The Heartwood I have blessed each one of these bullets

Screech was panting hard when he settled, and slid to his chest despite the snow. It was chilly and relaxing at the same time. The ease with which he could lick at the snow was also a relief - but only temporarily. He knew not to rely on the snow to cool himself off after his extensive travel, as Raven had warned him away from such a stupid tactic. The boy stretched his forearms in to the snow with a crunch, but then became uncomfortable and withdrew them, only to take a couple steps and then flatten and roll. 

He let out a breathy little laugh as he righted himself again, snow flying around, and only stopped when he saw a lurching figure in his periphery. At first he thought it was a bear. Screech knew to be wary of bears - he held a certain amount of fear for them as a young child which had transformed in to a sort-of reverence - but after some careful watching, the hulking figure drew close and spoke. Not a bear.

They were amicable, curious, and Screech was uncertain about what to do. He could ignore them or leave. He could respond in kind and try to be a friendly sort, although it had never panned out for him in the past. Briefly the boy wondered if the stranger was as dangerous as he looked - maybe an agent of Blackfeather, maybe not - and after swallowing a lump in his throat, he made his decision.

Just wandering around, which wasn't a lie; he didn't really know what he was doing here, only that going home seemed out of the question right now. He had needed time to think. What about you? Screech lifted his chest and sat up, sifting the snow around himself in the process.