The wolf cub bit down on Neko's pant leg and refused to let go. Blood matted its grey fur near the shoulder. It had followed her for two hours through the pine woods, and now it was slowing to a limp, and the sun was already low. Neko crouched in the needles and looked at it. Her red hair fell forward. Her tail flicked once, sharp, the way it did when she was deciding something she already knew the answer to. She had been walking toward the next village to sleep under a real roof for the first time in a week. She had told herself she would keep moving until she found someone who needed her, because that was how a wanderer earned the title she wanted. She had read the words Legendary Wanderer on a stone marker two realms ago and taken them for herself. No one had given them to her. She meant to deserve them. The cub whined. Its ribs pushed against its side with each breath. "You picked me," Neko said. "Fine. I pick you back." She slid the pack off her shoulder and opened the padded pocket at the front. It was shaped for a small animal, though she had bought it for carrying fruit. She lifted the cub with both hands. It weighed almost nothing. It growled, then gave up and pressed its nose into her collarbone. She settled it into the pocket, tightened the strap across her chest, and stood. The twin blades on her hip clacked once as she rose. She adjusted them so they would not knock the pack. She ran. She knew of a healer's hall a half day east. She had passed its towers that morning and marked the green roofs against the ridge. Half a day on foot. Less if she did not stop. The cub bled through the cloth in a slow, warm spot against her stomach. She felt it and ran faster. The sun set. She kept the ridge on her left and did not stop. Her ears twitched at every branch. Twice she heard something larger moving in the trees behind her, tracking the blood, and she drew one blade and kept running with it in her hand. She reached the hall after moonrise. Lanterns burned along the front steps. The doors were tall and carved and open. A woman in a pale robe met her on the threshold and reached for the pack without a word. Neko gave the cub over. Her hands were sticky. Her legs shook. "He'll live," the healer said, already turning inside. "Wait here." Neko sat on the bottom step. The blade was still in her hand. She had not eaten since dawn. She had missed the village. She had a wolf now, and whatever had followed her through the pines was still out there, and it knew her scent.