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"Possibly." Setsuko agreed. Suddenly, her stomach rumbled. For the first time she realized that she had not eaten that day. "Maybe we should get something to eat," She suggested, smiling sheepishly in a way that was ever-so-much like her father.

Rue nodded her agreement. "We can go hunting and fishing again then," she said. "Now, where did I put that knife?"

"It's over there," Setsuko reminded, indicating a corner of the cabin where the bloodstained knife lay. "I'll meet you back here soon." She trotted out the door and down towards the lake, Jaci following excitedly.

Rue walked towards where the knife was, picking it up, rust smearing her hands as she did. She wiped off some of the blood stains on her already grimy jeans, then walked outside. She headed towards the line of trees marking the start of the forest, keeping her footseps as light and silent as possible as she entered it. Her brown eyes flocked to and fro as she searched for the scuffle of a small animal, and tracks, any sign of food.

Down at the lake, Jaci crouched in front of the water, expertly moving his paw whenever he spotted a fish closeby. He caught quite a few. Setsuko glanced around as she supervised Jaci. Suddenly, she spotted something on the ground. It was a dead bird. A lark, to be exact. Should she show Rue? Hadn't the winged girl mentioned a lark earlier? Setsuko searched he memory, trying to remember. A loud splash sounded behind her. She turned to see Jaci, sopping wet. The Blue Lion had fallen in the lake! Setsuko allowed herself a laugh as her pet crawled out and shook the water off his pelt. "Maybe we should go back now." She said. Jaci snorted in agreement. Setsuko grabbed the fish...and the lark...and headed beck to the cabin.

Rue spotted a bush tremble slightly, the rustle of leaves filling the still forest air. She aimed the knife, throwing it into the bush. She heard a sharp squeal from the animal she had hit, and moved aside some branches to reveal her prey, a small squirell. She took it in her hand, letting it dangle loosely from her grip. She walked a bit farther, listening for footfalls or rustling leaves. She swiveled her head as she heard some light footfalls off to her left. She looked, deeing a flash of fur. She threw the knife, the metal gleaming dully as it flashed towards the animal. She walked towards it and pulled out the knife, wiping off the fresh blood. She had hit a slightly larger squirrel. She picked it up, and started heading back towards the cabin. She emerged from teh forest after a short walk, and her brown eyes landed on the cabin. She walked towards it, soon reaching it and stepping inside.

Setsuko turned as Rue entered. "Rue," She said quietly. "We caught some fish, but also..." Her voice trailed off sadly as she showed the dead lark to Rue.

Rue stared at the lark. Lark...she thought. Seeing the dead bird made tears spring to her eyes as she remembered her brother. A few escaped, tracing a trail down her cheek, dripping of her chin the to the floor.

Setsuko tried hard not to stare, but it was hard. She found Rue as the kind of girl who could not shed tears, but as she was seeing now, that was not true. "I'm sorry, Rue." She whispered. "But I remembered you mentioning something about a lark, and I thought you should see." She put the bird down sadly before placing a hand on Rue's shoulder. Jaci licked the winged girl's hand, and they sat their in silence. Setsuko began to cry with her friend, somewhat understanding what she was going through. She pulled Rue into a comforting hug, trying to stop the tears from escaping Rue's eyes. "It's ok," Setsuko whispered. "I'm sorry. It's ok..." Jaci moaned sympathetically.

Rue tried to stop the few tears that trickled down her face, not allowing anymore through. She wiped them away, her thoughts straying to her brother. She felt good in Setsuko's embrace, and stayed there, sniffling slightly as she stopped crying. "I had a brother. Named Lark," she said,, her voice slightly muffled by Setsuko.

Setsuko pulled away, though she left her hands gripping Rue's arms. "I'm so, so sorry." She whispered, understanding and concern obvious in her voice. "I'm sorry if showing this to you hurt you, I just thought you should know. But Lark himself isn't gone. Just this bird. I'm sure Lark is still ok. But I know how you feel. I remember one day a few years ago, Jaci was at home with some kind of sickness while Kuilak and I where on one of our expeditions. While we where out there, I saw a young Blue Lion lying dead in the snow. I knew it wasn't Jaci, but just the thought..." She chocked on tears, falling silent. Her grip on Rue's arms tightened as she held back from crying. She loosed them quickly so as not to hurt Rue, and then continued. "It's so, so hard to see something that is even close to the death of the ones you love. If that had been Jaci, I would have been just...devastated. I'm sure you feel the same about Lark and the bird. I'm so sorry, Rue, I really am..." She trailed off again, lost for words.

"It's fine,"" Rue said, her brown eyes drying, not as wet. She pulled away from Setsuko's embrace slightly, the moment suddenly turning awkward for her. She almost never cryed, she was unusually stoic, and crying and breaking down in front of someone else made her want to blush, although she didn't.

"Don't be ashamed of crying, Rue. Even if you don't do it often, it's still a natural part of being human...even if you're only part-human." She gave a sympathetic smile.

Rue gave a small smile back, faint hints of red in her brown eyes from crying already fading slightly and slowly.

Setsuko smiled encouragingly. After a moment's silence, she spoke. "I suppose we should eat now, huh?" She tried to hold back from giggling at the randomness the question brought...completely unlike the scene that had just been preformed.