She woke up at dawn, simply because the sunrise was accompanied by the squeak of turning wheels and the surly grumbles of newly awakened drivers. Not that she liked getting up early or anything, but she'd always been a light sleeper. As if to further darken her mood, a light snore reminded her of last night's disappointment - the bard would easily sleep until noon, she knew. He seemed always to know just when to wake up, and would probably sleep forever if there was no cause for him to wake. She frowned and hugged her knees. She was angry.

She would not wake the bard though. No, if she did that, it would not be long before she was no longer angry at him, and then he would go back to sleep. Worse yet, he might get angry at her. There was nothing she could do but sulk. She did not sulk long, however, before a familiar yapping reached her ears. Getting up, she crawled to the edge of the wagon and looked down. She yelped in surprise as she was met by two icy blue eyes and a cold breath. There he was, her long-time companion, skipping on his hind legs with the slow-moving wagon. His paws almost reached the roof. Staring intently at her, it growled.

She gasped before swinging her legs over the edge, dropping to the ground next to her four-legged friend. As she reached out to stroke the white fur, he dropped to all fours and spun around. Before she could react, she'd been tackled to the ground, face to face with a growl could have sent the bravest man running. She did not seem fazed, however; more than anything, she looked sad. "I'm sorry", she said to the beast, making a pause to wipe off a spot of drool that had landed on her cheek. "I forgot all about you".

The wolf-like creature huffed and stepped away, both to let her up and to sulk. She smiled, and said, "Don't be like that". She went after the animal and jumped up on his back. The addition of her weight did not make the creature so much as flinch. Still, it stubbornly closed its eyes and gave an indignant huff. She knew how it worked, though, and leant forward, whispering into its ear, "Let's find some breakfast before it gets too warm". A wise man once said, there's no arguing with the notch of a crossbow. Allegedly, a wise man's wife once said, there's no arguing with the rumble of an empty stomach. The duo had dealt with a number of crossbow notches in their lives and gotten away unscathed, but the latter saying seemed to hold true even for monstrous, wolf-like creatures with bad attitudes, as the beast and the girl soon disappeared among the rolling wagons.

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