Thyssa found a cave with no scent of predators. They went inside and Merryway unpacked their things. They handed Thyssa a small pouch.

Thyssa tested it with her hands. Loose particles. “Food?”

“Yeah. Nuts and dried fruit.”

“Your food?”

“Extra rations in case something went wrong. But with you helping me up, avoiding all the malforms, things have gone much smoother than I planned. So the extra rations are…extra.”

Thyssa nodded. “Thanks.” She started stuffing her face with the nuts and fruit.

Merryway laughed.

“What?”

“Sorry. I just. Like the way you eat. Like a squirrel. It’s very cute.”

It was much like what Lili said. It felt different, though. Lili had seen her as an experimental animal, but Merryway saw her as a person. An equal. That was an assumption, and yet it was one she was happy to make. Twice now, Merryway had proven themselves trustworthy. She realized she hadn’t even thought to check her food for poison, even though failing to do so was precisely why she was here. This was the first human Thyssa had really trusted. It was something too precious and layered for her to put into human speech, so she just said

“thanks.”

Merryway nodded. “I should be thanking you. I thought for sure we’d be caught by that horned one. That…was not a fight I was looking forward to.” They sighed with relief. “I’ve never seen anyone elude malforms like you.”

Thyssa felt a writhing in her body. “Thanks.”

“Really, where did you learn all that?”

Thyssa thought before answering. “I’m a hunter.” Not false.

Merryway looked excited. “It can’t be just that. Our best hunters aren’t that good. It’s like…you know just what to watch out for. Like you know all their tricks.”

The writhing intensified. Thyssa shrugged.

Merryway put up a magnanimous hand. “Alright, you don’t want to talk about the how. Still… you could teach us your tricks.”

“Teach…you?”

“Me, our hunters, everyone.” They looked solemn. “We lose a lot of good people to malforms. If we could just…avoid them, it would save a lot of lives.”

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Once again, Thyssa felt something she’d felt with Lili, but brighter. Hope for a better future, and the joy of taking part in it. If Merryway’s clan could avoid encountering malforms, it would save not just them, but more than a few of her own kind.

“I’d…I’d like that.”

Merryway looked excited. “Great! I mean, you could even tell me some tips right now.”

Thyssa looked down. “You…you’re worried I won’t make it.”

“I hope you will. I think you will.”

“But you’re not sure.”

“We both knew this was dangerous. Either of us could die.”

“You said you wouldn’t die.”

Merryway laughed. “That was daytime Merryway. This is nighttime Merryway.” They looked at Thyssa. “You ever get that? Just…kind of…sad, worried thoughts at night?”

Thyssa nodded.

“It’s like that. I’m just…I guess I just see you, see all your talents and…I’m scared to lose all that.”

“Because I could help your clan.”

“Yeah, but…more than that. It’s like, I want there to be still be some part of you, and…” They shook their head. “I’m sorry. This is weird and morbid.”

“It’s sweet.”

Merryway smiled. “Thanks.”

Thyssa swallowed. “The big thing to know is they’re hungry.”

“Who?”

“Malforms. You asked how to avoid them. The most important thing to know is they’re mostly just hungry. Really hungry. They’re not really looking for a fight. If you leave some food behind, they’ll probably go for that instead of you.”

“But they’ve attacked us even when we’re not carrying food.”

“Were you carrying weapons?”

“The best we had.”

“They freak out when you have weapons. They don’t often see humans who aren’t trying to kill them. You carry a weapon, they think you’re here to hunt them.”

Merryway nodded. “I see…but then, how could we hunt?”

“You don’t hunt in malform territory. Then you’re competing for food.”

“How do you know what’s malform territory and what’s not?”

“That’s a little trickier. But they always try to mark their territory. Maybe it’s feathers, maybe it’s rocks, maybe it’s smells…whatever they have, they use. Marking territory is very important to them. They don’t want to fight each other, and they don’t want to fight you.”

“So you’re always looking out for those signs.”

“Exactly!” Thyssa was excited to have someone really listening to her. Someone she can teach and who’s smart enough to use that knowledge to help instead of trying to exploit her kind more. (There again, an assumption! And yet so knowingly, joyfully made!)

“You think you could teach us to recognize signs?”

Thyssa nodded. “I think so! It’s more of an art than an exact science,” she said, echoing Lili, “but I can do it reliably. I could record the signs of the more prominent malforms, and those of the packs.”

“The packs?”

“The groups of malforms. Cerberus, Widow Mantis…Grendel…”

“There are groups?”

Thyssa swallowed. “You didn’t know that?”

“Thyssa nobody knows about malforms! Not like that! Nobody’s gotten close enough to study them without dying.”

Thyssa grit her teeth. Lili had studied her, and she’d hoarded all that knowledge to herself and her people.

“You know so much about these things,” said Merryway. “Where did you learn it all?”

The writhing again. Worse. Everything hurt, everything was dizzy. Fear and poison together.

“Sorry, I…I need to lie down.”

Thyssa lowered herself to the ground, trying not to lose her balance.

“You don’t have a sleeping bag?” asked Merryway, concerned.

“I’m used to it. I’ll be fine.”

“None of that! You need to take care of yourself while you’re sick. Here, you can share mine.”

“Are you sure?”

“I don’t want to have to tell my clan I found a vital source of knowledge but she just kind of died because she didn’t sleep properly.”

Thyssa couldn’t argue with that. She crawled into the sleeping bag next to Merryway.

Merryway stroked Thyssa’s hair. “Sleep well. Tomorrow, we’ll reach the Fountain.”