The red moon had vanished. Which, Nate supposed, if it was the work of a giant and gluttonous frog-spirit, meant someone else was out there making noise enough to scare it off... and he'd find people, eventually.

Right now he was going North. Mostly because it was the direction Ko-Ga wanted to go in.

Two days he reckoned, more or less, and not a single stranger. Only old tracks, and distant-smelling things he hadn't gotten used enough to himself to make sense of.

In spite of the overwhelming newness of it all, he was starting to get hungry. Ko-Ga had caught some mice, and offered him one, but Nate hadn't the stomach for it. Even without any better options, he found the wherewithal to be picky.

I'm fine.

"Aa-Aa!" Ko-Ga answered.

No.

Ko-Ga buzzed his ears, and Nate flinched, Hey!

Landing on a snow-laden deciduous some distance ahead, the crow preened irritably. A dead mouse was still clutched in his talons and hung limply like a gallowed man from the branch.

Look, bud, even if I did, that would be like... what, a mouthful of beans? Nate called up at him, following, Why don't you find yourself a lady-crow to go impress with it? Then at least one of us won't have to be lonesome.

Ko-Ga expressed his opinion by projectile shitting on the ground directly in front of Nate's paws.

He rolled his eyes, grimacing, Look, I'm sure her friends are less likely to murder you for the effort than mine was.