With a knot in her throat, Shelby nodded to the wolf, "I can do that, but... why only me?"

  Naile smiled, and looked over to Thimble as he paced behind her, "I'm not blind. I can see you two have grown since we last met. I don't want to be hacked to pieces out in the woods when you have me all alone. One of you and one of me, that's fair. And, doesn't one of you need to take your people home?"

  Naile reached across Shelby and opened a small chest, then extracted a long bone key from it. She held it out to Thimble with a smile, "Here, take this and go talk to them. Make plans to return them to where they came from while I tell my kin of your plan."

  Thimble snatched the key out of Naile's hand. The wolf stood and gave a few more coughing laughs, then walked past Shelby into the passageway beyond. Shelby watched with her bow still held up, then as Naile turned a corner, Shelby heaved out a long held sigh, "Geez, she's so scary..."

  Thimble sheathed his sword and rubbed the bridge of his nose, "Does she really mean to give us access to their prison, or is this some kind of trick?"

  Shelby's shoulders twinged, "Wait, is this a trap? She could be gathering them all up to attack us!"

  Thimble shrugged, "I suppose we'll find out soon enough, she's already gone."

  Shelby hung her head, "Yeah... we could run for the hole we came through?"

  "And fight that dragon instead? I think we'd fare better against the Hodekin. She could be telling the truth, Caramel. Let us go out and see. Just be careful," Thimble started walking towards the exit, bumping Shelby with his shoulder as he passed her.

  Shelby hurried after him, looking around warily as they walked briskly back towards the entrance to the cave. There wasn't anyone waiting for them in the camping area nor at the bonfire, so they hurried onwards towards the sunlit hall. There was one more branch point before they saw a glimpse of the forest outside, framed by the cave's wide mouth. Naile was standing out by the makeshift barricades gesturing to a group of about thirty smaller wolves. Huh, so maybe she was being honest?

  They turned back into the cave and walked down the remaining hallway. It ended at a hastily constructed wooden wall that framed a shoddy wooden door. Thimble tried the key and the door popped open as the key turned. At least fifteen Daizi were spread out around the room, which held a variety of furs and burlap bags that were overflowing with straw, as well as a couple of tables that were crowded with baskets and fruit. There were also two Hodekin hovering near the two Daizi children that Shelby had failed to save from the burning farming village.

  Shelby immediately rushed over to the children as Thimble approached one of the adults to explain why they were there. The Hodekin were trying to coax the small Daizi into eating. One wolf was holding a handful of dark red fruits in their hand and pantomiming eating them, while saying, "Yum, these berries are so good! I could eat them all right now. Wouldn't you like to try one?"

  The children retreated behind a roll of stuffed bedding as Shelby ran up to them. The older of the two squinted suspiciously at both her and the Hodekin, and the younger grasped their sibling around the arm and hid their face in their short fur. The wolf people set the fruit down on a stepstool by the children's bedding and turned to Shelby, surprise lighting up their faces. The taller of the two Hodekin asked in a honey thick voice, "A new one? When did that happen?"

  Shelby had to tear her eyes from the children to answer, "I'm not new. I'm here to take these people back home."

  The shorter Hodekin scratched the back of their head, nervously speaking with the scratchy voice of a long-time smoker, "Naile isn't going to be happy about that."

  "She said we could! She even gave us the key," Shelby pointed towards the open door.

  The two Hodekin nodded, somehow accepting that, "If Naile says so, then okay. Let us pack you some food for your trip back."

  Shelby had already reached for her bow, but stopped, "Oh, that would... be very nice of you."

  The Hodekin moved over to the tables in the center of the room and started to pack different items into linen sacks. Shelby awkwardly followed after them, "You're sure that you want to help?"

  The taller Hodekin nodded with a smile. They had white fur freckled with tan oblong spots and a short muzzle, "Sure sure, we're the den cooks. This is what we do. If you say Naile wants you to take them, then we'd best make sure they get where they're going, eh?"

  The smaller one nodded along too. They were dark and fluffy, with a pair of stark white eyebrows that reminded Shelby of a shiba inu, "Plus we just like getting food ready, don't we? Still haven't gotten used to all this shrub food, though. I'd love to cook up something with meat on it. Do any of you little ones eat that?"

  The Hodekin looked up at Shelby with curious eyes, but Shelby shook her head, "I don't think so. Maybe some of us can?"

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  "That's a shame. Hard to roast an orange and serve it with gravy," the short one said, trailing off in thought.

  "You can roast potatoes," Shelby offered.

  "We'll have to try that," the tall one said with a squint eyed smile, "haven't had a potatoes before."

  Shelby wasn't sure if there were potatoes here, but there were carrots. A carrot is kind of like a potato, maybe? Shelby shook her head, and reluctantly looked away from the pair of odd Hodekin. Thimble had gathered a dozen Daizi around himself and was pointing emphatically towards the exit as he argued some difficult point. Shelby joined him, waving sheepishly to the gathered crowd. A lanky rabbit frowned at her, asking, "Is this true? They've had me locked up in here for two weeks. We're just leaving?"

  Shelby said, "Yes! We arranged a deal with their leader to let you go. My friend here will take you to the south and find somewhere for you to stay."

