onwards

The air here was so clean and slightly damp, the sun was shining but it wasn't too hot. This was a comfortable place for Liste. As she wandered along the water's edge she kept her eyes moving, searching for places she would hide if need be as well as looking out for anything she might need to hide from. For all of the time she had spent traveling alone without any problems or disturbances, she was still so paranoid. She paused briefly, noticing she was coming upon the river's delta. The water would be calm, a perfect place for fish to swim and other animals to drink. There will definitely be food there, she thought to herself as her stomach rumbled. How long had it been since her last meal? Two days? Three?



Liste picked up her pace ever-so-slightly and continued in the direction of the delta. She had become accustomed to going a couple of days at a time without food, so it didn't bother her much. She just knew that her energy would increase if she ate and that she would be able to continue travelling much longer. She didn't even know where she was going or what she might be searching for, but she knew she needed to keep moving. If he ever caught up to her, she doubted he would let her live. Thinking about him was still unavoidable , no matter how many times she tried to drive the memory out of her mind. She had learned to live with it, and most importantly, to keep the images from clouding her vision.



As Liste came closer to the delta, she noticed a large shape near the water and immediately moved to the brush alongside the river where she could be under cover. She crept slowly forward, keeping her eyes on the... what was that exactly? From this distance she couldn't be sure, the colors appeared to be those of a mass of dirt but this thing had shape and was moving. It was a wolf. Liste came to a stop about twenty feet from the creature and watched as he gracefully picked a fish out of the water. Graceful. That wasn't a word she imagined associating with his ill figure and earthy tones. Judging a book by its cover clearly wasn't the way to go here.



A bird suddenly sprung from the brush beside her and flew away. It would certainly draw attention to her hiding place and there wasn't time to find a better spot, she was already too close. A part of Liste urged her forward, to speak with him and to make sure he was okay. Another, more forceful, part of her held her in place. He could be violent. After all he was eating, and didn't some wolves get defensive while eating? Liste remained crouched in the brush, unable to decide what to do.