Flames illuminate the dense woods as three humans carry torches through the darkness. Cain leads the group deeper into the woods; Wolf howls guide them toward their objective.

"S-Should we really be doing this..?" Nim whispers softly to Col.

"I... I'm not sure we have a choice." Col replies under his breath.

Cain hears them, but he doesn't react. He knows what he's doing is unreasonable, but the craving for violence isn't so easily quelled. He has to hunt. He has to kill.

Tall grass rustles to the left, and the three of them all turn to look in the direction of the sound. They hold their torches aloft while quietly approaching the source of the noise. Cain is the most brazen of the three; He walks forward as if there's nothing to fear.

Two yellow eyes stare back at Cain, and a snarl slips out from the big dark wolf's maw. The creature is trembling at the sight of the torches, and creeps backwards slowly as Cain approaches.

"They fear the flames. We'll be fine." Cain says maliciously.

Both Nim and Col look away as Cain charges the wolf; The creature yelps and cries out as Cain beats it to death with a burning torch. The crunch of its bones stops after a few minutes, and they take furtive glances at Cain.

The man is only a little bloody, as the torch cauterized several wounds during the beatdown. Cain has a far away look in his eyes, and his breathing is leveling back out.

"Let's go. We've got more work to do." Cain says coldly.

~

Gol sits up as the sound of birdsong wakes him from his slumber. He glances over to see Cara, Dar, and Tack all sitting together with a variety of items strewn around them. They're all focused on their hands as they attempt to create sturdier clothes.

The primitive fern skirt Gol had worn to bed is now a tattered mess; Apparently moving in your sleep is enough to rip up these flimsy things. Gol stands up, and walks over to the three of them.

"Good morning. How goes it?" Gol asks politely.

"Poorly, thus far." Dar replies.

Dar stops sewing leaves, and holds up a section of fern leaves which have been clumsily sewn together; The crude thing is leagues beneath Cara's initial work.

"Yikes. Are you two faring any better?" Gol asks tentatively.

Cara doesn't answer as she continues to sew together the fern leaves, but Tack offers Gol a finished fern poncho. The poncho's quality exceeds that of Cara's work, and fits Gol rather nicely as he slips it over his head.

"Wow! This is brilliant!" Gol exclaims.

"I know right? Turns out I've got talent for this stuff." Tack boasts with a smirk.

There's an awkward silence as Cara continues to focus on trying to create something of quality comparable to Tack's work. The other three can tell she feels strongly on it, and decide not to discuss the subject any further.

"I had an idea last night while I was falling asleep, actually." Gol breaks the awkward silence.

"What was it?" Tack asks curiously.

"What if instead of clothes we used the leaves to make a bag or something? We could carry materials around with ease that way." Gol explains.

Cara scoffs quietly before turning to hold up what she had been working on, and Gol looks at it with a helpless expression. She's just finished a sturdy looking fern leaf bag, the thing is made of three separate sheets of leaves, all combined to create a sort of topless cube shape.

"Impressive... Do you mind if I borrow this while I gather apples?" Gol asks hopefully.

"That's exactly what I intended." Cara replies.

Cara hands Gol the newly made leaf bag, and resumes her work. Gol holds the rather roomy bag in his large hands, testing the stretchiness of it; The thing is sturdier than he expected, and will certainly help in gathering fruit.

With that Gol says his goodbyes and wanders off into the forest in search of food.

~

The sun is sitting high in the sky when Nim finally decides she's had enough of this lunacy. She's sick of walking through the woods murdering wolves like some kind of maniac; Her stamina is lacking at this point as well.

"Cain." Nim says firmly.

Cain keeps walking at first, not paying her words any mind as he trudges through the tall grass. Nim scrunches up her face and stomps closer to his back.

"Cain! Listen to me!" Nim shouts at him.

The man stops, and turns to look at Nim with a neutral expression on his sharp features. He holds a burning torch in one hand, and a bundle of sticks in the other.

"What?" Cain replies flatly.

"Seriously? Do you not see that you're losing your mind right now?!" Nim shouts angrily.

Cain's eyes flit from Nim's face to Col as the old man sits against a tree to catch his breath. The situation doesn't feel right, and Cain is aware of that.

"I'm doing this because I have to. What do you think will happen if we leave these wolves alone?" Cain retorts firmly.

"They'll just hunt the animals in the forest! We've seen deer a few times!" She replies with a gesture toward the forest around them.

"We're not stopping." Cain says as if he's the one making the decisions.

Nim glares at him with narrowed eyes, and her lips form a sad frown as she shakes her head. She looks at his arms, and observes the soot and blood covering his body. He looks insane, and despite his current calmness she can tell he's not someone she can trust.

"We're leaving." Nim says with her arms crossed.

There's a twinge of irritation on Cain's face as he hears her words, yet he doesn't fly into a rage or anything like she had expected him to do. Cain turns away, and keeps walking through the forest. Col stumbles beside Nim, and looks between the both of them.

"We can't survive without him, can we?" Col whispers to Nim.

She shakes her head slowly, and turns away from Cain as he walks away.

"We'll have to try." She says softly.

Nim grabs Col's wrist, and she leads him in a different direction. The older man follows her, albeit with doubt in his eyes.