Author's Notes:zzzZZzzzz...

hmrgh, what? Oh yeah, I'm a writer or something. Have some fic. Thanks as always to Panoramic_Vacuum for moral and editorial support.

In that moment, Anna was five years younger, catching a mouflon for the first time. It wasn't her first hunt, not by a long shot, but her parents had decided to spoil her since she'd done so well on her exams. Hadn't stopped them from kicking her out two weeks later, when Dad got that promotion. Apparently, a big game hunt-and a mouflon was absolutely big game when all you had were claws, teeth, and speed-was no substitute for emotional closeness.

Any parallels between her and her parents were forgotten as she collided with the beast, slamming into its side with enough force to send it stumbling sideways. It didn't look very threatening without horns, she thought, before it bucked her grip, returning the charge in the form of a blow to the head. She blinked the stars out of her eyes and leapt up onto it, using her fore and hind-claws to dig in and hold on. This was the perfect disemboweling grip, but she held off, still aware of Amely's attention. The hot blood on her hands was more than enough gore for a novice.

Instead, she darted in with her neck, wrapping her teeth around the sheep's throat and pressing just hard enough to restrict breathing. This was the hardest part, matching her strength against that of the beast for the agonizing moments it took before it surrendered. Her neck ached, first, then it burned with the effort of holding them both together. It was a blessed relief when the beast collapsed, sighing softly as it hit the snow. She pried herself out of and off of it, checking to make sure it was intact. Blood oozed from the claw-wounds in its back and belly, but they hadn't gone deep enough to hit anything important.

The rest of the herd had fled, judging by the trampled snow. Anna took a few deep breaths, feeling the adrenaline drain out of her and licking the blood from her front claws. As always, the thrill of the hunt was electric in her veins."Pretty impressive, right?"

Amely ran towards Anna, only stopping once when the sheep twitched a little in its torpor. "Is it gonna be okay?" She knelt down next to it, looking over its body. For what, neither of them were sure. Anna knew enough about anatomy to know Amely was looking in the wrong places.

"It'll be fine, after a bit of rest."

"How can you tell?"

"Most people would call it hunters' intuition, but there are a few key signs to look for." Anna knelt down next to Amely, resting most of her weight on her tail and pubic bone. "I know the spots I hit wouldn't kill a mouflon, but since they're a bit bigger we have other ways of checking," she said, pointing out each of the four gashes with a reddened claw. "First of all, of course, it's still breathing steadily, which is always a good sign. Also, there's only a little blood flowing out, and that's from veins."

"How can you tell that?" asked Amely, curiously examining the wounds. She didn't appear too repulsed by the blood, though the sheep's twitching legs did seem to spook her every so often. Anna was glad of that-she'd picked the right genes to pass along, apparently.

"See how the blood is dark red? If the cuts had hit an artery, it'd be a lot brighter. Also probably coming out with a lot more pressure."

"Eww." Amely stuck out her tongue, and Anna chuckled.

"Nobody said hunting was clean, but it is rewarding. Especially when you eat your kills," she said, hopeful.

"I still prefer sandwiches."

Anna sighed. "Well, it's not the best idea to leave this here, but I haven't heard any wolves around here so the sheep will probably make it out fine." She usually didn't have to consider such things-dragons had outcompeted most other carnivores in Laurasia a long time before she was born. "Let's keep moving. Keep an eye out for something smaller."

Amely hesitated, but Anna was already off and jogging, with a newfound spring in her step. She'd really needed that.

In the next three hours, they saw three abandoned skyscrapers, fifteen overgrown security drones, and uncounted husks of cars, houses, and businesses wreathed in leafless vines. They did not, however, see any rabbits or other small animals that Amely could hunt. The sun was high in the sky now, and both of them had stripped off their outermost layers to avoid overheating as the snow turned to slush in the streets. Now they were poking through an unkempt public park, looking for anything with fur. A chipmunk would be fine at this point.

"Ugh, this is going nowhere. Let's break for lunch and head back." Remy would be back by four anyway. She definitely didn't want him upset when they didn't return. Anna looked for a place to sit and found Amely already perched on a bench. "Guess you're ahead of me on that one."

"Yeah," said Amely. She'd sat down a few times while Anna poked through ruins on the way out here.

