The next morning, the forest woke up pretty late; the pale sun struggled to make its way through the cloudy sky. Bright greens of trees seemed dull, showing certain features of decaying. The camp started buzzing when wolves, foxes, and others began preparing. For many, this was going to be the first journey outside the tribe's land into the lands that nobody rightly knew anything about.
Ember stood and sat at the edge of the glade, sharpening her talons on a rough rock. She gazed off into the distance, her eyes clouded with troubled thoughts. I crossed to her; the quiet crunch of leaves and branches under my paws diverted her attention.
"Did you have a rough night?" I asked, as cheerful as possible.
She sighed and moved her ear. "You could say that. There's something about this whole 'chosen warriors' idea that bothers me. We've fought hard and made sacrifices to get here, and now a group of new fighters is supposed to stand with us?"
