Arrow Lake home to her

the sooty male revealed two things to indra then -- the nature of a bear's sleeping pattern, and the nature of his scar.

indra did not conceal the surprise that wracked her features, nor the trailing of her gaze on that scar. it was comforting to her more than her imagination had been -- knowing the scar came at the hand of some irascible and slavering beast over a dispute with their kind somehow made her less wary of him -- but only a little.

she didn't like bears either, but for reasons she would rather not say. she remembered seeing a white bear in the woods once, only to be told no bear had ever passed through. it troubled her more than anything and she quickly diverted her thought process. "what did you do?" she asked, bringing herself to look away as she studied the gnarled faces of the winter-chewed trees around them.