon Karl, we got you!”
“No you didn’t!”
“Yeah we did!”
“Nuh-uh!”
“Cheater!”
“Karl! Clara! Quit your bickering!”
“But he started it!”
“Nuh-uh!”
Footsteps (each one quiet, careful, placed with purpose, but not effort) can be heard in the forest.
A human covered in furs and armors, and laden with weapons and packs, and a beast, great in size
and cloaked in coarse white fur and long scars, walk together.
“Been a long time since we’ve seen everyone, huh?”
The beast glances at the human, huffing in a way that anyone could describe as irritated.
It turns a sharp ear towards its companion, listening for a response even as it looks elsewhere.
“You know very well we can’t do that. Our work drags us all the way from Timbuktu and back,
and it’s hard to save up enough supplies to last the entire trip from wherever we are to wherever they are.
And even if we did try to visit more often, we might bring everyone some very unwanted attention - ”
the beast huffs again, and the human pretends not to notice - “and besides, it’s not like it’s easy for them
to contact us. We were halfway across the empire before we heard about this little get together.”
The beast stays silent, and the forest falls quiet once again.
A group of humans and beasts huddle around a bonfire, making conversation while they work.
They seem oblivious to the noise that the children make. A woman - she appears to be older, grey hairs
streaking through the brown with wrinkles just beginning to adorn her face - speaks up, frustrated.
“Where are they? They told us they’d arrive by sunset.”
A man - similar in age to the woman - looks to the woman, unperturbed by her harsh tone.
“Perhaps they ran into trouble on the way here,” he suggests. “You know what it’s like for them -
their work is hard.” He looks back to his work. “Someone is always trying to get their help with something.”
The beasts lying by their sides exchange tired glances before turning to the couple and quietly
barking their thoughts. Another woman, much younger but more harried looking than the first,
stares incredulously at the beasts, momentarily distracted from the fire.
“Of course they wouldn’t forget! You should know how uptight they get about these kinds of gatherings -
after all, you helped raise them!”
The beasts seem to chuckle, laying their heads on their paws again.
Others sitting by the fire begin to chime in one by one, and conversation begins to pick up
before the yell of an excited child peals through the camp.
“It’s Alina! Lina’s back!”
