Terra let the two do what they liked, and ended up being pulled along by the boy again. At least he wasn't holding her fingers as tightly this time. She was definitely moving slower than before, though; she was tired and sore and not at all used to so much hiking.

Dominic glanced at her.

"Including another stop for the night," he said, "perhaps midday tomorrow."

With their slackened pace, Lucius decided they'd take another half-day or so to get back home. So he sighed and dictated where they'd stop.

"We'll stay here the night," he said as he started a fire. "Stay here."

Mira heaved a sigh and nodded, trudging after him. "And then what?" Because that was something that was kind of concerning her right now. What happened next.

Without really even realizing it, Terra nodded and settled herself under a tree with a soft groan. She was very glad to get off her feet again, and was almost afraid to take her shoes off. She knew she had blisters by now, and didn't want to see if any of them had burst already. So she just sat there and tried to relax a little.

"Then," Dominic said, "I will be home, and can decide what to do with you there."

"Aidan," Lucius said, looking at his son. "Shall we continue your lesson?"

Aidan perked up visibly and nodded, glancing at Terra one last time to be sure she'd be safe, and then he trotted off after his father.

Mira nodded, too tired to argue. "When are we stopping for the night?"

Terra looked at them curiously, but didn't move to get up. She reasoned she would be okay where she was; they wouldn't have fed her and let her rest if they were just going to abandon her in the woods. She was grateful for that.

Dominic looked at her, assessing rather than just glancing.

"Soon," he said. He would find somewhere to stop for the night that would afford proper shelter for them both.

Lucius let Aidan do most of the hunting, letting him catch a few rabbits. Two this time, although they were larger, so they'd be fine. He stayed a little ways away this time to clean and skewer the meat, leaving Aidan to trot back to his human.

Mira sighed but nodded, following him. The only thing she was looking forward to more than a finding a place to stop was a hot bath.

Terra had been dozing a bit against the tree, and was startled awake when Aidan climbed right into her lap.

"You're back," she said, blinking a bit.

It didn't take Dominic too long to find a suitable shelter for the night, and it took even less time to clear it out and make it inhabitable.

"We will stop here until morning," he said.

"Uh huh." Aidan got comfortable there, settling in. "Papa's cleaning the rabbits, and then we'll have dinner." He grinned up at her.

"Oh good." Mira sank down to the floor with a sigh, her eyes half-closing. "Now all I need is a bath..."

Terra stayed still as he got comfortable, although she couldn't stop herself from wrinkling her nose a bit when he mentioned the rabbits.

"There is a stream nearby if you would like to bathe," Dominic said. He headed towards the trees. He had to find them something to eat.

Aidan, on the other hand, was perfectly content to sit there and wait for Lucius to get back. Which didn't take long, and then he set the skewers to cooking.

"Aidan," he scolded. "That's not polite, and I'm sure that she doesn't appreciate being sat on."

Aidan pouted but sulked back over to his father.

"Wait!" Mira stood there for a moment, utterly lost. "Which way is the stream?"

"I don't mind," Terra said before she could think better of it. Of course, she should know better than to get in the middle of that kind of thing, but still.

Dominic sighed slightly, but gestured for her to follow. Perhaps he would be able to catch some fish in the stream and solve two problems at once.

Aidan brightened but didn't try to move back over to her. Yet. He figured there would be time for that later. Lucius just snorted and shook his head, turning the spits.

Mira felt herself turning red but she followed him anyway, trying to console herself with thoughts of getting clean. Ish.

Terra tentatively moved a bit closer to the fire to watch the cooking, even though there wasn't anything interesting happening. She wanted the company more than anything else.

Dominic led her to the stream, which was more like a small river, before moving upstream a little to see about catching some fish to eat. He trusted she could bathe herself.

Lucius handed out food again once it was cooked, eating slowly and watching the two of them. He was still working out how exactly he was going to convince the matron to let his son keep an human pet.

