Bina bent over, hands on her knees, panting. They’d been hiking for hours as the morning sun emerged over the trees. Danae grudgingly agreed to another rest stop. Bina watched Danae sort through her pack as Bina removed her boots and massaged her feet. This seemed like such a better idea yesterday when they made the plan.

Earlier this morning, Danae initially resisted when Bina demanded they leave immediately, then relented, momentarily daunted by the young girl’s confident assertion of authority. They set out, but now the power dynamic shifted.

The shock of Danae’s uncamouflaged appearance hadn’t completely worn off. Bina tried not to stare, but even when she did, Danae didn’t seem to care. Bina was especially intrigued by Danae’s pointy ears, how they twitched and pivoted, just like the dog’s, and how her long black hair was pushed back behind them. She also was charmed by the slight lisp of her speech, and how her prominent canines peeked out from her lips.

Danae swiped one of her talons on a rounded oval of rock with a musical note. She’d swipe several times, then test the point and edge. Her efforts were mostly focused on her right index and middle fingers, swipe, swipe, test; swipe, swipe.  Finally satisfied, she put the rock back in her pack, then looked at Bina.

“We must go faster. This will take several days at this rate, and I do not know where my brother is. My instructions were to remain concealed and protect you until he returned.”

“I told you, my mother suspected. She’s very good. I wouldn’t be able to hide you from her for long. If I could find you…” Danae looked up at this. Bina continued her argument. “We needed to go today. Besides, you said I was putting her in danger. She is safer this way.”

Danae fixed her with yellow eyes, then grunted. “I did not know you are unable to run.”

“I can run,” Bina countered, scowling.

Danae stared at her, then looked away, shaking her head. She stood up, adjusted her pack, then donned the cloak she wore that subtly shifted colors in sync with her own skin color changes. She seemed to dissolve. Bina could only see her to follow when she moved, and then barely.

They set out again, Bina determined to prove she could keep up. The interaction with her mother last night narrowly avoided revealing Danae’s existence. 

Bina tried as hard as she could to move silently and still keep pace. Then her fear of getting lost slowed her down more.  Danae would startle her by speaking from some unanticipated concealment, scaring her all over again. Danae’s poorly concealed disdain for Bina’s limitations rankled.  The transition to this new role of slow, weak, noisy sidekick was hard to swallow.  The companionship of Vesta was easier; the dog would circle back to check on Bina, pause for a pat on the head and an ear scratch, then disappear again to scout ahead or on their flanks, out and back, out and back.

Bina stopped again to catch her breath, irritated by the niggling doubts about this decision.

***

Yesterday, after Bina snuck out before her mother woke, they’d sat and talked for hours by the pond.

“Do you know what your name means, Danae?”

There was a rustling from her concealment. “No.”

“Danae was the daughter of a great king, and there was a prophecy that her son would kill the king, so she was locked up, but then Zeus, the main Greek god, came to her room in the form of a rain of gold, and she got pregnant, and then…”

“She got pregnant from the rain? How is that possible?”

“It’s a myth, it’s not literally real. It’s about what the story means. Anyway, her son was a famous hero, named Perseus, and they…”

“The son, he was a hero? Did he slay many enemies?”

“Even better! He killed a famous monster called the Medusa , who had a head full of snakes…”

“I do not like snakes.”

“Me either.”

“What of you? What does your name mean?”

“Bina is an Indian name, it means beauty and wisdom. It’s associated with the goddess Saraswati, who is the goddess of knowledge and the arts. She has two sisters, Lakshmi and Parvati, and together they helped create the Universe.” Bina paused. “But that’s not why my parents gave me the name. It was my father, my step-father really, his favorite auntie’s name.”

“He is the one who was killed?”

“Yes. With others. It’s why we run and hide.”

The somber turn of the conversation changed the mood

“There is one of my people named Perseus. He is not a hero. He talks too much. Perhaps names don’t mean as much as people wish.”

“So, your people read the Greek myths?”

