Northstar Vale breathe in your fiery air

a protracted chase along the edges of the vale, even up into the narrow shelves of stone that reared sentry around the mountain jewel, had rewarded mona with a pika. dispatching it quickly, the girl carried its round body back toward the den she and @Nathaniel shared.
if anyone had misgivings about the relationship that had openly flourished between the pair since tindome occupied the king elk forest, not a word had been said. and mona felt no such reservations, only the restlesness that had surged in her ranger's heart since they had come to the vale.
with a purling croon, mona dropped the pika to the snowy ground and padded to where her eagle stood, arching catlike along his shoulder and reaching high to nudge the plush fur of his cheek. "hi," she murmured, unable to keep the smile from her voice. such feelings he engendered in her, this tall rochester who had taken her for his love. and his firebird, so truly dazzled by him. "i brought lunch."