Flint sat, staring blankly into the polluted water. How did this happen? Was all water on Ash this way? Where else could he find it? Was there a clean spring where he could find freshwater? How did moving water rot?

  He inched forward, trying not to get too close to the rank stream. Clear and crisp, the water looked as though it should have been clean and refreshing. But there was no denying the warning his nose was giving him. Flint breathed in and gagged as he got just a little too close.

  He found no evidence of dead fish, algae, or other bacteria. What could it be? Back on Earth, there were only a few ways to turn water so foul. Unless … Flint squinted upstream suspiciously. Maybe a predator further up was poisoning the water to force his prey to come to him. It wasn't the type of thing he had ever heard of happening back home but being in such an unearthly place, he didn't dismiss such outlandish ideas.

  With a sigh, Flint backed away. He may have been acting paranoid, but he had no interest in potentially falling prey to anything while on Ash.

  Could he filter it? Boil it and filter it again? If he couldn't find another water source, he would have to make this water drinkable, but how long would that take? He was thirsty now.

  Crack!

  Flint ducked reflexively but looked around, embarrassed, though no one was around to see him. The gunfire sounded far away, the second gunshot in the last hour, and from a different direction. First wild men, now poisoned water and strange gunshots.

  Ratatatat. Gunfire rang out in rapid succession. It was also distant, and from the fast-paced repetition, Flint gathered that it was an automatic rifle.

  Flint looked back the way he had come. He didn't see Jason, but he knew his brother could probably see him. Jason couldn't move as quietly as Flint, but the foliage concealed him well.

  Flint shouldered his pack and stalked back.

  Feeling dehydrated and slightly discouraged, Flint retraced his steps back to where he left Jason. He stopped when he spotted Jason crouched behind a tree. Jason scanned his surroundings in a squat, making sure no one came up behind them. He held the largest of the kitchen knives clutched in his hands. As far as Flint could tell, Jason hadn't seen him yet.

  Flint smiled as he considered the possibility of jump-scaring his brother. He was inwardly pleased that he had gotten so close without being spotted. Flint dismissed the idea of sneaking up on Jason on account of the large knife in his hand. No prank was worth getting stabbed.

  Flint started forward, but something rustled in the trees above him, and he froze. The brim of his black cap denied him the sight of what might have been lurking up there. So far, Flint had only spotted a single squirrel. Without bugs or birds, Ash had seemed a complacently stagnant place. The branches above rustled again, and Flint’s heart sped up.

  The sound of shallow, almost human breathing sounded in the canopy above.

  Flint's skin writhed, but he held still, not daring to look, hoping whatever it was would lose interest in him and leave him alone. Running could trigger a predatory reaction.

  He glanced over at Jason. Jason still hadn't seen him. He suppressed an urge to call for help. In these parts, it was possible that anything could aggravate a predator.

  A branch creaked above, and a bead of sweat rolled down his neck. He couldn't stay still.

  Flint's eyes widened as harry-clawed fingers wrapped around the rim of his hat only inches from his eyes.

  In a flash, Flint's hat was snatched from his head.

  "Hey!" Flint cried as he swatted the air above him. Looking up, Flint's eyes followed a spindly, furry figure that scampered through the branches in a blur with the hat in hand. The tree limbs bowed under its substantial weight, yet it moved with feline grace.

  "Oh no, you don't!" Flint snapped as he ran after it.

  "Flint?" Jason shouted, turning sharply towards him. "Help!" Flint cried as he bolted after the creature.

  The creature scuttled up above, hand over hand, branch after branch. Leaping from tree to tree, it stole ahead. Although Flint could only catch glimpses, what he saw made him hesitate. The thing had to weigh at least seventy-five pounds.

  "Flint!" Jason cried as he sprinted toward his brother.

  "Get back here, you scratchy, twig-infested hat thief!" Flint cried. He had that hat for years. He liked that hat and had no intention of letting it get away now.