“I don’t know about greeks, but we share many stories from sagas, about heroes and battles, stories from the Old Books. They teach us how we must behave, with honor, and what our duties are, to each other, and to our people. I like some of the stories, but I only like to sit and listen when we are outside, like this, with a fire, practicing our skin changes, hunting, and exploring. Sitting in the caves during the winter listening to the storytellers is tiresome.”

“Skin changes?”

“How we hide. Why you can’t see me. We used to be able to hide from the machines, but they have learned to find us. But your people help protect us. What is that like, being part of the groupmind?”

“It’s fun. I like it. My mother doesn’t though.”

“Why does she resist them?”

“It’s complicated. She gets angry about things they did, the fact that people want to kill us because of them. But that’s not their fault. And I like being with them.”

“Why? How do you do that?”

“It’s called meshing. It started off by holding hands, touching in a pattern, like a code, but then it grows into something more. Once meshed, we share things. I like to tell stories and hear stories. I get the impression the yunk really likes that. I’m the storyteller, I guess.”

“Like our storyteller. You pass on the sagas, preserve the memories, tell the people who they are and where they came from?”

Bina shrugged. “Yeah, I guess so. I didn’t think of it that way.”

Danae stared at her. “You are important. I see better why your uncle wants you to join him.”

Bina frowned. “But what about my mother?”

“Your mother can protect herself. She travels unseen all the time. She can even hide from the groupmind. But she cannot protect you, and you are the one that they want.”

“Who wants to kill me?” It felt scary saying it that way.

“The alloioi, the humans, the ones who hate us and you.”

Those conversations hardened Bina’s resolve. They planned the meeting the next morning, then Bina rehearsed how she would deceive her mother.

***

Watching Danae’s demonstrations of her skills reassured Bina that Danae could keep them both safe. Still, it was weird and scary being in the woods. They stopped for another rest.

“Where are we going?” Bina asked.

“To meet my brother, and then go to your uncle.”

“Yes, but where?”

Danae looked off through the trees where the sun rose and gestured vaguely.  

“This way. When we get closer, Vesta will find him and bring him to us.”

Danae stood still, scenting the air, turning slowly, listening. Satisfied they were alone, she turned to Bina.

“You left the weapon as I instructed?”

“Of course. But why?”

“We are safer using stealth. The groupmind instructed that we carry no weapons.”

“They did?”

Danae shrugged. “That is often their way. They prefer concealment to conflict.”

“How did you know I had it? By the pond.”

“Vesta smelled it.”

“But how did you know?”

“She told me.”

Vesta listened to the conversation, looking back and forth at each speaker, ears pivoting. Bina studied her, wondering at this new fact.

“We must go.”

Bina heaved a big sigh, reached into her pack and swigged from her water bottle. Her stomach grumbled. She hoisted the pack into position while Danae watched, impatient. Bina felt self-conscious under her judgmental eyes.

They followed streams uphill, over small ridges then down again, heading into the rising sun, toward the higher ranges. Occasionally Danae would appear next to Bina with handfuls of berries, mostly dry and sour. Bina was so hungry, she chewed them a while to blunt the sourness with saliva and swallowed.  She saw some red berries she thought were similar and picked them as they walked. When Danae saw her getting ready to put them in her mouth, she knocked them out of her hand.

“Hey!” Bina protested.

“Not those. You will be sick. I will pick the food.”

Bina looked at the scattered red berries at her feet, embarrassed. Without a word, she resumed hiking.  After that, Danae handed her more leaves and grasses, all dry and unfamiliar.  

“You expect me to eat this?” she said, holding out a bundle of yellow flowers that looked like dandelions.

“The flowers are good. The leaves also. If you are hungry, you should eat them.”

Bina plucked one of the flowers and put it tentatively into her mouth and chewed. It actually wasn’t bad, once she accepted the texture. Some of the smaller ones were quite sweet.  She finished the bunch, then started looking for similar ones herself, this time under Danae’s watchful eye.

