Eryn’s lips thinned into a cold hard line as she looked around at the burned and ravaged tree’s that used to make up the edges of a majestic forest. Little by little the war had been eating away at her home, first only a few bushes and now the trees. Animals that used to make those trees their homes surrounded her voicing their displeasure or begging for her help. Kneeling she scooped up a small rabbit cradling the soft ball of fur against her chest. This was her forest, her home, how dare those people chop down the trees to fuel their war. How dare they burn her forests to make room for their fights or burn out their enemies. She had always been on good terms with the humans living in the nearby village who took trees to feed their fires in winter. But even those humans had been moved out or fled when the war ravaged their homes. Shaking her head Eryn set the rabbit down holding up her hand to stop the barrage of sounds coming from the animals surrounding her, “I can’t bring back your homes. But I will advise you to move further into the forest during the duration of this war and maybe after” she stopped talking for a moment to gather her thoughts. So that solved the problem at hand but what happened when the war just took more and more homes?

Eryn bent over her bag packing the last of the few items she was going to take with her, a change of clothes and a few other odds and ends she never parted with a book given to her by her father, a necklace given to her by her mother. Hefting the pack she slung it over one shoulder and patted her pocket to be sure it was empty. Once in awhile a field mouse would creep into her pocket to enjoy a little ride and chatter to her about his one hundred odd children. It wasn’t empty but it wasn’t a mouse it was a squirrel picking up the rodent by the tail she set it aside. “I’m going now” the brown rodent chattered at her and scampered up the tree. Maybe her friend could help her out, volley on her behalf or something he had grown up walking in these woods he couldn’t like the destruction he saw going on right? Humming a soft tune she made her way toward their meeting place, she hadn’t seen him in awhile but if he was coming if anything it would be here. She stopped in a small clearing with a brook cutting through the center, taking a seat on the sun warmed rock she settled down to wait.