Greedy Bones

It was hard for the female to focus. So much was going on… her heat, the memories, the nightmares… it was enough to drive anyone mad, Whiskers had said. Surely they would understand that she had needed some time alone when Bellamy had stolen away that afternoon. Night would be upon them soon enough but if there was one thing Bellamy was not afraid of it was coming face to face with a stranger… or former enemy. Ears and Whiskers told her not to worry about the Empire whose Empress she killed in gaining her freedom… but Bells was no fool. Someone would seek retribution. Perhaps not today, perhaps not tomorrow, but someday those Kedieo scum would find their way into Boreas to seek her.

The female had ended up wandering further than she meant to when the telltale signs of a storm on the breeze began to stir. She sighed softly, head lifting to the heavens as she longingly waited to hear the boom of thunder or see the crack of lightning. It was too early, however, and with nightfall it would only get colder… without somewhere to shelter from the storm she could catch her death out here… or at least catch an illness and that meant dealing with Drifa again…

She shivered at the thought, embarrassment making her ears burn.

She had been afraid… felt weak…

She wouldn’t let that happen again.

The female kept going until she found a cave… only to snort in surprise when she smelled something quite curious within.

Fire.

Her father, she remembered, had been a weaponsmith within Lyenne. He had worked with the stuff… and so, with the flicker of his face rising in her memory curiosity drew Bellamy like a moth to the source of the flames.

Of course she should have realized… fire didn’t just come from nowhere in a cave.

She realized too late there was a stranger there and the female bristled in the cloak she wore, not growling but certainly on guard as her green gaze found the flames. Just beyond she could make out a figure… and rather than speak she froze, body tense, to see what sort of nature the stranger held.