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Nara dashed through the dense woods. He did not dare slow down even as thorn bushes scratched at his legs and low-hanging branches whipped at his feathery face. His father had told him many times not to venture off into the woods north of the city, but Nara was young and curious. He couldn't help but have one small adventure to the one place he'd been forbidden to go to. But now that he was here, he desperately wished that he had listened to his father's demands. He turned his head to look behind him and sure enough the wild Drak was still chasing him and was quickly gaining ground. Its cold, black eyes stared back at Nara as it hunted him down. The Drak was no more than a cub, standing only at four feet. But Nara was defenseless while the Drak had razor sharp claws and fangs like daggers. Just the sight alone of the Draks scaly, bulky form motivated Nara to run faster. But Nara was no runner. He knew that he would soon be depleted of energy. He could hear the Draks ragged breath growing louder and the sound of crunching leaves behind him grow closer. He would have to find some sort of clearing in the thicket to take off and fly from or else the grounded Drak cub would eventually catch up with him.

Nara spun his head around again to glimpse at the pursuing Drak. It was now just fifteen feet from him. He could now clearly see the Draks cold, black eyes staring back at him with what Nara could only assume was hunger. The cub continued to gain speed and Nara had to turn back just in time to jump across a narrow, dried-up, stream bed.

He scanned the forest around him and could barely see where the trees briefly ended and a small creek was present just about one hundred feet directly to his right. He couldn't tell if the the small stretch of sand that ran alongside the creek was big enough for him to take flight from but it was his best chance of survival and he did not want to miss the opportunity.

Nara made a sharp right and began to rush downhill toward the creek. To Nara's benefit, the Drak, galloping at full speed, couldn't slow down and skidded into a broad oak tree.

Nara sprinted full force towards the creek, jumping over boulders and forcing himself through tall, rough shrubs on his way. Nara looked back up the hill whence he came, but the leaves and brush that he had pushed himself through were far too dense to peer through and he did not bother trying. Nara turned back once again to face the creek but his scaly foot had gotten caught on a knotted root that protruded from the ground. He fell beak-first on the cold, muddy, ground. He forced himself onto his back and looked back at the forest.

Nara heard a low warbling sound coming from the thick bushes in front of him and the Drak cub burst from the thicket and charged him. Nara scrambled to his feet and leaped out of the Draks path. But now the hungry Drak cub was blocking his path to the creek which was now only ten feet away. Nara spread his dark wings in a weak attempt to intimidate the predator, but this tactic proved ineffective as the Drak attacked him a second time. Nara could not pull his wings back in time and as he avoided the Draks pounce, it had managed to cut into the muscle on his left wing. Nara cried out and quickly pulled his wings in against his back. The Drak pounced for a third time, knocking Nara back down to the dirt. Nara landed on his injured wing and cringed and seethed. The Drak looked down at him with it's soulless eyes preparing for it's final attack. Nara braced himself and feebly through his arm out in front of him. However, the attack never came.

Nara very tediously opened one eye, expecting to see the Drak staring him down waiting to pounce, but all he saw was sunlight dancing through the canopy. Nara looked about and saw the Drak sprawled out on its side next to him with arrow protruding from it's neck. Nara quickly scrambled to his feet and realized just how tired he was. He bent over and panted very nearly passing out.

Nara very gently stretched out his injured wing and examined the cut left by the Drak. Blood was gushing from the wound and he knew that he would have to clean it in the creek.

He turned around and was met by a young anthromorph girl no older than he was. Nara lept back in fright before realizing that this wasn't another predator that was going to hunt him down. This girl appeared to be an arctic fox and as Nara looked her over, she began to feel very familiar to him.

"Are ye alright?" She asked in a sort of panicked tone, "I was jus' fishin' when I saw ye from across the creek and it looked like ye needed some help."

Nara looked her over, but she didn't carry a bow. Nara looked back down at the drak that had been slain by an arrow and wondered who could've fired it. Nara looked back at the girl.

"Th-Thank you," He stuttered, "Uh.. My wing. It's hurt. I don't think I'll be able to get back home now... I lost my way and I don't think I'll be able to find my way back without being able to get a view from the sky."

"Oh, relax. I can help ye get back... I come here all the time, were not too far from " Said the Fox girl. Nara noticed a flash of scarlet red in the girls silver hair and remembered where he had seen her before.

"Hey, You were from the Pathfinders banquet weren't you," He shouted.

"Yea, how d'ye know?"

Nara pointed to the red highlight in her hair which labeled her as what was known as what many called a Pathfinder.

