Gleaming above the trees was the sun. It shone brightly, allowing patches of streaming yellow light to touch the brown forest floor, dotted with moving shade from the bare branches above. The spring was beginning to drift in on the wind, and the ground had warmed more than it had the day before. The familiar chill of winter seemed to fade as the sun rose.

A small stream of light flooded into the shallow burrow beneath Anertha's skin. It lit the short dirt walls with bright yellow morning light.

Afore was the first to awake, the light glaring into his eyes. Eyes squinted, he yawned and turned to look at Laika, who still breathed calmly beside him, sound asleep. The morning light illuminated the black and tan of her pelt with magnificence, casting a sharp sheen on her long shining coat, and especially on the well-defined muscles of her shoulders and ribs, and the gentle waves of her long, droopy ears. Her snout was long and delicate, the underneath of her face lined with bright, glimmering orange, and yet she was not delicate in any way. In fact, she was rowdy, annoying, and way too impulsive. Afore preferred her like this, whenever she was asleep and quiet.

The morning grew on for long, silent moments, and then at last, Laika awoke as the sun glared in her eyes, too, and rather painfully. She blinked, squinted, and stood so that the ceiling overcasted a shadow across her face, protecting her from the sun's harshness. Then, she took several quiet, morning moments to readjust and wake up.

The two canines had woken up together on many mornings in the cavern that they had been prisoner to, but never had they woken up on a morning like this, the sun streaming across their furs, and in a warm, soft bed of bear pelt, in a home that Afore had dug out with his own two paws. For once, they were free of any and all responsibility, and awoke with a new, igniting hope for what the future may bring.

And still, there was much stress on their shoulders, much haze in the air, like the weight of the world itself. Now, they could focus entirely on the real problems afoot, and the biggest one was a long, dirty rope that forced a wolf and a domestic to be stuck together in this tiny dug-out den.

Laika was the first to speak that morning, breaking the tranquil silence as she stood, "How do you suppose we could get this rope off of us?"

"We'd need a tool to cut it with. It's too thick for our teeth. We've already tried that, anyways." Afore sat up himself, eyeing her.

Laika tilted her head, "Well, where do we get tools?"

"We'd have to break in to a tribe and steal them."

"Oh, great. We couldn't have thought of this last night, whenever we, you know, broke in to a tribe and stole something?"

Afore sighed, "That was never my idea."

"It kind of was."

"It really wasn't. But anyhow, now we have to travel to the next closest tribe to get a tool from. Maybe we could trade for one, as long as they don't recognise me as a wolf. Veal Tribe will be on high alert now, so we can't steal from them again, much less trade with them."

Laika shook her head, "No, I'm not leaving Veal Tribe. I'm staying right here, in my bed."

"Laika, whether you like to admit it or not, you are a criminal in the eyes of Veal Tribe now. You ran from your job and then stole from them."

Laika glared at him, lips up in a curl, "My job? To breed with you? Are you serious?"

"I didn't give you that job and I don't want anything to do with it," Afore said firmly, "But matter of the fact is that Veal Tribe is not going to welcome you back."

"They will. Veal Tribe is my home!"

"And you can say that you still want to follow The Baron after what he tried on you?"

She glanced away, the sun reflecting in her dark eyes, "He was angry..."

Afore grumbled, "You can't make excuses for bad people."

She snickered, "Noted. I won't make excuses for you."

"You don't have to be so rude to me all of the time."

"You're the one who got us in to this mess!" Laika protested, eyes narrowed in a glare.

Afore stood up, ears brushing the burrow's ceiling, angry then, "No, Laika, I'm not. I'm not the one who obeyed a horrible Baron and chased a canine minding his own business, doing nothing to harm my tribe, and then captured him, and kept him prisoner!"

"Wolf," Laika hissed, "It wasn't just a canine. It was a wolf."

Afore was taken aback, his ears going flat against the back of his head, and his mouth a little open like there were words caught in his throat, begging to be free. Instead, they never came free, and he slowly shut his maw, his eyes a little wide, his stature a little hunched, and his spirit a little broken.

Then finally, he spoke quietly, "I am just a wolf, Laika. So why don't we go find a tribe to barter with or steal from, get a cutting stone, and leave each other's lives forever. I don't want to force you to be in my presence for any longer than you absolutely have to."