  A smallish squirrel interrupted, "But, they burned our village, I saw it."

  "Maybe we can take you to Copperglade Village then. I'm not sure what your village has accomplished, but they were rebuilding when we left," Shelby said, trying to reassure them.

  The group devolved into overlapping chatter as Thimble slumped his shoulders, saying, "I think they're still in shock, but it seems like they're all healthy. That's a blessing."

  They did seem mostly untouched. One or two of them had singed fur, and there were a pair of elderly looking pikas laying on some of the thicker bed mats, but everyone else seemed energetic. Shelby noticed a finely dressed pika hovering around the elderly pair. They were wearing a frilly white dress with a long pleated hem that ran down to the floor. It was looking somewhat dirty at the moment, but it was made of nice material.

  Shelby hurried over to her, the fancy clothing stirring up a memory in her, "Excuse me, are you Tira?"

  The pika flinched back as Shelby's sudden question surprised her. She spoke in a sophisticated accent, like a movie star from the 1950s, "Yes, I am she... may I ask who you are and how we know one another?"

  Shelby scrambled for the right words, gesturing down wildly at the shrinking pika, "Well, I am a friend, or I helped, um, Diao. We left him a little while ago, at your home. He's waiting there for you."

  "You know Diao? He's not hurt, is he?" Tira's eyes went wide and teary.

  Shelby's quest tracker suddenly updated:

  Shelby blinked, "He is okay, but he wouldn't leave for safety until we found and returned you."

  Tira looked over her shoulders at the older pikas, who were resting on their backs and breathing in shallow bouts, "I'm afraid I'll have great trouble leaving this place. My parents have been exhausted since they were marched here. They've always been a bit frail, I'm afraid."

  Shelby frowned, "Maybe Diao could transport them in his carriage? But I don't think it would be able get all the way out to this cave..."

  "No, I don't suppose it could... but there are some hand carts around this camp, I saw them as we were brought in," Tira thought out loud.

  "We'll borrow those, then," Shelby insisted, "we can pack them with bedding and then Thimble, my friend over there, can cart them back home. Then you can ride Daio's carriage to safety!"

  Tira looked past Shelby at the gathering crowd and smiled slightly. She has incredibly puffy cheeks... Tira nodded, "Yes, that would be sufficient. Was our home...?"

  Shelby twisted up her lips, "It's a little worse for wear, but it's still standing."

  Tira frowned, "Hopefully nothing a little elbow grease won't fix. Thank you, miss..."

  "Caramel," Shelby said with a bow.

  "Miss Caramel. Let me make preparations, then I'll see that Diao takes us south to safety at once. That fuddy duddy... I'm going to have a word with him about endangering himself," Tira said as she returned to her parents' side and roused them.

  Thimble tapped Shelby on the shoulder, "They're ready to go, what of these two?"

  "I promised we'd get a cart to carry them, and those wolves over there are preparing some meals."

  Thimble looked confused as he gazed towards the two Hodekin lining up meal kits, "Uh, alright then..."

  "I don't know either, but help is help."

  They guided the throng of nervous Daizi out to the cave entrance, and Naile turned to look at them, smiling down at the rodents quaking in her presence. She asked, "Did you get everything you need?"

  Shelby stepped up to her, "Almost, may we borrow a cart, too?"

  Naile flapped her hand towards some ragged wooden handcarts near the edge of the cave, "Yes, whatever, take one of those carts there. Anything else?"

  "I think that's all..." Shelby said as she looked over to Thimble, who didn't have anything to add.

  Naile turned back to her people, ordering them to disperse while shouting, "Back to your work!"

  The wolf people parted and walked past the Daizi, who were huddled together with wide eyes. The wolves looked disgruntled, and stared down anyone who dared to look up at them. After they passed, Thimble and the lanky rabbit who had protested before retrieved a cart and took it back into the cave to bundle up Tira's parents.

  Naile squatted in front of Shelby, looking her in the eye again, "Are you ready, little one? Should I bring a bow like the one you have there?"

  Naile flicked the end of Shelby's bow and it vibrated against her shoulder. Shelby flinched, "If that's what you use to hunt, sure."

  "We use spears and claws," Naile offered.

  "Then bring a spear, I suppose," Shelby said, and took a step back.

  Naile grinned and stood back up, walking towards a disorganized weapon stockpile to retrieve something to hunt with. There were a lot of sharp sticks in the mess, but they all looked too small for Naile. Shelby looked away to see the Daizi shuffling off down the steep hill that lead down the path from the cave, with Thimble pulling a cart loaded with a lumpy mattress, two elderly pikas, and a giant pile of food sacks. The two Daizi children sat with their feet dangling off the edge of the wooden platform. Thimble was staring at her intently, and mouthed "Be careful," as he walked away.

  Naile put her hand on top of Shelby's head as she leaned forward to watch the group depart. Shelby turned towards her and looked up. The wolf matriarch was leaning with one hand of a warped, primitive spear made from a thick branch and a glassy, pointed rock. Naile spoke softly as she continued to carefully track Thimble's every step, "There, I did what I said I would. Now you will show me how to trade fruit for meat."