Anna edged in next to her on the bench, flipping her backpack around and opening it up. "Want to do anything in the snow before it all melts? This might be your only chance for a while-it doesn't snow this much out here, usually."

"Mmmh." Amely grunted noncommittally, taking the sandwich that Anna handed her.

"Or we can just sit here and appreciate the scenery. I guess." Anna took a bite of her own sandwich, not wanting to admit that she wasn't sure what to do in the snow either. The snow in their old town was too thin for anything but snow hydras, and Remy had specifically asked her not to do that. Well, Remy had asked her not to do any kind of snow activity, and while hunting wasn't technically a snow activity she wasn't sure he'd see it that way. She grew a little nervous as she worked through the sandwich, remembering how she'd felt last night. It probably wasn't the best idea to give him more reasons to mistrust her.

Amely gasped and poked her lightly with an elbow, bringing her attention away from the clouds and her relationship. A chipmunk was standing opposite them on the path, quite unaware that it was being watched by an apex predator from another era of history, and her six-year old daughter. Anna tapped a claw to her mouth, then indicated that Amely should get into position. They'd discussed a few hand signals on the way up, mostly because Anna had gotten very bored and talking to Amely about her work would be… risky.

Silently, she tore off a bit of her sandwich and tossed it onto the trail. The chipmunk sniffed it, then grabbed the hunk of crust in its little paws and started nibbling away. She could hear Amely rustling around in the bushes, and her pulse quickened. The irritation of waiting around for another to strike was why she preferred to hunt alone.

In a rush of sound and movement, Amely burst out of the bushes and grabbed the chipmunk in her teeth, eliciting a loud squeal from the poor rodent. She turned to Anna, the corners of her mouth upturned even as the chipmunk wriggled, its front half stuck fast but the hindquarters free to flop about. "Mmmph-mm!" Amely mumbled, excited.

Anna laughed. "Pretty impressive! Now, uh, spit the poor thing out before one of you draws blood."

Amely turned her head as she released the chipmunk, tossing it ten or so feet into the grass, where it rolled twice then lay stunned for a moment. She looked very relieved when it got up and ran off, still squeaking madly. "Sorry!" she shouted after it, then looked to Anna. "What's so funny?"

"Usually you use your claws to get small prey, not your mouth. Especially if you don't intend to kill," Anna advised, as they sat back down on the bench. Amely stuck out her tongue, scraping it on her teeth to try and get some of the fur out of her mouth.

"I was doing my best!"

"Probably following your instincts, yeah. Did you feel the urge to bite down?"

She frowned, and looked down at her claws. "Yeah, a little bit." Her tone was suddenly more abashed than defensive.

"Don't be so glum, it's perfectly normal. Humans experience it too, from what I hear, though of course theirs is a lot milder since they got their brains from social apes instead of solitary hunters." Anna stuffed the rest of her sandwich in her mouth, wishing she'd made one with meat for herself, and got back to looking through the backpack. Pulling out the cocoa mix, she realized that the heating pack was soaked through already. It was still a little warm-must have been inundated when she first dropped the bag in the snow. How was she going to heat it now?

Well, there was always the direct option. Amely was still finishing her sandwich, so she took the time to mix the powder and water inside a metal water bottle she'd found in the back of Remy's cabinets. She'd brought it along for her own water supply, since they were short on thermoses, but now it could serve an alternate purpose. She set it down in front of them in the snow, making sure to pop off the plastic lid and the belt clip underneath it. "Have you ever breathed your fire before?"

"No?" replied Amely, confused. "I only ever heard that we definitely were never to do it inside the school or orphanage. Miss Adine said it was gross anyway."

Anna did take a little perverse joy in hearing Adine get less familiarity than her, for once."You know what's not gross, though? Hot cocoa."

"That's… true?"

She pointed to the bottle in front of them. "Problem is, this cocoa is cold. Let's change that."

"Okay." Amely seemed to be getting a little tired of learning dragon things. Maybe Anna should have talked about something else on the way back.

"So, the first step in breathing fire is to find your fireglands. Do you know where those are?" Amely shook her head. "Well, try swallowing and holding it. Feel the muscle that's contracting? The fireglands are right under there-careful! If you tense them now, you'll just throw up fire all over the place, which is exponentially worse than throwing up normally because it's fire."

