"Kali, do you know what's happened?"

She pauses, a long tendril of fresh meat hanging from a savage beak. Were it not for the blissful purity of her spirit coursing through me and the innocence held in her blue eyes, I would think her a formidable creature indeed, and probably be contemplating how best to make a quick escape.

She senses this, and growls, pleased to know how intimidating a picture she poses. The dead rabbit lays clutched tight beneath her avian claw, blood staining the thin grass a dull, burnt red. She's almost full, I can tell, and getting sleepy. Sometimes I think that the brat would sleep all day if I didn't keep her occupied, other times I wish I could just get her to quiet down.

"It's autumn now. Do you know what that means?"

A brisk breeze whirls through the misty glade, whipping up Kali's feathers and tugging playfully at my ivory forelock. She's interested now, deeply curious by my cryptic clues and fully gorged on rabbit. She won't let on, though, or at least she'll try not to, grooming her claws nonchalantly while watching me through a narrowed eye. Whrrrt? she purrs, bright sparks of excitement jumping through our bond, an obvious contradiction to her behavior. When I don't answer she grows more eager, gold-tipped tail twitching in the grass, claws kneading the ground anxiously. Whrrrt?! she demands now, clenching her hindquarters before leaping into the air. It only takes one graceful beat of her wings to bridge the distance between us; she flies an anxious circle around me, now too curious to stay still.

"Shall I tell you?"

An enthused screech. I smile. She's fallen right into my trap.

"It means that it's time for me to capture you!" Serpentine neck snaps forward, my jaw stretched wide to catch her tail. Teeth clench - gently - and suddenly she can't move, but beats at the air purposelessly while crying out avian laughter, struggling to escape my steadfast grasp. It's her favorite game, this catch-and-escape, and one I don't play with her nearly often enough. I have been a hermit, a moonlit wanderer of my own mind, and it is time I roused myself from my broodings. With a toss of ivory and golden mane I release her, grinning as her sudden freedom sends her flying halfway to the trees. Indignant, ecstatic, she catches herself and shoots high into the air, planning her rebuttal attack.

For the first time in what feels like ages, I laugh.