Water is very interesting. The way it refracts the light is better than being out in the open, and being able to float reminds me of being back in the Void. It's calming, just quietly floating. I even managed to catch a fish, which isn't as tasty as human but is better than dried meat. The only way it could be better is if I couldn't hear Elvira loudly dragging things back and forth across the dock.

I reluctantly reach a tendril above the water to to have see what's happening. Elvira is attempting to push my bag into the boat without being able to lift it, clearly struggling. I make my way below the dock, reaching out a few tendrils to help her ensure the bag doesn't fall in the water and guiding it into the correct position. After hearing the thunk of the pack landing in the boat I grab ahold of the dock and pull myself up out of the water, coming to rest beside Elvira. From this vantage point I can see that the boat is sitting dangerously low in the water, seemingly ready to capsize at any moment, and there clearly isn't enough room for three people left in it. Glancing over towards the expanse of water I make note of the size of the waves it would have to cross and grab my notebook and ink from my bag.

This will sink.

Elvira looks from my notebook to the boat and back again before tentatively responding. "You don't know that. It might work?"

No. It will sink.

Elvira sighs. "Yeah, you're probably right, but we don't have much of a choice. I don't want to risk taking the time for multiple trips."

We could leave the humans.

"I told you Umbra, no killing people! We aren't doing that!" Elvira sweeps her hand through the air, almost as if swinging a blade at me.

No. Give them food, leave them here.

"That..." Elvira pauses for a moment, considering it. "The food would only last so long and they can't hunt on their own. It'd be no better than killing them."

Farkas' supplies came from somewhere. Someone will come find them.

"That, I..." Elvira's quiet for a long time. "We need to try to find a way across first. If we can't make it we'll talk about this again. In the mean time, help me get these bags back to shore and look for some way for us all to get across."

One by one we pull all four bags back out of the boat and to the shore where the humans are waiting. Elvira begins handing out out food, and once I grab my share I find a place in a hollow log and cast Night's Veil. Despite what the elf had told me it was no darker outside than it had been when we first left the lair. If anything it had only gotten brighter as the sun got higher in the sky. It had started moving towards the horizon now, but it's still too bright out.

Well, whatever. Turning my attention to more important matters, I wonder if I can catch something to eat? The elf is expecting me to find a way to get across the channel with the humans, but I don't particularly care. Certainly not as much as I care about finding food. It would be preferable if the humans are left here, as it stands they'll be little more than a burden. So, I'll spend my time searching for food and say I couldn't find anything useful.

I begin making my way through the forest, creeping from one darkened corner to another under the effects of Shadow Cloak. There seem to be plenty of birds and a few small creatures that run through the underbrush and climb trees, but they're fast and small enough to not be worth hunting. It takes quite a while until I find something larger, a four legged creature almost as large as a human standing in a small clearing. A deer. The thing seems skittish, often looking up from the patch of grass it's eating, but it doesn't notice as I slink to the edge of the clearing behind it. It does notice when I burst from hiding, but by the time it moves I've wrapped my tendrils around its hind legs and pulled them out from under it. In a second I have my tendrils around its neck, squeezing hard enough to cut off circulation and prevent breathing. After a few more minutes the deer's struggles slow, then stop.

To be sure my prey isn't playing dead I snap one of its legs before turning my attention to my feast. It's a bit difficult getting past its thick hide, but I drag it out of the light a few feet into the forest to a darker area and cast Black Hand. I study the hand for a moment, focusing on changing its shape until the fingers sharpen into claws. It isn't very effective, but at least it's enough to cut through the deer's skin. I quickly find that deer taste just as good as humans. It's a bit more difficult to tear into the tougher meat, especially around the legs, but it's nothing that a bit of effort can't fix.

I'm enjoying my food enough that I initially don't notice as the forest quietens around me. The birds stop singing, the sounds of small animals in the underbrush disappears, all that's left is the sound of wind through the trees. When I do notice it I carefully raise a tendril into the air, focusing on looking at my surroundings through it. At first I don't see anything noteworthy, but after a moment I catch a bit of movement in a bush a dozen feet away. Something is crouched there, and now that I know what I'm looking for I can make out its shape low to the ground. A bit of light catches its eye as it stares at me, wiggling slightly as it prepares to pounce on me and my prey.

My tendrils snap out, grabbing the branches of the tree above me and hauling myself up into the canopy. A moment later the creature's maw clamps around the deer's corpse where I was just sitting, ripping away a large chunk of flesh. The creature's head snaps up, scanning the forest around it. I can now see that it's a large grey wolf, bits of white fur visible along the backs of its legs and ears. Soon enough it seems to decide that nothing's wrong and turns its attention to my prey, eating my food. My food.

I take a cursory glance around the forest to ensure there's no other wolves nearby. Nothing. That done I drop from my place suspended between the tree's branches, landing slightly off center on the wolf's back. My tendrils wind around the wolf, the Black Hand I've yet to dismiss grabbing it by the snout to buy time for my tendrils to get into position. The wolf jumps backwards, bucking wildly but unable to throw me off. It does manage to prevent me from getting a good grip on its legs, but there's no way for it to protect its neck. I squeeze it as tightly as I can, feeling ribs crack as the wolf whimpers. After a few more minutes of running and trying to shake me off, the wolf begins to grow weaker, giving me a chance to grab one of its legs and pull it to the ground. Once it's down it has no way to fight back. Soon enough the wolf stops moving, and I drag it back to where we left the deer.

Well, that was more eventful than I expected, but now my feast has grown larger. I take the time to carve a Shadow's Mark into the tree beside the deer to disguise my kills, hopefully preventing any more wolves from finding them, and return to ripping into the deer.