TIMELINE: Mid to late December. Two months.

Keyara

Soon, they settled in for the night. Keyara sat up with Phoebe, who refused to sleep. The small child played with a rattle Grandmother had made, giggling as she tapped Xander with it. The wolf did nothing. He was a calm animal, never growling or biting, snapping or howling. Which is why Phoebe could woller him to death and he just slept, occasionally watching her with his sharp blue eyes.

"Keya?" Keyara's thoughts turned back to the child.

"Yes my little pup?"

"How long I s'eep?" The baby looked at Keyara with blue eyes, clear with a child's innocence. Keyara would work to protect that innocence and make sure she never saw a battle.

"Not very long, my dear. You're a light sleeper."

"I s'eep long time. Long time Fefe s'eep." She sounded insistent, her little face scrunching up as Phoebe tried to make the teen listen.

"Alright, you sleep for a long time. Why?"

"Things go boom. Boom boom pow." The older girl's heart sped up, panic making her sweat.

"What are you talking about?"

"Boom boom pow. Things loud. Bad," she said, going back to playing as if nothing had transpired.

"Phoebe, what are you talking about?" When she got no answer, she growled in frustration. Xander's eyes looked up at the growl, showing concern. If that's even possible for an animal. Finally, Keyara laid Phoebe down for bed, even though the child complained of not being tired. Sleep did not come for the leader that night. Words and thoughts spun webs in her head, tangling her brain in the middle, giving her a headache and a heartache. She couldn't lose Phoebe, not with her promise to Matt and her determination to keep her alive. As Phoebe said, "things go boom." A sigh escaped her lips as she stared out at the cold, dark, starry sky.

"Things do go boom, Pheebs. But is it a good or a bad boom?" She looked at the small child bundled in blankets and now fast asleep, her blonde curls sticking up out of the thick blankets.

"What is your brain picking up that mine's not?" As she stared out, a darkness stirred within Keyara and the rest of the camp and all of Alora. Hard times were coming and everything knew it. The trees, the birds, the water, the animals and the children. Things were going to change. But for better or worse... Well that will remain to be seen.

A/N: Just for those who might be a tad confused, Rhys is Kian. I just had to change the names. And Xander is Alister the wolf. Just to clear up the small cloud of confusion!