It was a few hours later, and Silkey had left One-eye to return to the clearing. He would, too, but he'd enter from a different side of the glade half-an-hour later, to prevent suspicion.

Silkey was about to reach the clearing, when she heard her parents talking. Is Mom back so soon already? But...how? I thought this would at least keep her busy for quite some time!

She decided to stay put for a while, to listen to what both of them are saying.

"Argh, where does that cub go off to each time? She couldn't possibly have gone off with that hunchback again!"

Silkey sighed. She'd have to come up with a good excuse as to why she'd left. And she had to get rid of One-eye's scent on her coat, too.

Brad's comforting voice sounded next. "Arrow...let her be. She'll be here soon enough."

"I don't care that she'll be here soon enough. I think I'll have to appoint a babysitter to watch her all day long when we are not around..."

Silkey put her paws over her ears. Nonononono! Please, no! I promised One-eye we'd still occasionally meet at the tree when the coast seems clear! If I have someone watching my back all day, I can't!

She sighed with relief when her father responded. "No, Arrow. Silkey is in her teens already! She's old enough to take care of herself; you know that."

"But I am concerned for her safety! I'm pretty sure she's visiting that horrid creature again!"

Brad seemed to snap. "Oh, for crying out loud! Cut the cub some slack, will you? You're constantly pressuring her into becoming a carbon copy of you, or what you suspect Velfet would have been if she hadn't died! But that's not Silkey! Silkey is no one but herself!

"Allow her to find out things by herself! If that pup is truly dangerous--which, I can guarantee you, he isn't--she can think up the idea of leaving him by herself, you know."

"This is my decision to make, not yours! It's bad enough already that my daughter has a lazy eye, and now she also just happens to pick the worst of friends."

Silkey opened her eyes again. Did her mother really see her that way, also because of her lazy eye? She knew she hated One-eye for his deformities, but...her own daughter?

Brad seemed really angry, and Silkey shivered. She never knew her father to be like this. He had given her the necessary scolding at times, but was never truly livid. Now, he clearly was.

He curled his lip. "You are seriously using Silkey's strabismus as an excuse?"

"It's not an excuse; it's a reason," Arrow said, calm as ever. She clearly didn't care that her mate was mad with her.

Brad growled for a few more seconds, then sighed. "You know...you really did change since this second-in-command job came along..." he said sadly, so soft that Silkey could barely hear it.

Arrow shrugged carelessly. "So be it," she grumbled.

Brad looked up, his expression a mix of sadness and shock. "You...you really don't care about anything besides your job anymore? Even our daughter? Even me? What happened to the old Arrow?"

"She's gone."

Silkey felt terrible. She saw her father sigh again, his ears drooping. "That's that, then," he said, in a finite way, before he walked out on her mother.

Arrow clearly couldn't care less.

Silkey was still shocked. She knew that her mother was totally idolizing her job, but she didn't expect her to do it to this degree.

With a sigh, the cub got up and walked away into the forest to the dungplace. She tried not to breathe through her nose as she entered the awful-smelling part of the woods. You have to get rid of Oney's smell, you have to! she thought, as she forced herself to roll into some of the droppings.