~ * ~ * ~

Shanti took a seat on the grass next to Danilo. The morning communal meal was a more casual affair than the nightly one. One of the Elders gave an announcement at the start of it, but other than that, things were calm. The performances were saved for the evening hours. Strength had to be reserved for the chores up ahead.

"Think you'll need help at the crèche again?" Shanti nudged Danilo.

"Don't the hunters need you?"

"Nah, they're good. It's more of a drop-in thing, and yeah, they prolly think I'm skill-building."

"Minding the children is skill-building?" Danilo smiled. "I suppose it is... Having more helping hands is always a good thing." He scooped a pile of greens off of his plate and into his mouth.

"Yep. My Mama's cool with it, too. I dunno, I might make a switch," Shanti said. "This is when we're supposed to be trying out new stuff and figuring ourselves out, anyway. New stuff's good."

Danilo nodded in agreement.

"D'you think you'll wanna try hunting? It's boring. Boring things are fun with you, so... I mean, you'd make it less boring." Shanti tripped over her words. She winced.

Fortunately, he didn't point out her blunder. His attention was focused on something or someone else. Shanti followed his gaze to find Shreya, sitting off by herself or as by herself she could be among a crowd of wolves. Shreya's eyes were downcast, her shoulders drawn down. Her hair was wet, still drying from what may have been a river dip.

"Is something wrong with her?" Danilo asked.

"Hold up," Shanti got up. She made her way around everyone in her path, careful not to step on any tails or hands.

Shreya didn't look up when she reached her. Shanti sat by her and snapped her fingers in her face. She made a small noise in acknowledgement, something so low that Shanti wouldn't have heard it if she didn't see her lips move.

"What's going on with you?"

"We need to talk." Shreya brushed her hair back.

That wasn't a proper answer, but okay. It was better than Shreya not saying anything at all. Shanti said, "we can talk at the crèche."

"No," Shreya shook her head. "We need to talk alone."

"Okay?" Exile must've done something to her sister's head. "How about when we're done eating?"

"Meet me at home." Shreya said. She went back to eating, signalling the end of their conversation.

Shanti didn't know what to do with that. She just walked away, and joined up with Danilo and her half-finished plate.

"Is she alright?" Danilo asked.

"She's being weird."

"As weird as anyone coming back from exile?"

"She was only away from one day." Shanti sighed. "One day! But she's acting like she just came back from a week-long exile and a thousand mile journey. Ridiculous."

"I hope she'll be okay..."

"She'll be fine," she said. Danilo's heart was too soft for his own good. "I'll be late to the crèche. I've gotta talk to her."

"Take as much time as you need."

~ * ~ * ~

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A/N: The latest chapter (Chapter 23) of Redwood Crossing is out now on the main site. Voting for the latest chapter will end Tuesday at 11:59 PM EST.

The next RRL chapter will be Chapter 12.3, and that will be the last part of Chapter 12.