He showed her his own highlight in his long, black hair. His, however, was a bright blue. Their highlights were placed in their hair when they were toddlers when their powers had been taken away from them. It was tradition to take away a pathfinders powers when they were young children. It was to protect them and those around them from any danger they might accidentally cause. Then, the shaman would mark them with a highlight that represented their power. After combat training, the pathfinder would earn their powers back. And finally, once attaining their powers, they would be taught how to fight with them by the previous generation of Pathfinders. Eventually, they would have to fight in the war against the Mordoun, a race bent on destroying Anthromorphs and Humans alike. No knew why they were attacking, but no one wanted to get close enough to the Mordoun to find out.

"I'm Sevagaia," the white fox said as she put her hand in his and gave it a firm shake.

"I'm Nara," He replied.

"C'mon, let me help ye with that cut ye got there." Together they walked down to the creek where Nara let his new friend clean his wound.

"So what are ye, a hawk or somethin'?" She asked as she poured the cold stream water onto his injury.

"No, I'm an Eagle," He replied. A few moments of awkward silence passed before Sevagaia spoke again.

"So what d'ye suppose yer power's gonna be?" She asked.

Nara considered this. He frequently thought of what his power as a pathfinder could be, but he never actually had a conversation with anyone about it.

"I'm not too sure," He said, "I always just thought the power to control the sky somehow... Because of the color of my highlight. What about yourself?"

"I suppose I'll be able to control fire. 'Cause the red." she said motioning to her own, highlighted lock of hair. She tore away a piece of her ratty shirt and held it on the cut, "I don't know how I can wrap this around yer wing so yer just gonna have to hold it there," she said.

Nara nodded and held the makeshift bandage on his wound.

"Are ye ready to go?" Sevagaia asked.

"Yeah," Nara said as he sprung to his feet.

"I guess I'll lead the way then, just let me get my fishin' rod," Sevagaia ran to a bank in the stream where she hopped from one rock to the next until she had reached the other side of the creek. She then retrieved her rod from the streams shore and lept back across to lead Nara through the forest.

The duo talked together as they strolled through the thicket.

"Sorry I had to pull you away from your fishing," Nara apologized.

"Oh, it's fine," Sevagaia said with a dismissive wave, "Nothin' was bitin' anyway."

"So how come your parents let you come back to these parts of the woods. Don't they know of the tribe of Draks that lives up here?" Nara had asked her.

"Oh, my ma, doesn't even know that I come here, I just tell her that I stole all the fish I caught from the market." Sevagaia's reply shocked Nara, but he had kept his reaction in his thoughts realizing that she must have been a peasant whose only way to survive was to steal from others. He did not agree with this way of life nor did he have any business arguing against it, so he kept a stiff upper beak and looked for something to change the subject.

"So, did you see who shot that Drak back there?" He asked her.

"Ye mean the Drak that nearly ate ye alive? Some man in a hood. I didn't get a clear look but I think he had a tail so he had to be an anthro," She said.

"Well, whoever it was, I owe him with my life," He said looking around the forest as if his secret protector was still watching him. "And I'd like to see joust how you would fare against a Drak without a weapon," He retorted.

"Please, I can take down a full-grown Drak with just my bare hands." Nara could tell that this girl had quite a lot of tenacity, but he seriously doubted her abilities. "I don't know how you expect to be a Pathfinder and be fightin' a bunch of Mordouns, when you can't even take on a little Drak cub," Sevagaia said as she walked away a low hanging branch with her rod. She turned and smiled at Nara and he then realized that she was only joking. He decided to play along.

"I bet you couldn't take on even one Mordoun," he taunted.

"Oh really?" Sevagaia accused, "I guess we'll see once we're all trained in a few years. And i'm willing to bet that by the end of our combat training, I will beat ye easily in a sword battle."

"You think so?" Nara said as he gave the arctic fox a smug look.

"Yea, I do," Sevagaia gave a pompous look back at the Eagle.

Soon, the two young Anthromorphs came across a dirt road that split through the forest. They followed the path as they talked with each other about their futures as pathfinders. They debated who would be better with a weapon and whose powers would be more impressive. They talked together all the way until they reached the gates of their home town: Gordain.

They had been nearing the gates of Gordain when Sevagaia had pulled Nara off the path, back into the cover of the trees. There were two sentinels guarding the city's wall and Sevagaia watched them intently from behind a shrub. One was a human with long red hair and the other was an anthropomorph cheetah with a thin scar over his brow.

"I recognize those two," Sevagaia said pointing to the two guards, "They don't really like me very much. I sometimes spend my time throwing acorns at them with my brothers," She pulled Nara further into the forest, "C'mon, I know a different way through," she said as she lead him through the trees.

