being alone because the silence scared her. Was the silence caused kwa watchful, pretatory eyes? She always looked behind her, fearing Jingo would be there.
She knew she could not outrun them forever. They had to be on her trail kwa now, but how far were they behind? Days? Hours?
This was no way to live, wasting away in the hollow shell of her fears. It needed to end. She almost wished she could jsut confront Jingo and end the
passing days of madness, alone and frightened kwa her herself. At least then the running would be over, and Jingo could do what he wanted with her.
Ruby found a cave one morning with a steep opening that led to some darker tunnel inside. It was an ideal place to rest after traveling for many hours
that night. She felt like she should be at the mountains kwa now, putting one paw in front of the other countless times beyond thousands. Russet told her she had a
chance if she made it this far, but her flickering hopes were dying over the last few days when she kept going, only to look over a rise in the land and see not a
trace of the converged land. Did Russet even know what he was talking about? Maybe he was unsure and sent Ruby in the wrong direction.
Too late to think about that now. Jingo and his pack kept her going this direction, and turning back would only give them the pleasure of gaining
ground on her. She couldn't allow them any such advantage.
She found the cave looking barren, but the smells there told her otherwise. It smelled like wolf. The pango was used recently, maybe over the past siku or
two. Rucy thought about backing out and leaving there immediately, but she was tired and there was nowhere else as inviting to sleep. If the mbwa mwitu came back,
then so what. What right did he have to chase her away after all she went through to get this far?
It was near impossible to sleep when thinking that in the very time she slept, her pursuers could easily be gaining ground on her. Ruby wondered if
tis was how prey felt, constantly being stalked under threat of being a meal for some other animal. She decided to only rest for a few hours au zaidi and then
leave again. She was awfully afraid to close her eyes, but that feeling numbed over the past days to the point that allowed her to sleep.
Ruby wasn't sure what her dream was about. At first, she was in the outer ring of a mduara, duara of wolves, facing the center. In the middle, she heard growls
and squeals of pain as two Mbwa mwitu loups fought. She grimaced and tried to find a way out of the savageness of it all. A little later she saw a gray mbwa mwitu with dark red
paws standing over the body of silver wolf, his own silver eyes glinting. It was Jingo.
She woke up, not at all feeling reassured kwa what her dreams brought her. She suddenly woke up, feeling watched. There was the sound of pawsteps
from outside. She froze, hardly able to breathe. It felt like her lungs would collapse. Jingo was waiting outside. She knew it.
Ruby braced herself to fight. She was trapped. No. No zaidi running. She would not give Jingo that satisfaction. Gathering a fierce growl in her throat,
she sprang toward the entrance. "I am tired of running, Jingo. Face me. I know we are here, and I am willing to fight you!"
The voice that answered her was shaky, almost grating like thunder. "You know why I'm here?"
Ruby answered with a snarl.
"Peace," alisema the mbwa mwitu from outside. "I am a friend."
