She slipped past the guards at night. It really wasn't hard to get away for her. She had been paying attention to the lessons in shadow magics. She wasn't as strong as her twin, but she was good enough to get away.

The incident with the slaver had her freaked. The man slid through her mental defenses as if they were nothing. He ignored the combined push between her and her twin. She was glad when mom showed up. She was even happier when her grandfather slid in to sever that contact.

The incident still had her upset and needing to get some time to herself away from the cities and intrigues. She packed the gear she would need for the cold weather, and slipped into the kitchen to snag some food. She didn't want to disturb her uncle's household with her problems.

She made her way into the wilderness past the boundaries of Gharnholme. She wanted peace and quiet and needed to get away. The Dawnsbreak Mountains would be the place to go. She had made sure to prepare for the snows. The temperature was starting to drop and she did not like to be unprepared.

She faded into the wilderness with so many thoughts on her mind. She missed her father and that big lug, Cyric. She even missed the drow, especially Bintyl, that she worked with in her mother?s troops.

She never felt more alone than after that intrusion by the slaver. She fought the tears threatening to spill onto her cheeks. She was determined not to give him a victory.

They didn't need fire, per se. They had each other and had found their way into the cupboard. After filling empty bellies, they'd curled up into a ball of fur, feet and tails for a well deserved nap. It was cold but not too cold and inside the cupboard soon warmed a little from their own body heat. It was sound that roused one. A little head lifted and sniffed the air. It took him a second or two to decide whether or not to move. His long body was sprawled around in a half circle with his brothers equally long body sprawled serpentine with him. It was comfy and warm. But there was something going on outside the cupboard and the curious soul could not remain all comfy sprawled while there was something going on that needed to be observed. He pushed his brother out of his way and dook-danced his way to the door of the cupboard. He peeked a black eye out a little hole but that view was simply not good enough. He reared up on small hind legs and pushed on the door using his body's weight to help get it open enough to shove a small narrow nosed head through. The head tipped to the side, whiskers twitching as he watched.

Ohh. Shiney thing!

He dooked softly and withdrew so the door closed again. On his way to the hole that they'd used to get into the cupboard, he bit his brother's shoulder to wake the lazy lout. A little squeak and grunt followed that as the second little furkid decided to roll out and see what his brother had found. Together they skittered down the support beam to the floor and then did the long-body, short leg dance of a run toward the pack spotted by the first. It wasn't too long before they were both head and shoulders inside looking for what they could find.

The initial brother found a shiny bauble, probably something the owner prized. But it was shiny and he liked it. He caught it in his teeth and wriggled backward out of the bag. His brother was still busy nosing around. He found something that smelled remarkably like food. His sharp little teeth latched onto that and then he, likewise, wriggled out backward.

Discovered!

They went in opposite directions, each trying to carry off their own newly found treasures.

The alpha of the two found a warm place to curl up and inspect his new bauble. It was shiny and round and fun to play with. He set it down and nosed it a little, watching it rock and move. It sparkled! The other brother scurried by with food eventually, a little gone, a little left. He sat down to enjoy his goodie.

That's when they heard the sniffles. Two ferret faces looked at each other, stock still for a few seconds. Then one dook'd at the other. The other dook'd back. Then they glared at each other, each blaming the other for the tears. Finally the alpha huffed and picked up the bauble while the other picked up the rest of the food he'd only chewed on a little bit. They each slunk back toward the girl.

The food got set down and nosed toward her until it was by her knee. A narrow nosed face tipped up to look at her, a little paw on her knee so he could rise up a little. He nudged her knee with his nose and dook'd up at her. The alpha waited, stubbornly thinking he might renig on the whole 'giving things back' deal. But after a few more tears his head sagged and he nosed the ring back toward the owner. It eventually came to a rolling stop by the gnawed on food. He huffed a little, clearly not happy about giving up his new toy.

The food got snatched and the owner dook'd through a full mouth as he did the side-step dance toward a warm place to curl up. The other looked at the ring, then at the owner then at the ring. He nosed it and then appeared disinterested. But if she moved her hand back toward it, he snatched it and ran!

The alpha of the two decided the new toy needed to be hidden and quickly darted out of sight to do that very thing. The other nibbled on the food provided then meandered back with little dook'ings of curiousity at what she was doing. He got close to the fire then darted back to jump along her leg, bumping into it at times while he played with shadows. Shiny caught his attention. He slowly crawled onto her leg to edge closer toward the 'shiny' which in this particular case meant food.

