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Rue held up a familiar knife; though the blade was a bit more rusted than usual, it would work. Setsuko was sure to recognize it; it was the one Rue had used on her first hunting attempt in the forest. She had found it at the cabin, before it was...destroyed.

"I could try hunting," she said, a small grin replacing her worried look. There was no point in being stressed until you need to be, she rationalized. She might as well enjoy these few "peaceful" hours while she could.

Setsuko nodded. "Yes, please," she said. "That would be great. I would join you, but..." she gestured to Li, who was beginning to stir again, and to Yuumi, messing around as always. "I've kinda got my hands full."

"Can I come?" Gale asked, trying to hide his eagerness.

Rue shook her head. "Not this time. We only have one knife." She left before she could notice Gale put a hand guiltily into his pocket.

Setsuko watch Rue fly off, recalling their previous adventure. Jaci, glad to have Yuumi off his back for a while, came to join her. Setsuko scratched him between his fluffy ears. She still had bonding time with her pet, but the available hours had greatly diminished when the children came into the house.

Rue returned to the forest where she had first hunted for food, gripping the knife handle tightly. She landed, pulling her wings in again; they would only get in the way, ecspecially since the trees grew pretty close together. She walked stealthily through the small forest, occasionally hearing a rustle in the bushes. She spotted a deer, but ended up only lodging her knife into a tree beside it. She shook her head ruefully; that would've easily fed all of them.

She ended up only hunting two rabbits, accompanied by a handful of nuts, and a few berries she had managed to find. She looked at the small amount of food; they would have to ration it. Sighing, she spread out her wings. Many of the animals were on alert now, and it would be pointless to try and keep hunting, or foraging for berries.

Yuumi stumbled over to his mother. "Mama," he asked out of the blue, "Why are you sad?" Setsuko turned to him, a bit surprised. She had been told that she made faces when she was in deep thought. It must have been true. "I'm not sad, sweetie," She replied, picking up the three-year-old and setting him on her lap. "I'm just a little hungry, that's all." "Oh," said Yuumi. "I'm hungwy, too." He announced. Setsuko smiled faintly. "Rue will be back soon, I'm sure," she assured.

Rue arrived shortly after Setsuko had spoken those words. "I wasn't able to find much," she said, dropping the rabbits onto a rock. She sat down in front of the meat, beginning to skin it. It wasn't as if they could eat the fur. "And we can't go fishing, either," she added softly. The image of the dried up lake wasn't a pleasant one.


Tess turned away as her mother begin to skin the rabbit; she always hated that part.

Setsuko sighed. "Some is better than nothing, I suppose," she reasoned. She glanced over at Kuilak, who, much to her relief, appeared to be resting quite comfortably. But then the weirdest thing happened...she saw some kind of sliver raise up, which seemed to be coming from...well, from Kuilak's ear. She nudged Rue with her elbow. "Look at that," she whispered, gesturing with her head to the sliver rising further and further out of her husband's ear until it completely exited, flew up, and joined in a breeze...A dream! Setsuko realized. Kuilak had been dreaming, and it was now traveling along the...oh, what did Ayumu call it...the Breeze of Sleep? Something like that. Whatever dream he'd just had was on its way to the Caverns. Though, looking closer, Setsuko realized that the odd silver had been more wobbly and moved slower than what she recalled. Did her memory simply deceive her, or perhaps it was just a faint dream? Or did it have to do with the destruction of Ayumu's world? Setsuko shuddered just imagining the latter option.

"Is it a...dream?" Rue asked, turning away from the rabbit just in time to see it leave. "Is it supposed to be that faint?" she added, the second question barely audible. She ended up voicing one of Setsuko's questions; "Does it have anything to do with...what's happening here?"

"I don't know," Setsuko responded honestly, "But that was still...really weird." She laughed softly, "Who would've guessed that they come from one's ear?"

"It makes sense," Rue admitted, an imitation of Setsuko's grin forming on her own freckled face. "I would've guessed it would come out the mouth though," she added.

Setsuko nodded. "Yeah, that would make sense. Though when you think about it, dreams are not spoken. Unless you talk in your sleep, of course, but that is not a full dream, now, is it?" She managed to crack a smile.

However, her mind was taken off the subject of dreams when Yuumi pulled on her shirt. "Food now, Mommy?" He whined, still hungry and starting to get a little upset. Setsuko turned to Rue. "Of course, sweetheart. As soon as Rue has it ready."

"All I have to do now is cook it," Rue said, already setting up the fire. She soon had a modest flame going, the rabbit roasting on a spit above the flames.

Yuumi stared nervously into the fire, not wanting to get too close. He had done so once in the past, and the painful burn that had resulted on his hand taught him a lesson. But still, it was warm, and as Setsuko was beginning to notice, the temperature was slowly but surely cooling off.

Tess felt her mouth water, and she stared hungrily at the meat, that was slowly but surely beginning to sizzle and brown. "When will it be done?" Maddy asked, a whining not entering her voice. She hated having to be hungry.

Rue shrugged, not sure of the exact time. "In a little bit," she said, mainly guessing. She wasn't a great cook, inherited from her mom, Max.