  Flint ran, and his foot flared, but it didn't matter. There were many things Flint was uncertain about, like how he got here or where his father was. But of this, he was sure; nothing from the earth to hell and Ash between would stop him from getting his hat back.

  "Gaaah! Get back here!" Flint cried as he charged heedlessly into the undergrowth.

  The creature turned its snouted face and hissed over its shoulder, revealing a small set of fangs on a vulpine face.

  "Flint, stop! What's going on?" Jason cried as he caught up.

  "I'm going to kill it!"

  The creature launched itself to a tree just a hair's breadth away. It screamed as its hand snatched air, and it fell.

  With all the grace of a brick, it plunged to the ground and lost hold of the hat. Flint lunged. The creature stood on its hind legs and jumped after it. Both Flint and the creature grabbed the cap at the same time. The beast stood like an anthropomorphic fox, only several times the size of any vulpine Flint had ever seen. Its pointed ears almost reached Flint’s collarbone, and its orange eyes flashed angrily.

  "What is that?" Jason recoiled, bringing his knife up.

  "Give it!" Flint barked, watching its teeth carefully. With such animals, one had to consider bite power. Flint would introduce it to Mister Drop Kick if it tried to bite. The eerily bipedal beast seemed to be considering the same thing, even if Flint stood a head and a half taller.

  Shorter than Flint on its hind legs, the creature hissed and pulled hard. Surprisingly hard.

  Flint gained the upper hand with a jerk. It cried out and let go of the hat with one hand clawing at Flint's wrist to pry it off the cap.

  Flint instinctively jerked his hand away from the creature's clawed fingers. Seeing his opportunity, the varmint grabbed the cap with both paws and whisked it out of Flint's single-handed grasp.

  "No!"

  It scurried up to the nearest tree and desperately searched for the next tree to jump to. However, it was isolated and without any route for escape. In dismay, the creature chattered from the branches.

  "What is that?" Jason asked again as he looked at it wide-eyed.

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  "I don't know, but it has my hat!" Flint seethed.

  Jason's face fell. "Are you kidding me right now?"

  "What?"

  "You carelessly charge out here screaming and practically announcing to a world where there are continual gunshots that we're here because of a stupid hat?" Jason fumed.

  "Hey!" Flint cried defensively. "It's my hat."

  "It wasn’t ever yours," Jason scoffed. "It’s mine. He can have it. Now it’s his."

  "I'm getting my freaking hat back, Jason!"

  "You're impossible," Jason growled.

  Above, the creature panted as it started to inch its way down, probably hoping to sneak past as the brothers were caught up in their dispute.

  "Don't even think about it!" Flint snapped, jabbing his finger at the animal, and it shot back to safety. Its eyes flickered from one boy to the next, and Flint recognized the look—dread.

  Though the beast was daring, it was clearly no predator. However, that didn't mean it wasn't dangerous.

  With a grunt, Flint dropped his backpack and fidgeted through the contents.

  "What are you doing?"

  "Getting my hat back." Flint produced one of his few remaining protein bars.

  "You're going to bait it down?" Jason demanded.

  Fearing Jason's complaints, Flint didn't respond.

  "You are, aren't you? I'm not going to let you waste what little food we have. I don't need to remind you that you practically threw most of it away."

  Flint pulled out a wire loop, a snare he used to catch small game. "Don’t forget that this food belongs to me."

  Jason snorted. "Bought on stolen crypto cards and swiped right out of gas stations? That food is just as much mine as it is yours."

  "I'm not wasting anything," Flint said. "I'm investing.”

  "What are you talking about?"

  "This is the only animal we have seen here; we’ll have it for dinner," Flint said as he wrapped the end of the wire around a short, thick branch, making a sturdy handle.

  Jason nodded, "I guess it's not a horrible idea. What kind of animal is it anyway?" He looked up at it. "It's like a huge fox, but not; it's almost like it has hands and—What the—Flint, it's wearing pants!"

