Right now, they were sitting by a group of trees by a rock wall. Kaylee had watched while River had made some paints from inedible berries and such and had painted a picture on the rocks of the two of them sitting together and looking up at the sky with Serenity flying by and the waterfall in the background. Kaylee had mostly watched silently, fascinated. ’Cave paintings’ River had told her, ’To mark us when we’re gone’.

The painting was remarkably lifelike for using such simple, seemingly casual lines. It reminded Kaylee of this old woman she’d met in a marketplace once who did calligraphy on cloth banners and sold them as decorations. She’d bought this miniature one, only fourteen by fourteen centimeters. Just one character on it that meant ’luck’. Kaylee had figured she could hardly go wrong with more luck, after all.

Kaylee had told River how great she thought her ’cave painting’ was and gotten a kind of shy but very pleased smile for saying it. River had told her a little about how scientists on Earth-that-was had found paintings on caves and learned things about their ancestors that way. Kaylee had gotten to like it when River told stories like that, not that she always knew what River was talking about, but River had a way of telling stories that was just fun to listen to. But, after she’d finished telling about the cave paintings, one of those quiet places that happened sometimes when they talked happened, and Kaylee was just going to ask if they should get up and start walking again when River had an idea.

”We should play a game.” River offered.

”Um, ’kay, what sort’a game?” Kaylee asked, seein’ nothing better to do and willing to go along.

”I don’t know, you can pick.” River said, getting up and taking Kaylee’s hand and pulling her up to her feet from sitting.

”Um, okay… hide and seek? …Tag?” Kaylee tried to think of the games she and her sister played back on Isis.

”Tag.” River said, tapping her on the shoulder and dancing away from her a ways. ”You’re it.” She smiled, and ran off.

”River!” Kaylee ran off after her into the woods, thankful she’d thought to bring along a homing beacon set to lead them back to the shuttle, because no way was she going to remember the way back after this probably.