Mr. Owl

Her red boots were still bright on top, even though the mud had caked over her feet from the forest floor, and the leaves were sometimes so slippery. She'd almost lost her Red Power Ranger too, but she'd been able to catch him before the river had gotten him. She'd even gotten a water ride out of it!

Now, soaking wet and kinda cold, Dille continued on her way, only pausing when the sun began to dip and the darkness deepened around her. Crawling underneath the roots of a tree, she curled up in a ball, pulling out her favorite Toy Story blanket and wrapping it around herself. Using the bundle of fabric Army had said was a bag for sleeping - she wasn't sure how it was supposed to work, all rolled up like that - she put her head down on it, curling up with Mimzy on the soft dirt floor. She was drifting into sleep when she heard the familiar sound of someone calling.

"Who? Who?"

Jumping up, she ran toward the sound, her backpack bouncing and Mimzy in one arm. The sound seemed to be moving. Looking up, she saw the movement for herself. A bird.

"Mr. Owl Mr. Owl! Come back! I have a letter for you!" Waving the nearly torn peice of paper in the air from where it had been stashed in her backpack, she was paying more attention to where the owl was flying than to where she was running.

It was inevitable that her boot would get stuck in a tree root, her ankle jolting painfully as she continued to fall forward, her foot flying out of the boot as she tumbled downhill.

Rolling to a stop at the edge of the lake, Dille laid there, blinking up at the stars she could see through the break in trees around the river. Her eyes tracing the invisible lines between stars that Lian had showed her. There was the one that looked like a little pot, and a bigger pot over some. The letter was crumpled in her fist securely, as she'd refused to let it go. She had to tell Lian she was okay... he would worry. She knew he would.

"Who?" The owl fluttered to a stop beside her, big amber eyes gazing down at her, looking almost worried.

"Mr Owl!" Dille said with a smile, in spite of the pain emanating from her right ankle. "Will you... can you take this to Lian for me? Pretty please?" Slowly, her hand opened, and she offered the crumpled piece of paper to the bird, smiling as it picked it up in its beak. "Thank you, Mr. Owl."

She waved as the owl took flight, before her head turned to the side, her gaze falling to Mimzy. The torn and trampled bunny was some feet away, well out of her arms reach should she try to reach for it. Blinking at the distance, Dille pulled herself closer to the rabbit, stopping immediately when her ankle flashed in pain. She did this for at least an hour before she reached the small stuffed animal and pulled it to her, curling up in a ball around it. Slipping her backpack off - a task that took another ten minutes - she rested her head on it, closing her eyes.

She was asleep in moments.

These were his hunting grounds. Every rock and stone, every rabbt and deer, these were the things he now lived upon. Rhys had graduated from hamburgers to the living in the past year, but not without difficulty. Being around the human classmates didn't help, either.

This had become his new home. The new vampire had memorized every scent, every rock in the area. In fact, he spent most of his classtime here.

So, finding the human was an easy task.

The little one was broken and muddy, with an innocent sleeping face. Rhys had watched her for a long moment before sitting by her side. Here he would wait for the runaway to wake up, so he could return her to her parents.

Leaning back, Rhys couldn't help but think about the times he had runaway as a child....