Mira was more than capable of bathing herself, slipping out of most of her clothes but keeping the necessary bits on while she washed off. The river was cold, but she did get clean, at least. And then she pulled her clothes back on so she was only shivering a little.

Terra ate her food quietly, still picking cautiously at the rabbit. She tried really hard to pretend it was chicken, and for the most part did alright.

While Mira was bathing, Dominic managed to catch a couple of fish in the river. They were decently-sized fish, and would make a good enough meal to tide them over until they managed to get back to the clan seat. He noticed, when he found the girl again, that she was shivering, and set about starting a fire when they got back to the shelter. Then he set about cleaning the fish.

"You have something against rabbit?" Lucius asked, keeping his voice mellow. He knew that humans were odd, but he hadn't known how odd. Thankfully once they got back, if she wasn't kicked out, there were plenty of other foods at home.

Mira nodded to him, settling in front of the fire trying to warm up, pulling her limbs in close to herself. She was feeling oddly subdued now.

"I'm not used to it," Terra admitted quietly. "It's kind of a new experience."

Once the fish were cleaned and cooking, Dominic settled down to relax for a few moments.

"Ah." Lucius was puzzled, but he didn't ask her any further questions. It seemed silly to him for humans not to take advantage of whatever food was available, but it also wasn't his place to judge.

Mira stayed where she was, slowly warming up again, glancing over at him a few times. She still couldn't figure out why he hadn't just kicked her out to fend for herself yet.

Once she was done with her rabbit, Terra gingerly probed her feet through her shoes. She didn't take them off yet; she didn't really want to see how bad they were until she had somewhere to take care of the blisters. But even the slight pressure of her fingers through her shoes made her wince a bit.

Dominic leaned against the wall of the cave with his eyes closed, just relaxing a bit. He opened his eyes every so often to check on the fish until he deemed they were cooked, and then took them off the fire. He handed one to Mira.

Lucius glanced at her but didn't say anything, still trying to figure her out. Once they got back home, if she was still distressed, he'd ask her. But not before then.

Mira nodded her thanks, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose as she started to eat. At least it was fish, something she was comfortable eating.

Lucky for Terra, the rest of the trip was a bit easier. Even still, she was about ready to cry by the time they got to the place Lucius and Aidan called 'home,' because she was glad not to have to hike anymore. Her feet were in bad shape as it was.

Dominic let Mira tag along pretty much all the way back to his home. He started to relax as soon as he got into the clan's territory.

"Home," he commented.

Lucius led her up a slight incline and over to the clan's inner territory. Aidan trotted ahead to the house they both called home, and Lucius motioned for Terra to enter first. He knew they'd gotten some odd looks along the way home, but he was determinedly ignoring them.

"Oh good." Mira trailed after him, very sore and aching and wanting a clean rag to clean her glasses with. She didn't really need them to see at the moment, but it was habit to keep them on.

Terra glanced around uneasily as she followed them to the small house. She was pretty much just limping by this point, but she was relieved to see a real house rather than just a cave or something.

Dominic made his way steadily to the huge main house. Instead of going in, however, he veered to the side and started walking around the grounds. He had his own set of rooms apart from the main family; he was an adult, after all, he didn't need to live with his parents anymore.

Lucius ushered her inside before he moved inside as well, shutting the door. He knew he'd have to go talk to the matriarch soon, but for now he could just get his two charges settled in at home again.

"Get comfortable," he told the girl.

Mira almost groaned when they didn't just go inside, and she closed her eyes briefly before she forced herself to follow him. But really she just wanted to sit down and flop over.

Terra let herself be ushered inside, although she did hesitate and stay near the door. She was always uncomfortable in other people's homes, and this was no different.

It didn't take much longer for Dominic to get to his 'house.' It was more on the scale of a small mansion, although nowhere near the size of his family's home. Going inside, he waited to see if Mira would follow.