Just a breather?

[ziko]

The evening felt long. It was challenging for Ziko to remain ever vigilant. But he would not fail. He would not disappoint. His ears were forever perked, listening to ever little noise and his head would turn. His wide and muscles tense... but it would just be the wind, rocking the leaves in the trees.

He did not hear Tricker stir, and so he jumped a little when he spoke. Ziko was too tired to show any bitterness towards the strange wolf and so he nodded appreciatevly. Finally, some sleep.

Dozily, he strolled over towards a tree which seemed dead because it looked so dry. He was also unaware of Nightblood being awake and that she had followed him to the spot. It was only when she spoke did he realise she was there. He looked at her, with tired eyes, groaned a little in his mind. His concentration was lacking and he was beginning to become irritable.

All the time he was watching, his former feelings of anger towards her had faded because he was so focused on doing his duty. It had felt good to have some responsibility and felt almost grateful that she allowed him to watch, even after the bickering. He sighed and watched her, his eyes wandering a little. He nodded sheepishly, wondering what she wished to speak about. Ziko could not read her face and because she did not look angry, he assumed it was nothing to do with earlier.

Maybe she was going to tell him, job well done?

[nightblood]

The sentry took a breath and steadied herself, reminded herself not to hint about the truth behind this mission. Sofika had made it clear that he was not to know until long after they had left Tricker far behind. She was not about to let her down, not when they were this close to Dante's Pass.

As the yearling nodded to her, NightBlood took note of his tired face. It was obvious that he had not fallen asleep on the job. That was hard to do on a cold night. She was doubly impressed at the fact that this was his first night out of Arnlan.

"Good job. I fell asleep on my first night as a watch. Needless to say, I didn't do that again."

She gave a half-hearted smile, trying to keep him in a good mood. Pausing for a moment, she continued.

"Zik, I don't want to fight with you anymore. Packmates shouldn't quarrel. They need to work together."

She shivered once and took another breath. Making up was not her forte', but she needed to force herself to do this.

"Can we just be friends?"

[{Suggestion: Can I have them be attacked by humans when they get to Dante's Pass?}]

[nightblood]

{{Smartie's gone. Tricker's now on his own. NB has returned to Arnlan. Let's just say Ziko ran off.}}