Amely's throat twitched a bit, but nothing came from her mouth yet, so they were off to a good start.

"Now, shape your lips into an O, like you were whistling, and press your tongue against the bottom of your mouth. That way, you get a nice thin stream of fire instead of a big spray. Plus you don't burn your tongue."

Anna gave Amely a moment to prepare, then continued.

"Now, take aim. It's a skill that takes practice, but for now just line up the top of the bottle between your nostrils. At this range it's pretty hard to miss totally."

Amely stared hard at the bottle, as if willing it to burst into flames of its own accord.

"Now, on my signal, clench down hard. Three, two, one-" She cut herself off with a burst of flame. Like always, it flowed up her throat, hotter and more acrid than bile, before spewing from the gap she'd left for it and igniting when it hit the air. Amely did much the same, though her stream was spottier, and little drips of flame fell from the sides of her mouth.

The bottle was quickly engulfed in fire, and as suddenly as Anna had started breathing flame she stopped, releasing the tension on her glands and letting the remaining flame spew from her mouth in a wide burst. Instead of cutting her's off, Amely just ran out of steam, her stream no longer strong enough to reach the bottle by the time Anna stopped. She finally opened her mouth and coughed, sending out a few flaming drops which Anna twitched to avoid.

When the fire coating it had burned away, the bottle still glowed slightly, and she waited until it cooled to pick it up, careful to use her claws only when taking the boiling vessel. Thin wisps of chocolatey steam curled up from the mouth of the bottle, especially striking when compared to the acrid smell of firebreath. She wrapped the flask in the bag that the cocoa had come in, insulating it enough that she could get a proper grip and pour the cocoa back into the thermos. Noticing Amely's impatient expression, she handed her the thermos. "Be my guest."

Amely sniffed the flask, breathing in the sweet smell, then took a sip. "Ow!" she yelped, recoiling at the near-boiling heat of the liquid.

Anna recoiled too, her heart quickening just a bit at her child's pain. She would have grinned if it were Remy who'd singed his tongue, but this was different. Apparently. "Oh sh-oh no!" she said, "I didn't even think of that! You're okay, right?"

"I juth burned my tongue," Amely replied, a little exasperated.

She felt unusually relieved at that. "It's my mistake-I didn't think that dragonfire would be so much hotter than the heating pack."

"It'th okay."

"I can't believe I was so foolish, augh! What if you'd dropped it on yourself? Heck, what if you'd gotten bitten by that chipmunk and had to get a rabies shot!" Suddenly, her immense intellect was working against her, spinning all sorts of scenarios for things to go wrong. Was she going paranoid again?

"It's okay!" Amely shouted, her lisp already fading. "I've burned my tongue before, I'm not a baby."

Anna took a deep breath. "Sorry, I just… don't tell your dad about this." She'd gained just a glimmer of insight as to why Remy had been so loath to let them go adventuring in the first place.

"What, burning my tongue?"

"This hunt." She took the thermos back from Amely and screwed the lid on, then hefted the backpack. "Come on, let's go."

"Already? Why?" Amely whined.

"It's dangerous out here, according to Remy. I don't want you to get hurt." Anna spoke like her words were gospel, but she wouldn't have believed them herself yesterday. At least, not from any perspective other than the idea of taking care of something you found entertaining. "Also I'm pretty sure this legally counts as child endangerment." She started walking back the way they'd came.

Amely barely matched Anna's pace. "But nothing bad happened. I was never even in any danger."

"That might be true, but we should still head home." Anna turned left instead of right as they left the park, taking a quicker route back. "We can stop at the halfway point, though. The cocoa should be cool enough to drink by then."

"Okay, just tell me when we're there!" said Amely, speeding up a bit. Anna did crack a smile at that.

They stopped to drink the cocoa on the patio of a long-abandoned delicatessen. The glass in the windows was long since broken, and the chairs and tables had started to rust through their anodized coatings, but Anna still marveled at the scale of the place. This was one of many restaurants on this stretch of road, judging by the proliferation of outdoor seating, and yet this street itself was just a minor thoroughfare on the outskirts of a single city. Back in her time, this would have been the main street of a good-sized city. She could empathize a little with the humans Remy sold his findings to-how grand their people must have been, before the fall.

