Her groan woke Aidan, who yawned, showing off little fangs, before he grumbled and rubbed one eye.

"We may be able to make it home by nightfall," Lucius said without giving either of them a chance to question him. "First, I will find dinner. You two will stay here."

Mira blinked at the rabbits. She'd been out hunting before, so she didn't quite feel ill. Quite. But she did notice the distinct lack of fire to cook aforementioned rabbits. And that made her a little queasy.

Terra blinked and opened her mouth to say something, but didn't get the chance to before he disappeared into the trees. Sitting back down on the ground, she looked at the boy warily.

Dominic tossed one of the rabbits at Mira, and set about cleaning his own. He wasn't certain how humans prepared their food, so he let her do it however she liked.

Aidan just grinned at her and started gathering up some wood to start a fire. "So, how come you're so far in the woods?" he asked, looking over at her, his eyes bright.

Mira looked at the rabbit for a moment and poked it before turning a baleful look on Dominic.

"What exactly am I supposed to do with this?" she asked, poking the rabbit again. "It still has fur."

"I got lost," Terra replied, keeping it simple for the child. She watched as he gathered wood, and started to do so as well.

"How do humans normally prepare their meals?" Dominic asked in return as he calmly skinned his rabbit.

Aidan shot her an approving look, setting the sticks down in the center of the clearing before arranging some rocks around the makeshift fire pit.

"Papa will start the fire," he said. "So how did you get lost? You couldn't track your trail back?"

"Over some form of heat," Mira said, glancing at him. "Without the fur and bones and stuff." She made a face at the rabbit he'd tossed to her, which she'd left on the ground in front of her.

Terra watched what the boy was doing, and started to gather stones to help. At least she was keeping busy.

"I don't know how," she said carefully. "I'm not sure there was even a trail to track."

Dominic just looked at her.

"Then build a fire, if that's what you need," he said. He tilted his head to the mouth of the cave. "There is sufficient firewood available."

Aidan blinked. "You can't tell where you've been?" he pressed. "You can't track your scent?" Even he could do that, and he was young.

Mira looked at him moodily before she huffed and went to go gather some firewood, bringing it just inside the cave so she wouldn't suffocate them both with smoke. "You know how to light a fire?" Since she didn't have a lighter on her, she was clueless.

Terra blinked.

"No...?" she replied uncertainly. Then she remembered the previous night, and attempted an explanation that the child might accept. "Humans can't do that."

"Did your village not teach you any practical skills?" Dominic asked as he pulled a bit of flint and steel out of a pocket. He didn't carry a knife, since his claws were usually sufficient, so he kept just a little steel for sparking on flint for fire.

"Oh." Aidan blinked, considered that, and frowned. "So you can't smell as well. What about your hearing? Can you hear the rabbits over there?" He nodded towards a small patch of bushes maybe fifty feet away.

"That's debatable," Mira grumbled, moving out of the way so he could start the fire. "And I told you, I don't come from a village."

Terra blinked again.

"There are rabbits over there?" she asked. Inwardly, she winced at how dumb she sounded.

Dominic didn't grace that with a reply as he quickly sparked the flint and got the tinder to catch. He nursed the fire for a few moments before stepping away again.

Aidan frowned, clearly puzzled, and looked her over more carefully. So far she wasn't standing up at all to him or his father, and he had to wonder if all humans seemed so weak.

Mira nodded to him, a little grudgingly, and tended the fire long enough to be sure it would be fair sized. Then she looked back at the rabbit again with a grimace.

Dominic watched her for a moment before sighing and taking her rabbit and replacing it with his already-skinned one. Then he started to methodically skin the second rabbit.

Mira brightened and found a stick to skewer the rabbit on, setting it to cook. At least he was being nice now.

Lucius returned with three rabbits, depositing one in Aidan's lap. "You need the practice," he said, glancing at the human girl and away again as he started to clean the two he'd taken possession of.

Terra looked a little green as she realized what was being done with the rabbits, and tried to find excuses to look elsewhere.

Once the second rabbit was skinned, Dominic took it apart and began to eat the meat. Cooked or not, it was rabbit, and it was food.

Lucius looked faintly amused when he noticed that, but he didn't stop his work.

"You do not do this in your village?" he asked, glancing over at her.

Mira waited for her food to be cooked before she started eating. It was tasty enough, and it was food.

Terra swallowed thickly and shook her head.

"I've never..." she trailed off.

When he was done picking apart his rabbit, Dominic went and disposed of the bones and other remains. The lesser creatures in the woods could have the leftovers.

"Ah." Lucius didn't need more explanation than that. "Find a few sticks good enough to put meat on," he ordered. It would help her get her mind off what he was doing, after all.

Mira was quiet, tossing the leftover bones off much as he'd done before she sat quietly in front of the fire, unsure what to do now.

Terra nodded and set to work looking for the sticks. It couldn't be much harder than finding marshmallow sticks. Meat sticks just needed to be sturdier.

Dominic quickly kicked dirt onto the fire until it went out.

"The smoke will attract attention," he said. "My clan is still a days' walk from here." The two pieces of information seemed to be unrelated, but he was really indirectly inviting her to tag along.

Lucius finished his work quickly and glanced over at her to see if she had sticks ready. He took the first, stringing meat onto it. Aidan copied his father, although he was slower at the work.

Mira blinked, trying to sort out what he was saying before she nodded with a little sigh. "Alright. Thanks. For breakfast." She got up and stretched briefly before pulling her t-shirt back into place.

Terra handed him sticks as he needed them, but still made an effort not to look at the former-rabbits. It still made her a bit queasy to think about it.

Dominic just nodded curtly and left the cave, continuing on back to his clan home.

Lucius watched the meat as he turned it, making sure it all cooked evenly. He noticed she still looked squeamish and hoped she wouldn't stay that squeamish.

Mira hurried after him, shoving her hands in her pockets for the walk.

Once the rabbits were well and truly cooking, Terra had an easier time of it. She was able to keep an eye on them cooking, and figured it wasn't much different than cooking chicken or beef. She just had to make herself think of it that way.

Dominic kept walking. He had to make it back home on time; he would never hear the end of it from his brothers if he didn't.

Once the meat was cooked, Lucius handed Aidan a spit, and then Terra, and took one for himself, staying quiet.

Mira kept up with him, although she did spend some time muttering and grumbling under her breath.

Terra accepted the spit of rabbit and cautiously picked at the meat. It wasn't what she was used to, but it wasn't necessarily bad. But she did have to keep reminding herself to ignore the fact that it was a rabbit.

Dominic glanced back at Mira occasionally, to see if she was still following or not. He could hear her muttering to herself, but ignored it. He didn't care at all what she thought.

Lucius cleaned up after their meal, since the other two needed more time, and then he led the way back towards the clan. Aidan had taken possession of one of Terra's hands again, leading her along.

By nighttime, Mira was getting tired, but she kept plodding after him. Her grumbling had long since ceased, and she was about tired enough to sleep on the ground.

"How much longer?" she finally asked, jogging a few steps to catch up to him.