  "What?" Flint looked up at his prey. Sure enough, the creature had a small pair of baggy pants secured around its waist with twine. The trousers almost matched its brown fur perfectly.

  "What?" Flint’s jaw dropped.

  “What the hell?” Jason shook his head.

  "Pants or no pants, I'm eating that thing," Flint said determinedly. "Take this." He handed the handle to Jason and held the loop open loosely in his own hand.

  The creature watched them suspiciously from the treetop with beady eyes.

  "Come here, boy!" Flint invited, stretching his arm to hold up the protein bar.

  The hairy figure leaned down carefully and sniffed suspiciously.

  "No conditions," Flint promised. “Here, you look hungry." He broke off a corner of the bar and placed it on a low-hanging branch.

  The creature glared at him with decided distrust.

  "Seriously, just for you." Flint stepped away from the tree.

  It put the cap on its head, and then, slowly and cautiously, the creature started to creep down. The hat sat suspended on one of its pointed ears, clearly not the right shape for its head.

  "That's right." Flint coxed, "Who's a hungry boy?"

  "Flint, you sound stupid," Jason growled.

  Flint’s face heated as he realized he was talking like a mother might who was trying to feed baby food to a stubborn baby.

  The creature snatched the snack and scampered up to safety, where he greedily and loudly chewed it up.

  "Well, that worked," Jason said sarcastically as he looked at the creature safe in the high branches of the trees.

  "Shh, I'm conditioning it. It's all about relationships."

  Jason snorted. "Do you actually know anything about relationships?"

  "I know enough," Flint said emphatically.

  "But really, bro, do you have any friends?"

  Flint broke another more generous chunk off of the bar and placed it on the same branch. "I don't need friends," he said. “I can take care of myself."

  The creature rushed down and snatched the offering, fleeing immediately to the top of the tree.

  "Woah," said Flint. "It's getting reckless."

  "I didn't say you couldn't take care of yourself," Jason said. "But you need people in your life, Flint; everyone does."

  "Are you going to help me catch dinner, or are we going to have a chick-flick moment?" Flint demanded, "Focus."

  Jason smiled apologetically and set his stance, ready to move.

  Flint held the bar up. "Come and get it."

  The creature snorted at him.

  "I'm not leaving it for you. Come, take it out of my hand." Flint commanded.

  It let out a bark of protest.

  "Well, are you hungry or not?"

  It snorted again.

  "Come on, little guy, I'll give you the whole thing."

  It glared down at Flint. The hat hung over one of its eyes, and it had to crank its head awkwardly so it wouldn't fall off.

  "That's right, bring my hat back, you twig nest."

  Not wanting to risk the hat, it pulled it off and jammed it in the fork of two branches at the top.

  Flint could practically read its intention.

  It came down again, slowly, seemingly ready for anything.

  "That's right. A little further." He held the bait up higher still.

  The creature came to rest just out of reach, and it extended its hand and grabbed the bar, but Flint held it fast, and the animal broke off a sizable chunk and began to munch on it just above.

  "I'm running out of bait,” Flint hissed. "Get ready to move." He unwrapped the remaining bar and stuck his arm through the open loop.

  It loudly smacked its food and looked down, expecting more.

  "The rest is yours," Flint promised. Holding it up, but not high enough for it to reach.

  The creature whined in disapproval and waited for Flint to bring it closer, but Flint was insistent.

  Finally giving in to its hunger, it reached the next perch and grabbed the bar.

  In one motion, Flint tossed the loop past his arm over the beast, looping it around its armpit and neck.

  "Now!" he cried.

  The creature screamed and scampered away, and Jason pulled back, tightening the loop and ripping it out of the tree.

  Their quarry screamed again as it fell at Flint's feet and then took off. On the ground, it ran on its hind legs, almost like a little person in its trousers. Flint lunged after it.

  It moved in a blur, passing Jason and speeding deeper into the woods. The snare, still around its body, drew taut, and Jason jerked it back.

