“Moose. Food.”


    A strange word ‘food’. It seemed to be a label, like many of the other words she had learned, but it was a label shared by many things. She had yet to learn the extent to which the label applied, but since the green stuff fell into that list, she wasn’t eager to learn just how far it went.


    It was still an effective word though. All she needed to do to eat was use the magic to call Moose’s attention then speak the word. She might not like what Moose conjured up, but it always filled her belly and saved her from having to eat more of her treats. Treats which were getting very low. As she slid off of Moose and waited for him to begin lumbering back to the food place, she thought again about her plans to get back into her old home.


    It had been a great many sleeps since she had last been there. Moose called them ‘nights’, but that was just confusing to her. She didn’t know what a moon was and she had yet to see any armored people involved, or armor in general. Not that she really knew what that was either. Or any monsters as well. At this point she was quite sure Moose had pushed all the lesser monsters to the very outskirts. Only the light and dark still did battle where she and Moose could witness them.


    Even that battle had annoyed Moose in the end.


    He had banished the big lights. The big darkness as well. It had allowed her to see much farther than she ever had before, but it was much dimmer than it had been. A blow to both sides. It seemed that Moose had grown tired of the back-and-forth nature of the battle and pushed both sides to be equal, as the light no longer came suddenly or was beaten back just as quick. It was all a steady thing, the battle ever present.


    It could be why she had yet to see any small creatures like herself as well, at least not outside of the garden Moose still protected with the large wall. That and the noises she sometimes heard were the only reason she had not assumed that Moose had completely destroyed all the other monsters. It was clear that Moose didn’t think they were alone. It seemed far too excessive for small creatures.


    She hoped she would finish turning into a moose before she got unlucky enough to stumble on one of those other monsters. She had yet to see any visible difference on herself yet, but she still expected them. As it stood, she only needed to think about Moose and the tingles would come back. Not as intense, but they would be there. A clear sign the magic was progressing. She didn’t know what changes she should expect first though. Other than the hair all over and the strange bits of himself that changed shape, seemingly at will, she felt the height would be the most obvious change. It would also be the most useful. She clearly didn’t have enough magic yet, Moose changed much faster than she did. The hair on his face nearly as much as the hair on his head. Something that she didn’t even have yet. It was almost disappointing, how slow things were progressing.


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    It could be why she had so much trouble matching Moose. Perhaps the changes were happening on the inside first?


    Once Moose had forced the light and dark to fight steadily, he had begun to run up and down the largest tunnel near his lair. She had been so frightened the first time, thinking that Moose had seen something and was running from it. She never wanted to see something that Moose would run from. No matter what happened during the encounter, she didn’t think she would ever be able to escape that kind of nightmare. It had been even more frightening when she couldn’t keep up with Moose. As she fell farther behind, she could feel the panic pushing her legs harder. Right up until Moose passed her going the other way.


    That had been so confusing she had fallen over. Between the confusion and sitting on the ground, she had a chance to look around. As she saw nothing and Moose seemed to not be running scared, at least from her perspective, she had to stop and re-think things. The second time Moose passed her, she could tell he had slowed down. He was still running, but he seemed to be running without hurry. It was bizarre to see anything being lazy while running. She had to admit that the words fit Moose though.


    Once the lingering panic had faded and the confusion had turned into curiosity, she did have to face reality. She had been slower than Moose. Slower than a lazy run, while she had been going as fast as she could in her panic. That… was unsettling. That would mean she had only survived as long as she had because of her stealth, not her ability to escape. Moose had simply never bothered to chase her. Not to mention all the other monsters she may have come across and not realized.


    Once the realization had settled in, she had decided to follow Moose and practice, both running and stealth. More things on her list to do so she didn’t have to worry anymore. It was nearly impossible at first, Moose simply kept going when she had collapsed from all the running. All the running made her belly complain much more as well, demanding more food than she had ever eaten. She continued despite all of that though. The safety being faster could provide too much to ignore. That was all the motivation she needed.


    That and the sheer pleasure she found in the rain room afterwards.


    Those thoughts and a full belly made her long for the nest, her body now focused on warmth and sleep. She felt it was late enough and was tired of the cool tunnels. While she never bothered to hurry Moose along, finding it an utter waste of energy, she did still try to find a comfortable way to steal his warmth without getting in the way of him going to the lair. She was to be disappointed though. Moose didn’t even bother to go in the right direction. When she made questioning noises at him, she didn’t much like the response.


    “Noises. Danger.”


    Obviously.


    She didn’t like that Moose had taken notice though.