Bina ate enough to quell the hunger pangs. Then she got an idea and continued picking flowers, but this time keeping the stems as long as possible.  As they walked, she wove the flowers together, creating a circlet, like the many she made with her mother on walks on the woods.  She wore it as a bracelet and at their next rest stop, she showed it to Danae.

“Do you want me to make you one?”

Danae stared at the circlet on Bina’s wrist. “What purpose does it serve?”

“It’s pretty! And sometimes smells good, depending on the flower. Here, smell this.” She lifted her arm up and Danae sniffed tentatively.

“Hmph. Perhaps.”

They continued their journey. As the afternoon waned, Bina noticed Danae studying the sun approaching the western horizon, then off to the east to the looming mountains. Danae pointed to the next ridge.

“That is where we will stop for the night. We have not gone far enough.”

Several times, Bina saw Danae run off, sprinting ahead to scout, disappearing, then reappearing at a run. Bina wondered at Danae’s strength and stamina, charging effortlessly up the hills. Bina slogged on, legs burning, breathing heavy, sweating.

They finally stopped next to a dense wall of brush.  At Danae’s command, Bina sat down and drank water, taking off her boots and socks and inspecting her feet.  Danae set to work tearing a path into the bushes, then digging into the ground using her talons to rake the dirt and rocks.  Vesta sat next to Bina.

“That’s where we’re going to sleep?” Bina asked. Danae hollowed out a depression in the ground concealed by the thick tangle of brush. The sun was on the horizon, and Bina could see her breath. She pulled her hands up into the sleeves of her coat. The oversight of not bringing hat and gloves irritated her. She hoped the hood of her jacket would be enough. Danae looked at her, blinking her yellow eyes.  

“How do you sleep at night?” Danae asked.  

Bina cocked her head. “Umm, in a bed.”

Danae gestured at the depression.

Bina scoffed. “Not like that. With sheets. And blankets.  In a house.”

“You never sleep outside?  Only in a house?”

“Well…” Bina thought about the handful of camping trips, when Anirudh was alive, sleeping in the tent and making dinner over a fire, s’mores and hot dogs, hot chocolate in the morning. “…not like this.”

Danae resumed her work. Bina put her socks and boots back on and stood. “Can I help?”

Danae looked up. “Gather leaves, dry ones. Something to block the cold from the ground.”

Bina did as she was instructed, gathering handfuls of leaves and pine needles and making a pile next to the pit.  Danae spread them out. In a short while, as it grew darker, the small nest was complete.  Danae sat in the leaves and gestured to Bina.

“Come.”

Bina stepped forward.

“Are we going to eat anything? Do you have food?”

“Are you still hungry?”

“Well, yeah. Aren’t you? All I had was that granola bar and the apple I took this morning… and the weeds and berries.”

Danae shrugged her muscular shoulders.

“I fed last night. I will hunt tomorrow while we travel. We will eat tomorrow.”

“Hunt? You didn’t bring any food?”

Danae spread her arms and gestured to the surrounding woods.

“There is food all around. You must only gather it.”

Bina considered this and held the other questions bubbling in her mind.  All day she wondered if this was the best way to protect her mother. Maybe this was a big mistake.

Danae turned back to the pit and unwrapped her cloak. Underneath she wore a tight-fitting harness with a pack on the front, which again piqued Bina’s curiosity. Danae laid down and put the cloak back over herself, then looked at Bina. 

Bina stepped down into the pit, then laid next to Danae, who spread the cloak over the both of them. Danae gave a command, and Vesta stepped into the pit and laid next to Bina, sandwiching her next to Danae. Vesta’s soft fur and warm body was comforting.

“Tomorrow, maybe we will meet my brother, and we will see what happens next.” Bina accepted that silently.  She sensed Danae’s body relaxing, her breathing slowing, and very quickly, she snored softly, fast asleep. Bina lay awake, listening to the night sounds, sleep held at bay by too many questions seeking answers.

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