With a weary but grateful nod to the buck and a smile at his little mongoose, Meets-the-Sea curls up in a corner of the cave out of the sun, grateful for the cool chill of the stone on her skin. The exhausted and sun-weary doe falls asleep almost immediately, and when she awakes a few hours later to the setting of the sun, she finds herself alone. Assuming that Slide and Pillar have gone out to collect food, Meets decides to leave for now and head back to the swamp -- she recognizes the familiar twinge of the ache pulling at her, and decides to leave her trip to the plains for another time.
There is, to her surprise, more water in the hollow wooden bowl, and some berries laid out next to it. She eats the berries gratefully and sips sparingly of the water, grateful but not wanting to waste Slide's precious gift, or drink him and Pillar out of house and home.
Refreshed, the doe heads to the front of the cave and looks around, perhaps in search of the buck who has housed her and fed her so kindly, but sees no one in the lengthening twilight. She leaves, but not before scratching her name-glyph into the sandy dirt at the cave's entrance, hoping Slide will see it and recognize it as a symbol of her thanks for his hospitality, and then, smiling at this chance meeting, heads back to the swamp.
