The morning of their departure arrived far sooner than Aurora wanted. Seven days had disappeared almost as quickly as the first three
By the time the final dawn broke over the Fox Tribe, the vegetable garden was no longer merely a patch of turned earth. Tiny green seedlings covered several rows, the chicken coop stood proudly at the edge of the settlement with its five precious occupants safely tucked inside, and every group Aurora had trained now understood enough to continue without her.
It should have made leaving easier. Instead, as Aurora stood outside Reis's cave with her belongings packed and the familiar sounds of the tribe waking around her, she felt an unexpected heaviness settle in her chest. She had only spent ten days here, yet the Fox Tribe had somehow managed to become another place she would miss.
