Sorren waited until it was dark out until she climbed up into her own bed. As soon as she laid down, the memory of being pinned under the Peregrine surfaced and she had to blink to force away the thought. She quickly rolled onto her side, out of the vulnerable position she had been in. His silver eyes haunted her, though she had not seen him since that day and she vaguely wondered what he had been doing for the past two weeks. Sorren was terribly nervous that he was concocting some complex trap for her and was glad she would be staying in the cave for a while. Even though she was confident she could out-fly them within Deepfell, she had not had the schooling and fight training that they had. With a shudder, she remembered how tall they had all been when she stood beside them the night they killed the Gagra and how strong. She thought that if she had not been there to warn them and had gone out of curiosity instead, there was no way she could have gotten out from beneath the silver-eyed without stabbing him.
Bear was right. All she had to do, was to stay in the cave for a couple of weeks and they would decide that, having not seen her for a month, they better move on. Though they might have agreed to go after her, they did not have to take her back specifically. Any Feral would do. She closed her eyes in the darkness, but found no solace there.
She was flying through the forest, a basket in her arms, the brush a green blur as she swept by. She looked down into it as if she she had forgotten what she carried and saw that it was a bloody pelt, freshly torn from the body of a deer. Sorren cried out and flung the basket away from herself, watching it tumble into the leaves below as she pumped her wings to slow her speed. She landed hard and leaned against a slab of black rock, breathing hard and staring at the red on her hands, fighting tears.
Suddenly, the boulder fell away from her back and she toppled onto the ground. Two stone doors opened like a giant gate, revealing a dark corridor with walls made of churning cogs and cranking gears, all copper and smeared with oil. It stunk of searing metal and unnatural smoke. Instinctively, she tried to retreat into the forest, but two Peregrines stood before her, as giant as the Gagra and wielding weapons. They grinned down at her with greed and the promise of torture. With a scream, she stumbled into the corridor and ran into the steam of the roaring machine. They were right behind her, looming like falling trees that she could not get out from beneath, laughing deeply and snapping their teeth like wolves. She could not spread her wings because the hall was too narrow and seemed as if it were compressing. She couldn't breathe in the fumes and was choking into a claustrophobic panic.
Two more shadows grew up from the ground, leering down with glowing red eyes as she skidded to a stop. She screamed as a Peregrine behind her plucked her up like a blade of grass. Then she was falling into a giant wicker basket, faces crowding above her with their pointed teeth and red eyes. Only one set of eyes was silver and the other faces disappeared as the basket swirled away from them. It was tipping, then, and she clung to the ridges for dear life, afraid to fall into nothingness or back into the machine, but she could not hold on and spun head over heels into another basket, this one made of metal.
No, she realized. It was a cage.
Sorren sat up and tried to subdue her rapid heart, her breath flying in and out. This air was fresh and smelled of pine and flowers and Bear instead of burning coal. There was a pelt in her hands, but it was not bloody, and she quickly recognized it.
"It was just a dream," she whispered to herself. "It wasn't real." She repeated it a few times just to make certain that she was really awake. Sorren scrubbed her face with her hands and lay back down. She stared at the ceiling of the cave, but everything was dark.
It rained the next three days from sun up to sun down, but she hardly ever saw Bear. He returned very late and night and was up and out again before she woke up. Sorren tried to busy herself cleaning the cave, sewing small holes in her clothes, fluffing Bear's bedding or even by whittling or making another basket, but it was still not anywhere near as interesting as the outside. To pass the time, she often napped, even though it made her feel weak and sluggish and want to sleep more.
She wanted desperately to climb up the nearest tree or to the top of the hill the cave was under to watch the general activity of the forest because it was far more interesting than staring at a rock wall or drawing pictures in blackberry juice on it. But she had made a promise to Bear not to leave the cave at all unless there was a real emergency. He had even clarified that a real emergency meant that the cave was falling down or there was either a wolf or Peregrine inside it. Sorren had been taught never to break a promise.
Just when she thought she would go insane, Snake arrived, a dull brown and more than twice as long as a Feral, his scales scraping along the floor.
"Ssssoren," he hissed. "Good to sssee you."
She took one look at him and his foggy eyes and instantly felt bad for him. He most likely couldn't see anything at all. "Oh, Snake! You poor thing, you are shedding again aren't you?"
His head rose about a foot off the floor and nodded, his tongue flicking out to taste where she stood because he was having such difficulty with his vision, not that it had ever been his most useful sense to begin with. Some of the flaky white had peeled off along his sides as he moved against roots and rocks, but that was the extent of it. She pulled back the curtain of hanging moss to let light and fresh air in, pausing to control her desire to sprint out into the world again. "You just lay here and let me help," she said, watching him fit as much of himself in the puddle of warm sunlight as he could. The truth was, she was so desperate for something to do that she would actually enjoy pulling off his wrinkly old skin.
