"Like this?" Lalana asked awkwardly. Her tail was pressed flat to the ground, her belly just skimming the leaves. Her paws were splayed every direction, and her ears pointed alertly.
Ninesh barely kept himself from laughing. "Bring your paws closer together. Fold back your ears. You're going to be in almost a crouch, but standing. There you go. Now, put your right fore paw foreword about a half-step, then the others, until you are almost running. Great job! Now slow down as if you just saw something. No, not like that. You want to make sure that you don't rustle the leaves and alert your prey. Deer and rabbits are good at seeing you and hearing you, so be very careful. Do you want to give a try?"
Lalana nods enthusiastically. "Okay!" She dashes off. Pretty soon there is a flurry of leaves, and a startled rabbit leaps out of the brush. Lalana is on the chase, paws flying. She is no longer crouched, and heartily brings the bunny down.
"Amazing! Do you want to share?" Ninesh looks hopefully at the tempting prey, licking his lipsunconsciously.
"Sure! This is too big for me," Lalana admits proudly. The unlikely friends share the meal in earnest. When they are full, the sun has already begun to set, and a chill has fallen on the red, gold, and green forest. "What now?" Lalana asks doubtfully. "It's dark."
Ninesh shrugs. "So? What's wrong? Don't you always sleep in the dark? I mean, you don't sleep during the day."
"No, but I've never slept outside in the forest. Where do I go?"
"Come on. There's a hollow under this bush that always stays warm."
The dog and wolf wriggle underneath the bush, and Lalana sighs with gratitude."Thank you," she whispers sleepily. But then they are both asleep.
In the morning, Lalana wakes up to an empty hollow. Where could Ninesh be? she wonders. Taking a step out into the crisp fall sunshine, she decides to hunt again. How hard could it be? Lalana's belly rumbles just thinking about food.
Taking a deep breath, Lalana thought back to the night before. Crouch. That was the first instruction. As she went through her paces, it all seemed to fall into place. Jogging through the wood, she cast her attention around for prey. It helped, she supposed, that her coat blended in well.
Lalana stopped. Lalana sniffed. Lalana listened.
There! A young squirrel was poking among the leaves at the bottom of an oak. Lalana waited, waited, waited... and ran. The squirrel never knew that it was being watched, and Lalana was satisfied as she dragged the plump kill toward the hollow. However, something pounced on her before she could get there. Rolling over, she looked into Ninesh's eyes. They were yellow, as usual, but now... they seemed a little less empty.
"New rule: don't bring food into the place you're going to eat." Ninesh yawned, his yellowed teeth glistening in the early light. Getting off of her, he sat and cocked his head.
"Oh. Have you eaten?" Lalana returned awkwardly. She licked her paws in discomfort.
"If you're offering to share, I won't say no."
"Okay!"
"Mmmm. Did I ever tell you that squirrel is my favorite?" Ninesh licked his portion clean.
"No, but I think I like it too. It's... gamey?" Lalana was at a a loss for words.
"Yes. Very gamey. Oh, Lalana? I think you should get breakfast more often."
Lalana agrees warmly. "But what if the white fog comes? The kind that falls?" She creased her eyebrows. Ninesh seems to laugh at her, but now Lalana doesn't care. "Whatever. What should we do for the rest of the day?"
Ninesh looks thoughtful. "We could play a game..."
ŞİMDİ OKUDUĞUN
The Return
Macera"Lalana wasn't sure where she ran, she just knew she had to get away. Her life was falling apart, and she didn't know what to do. Crossing the street, she looked up at the sky. Dark, forbidding clouds gathered, so that Lalana could not see a ray of...