Laika had a flicker of unusual emotion, her eyes casting a little wide and watery, mouth open, and then they narrowed again just as quickly. Afore might have recognised this flicker of emotion as regret or even empathy, but he quickly dismissed the laughable thought. Her ears flipping back and so, her mouth forming a growl, she then spoke with spite and sass, "That sounds good to me."

"Good."

With a hmph, "Good!" Then, with strut, Laika pushed from the burrow and into the warm outdoor air. With a heavy sigh, Afore followed, feeling as though he was trying to control an ill-mannered child. Laika seemed just as whiny and annoying as one. He wondered how she had ever been well-respected in her tribe. And then, Afore wondered if he had truly been the culprit behind ruining her life and future.

"Maybe," Afore spoke with softness as he pulled out of the burrow, "The Veal Tribe would take you back if they thought I forced you to escape with me." He shook the dirt from his coat, and it escaped him like little pebbles upon the ground. Then, he looked at Laika evenly, "We could convince them of that after we cut the rope. You can travel back to Veal Tribe and ask to be let back in, and explain that I'd forced you to run away with me in my escape. And forced you to break back in and steal."

"Lie to them?" Laika asked, a little intrigued.

"Sure. If it lets you back in to the tribe. And, it wouldn't really be much of a lie... I did kind of rope you into this."

With strong sarcasm, "Ha-ha..." She paused, considering, "Well, it is the truth. You didn't force me to break in and take my bed back, no, that part would be a lie. But you did force me to be dragged along into all of this. If it was up to me, I would still be at Veal Tribe."

Afore smiled lightly, "Oh, I know. That plan is set, then. And moving on, I do know where the closest tribe is to Veal Tribe."

"Where? And how do you know?"

"I've lived loosely in these woods for a while now," Afore reminded her, "And have travelled to several tribes, albeit always out of sight."

"Because you're a criminal,"

"Yeah, for something I can't even control. It's a little unfair."

Laika glanced at him, and then furrowed her brows, "I think it's just. You're a wolf and a danger."

With sarcasm, "Oh, yeah. That's why I've been so vicious to a helpless dog that is literally tied to me." Flicking an ear, Afore rolled his eyes.

Laika's eyes shadowed briefly, and her gaze found the dirt of the floor, and then she said a little quieter, "Thank you... for your kindness."

"What was that?" Afore asked, inching closer to her, eyes boring into her.

"I said thank you."

"You said what? I can't hear you."

"I said..." then, Laika glared up at Afore, and found a smug look on his face, and scowled, "I said, shut up!"

He laughed, "Okay, okay... And you're welcome." Laika cared not to admit it, but she crept a small smile, too.

Eyeing the early morning forest surrounding her, Laika stood, watching in thought the dappling of light and branch shade that scattered along the ground and wavered delicately in the wind. "How far is the nearest tribe?" She asked, taking in the scene, and then turning back to look at Afore once again.

His eyes had not wandered from their mark, and he looked at her, "Not too far. We walk now, and we will certainly be there before sun-down."

"Will it take all day?" Laika asked, seeming a little exhausted and not wanting to walk far.

"No, not all day. We'd be there in the evening."

She sighed, "Alright."

And with that, the two began the walk to the next tribe, talking quietly together and sniffing the ground every so often, stopping to scan their surroundings and ensuring that they were still on the right path. Their feet pitter-pattered against brown fallen leaves, and they pushed past bare, wiry branches. The forest still looked like winter, barren and grey and brown, but the scent riding the air was unmistakable for early spring, and with it came a soft warmth from the sun. It was still chilly, but for the first time in a while, it was not cold.

As they trotted along through the brambles and woods, Laika queried, "What is the nearest tribe?"

"You really haven't been out much, have you?" Adore asked in response, glancing at her as they walked.

She shook her head, "No, not much. Just locally to hunt, like I said. There are other hires that deal with trade routes and alliances with other tribes. That's just not me."

"You're not even a little curious about the world out there?" Afore cocked an ear, a little disbelieving.

"Well..." Laika said, "Maybe a bit. I do enjoy going out and exploring. But you have to learn a lot of technical stuff whenever it comes to things like that..."

Afore responded, "I don't really think that that's why you're not in that position."

She sighed, glancing at her moving paws, "I suppose... that position is only for the higher-ups, those that have a more respected position in the clan."

"It's a hierarchy."

"Yes. I was never able to climb so high. The Baron chooses specifically those who have the power to visit other tribes. He keeps the rest of us on a tighter leash."

Afore sniggered, "Literally."

Laika glared up at him, but then a moment passed and she couldn't conceal her smirk and chuckle.