Just Another Day

"Ma was right. Humans don't live very long if your sire and grandsire have already died," Shanku laid back down on Sage and propped her chin in the palm of her hand.

"You haven't been out much, have you?" Dai asked. Unlike men, kurach were known to live well past a century.

Shanku scrunched up her face and crossed her eyes, her ears and wings also askew. "'Under no circumstances do good little kurach ever leave the forest'." It was a lecture she had been given many times and had long ceased to have any respect for it.

"I take it you're not from the Red Wing or Long Ear tribes then?" Dai ventured.

"Do my wings look red to you?" Shanku barked and gestured to her black feathers. "Speaking of long ears, your thieving dog is about to do what he does best," she growled as she glared at the husky.

Dai turned to find that Jakko was trying to sneak part of the meat Dai had cleaned from the buck.

"Jakko, patience!" Dai snapped as Jakko whined, flashing big, pitiful puppy eyes. "You'll have your share, now drop it!" Dai turned back to his work.

"Now, where are you from?" Dai asked the cub bluntly. There seemed to be a forest on every edge of the plains and he wished to narrow down the general direction of the particular forest she came from.

"Jakko!"

Dai looked up and felt very confused.

Shanku had leapt off of Sage and tackled Jakko to the ground. Apparently he had been in the process of sneaking more meat.

"'Drop it' does not mean 'skulk off with it'!" She barked at the pinned dog.

"Good job stopping him, but you startled Sage in the process and made him bolt," Dai said tiredly. Sage was standing on the other side of the herd, snorting loudly.

"Oops," Shanku blushed and dismounted from Jakko. The dog looked up at her submissively. His tail thumped slowly against the ground and he ventured a questioning whine.

"Go into my pack and get my skillet. I'm going to go retrieve Sage," Dai sighed.

"Bad luck follows me!" Shanku grumbled and huffed off.

Jakko raised his hackles and growled indignantly at her.

"Not you, Jakko," Shanku rolled her eyes.