Swiftcurrent Creek the heart remembers things that the body doesn't want

under the thin slant of afternoon light the russet girl crouched, eyes fastened on the ruffled form of a grouse. she sat low to the ground and crept forward on slender limbs, a denizen beneath the tangled web of thicket.

the grouse turned a cold eye in her direction. she sucked in her breath and lunged forth. the crash of fern and snow alerted it of her presence and it fluttered off on rapidly flapping wings, leaving nothing but a single down feather in its passing.

indra pounced upon it with frustration, snapping at the empty air. she whirled in place and her gaze fell across the broad form of a wolf. she shrank then, taken aback by his presence. she had not noticed him before and silently she whipped herself over it.