He looked at the little one again, and was reminded how young and sheltered her life had been. She wasn’t wasn’t raised in the original Ashen Empire, with the famines and droughts… shelter was her first guess on priority, a warm place to rest your feet. Impulsively, he leaned over and gave her a nuzzle on one of her little ear tufts.
“No, your body will shut down without water faster then it would without food. Shelter is a comfort, but not always a necessity. Water, food, shelter” he explained, watching as she struggled to find a scent. “Alright,” he said, taking pity on her. “We aren’t the only ones that need water, so we find the main water source, and find the scents leading away from that” he suggested, there would still be a lot of scents to work through, but it would give her a place to start. He wanted her to try, but he would always be there to guide her. He was giving her a taste of independence, and reminding her how much she had left to learn.
Bloodletter
