Dive One, Day Four

There was something to be said for having a hawk as a companion, no matter how skittish the creature seemed to be.

Four days after Cairn had acquired the sleek, powerful bird, she still hadn't landed close enough to touch. She had, however, brought back a myriad of prey- some he'd seen before, and some he had definitely not. The alarmingly large snail she'd brought had been a shock; the shell of the creature was cracked in multiple places, as if she'd dropped it several times on a hard surface.

She was confident enough to eat in front of him, and seemed not to mind when he sidled closer from time to time. She never flew far, nor left for very long, and he realised she was closer to tolerating his company than he'd thought.

Dive One, Day Nine

They'd reunited with Polaris a couple days ago, and the other Courser had been surprised to see the hawk.

"Odd choice for a dungeon," he'd said, and it was.

He'd been the one to help Cairn name her: Freja, after some ancient god he'd read about in a tome somewhere in the dungeon.

"It suits her," Cairn had said, and it did. She was rather majestic, after all.

She was entirely self-sufficient; she hunted for herself, groomed herself, and found her own water. She was also, they discovered, an excellent detector of other creatures nearby. They were beginning to learn her body language, and she theirs. Cairn wondered what he could possibly offer their partnership.

Dive One, Day Twelve

Freja had landed on Cairn's back, and it was all he could do not to spook forward in surprise. He'd stood stock-still, taking slow, deliberate breaths, and shared a celebratory glance with Polaris.

Dive Three, Day Six

Cairn swung his sword in a massive arc, slicing through the pitcher plant's thick skin. Freja dove, scraping her talons along the top of it and sending long spirals of the plant's flesh falling to the ground.

In the past month or so, Cairn and Freja had become an inseparable team. Cairn couldn't imagine what life down here would be like without her; the hawk was beautiful, brave, and intelligent. She'd taken to bringing herbs back from her hunts as well as prey, adding to his stock whenever she found something she recognised.

There was no feeling like it- Cairn was constantly surprised at the affection Freja showed for him, and had now commissioned a perch that could attach to his harness and provide respite for his friend.

Without ever knowing what was around the next corner, it was particularly nice to have someone in his.