In Nico, Cassia had made a fast friend. The first day she was human again they talked for so long that Huck had fallen back asleep. Cassia could tell he was not exactly happy with how much they were talking but until he could shift again he didn't really have a say in it. Being the runt of her litter and the smallest of all her parents children and really most of the children she was ever around, she had never made many friends. Huck was the only person she still had a bond with now.
Nico told them that they had washed all the way down the river to the lands that belonged to King Alistair and Queen Eden. Unlike their own King Ferdinand who ruled everything with his Queen as a second, Alistair and Eden ran everything as a pair. Cassia found the idea intriguing and imagined it made them stronger and better. Thinking of the King and Queen of her own land made her cringe. There were definitely things she couldn't tell Nico about them for now, even if they were becoming friends. He told them the territory was made up of grasslands and and forests but nothing like the deep woods they came from. There the trees grew tall almost into the clouds with trunks so wide you couldn't reach around them. Here the trees were shorter and lighter, the grasses higher. Here they lived close to the borders of another territory that was made up of mostly grasslands and beaches and cliff-sides, ruled over by another king. Alistair and Eden, Nico's king and queen, lived about half a days walk away if they traveled as humans.
A big surprise to Nico and his family came the next time Cassia shifted. Nico had told her he could take her out exploring so they had gone out with the girls running along beside them as ferrets now. Wanting to keep a low profile in case someone was looking for them, Cassia had shifted into her most favorite animal, a silver fox with a black muzzle, feet, and ears. Nico had jumped when he saw her. "But...but you were a bear," he'd stammered. Cassia had slipped away back behind the bush where she'd shifted and went back to being a human. Then she had the embarrassing task of admitting to Nico and now his eagerly listening ferret sized sisters, that her animal was still not settled. "How?" Nico asked, "You're older than me. Your animal is supposed to be settled when you've become an adult. You seem more mature than me so how has mine settled but yours hasn't?"
"I don't know," Cassia shifted uneasily, looking at the ground and biting her lip, "I wish it would settle. It's nice to still be able to shift between animals but I'd much prefer knowing who I am. My parents and the people from my lands always said there had to be something wrong with me to keep my animal from settling."
Their exploring had been delayed then by Nico dragging her back inside to tell Agatha. She is a healer, he had reminded her, and maybe she could figure out what was wrong. Cassia didn't bother telling him her parents had had her examined by all kinds of their own healers. No one had ever come up with an answer. Agatha had been equally surprised at the revelation and looked her over as Nico had said. After a while though she ruled that she didn't see anything physically wrong or different that would make sense and keep her from settling. Cassia had thanked Agatha for trying and grabbed Nico's hand, pulling him back outside with her.
Once again, Cassia shifted into her familiar fox and waited patiently for Nico. When a lovely white tailed deer stepped out from behind the house she ran an excited circle around him. That was what had been familiar about Nico! He had been the buck she had seen when she had come awake at one point in the river. That made sense. He must have ran fast to get his father and anyone else he could find to come and help him get them out. Only a deer could've run fast enough to save them. She rubbed the top of her head against his graceful but strong front leg and looked up at him. The young buck four points on his antlers lowered his head and rubbed his nose against her cheek. Excited now, Cassia made a quick circle around his front legs before dashing off into the forest. In a flash, Nico was right beside her, leaving the little ferrets behind where they shifted back into girls to go crying to their mother about not being taken along.
How strange it was to be running with a deer, Cassia thought as she leapt over a fallen tree. She had become so used to the familiar black wolf always at her side. Nico was completely different. He was so graceful and loved to jump, flying over things that seemed much too high or wide. She was in awe of his powerful legs and the speed they had. She was pretty quick as a fox but she knew she was no match for him. They ran until the trees began to thin and they came upon a sea of tall grass, waving in the breeze in a slow unison like preforming a dance together. Nico shuffled his front hooves, excited about something he could see that she was too low to the ground to see. He lowered his head to meet her eyes and she could sense he was asking her if it was alright if they continue into the deep grass. Cassia was nervous since it was so high she wouldn't be able to see her way around more than a short ways in front of her. She already trusted Nico though so the little grey fox nodded its head.
Pleased, Nico waded out into the grass, Cassia staying close to his side. In only took a few minutes before she was surrounded by tall shoots of light green grass that reached up to Nico's deer shoulders. The grass was thin though so easily parted and her agility as a fox helped her slide through without too much of a disturbance. After she relaxed, starting to feel comfortable here, she looked up and saw the deer had changed how he was walking, lifting his legs higher and more thoughtfully. Almost like a slow motion prancing. He had also puffed out his chest and was walking tall, turning his head just a bit now and then. Cassia could've laughed if she had been human and wondered what on earth he was doing.
They came to a spot in the field then where the grass had been pressed down in many places and Cassia finally saw the object of Nico's attention and the reason for his sudden odd behavior. Across the opening were three white tailed does, grazing on the grass and playing with one another. The fox's lips curled up exposing her pearly white teeth in a grin. He was trying to impress these girls. She watched as he walked up to them and nodded at them. A doe with green brown eyes lowered her head to inspect the little grey fox at his side. In no time, the other two girls had surrounded her as well and they were all studying her with their lovely doe eyes. The first one lifted her her head and turned her attention back to Nico. Cassia used the opening to scramble away from the curious eyes and ducked under Nico. She looked up and watched the first doe watch Nico who was now losing his confidence and appearing bashful. All of the sudden the doe leaned forward and rubbed her cheek against his then bumped the tip of his nose with her own. Then, just like that she took off, followed immediately by the other two does. Cassia watched as they ran and leapt through the tall grass like dolphins leaping up out of the ocean as they swam. Nico watched them until they disappeared out of site. When he lowered his head down to Cassia she grinned again and patted his nose with a paw before turning and trotting back the way they'd came.
Back in the room with he and Huck that night, after they had eaten a dinner with his family, Cassia leaned against the clay wall, a hand buried in the black fur on the wolfs back, and grinned at Nico sitting across from her. "So Huck I went exploring with Nico today and guess what? We happened to come up three very lovely does, one of which seemed very interested in Nico. And let me tell you, he was quite interested in her as well." Cassia laughed as Nico turned red and Huck raised his head, one lip curling as if in a smile. "Tell us about her Nico," she continued, "Who is the lovely doe?"
They stayed up talking and laughing until late in the night. Huck couldn't speak but he would whine or growl or do what ever was needed to get his point across when he wanted to. Eventually, they all fell asleep one by one until Cassia was the last one just barely awake. She looked over at her new friend, propped against the wall, his mouth a bit open as he slept. She snuggled closer to the sleeping wolf and gave him a kiss on the head. She realized that she was actually very happy. To think, only about two weeks ago she had thought her life had fallen apart and they had dragged Huck off to jail. She had been distraught and had no one to help her. Now here she was with him safe and sound and she had also gained a friend she felt would be there to help her if she needed it. Thinking of King Ferdinand and his men coming looking for her, she really hoped she would never need Nico's help.