As Kiyiya jogged toward the village, his mind wandered and his eyes drifted around him to admire the forest that he lived in. The trees protected them from most enemies, human or otherwise. Every so often, during the night, Kiyiya could sit on the edge of the village's borders and listen to the wolves howl back and forth at each other, and at the moon. It made him long to join them.

There was a rustling in the grass behind him, and at first Kiyiya was too frozen with fear to stop running and see what was following him. He felt a shiver down his spine and the fear forming a knot in his throat. He swallowed past it and slowly turned his head to the side, then yelled in surprise and tumbled forward, rolling twice before coming to a stop. He sprawled out in the grass and looked at the face above him.

"Maheegan!" he whined, staring at her with furrowed eyebrows. "You were supposed to be waiting for me in the village!"

He brought himself to his feet and didn't expect much of a reply from her. She was quiet and she spoke rarely. However, he had been [i]worthy[/i] enough to have held a conversation with her once in a while.