"Do they teach anything about human history at your school?" Anna asked, once she'd mused her way through most of a serving of cocoa.

"Of course they do," said Amely, confused at the line of reasoning. "It's a human school so they teach human history. If a human went to a dragon school they'd learn dragon history." She sounded confident in this claim despite the lack of any dragon schools, at least that Anna knew of.

Anna wanted to ask Amely about the humans, but thought better of it. If the schools here were anything like the ones in her time, they didn't teach anything interesting until the tenth grade. "Huh. Is it interesting to you? Seems hard to relate to."

"It's less boring than dragon history. Humans were always doing cool stuff, apparently. Did you know they didn't even start out on this continent, so they all had to come over in big wooden boats?" Amely sounded astounded, and admittedly it did sound quite outlandish when put that way.

Anna feigned ignorance. "Really? Who's idea was that?" Of course, she knew all about the colonial era, though she suspected that some of it was exaggerated. Who would ever fund an explorer who couldn't properly calculate the circumference of the Earth?

"Apparently they did it to get more resources so the king could get rich. Actually that's the reason they did most of the things they did. Like, I could put 'they did it to get rich' for every answer on a quiz and get half of them right." Amely giggled, and slurped down the rest of her cocoa.

"I wouldn't advise that. After all, they did save us from that meteor, and I don't see anyone getting rich off of that," said Anna, before gulping down her own drink.

Amely shrugged, picking up her coat and standing to leave. "Maybe."

Gathering her own things, Anna got up, and in a few moments they were off again, weaving between the abandoned cars. She still couldn't see the end of this commercial strip-it just went off into the distance.

There was no car in the driveway when they got home, and Anna sighed in relief. Remy wasn't back yet. Undoing the deadbolt and the lock, they slipped through the door, the dim entryway a shocking change after noonday sun and snow. She fumbled and finally found the light switch, which made taking off their gear much easier, then went into the kitchen It was well lit by the living room's broad north-facing window. She left the backpack by the island before washing her hands; blood didn't disgust her, but it would stain her claws.

Not bothering to dry off, she headed back into the mudroom to make sure Amely was getting on okay. Anna was startled to see that Amely was already gone, until she checked and saw her plopped down on the couch again, trying to find the remote. "Take off your coat and stay awhile," Anna chided. She'd heard that one from her shift manager more than a few times, until she'd decided to just pawn the offending coat entirely.

Once Amely fully disrobed, Anna was finally able to relax. Remy wouldn't be home for… how long? She grabbed her tablet to check the time. Strange… it was almost five PM already. They'd been gone for longer than she thought-or perhaps she'd slept in later. Either way, he should have been home fifteen minutes ago, unless one of his meetings had gone longer than scheduled. That was probably it, she decided. Besides, she didn't need him right now, so why worry about it? She sat on the couch, pulling a blanket over herself to get the chill out of her toes, and set to reading the news.

Thirty minutes later, there was still no sign of Remy. Not even a text message. Anna was starting to worry that this would really cut into her free time tonight, if he wasn't around to share the load. Closing her newsreader, she flipped over to her messaging app and tapped out a quick where are you? to Remy. After a moment of waiting for a reply, she set down the tablet and turned to Amely. "It's almost dinner time. Are you hungry?"

"Maybe a little."

"Okay." Anna pushed the blanket off of herself and took herself and the tablet over to the kitchen. Nothing fancy tonight; she didn't have to prove anything, just feed the two of them. Macaroni and cheese would suffice. Remy had bought the expensive kind, after all.

The pot was at a rolling boil when her tablet finally lit up again. She started and nearly dropped the whole box of pasta into the water. Taking a deep breath, she poured the rest of the pasta in and only then turned to her tablet. Remy had sent one short message and a phone number...for some guy named Will?

Sorry, had to head out on a job.(unamused face emoji) Might not be back for a day or three.

(finger pointing down emoji)Call Kaiser if you need some help.(finger pointing down emoji)

The empty box hit the opposite wall with a loud thack. On the bright side, he definitely wouldn't figure out that they'd been gone all morning.