Unblocked sun weaved its way through the foliage, hitting Lemon right in the eyes and waking him up. He expected to wake up to cold metal bars and damp concrete, but instead the ground was only damp from the dew resting on the blades of grass. Where was he again? Right! He had joined the group that had foolishly decided to escape the pound. That must be why it felt like his stomach was trying to eat him inside out. Stumbling up to his paws, Lemon looked around the place they had apparently decided to stay. The clearing was glistening from the sun bouncing off the leaves and trees. It was so... fresh here, untouched by the humans' constrictive, deadly grasp. All of the dogs that had joined the group - Jackal, Jack, Cinnamon, Elizabeth... and Nutmeg - had curled up beside trees, though Lemon had rested on a patch of vines for the night. Nutmeg was the only one awake besides for him, jumping up to try and catch the bugs that flew around. She looked so joyful now, even if it was possible she could also be starving like him.

"Hey, Nutmeg? I'm going to go try to find something to eat, is that alright?" Lemon asked, heading over to her. It felt so weird to feel the dirt around his paws again, and he prayed he didn't have ticks already.

"Yeah! I'll just be here, chasing butterflies," Nutmeg cheered, catching one of the colorful little creatures in her jaws. Her tail was wagging so fast he could hardly see it anymore. She didn't seem to have any interest in joining in the hunt, so Lemon hurried off without her.

Working his way through the undergrowth, he noticed how long it had been since he had seen anything this green. His owner used to have rugs this green all over the home, he could only see green for weeks after he got adopted. It had been so nice living with his owner... but now he was out here, in the vibrant, nature-filled forest. How was he supposed to feel about this place? It was unnatural, even though it was a forest. Lemon was absolutely sure there should be more than a vibrant landscape everywhere - and he meant everywhere. He had been certain they hadn't trudged deep into the forest, but now he couldn't see the city even if he tried his hardest. What was even happening in this place? It gave him the worst headaches ever. Shaking his head, Lemon remembered he had to focus on collecting food for the group. He took a minute to just listen, his ears searching for anything that could satisfy his hunger. There was no sound for a while, but then a rabbit ran in front of him, fleeing from something. The poor creature looked confused, so the retriever gladly ended it's misery. Bone crushed between his jaws, and the blood tasted so good and tempted him to go ahead and eat it. But he resisted. The group should probably eat first, even if they were being totally useless and not doing anything! Like Nutmeg. Shaking the husky out of his thoughts, he headed back to the clearing where they had rested.

There she was, tearing apart butterflies in hope to get some sort of food apparently. Noticing he was there, Nutmeg dropped the insects and stuck out her tongue. "Butterflies taste horrible. Don't recommend it. Wait, what's that?" The husky bounded over to him, sniffing the rabbit. "Can I eat it? It smells sooo good!"

Lemon's hate for her dissipated once again at that wonky smile she wore. With a chuckle, he tossed the rabbit to the ground, "Go ahead! I ought to catch more though, I'm awfully hungry. Welp, bye!" And with that, he was back into the thick forest, leaving the group behind once more to hunt. Ugh, he was so exhausted at this point. Why did everything have to be so confusing? At least he hopefully had a friend to brave through this with. Hopefully. Lemon continued his search for food, only finding small critters that wouldn't fill him up at all. Defeated, he headed back to the clearing, head low.

The scent of deer flooded over him, along with the smell of fresh meat. The retriever sped up until he reached the source of the smells. All the dogs in the group were gathered around a deer carcass that presumably Jack and Cinnamon had caught. His rabbit was nowhere to be seen, and Nutmeg had blood covering her whole snout so he guessed she ate it. Good. At least someone appreciated him. Heading over, he heard Cinnamon happily recounting the tale of how they had caught the enormous creature, but he just tuned her out. Taking quick bites of the catch, he realized just how bad the food at the pound had been. Flavors seeped out of the deer, the bones just giving him something to chew. It was amazing. Lemon took some of the bones back to where he had slept last night, laying down and starting to chew on them, searching for the bone marrow. Suddenly, an unfamiliar voice started to speak, making him drop his bone.

"Can I have some?" The Bernese Mountain dog named Jackal asked kindly, sending the others a sincere, toothy smile. Jackal had never spoken in front of Lemon before, so he was highly intrigued. No one else seemed to act like they were surprised or confused, they just nodded and invited him over. Was the retrieve really the only one who had never heard Jackal speak? How many other things was he unaware of?

Hours passed of the dogs just hanging out, before Jack called for all of their attention. "I think we need to start exploring this forest. How about tomorrow? Think of all the territory we could find!" Flames of ambition seemed to spark up in Jack's eyes, as if he could somehow be hiding something too. What was this forest doing to him?