After they were out of site of the sentinels, they made their way to the high, cobblestone wall that encompassed the city. The wall was overgrown with ivy and moss and some chunks of cobblestone had fallen out of place. Normally, Nara would find an open space in the forest and simply fly over the wall, but today, he was depending on Sevagaias route inside.

After a few minutes of walking, the wall ended in a corner and continued to the west. Nara and Sevagaia rounded the corner and continued their journey. Eventually, she had came to a stop around the center of the north wall. A tall oak tree had grown close alongside the wall and branches had grown into the cracks and crevices of the cobblestone, creating hand and foot holds.

Nara watched as Sevagaia skillfully scaled the branches and perched herself atop the fifteen foot wall in mere seconds..

"Ye can jus' fly up here if ye think yer wings are feelin' any better," she called.

Nara shook his head. "I can't. I might hit my wing against one of these trees," he called back.

"Alright, then jus' climb up," she shouted.

Nara threw away his bandage doubting that Sevagaia would sew it back to her shirt considering that it was covered in his blood and he examined his wound. The blood had stopped leaking from the cut and a scab was beginning form. The wound was still sore, however, and he did not want to risk accidentally bashing his wings against a tree so he approached the wall where the oak had grown into it and grabbed onto it's thick, rough branches.

Nara did not have much experience with climbing. He hadn't needed it much before now and he found himself taking time contemplating his next hand and foot hold. But after a few minutes, he found himself standing atop the wall, overlooking the joyful city of Gordain.

Humans and Anthromorphs alike were bustling about in the streets, talking and trading and laughing. Gordian was one of the few cities where both human and anthro people could live peacefully together. In many other cities, Humans and Anthros were either feuding or even completely segregated from each other. Many cities had Humans or Anthros banished altogether. But in Gordain, everyone accepted each other, no matter if they had skin, scales, fur, or feathers.

Sevagaia began walking along the edge of the wall and she motioned for Nara to follow. They had stopped once they reached a tall wooden building that Nara recognized as the Gordain inn. It was just close enough to the wall for them to jump onto.

Sevagaia lept onto the inn's steep, slanted roof and swiftly grabbed onto the roofs ridge and planted her padded feet firmly on the slope. Nara hesitantly did the same without nearly as much grace as the arctic fox and he watched her intently as he waited for her next move.

She had let herself slip from the roofs ridge and slid down onto a dormer that jutted out She crouched down and opened the dormers window and slipped through it. Nara precariously followed. He looked down at the dormer only three feet below him. He prepared himself for the quick slide down the steep roof and reluctantly let go of the ridge. Nara tried to plant his feet on the dormer but his talons slipped and he tumbled over backwards off the roof.

He quickly snapped open his wings, re-opening his cut and he cried out in pain. Nara only managed to flap his wings once before stumbling to the ground. He had landed in an alley between the inn and what seemed to be the towns butcher shop based on the scent coming from the shops windows. He hoped that no one had seen his fall, but to his embarrassment, he could hear Sevagaia cackling at his clumsiness from the window above him.

"Wait there. I'm comin' down," She called down with a laugh. Nara saw her face disappear from the open window and soon heard a shrill scream coming from inside the building.

Nara heard a woman shouting from inside, "Get out! You peasant filth. Get! Your parents should keep you bound with a rope!"

Nara came around to the front of the inn and saw Sevagaia being forcefully shoved out the door onto the front porch. The stout woman pushing her, Nara assumed was the inns keeper.

"Stay out!" the innkeeper had shouted at her before slamming the door.

"Are you alright?" Nara asked the white fox as she brushed herself off.

"Yea, I'm fine. I managed to take this on the way out," She said pulling out a loaf of bread still warm from the oven from her tattered coat. "Want a bite?" she asked.

"Uh, no thanks. I'm fine," He said. Sevagaia shrugged and they continued their stroll. They continued walking along through all the commotion of the city streets until they came to the open city square where they sat down in front of a busy shop. They continued their discussion about their future to come and what their lives as pathfinders will be like. After a while of chatting and laughing, the sun began to set and the afternoon crowds began to clear.

"I should probably be headin' home now," Sevagaia said after they had been talking for some time, "Hey, when do we start combat trainin'? six months?"

"Yeah, I think so," Nara said.

"Alrigh'. I guess I'll see ye then," She said as she turned to leave, "It was great to meet ye, Nara."

"Hey," Nara called to her, "Why don't we meet back here, tomorrow morning?"

Sevagaia pondered Naras request for a minute, "Alrigh', sure. Why not?" She said after a moment of thought. "I'll see ye tomorrow then," She took Naras hand and shook it, "Have a good night, Nara."

Nara watched as Sevagaia disappeared around the corner with the remainder of her bread tucked under her coat and headed home himself feeling glad that he had met a friend that he knew he would keep for a while.