Gift for @Bearer of the Flame and @The Fowlers!!! Bearer of the flame is Amy and K.A.P is Kat!

“Okay, okay, put the lad down.” Cach growled as the bucks tramped back to their bunks with Rhys on their shoulders. Cach was their body guard. He was a cool guy, a wolf, yes, but he was different. Cach had always been generous, he had sometimes snuck food to the bucks when the doe’s won, which was not often, thank god. He smiled ruffly at them as they stampeded inside to find a large meal set out on their flimsy table. It’s not like Rhys hadn’t tried to fix it after his band had broken it during a big battle scene of Tambopedy, it just had collapsed, no matter how much tape he had applied. Ranoth was already shoving soup down his throat, with no bother for manners, and Heneck was piling cranberries onto a slab of wood, called a plate. Rhys shook himself out of his trance and lept toward the food, grabbing all the food he could. He felt an elbow dig into his stomach as he grasped wildly at the food in front of him. “Gerroff ee!” came a muffled voice from under him. He backed away, gripping his salvaged dinner rolls to his chest protectively and racing to a corner. He sat and peeled them apart, one at a time, letting the steam rise and fill his nose with the wonderful scent. He bit into it, no patience left and savored the little warmth that filled his mouth. “Yo.” came a voice. Rhys looked up as Vell sat next to him, grinning. “You did it again!” he laughed joyfully, stealing a bun. Normally Rhys would protest but Vell hadn’t been looking so good lately. He had always been a scrawny kid but he was so thin he looked like a plucked chicken. Vell was the youngest in the group, besides Rhys. Vell didn’t really have a strong suit, but he could tie good knots which came in handy when they had to set traps. Vell hacked loudly before shoving the whole roll in his mouth and grinning. Rhys rolled his eyes and looked away, secretly grossed out when Vell opened his mouth on the half chewed food. Rhys instead looked to the other corner where Ben stood. He ate slowly, ripping off bread with his crooked teeth. He didn’t smile like the bucks in the middle, he only glowerd. But that was just what he did. He hadn’t had a very good life before he had come here and it seemed to have made him stone-cold. He had only ever smiled coldly, and he always looked like he would kill anyone. He wasn’t soft, that was for sure. Rhys glanced away again as Vell left to get them more food. He was daring to get in the middle of the food war, happening in the middle of the room. Rhys ripped off another piece of his bread, trying to be as menacing as Ben. The warmth was gone.

***

“YOU IDIOT!” A grey doe shrieked, as soon as they had entered their bunk house. “WE’RE GONNA DIE! ALL WE HAVE TO LIVE OFF OF IS THE SCRAPS THAT THE WOLVES FEED US!” Amy looked away sadly as Veronica clawed her way through the crowd of does, waiting for scraps, just to get to dawn. Dawn huddled alone in the corner, trying to avoid the ugly glares all around her. Amy bit her tongue, a nervous habit, as she waited for the food to get thrown in. She could already feel tears starting in her eyes but she ignored them, last time she had promised herself that she wouldn’t cry again. But now she doubted that would happen. “Am’s” Came a sharp voice from behind her. She turned, transferring her concentrated frown to a smile. “Hey, Kat.” she said, scooting over for her friend. Her friend was shorter than her, with brown fur and eyes that looked like raw honey. Kat smirked at her and pointed at Amy’s head. “Your spots ruffled again.” she pointed out, and Amy raised a hand, lazily patting it down. “Better?”

“Better.”

That was always something Kat had teased her about, her spot. It looked like a diamond, but Kat had first thought it looked like a fish, causing a joke to rise between the two. Amy was a light brown doe with soft amber eyes. “You can go in front of me.” she whispered to Kat.

“What? But what if you don’t get anything?” Kat asked, already starting to move forward. “I’ll survive. You didn’t get as much as me yesterday.” Kat nodded, with another smirk, her signature adaptation to any and all news. “Good luck.” she said, placing a hand on Amy’s shoulder. They smiled at each other again before racing ahead as the door opened and the wolves threw in food.

After a few minutes of scavenging Amy backed away, she had successfully gotten a whole roll which she would share with Kat, who had disappeared. She shrugged and bit into it. It was as cold as stone.