"Oh, thank you," he sighed.
She started with his face, where it was already split up his nose and quickly freed his eyes and head, revealing bright green scales and lime-colored eyes. His pupils contracted in the light and he hummed with appreciation. Sorren continued to roll the fragile material down his body until an hour or so later, he was free of his irritating burden. She liked the palette of greens and browns on his body.
"You look all new, Snake!"
"Thanksss to you, of courssse," he said. "I have ssseen Bear ssseveral timesss, but not you. Doesss he have you ssstaying in here while the Peregrinesss are nearby?"
"Yes," she sighed. "I promised him I would. It is boring, not being able to go out, and I wish I had more visitors. I half expect Cat to come along and order me to pet him because I have nothing else to do."
"Cat," he hissed. "He eatsss my mice. I feel like I ssshould eat him. But I wouldn't becaussse he is your friend."
She chuckled. "He would be too furry, I'd imagine. Then you would be the one with hairballs!"
"Mammalsss," he spat. "I appreciate your help, Sssorren."
"Any time," she replied, watching him wind his way outside where he disappeared like magic into the green and brown of the forest floor.
With a sigh, she sat down and folded her legs across each other, resting her elbow on her knee and supporting her face with the heel of her hand. She stared off into the trunks, blurring together in the distance to make a brown and gold curtain, wishing she could be running between them.
Sorren knew he was looking for her and did her best not to be afraid. Fear would only build upon itself so that when it did come down to fight or flight, she would freeze and that would be the last she would see of Deepfell. She wanted nothing less than to visit the inside of Incitatia as he had offered upon their first encounter and most certainly did not want to go into the city with him. Why couldn't the Peregrines just pick one of their own Flock Avians to keep? Surely they would be more willing. She could not imagine being the silver-eyed's mate let alone wanting to give him a child. Had any Feral wanted to do that with the Peregrine that had captured her?
She looked down at the hand in her lap. Sorren could not imagine wearing another band around that wrist, much less one made of shining metal. Although she loved pretty glittering objects, she thought that it would mean she would have to take off her other bracelet. She loved her black bracelet, so smooth and warm against her skin. She had always worn it and felt anxious at the thought of being forced to remove it.
The crack of a stick nearby brought her out of her daze, her heart fluttering up into her throat with the very fear she needed to control.
"Oh, Bear, it's just you," she breathed.
He filled up the doorway with his size, his belly big and round from gorging himself all day. His breath was shallow as if he had just run and it seemed to rattle out of him. "Of course," he said hoarsely. "Who were you expecting?" He collapsed on his bed and rolled on his side.
"No one. I was afraid it could have been someone I did not want to see. Snake was just here a moment ago. He needed help shedding," she said.
"I saw the skin. It smells like pee, you should get rid of it. Better yet, put it outside the cave so the damned Peregrines stay away from here," he growled.
"Are you okay, Bear?" Sorren asked, noticing how he panted.
"I must have eaten something bad. Remember when I ate those mushrooms and didn't know which way was up? I thought trees were talking to me and the walls were made of...cheese I believe it was."
"Yes, you tried to eat the pads on one of your feet because you were sure they were stale biscuits," she said, shaking her head.
"Right. Well, I don't feel well and I did eat some mushrooms today. I'm not myself so forgive me if I am short. How many days worth of food do you think you have left? It has been about a week and a half, right?" His eyes seemed glassy and his nose was runny.
"Yes, it has. I think I have three or four days at least."
He swallowed and nodded. "That is good. I'm just going to take a quick nap and I will go back out again. But take Snake's skin away, would you? It is going to make me vomit."
She grabbed the pile of crispy white material and quickly moved outside. She had not seen him act that way before and it worried her. It was unlike the mushroom incident in that he was neither giddy nor full of energy. In fact, his bottom lip was not numb and flapping about either. Sorren wondered if he was developing a fever that was causing him to overheat.
She unfolded the skin and laid it over the ground in a serpentine motion, hoping it appeared convincing and at the same time wishing she could make something more useful out of it instead.
"Good afternoon, Sorren!" Wren was flitting by, but paused to hover in the air for a moment.
"Oh, hello, Wren," she smiled.
"Ah, I see you've been helping Snake! That is kind of you. Sorry, I don't really have time to talk. A storm is coming and I've got to tell everyone!" Wren continued on her way by.
"But it just rained last week!"
"I know!" Her voice was tiny with the distance she had already put between them.
Sorren sighed. At least she had enough food for the next few days if it did not stop by morning. She would have to find some way to convince Bear to stay in. The cold rain would only worsen the state of his immune system and cause undue stress to his body. She would share her food with him gladly if it kept the chill from seeping into his flesh.