The tall ones were so odd at times. He nibbled on his food then watched her as she did her other activities. This left him time to eat some more and then go exploring in her things. He ended up tumbling out at one point but slowly crept back when she settled down to sleep. His curiousity was coupled by that of his brother, who returned with much dook'ing. They played for a little bit, nipping and yammering at each other happily until Alpha claimed a place that was now 'his' and his brother would just have to find somewhere else to play. The more timid of the two dook'd with a snap at his brother then scampered away before the Alpha decided to snap at him back. He crept along the blanket, long nose poking at it until he found a way underneath. Then he snaked along next to the warm body until he found a comfy place to settle in.

then he slept too.

Alpha liked his spot. That is, until his brother found a better one. His dark ferret eyes blinked a couple of times then he scampered off his throne to flounce along her legs, nosing around at the blanket until he too could find a way underneath. There was some wiggling and writhing around under the blanket followed by a nip and a little yelp followed by another nip (in the other direction) and a different voice complaining. Eventually they settled down into a mass of bodies, heads, tails, legs and feet.

And slept.

Lots.

Alpha may be alpha but he also sleeps in. Brother does not. Brother woke in the wee hours of the morning. He struggled out of the tangle of long bodies and short legs so he could try to find the way out. Which way was out? He nosed in one direction. Nope. He nosed in another direction. Nope, that felt like skin under his nose. He nosed in another direction and began following her body thinking he was on his way to her feet.

Whoops; wrong direction!

He found himself instead stepping on things soft and round. His head poked out of the blanket near her chin.

A boy's gotta do what a boy's gotta do. And after being given the path to freedom, he scampered off to do what the boy had to do. After being gone for a few minutes, he came pittering back dancing on cold feet in a hurried pace back for the blanket. He didn't bother trying to find the opening farther down .. he went straight for the neck and flopped across her there, nuzzling in. Never no mind that feet and nose were ice cold or that his fur was just a shade damp all over.

He shivered a little and then soon fell into a fitful sleep. The damp on his fur eventually would dry leaving her with a nice warm fur muffler around her neck to keep out the cold. He was still there when she finally decided to wake. His brother was curled up against her side under the blanket, still sound asleep.

Her neck protector yawned sleepily when she moved him but did not offer any other objection to being relocated. He curled up and flopped his head down to resume his slumber. His brother was still passed out and enjoying dreams. It was not until the scent of food reached them that they began to wake in unison. Alpha first, of course. He sniffed and lifted his head. Beady black eyes inspected his immediate surroundings, finally landing on the woman who they'd chosen to leech warmth from. His brother woke but woke quicker since there was the scent of food. He scrambled over his brother, accidentally stepping on his brothers head, in a mad dash for the food. Alpha nipped at his brothers thigh as it scrambled by then grumbled a little before finally slinking toward the food himself.

Alpha bit at his brother to assert that he was indeed the Alpha. His brother made a sound back and then the two set about eating the pie they'd been offered. Alpha first wanted on half and then, when his brother set about eating the other one, he decided he wanted that half instead. Back and forth they went until, in the end, the Alpha ended up with a full belly but not nearly as full as his brother.

Two faces turned to regard her when she spoke. They looked at each other then for another few seconds, babbling in dook'speak. Then scampered in unison toward her pack. They stepped on and over each other trying to get inside, diving head first. The pack wobbled and almost fell over before they finally got situated. Twin heads peeked out and rested on the edge, the top of the pack flopped down to almost cover them completely. Alpha dook'd in her general direction that they were quite ready for the trip.

Even though they were jostled around, they managed to sleep most of the trip what with the cool rhythm of the horse's gait. It wasn't until things changed and they heard strange things that they peeked noses out the bag to peer around.

Narrow black eyes went wide at the various sights. One brother ducked but the Alpha kept watching. Until something big and .. Ugly .. grunted in their direction. Then he too disappeared within the bag to just cower although he called it protecting his brother.

They felt the bag lower to something soft and then light! The pack opened and they both looked upward into the light. They were a tangle of long bodies, short legs and medium length tails. Alpha pushed his way out of the pack first, stepping on his brothers head in the process which earned him a half hearted nip. He chittered and then darted out of the back like furry lightening to begin the important task of investigating.

His brother stayed in the bag. He wasn't feeling so good. His tummy was upset from the journey so he was happy enough to just lay in the bag all curled up. He left the exploring to his brother and heaved a little furry sigh as his eyes closed.

He squeaked even though the picking up was of the gentle sort. He looked up from where she'd placed him on the bed then settled his head down. His eyes blinked a couple of times and then closed.

The alpha was out of sight for several seconds then came bounding back into view to snatch up his treasure before heading off to find a good place to hide it. His long body was bunched up as he ran in that sidelong gait of his. He found a hole and wiggled through.