Where was she? Somehow or another, she had managed to get herself separated from Ten and Mak both in the middle of hunting, and now she was completely lost. Which wasn’t hard, given that she’d never been here before, and even with both of her friends the young wild dog was probably ‘lost’. It was just different when they were lost together was all. It wasn’t like being lost at all then.
Sethunya heard herself starting to whimper and bit her lip hastily. She might not be big yet, but she was bigger at least. More than a tiny helpless little puppy. Even Mak was big enough now to help Ten with the hunting, and they usually managed to get more to eat when they worked together. Certainly they went hungry with less frequency. But it seemed to be easier to get separated too. They’d nearly lost track of Ten the other day, though in spite of her worries it seemed that he had not lost track of them. But now Set was all on her own, and that was frightening. She loved her friends, she couldn’t imagine being without them. And the world was so big! If they lost each other, what if they never found one another again? What would she do?
A small sound caught her attention and she froze, quivering with nerves. Ten had warned them to be careful, always and always warned them. There were big things out here, things that would eat something just because it was smaller than them. Something, or someone. Set was a someone, and she really, really did not want to be eaten!
”H-hello?” she squeaked, looking hopefully at the brush even as she slunk behind a tree. Just in case. But she hoped it was Ten, or maybe Mak. Or both. Both would be nice.
Her ears pressed flat against her skull when it was revealed to be…neither. It wasn’t a lion at least, and the stranger wasn’t much bigger than she was, but still…
”What’re you doing all out here?” the strange female…thing asked. She wasn’t a wild dog, she was too skinny for that. She did look like a canine though. A canine whose red splotched legs were much longer than Set thought legs were supposed to be in proportion to the rest of a person.
”I…I…h-hunting with my friends,” the young wild dog tried anxiously, peeking her head back out from around the tree. ”Only…only I think they got lost…” she added with another small whimper. ”Or…or maybe…m-maybe I got lost…”
The stranger just looked at her as she spoke and then heaved a sigh as Sethunya started to whimper miserably. She always pitied pups who got lost, though most were simply tough-love subjects really. Hinote had always been an advocate of looking oneself, doing things oneself, and figuring out one’s own problems. She was a loner, she had been since she was young and struck out on her own. Her brother was the softy, he was the one who wanted a family, wanted a home. As for Hinote…life was what you made it, and she intended to keep hers to herself.
But if this pup was looking for her friends…
The maned wolf sighed again. ”Where did you last see them? she asked finally, her ears laying back in protest to the soft steady rising of whimpers. It was getting annoying. Though, admittedly, if the little pup started to actually howl her friends might find her more easily. It might attract something else though, something less compassionate than Hinote, a feat some might say was not entirely possible. Not to mention, it would be annoying to have to listen to. For any amount of time.
”W-well…” Setuthnya sniffled, looking about. ”I…I think…I th-think we w-were over th-there…” Hinote rolled her eyes and nodded at the pup, urging her to get up and get going already. Sethunya sniffled in response before creeping uncertainly the rest of the way out from behind her tree and, after a cautionary glance at the stranger, padding a few steps in the direction she’d come from. Only this might not be that effective…after all they had been leaving. ”But…but they might not be there anymore,” she started to try to explain, only to stop speaking at the maned wolf’s low huff.
”It doesn’t matter if they’re there anymore, what matters is if they were there,” Hinote explained, with all the patience she…utterly lacked and had none of. With the result that she pretty much snapped at the youngster, which would have been find she supposed if the poor pitiful little thing hadn’t started to sniffle and whimper even more rapidly. ”If they were there, I can find them,” the wolf added, hoping that her words would be enough to stifle those sniffles. Aggravating. But it was a poor, helpless, defenseless little pup. She felt like she ought to do something at least, or to try. That did not mean she would adopt the little thing, oh no, no way at all. But she could nudge the pup back in the direction of her friends.
”Really?” Sethunya was asking, looking very much impressed. ”But how do you do something like that?” Talk to the grass? See the future? Fly over the trees to see what might be beneath?
”I use my nose. Now get to it kid,” Hinote growled, not really succeeding much In being ‘threatening’, but certainly enough to make an impression on a mere child. Sethunya peered at her with apparent interest, but managed, barely, to ask and say nothing in reply to her comment. Instead, her fluffy red tail wagging hopefully, the young female turned and led the way back through the brush from the direction she’d come from. It was a bit of a walk, though for someone who’d spent nearly their whole life traveling, walking was hardly any kind of obstacle at all.
”Somewhere around…here,” Sethunya announced, finally drawing to a stop. She watched, intrigued, as the maned wolf lowered her nose to catch a whiff of their scents. ”Guessing this one is you…” she was mumbling as she cast about, ”Must’ve scared that rabbit, you and your brothers…” Ahah, there it was. ”This way, they went this way…” she muttered, indicating with a quick flick of her tail that the pup was to follow her.
”They’re not my…ooh, really?” Set forgot that she had been about to protest their relation, bounding eagerly to the maned wolf’s side instead and sniffing about. She wasn’t very good at tracking just yet…but she thought she could smell Mak and Ten…now that the stranger mentioned it. Maybe.
”Yes, now all you have to do is follow these scents that way, and you’ll find your family.” Hinote pointed along the trail, which she could now see fairly easily due to the crushed leaves and broken twigs. With a gleeful little wriggle the small dog bounded off, a thank you called happily over her shoulder. Hopefully the kid would catch up to the others, Hinote could smell that they’d been here recently. She waited a moment more, watching until the little white and red pup had vanished, before continuing on her way. She’d stopped long enough to point the pup in the right direction. How would anyone learn anything if someone simply did it all for them?
No, she’d done all she should. The pup would just have to take care of the rest on her own. It was a simple thing anyway… Huffing softly to herself, Hinote turned and padded off, continuing on her way. It had been a long night and all she wanted now was to curl up in her den and sleep…
(1326 words counted)