  Flint was on it in a moment, pinning its arms down.

  "Ahh," Jason cried again. "This is the weirdest thing I have ever done!"

  Flint ignored him as he wrestled the thrashing creature. "Knife!" he cried.

  Jason snapped out of his stupor and rushed to help his younger brother, blade at the ready.

  The creature looked up with panicked pleading eyes. “Veri koo, veri koo, don tashi Veri koo ve!” it cried.

  "Flint!" Jason whined, "Why is the fox man thing talking?"

  "Knife!" Flint grunted in exasperation.

  "Don Tashi Veri koo ve!" it sobbed, and large tears welled in its eyes.

  "Flint," Jason barked. "It's alive!"

  "That's what I'm trying to fix." Flint snapped. "Knife!"

  "No, I mean, it's intelligent, like us.”

  "Knife, Jason!"

  Jason took a defiant stance. "Flint, no, I won't let you kill it."

  Flint glared at Jason, pointedly ignoring his brother’s shocked look. "You have got to be kidding me right now."

  Jason puffed his chest. "No, Flint, let him go!"

  "You're soft."

  Jason frowned impatiently. "It’s not an animal, Flint. It’s something else."

  "Of course, it is," Flint had to wrestle its arms down to pin it again. “And from where I’m standing, it looks like dinner.”

  "Flint, move!" Jason barked, and he shoved Flint off of the creature.

  "Hey!" he snapped.

  The creature got up and tried to run, but Jason held the wire fast. It turned caught on its leash.

  Wide-eyed as the larger of the boys approached. It whimpered, and its eyes darted to Jason's knife.

  "Easy there, little guy," Jason said soothingly. "I'm not going to hurt you." He handed the knife to the younger scowling brother.

  "Really?" Flint demanded. "Now you give it to me?"

  "It's okay," he said to the trembling creature. “Let's get that wire off of you." He walked up to it, slowly showing his palms in a peaceful gesture. The thing whimpered as it allowed Jason to lift the snare over his head and pull it off.

  It regarded the older Vance with confused and grateful eyes. "You're free to go," Jason said," But my brother wants his hat back."

  The creature gave no indication of understanding.

  "Hat," Jason said slowly as he patted the top of his head. "Hat." He repeated as he pointed to the top of the tree.

  "Jason, you're an idiot if you really think —"

  "Hat," the fur ball repeated in a labored, shaky tone, understanding dawning on its face. It patted the top of its head and then pointed to the top of the tree. "Hat."

  "Good!" Jason praised his newest pupil, "Can you bring the hat?"

  "Hat," it sang again, and then it whisked off up the tree.

  "Why was dinner speaking?" Flint asked himself. "Dinner isn't supposed to talk."

  The creature appeared again before Jason's feet, clutching Flint's black cap.

  "Hat," it said.

  Flint stared dumbly.

  "It isn't mine," Jason said. "Go give it back to Flint."

  The creature looked at Flint and furrowed its eyebrows in disdain.

  "Go on," Jason prodded.

  The creature dramatically approached Flint, dragging its feet in protest. With an upheld nose, it tossed the cap at Flint's feet.

  Flint snatched it off the ground and jammed it onto his head.

  "Good." Jason praised. "What is your name, little guy?"

  The critter looked at him, confused.

  Jason gestured to himself, "Jason," he said, and then repeated it slowly, "Jason."

  Flint snorted. "Are you serious? You're talking to an animal."

  "Jay-son," it said slowly as if it were trying out new sounds for the first time.

  Flint's face dropped, and both brothers chuckled, intrigued.

  "But it's like a parrot, right? You know, monkey see, monkey do," Flint said.

  "Flint," Jason said, pointing to his brother. And then, making an inquisitive face, he gestured at the creature.

  It smiled broadly and put its hand on its chest. "F'faron."

  "Well then," Jason said. "Nice to meet you, F'faron."

  Be rea