[Elektra]

The young minty kuhna wandered through carefully, avoiding the vines and branches that hung down all around him.  This was his first time out since he and his parents, along with Hal, had left Terrace park.  "Mace!  Come back!  You need to stick with me out here sweetie.  I don't know what could be out there, but I don't want you to get hurt." his mother called out to him.  "Ok mommy.  Sowry..." he murmured.  Seeing that she had hit the soft spot on her young kit, Thalia snuggled him closely to her own warm body.

[Elektra]

After a while, Mace began to complain.  Thalia tried, but unsuccessfully, to comfort him, but he just cried more.  Shifting into her human form ,she unwrapped her own jacket from around her waist, and gently set Mace in it.  Oh why did we even come here in the first place? she thought to herself.

[Elektra]

Thalia walked on with Mace, curled up in her jacket that was dangling from her jaws.  He hadn't uttered a single word though, which was a bit worrying to the semi-new mother.  After all, she was only eighteen.

[Elektra]

The young kit was still quite tired, but also afraid.  This forest was supposedly filled with mean, scary creatures.  Mace huddled up in the soft jacket , smelling the comforting scent of his mothers scent.

[Elektra]

"Mace honey.  Come on." Thalia murmured.  It seemed that the little kit was in a deep sleep still.  But at the same time, Thalia knew that he would need to wake up, and they would both need something to eat.

[Elektra]

"Mama!  Nooo, me tired..." Mace said with a huge yawn.  But a loud growl from his stomach suddenly made him think twice.  "Ok, fine...but I wanna sleep...pwease?"

[Elektra]

With the growl from her little kit, Thalia put him back in the jacket softly.  "It's ok.  Mama's gonna get some food.  Go to sleep now..."  Humming, she wrapped him up in her jacket once more, and hung him on a moderately high branch.  This might have not been the smartest thing for her to do, but Thalia had thought of that, and created an illusion around the kit, so that it appeared as if nothing was there.  Satisfied, she set off after scenting a vole somewhere nearby.

[Elektra]

Mace fell asleep quickly, and began to dream.  He was his sister, who he called Ama, since he couldn't actually say her name correctly, which was Annabelle.  The two were running through a field, playing and tumbling with each other.  But suddenly, it all vanished.  He was back in the jacket again, hungrier than before.  Mace knew that Thalia wasn't with him, but he started to struggle, and fell to the ground.  "Oow!" he said unhappily.

[Elektra]

"Mace!" Thalia whispered.  It was all she could do though, to stop herself from screaming out.  She didn't want to alert anything else in the forest.  Heading back back with a plump vole in her jaws, she just hoped that Mace wasn't in any trouble.

[Elektra]

Mace was still sniffling, but he certainly didn't want to just sit there until Thalia got back.  The forest floor was hard and cold, and it seemed like it was getting ready to rain.  Climbing back up to hide in the jacket was out of the question, since for the little Kuhna, who was still just a little kit, that was a long ways up.  Getting to his paws, he headed to where a scent was coming from, hoping that it was his mom.

[Elektra]

Running back, Thalia finally arrived at the place she left Mace at.  Dispelling the illusion immediately, she gasped.  The jacket was still suspended in the air, but the little kit was no where to be found.  "Oh no!  What if something gets him?  He doesn't know how to fight, he doesn't even know when someone is a friend or foe!  How could I have let this happen?" she thought worriedly.  Thalia sniffed around, then picked up her kits scent almost at once.  Mace seemed to have headed in the opposite direction though, and she set off at an amazing speed.

[Elektra]

Stumbling everywhere, Mace continued his trek along the sodden, overgrown forest path.  It was nearing dusk, and he wanted to find his mom and just cuddle with her back in the caverns.  He longed for his tiny, moss nest in the kuhna queens nursery, to see his dad again.  He hated being all alone here, all the scary noises, and weird creatures.  What would happen if they tried to get him?  Settling down, he tried to curl up beneath the tree roots, and drifted into a restless sleep.

[Elektra]

"Dammit!  How could I have let this happen?" Thalia muttered under her breath.  She had been caught in a sudden downpour of rain, and being sopping wet was't helping with her attitude at all.  She still couldn't find Mace, and that worried her even more.  If he got to cold, he could get sick.  And then....  No, she wasn't going to think like that.  Strengthening her resolve, she plunged on, hoping that she could get there before something else did.  This place was known for an especially mysterious creature, but Thalia still couldn't manage to remember what it was.