Sleepy Fox Hollow Why don't you just meet me in the middle?

The biggest oddity Negiliq had found in the southern lands were most definitely the coyotes. Not that she had never seen a coyote before, they were actually abundant around Kuak AkKutik, but for some reason southern coyotes seemed far friendlier here... In fact the elder Inuit had spent the better part of the last year living with a small family of them after losing track of Chulyin. They fed her, cared for her and listened to her advise, and despite having this wicked image of their species all her life, Negiliq found a home with that particular bunch.

But they were hard to keep up with and with every passing day Negiliq's step was slower. She was old, she had to cope with that, and an important thing to do if she didn't want to die of fatigue was, naturally, resting.

A stream of cold water was an opportunity she simply could not let pass, so with a weak and difficult bark she notified her friendly hosts that she would take a few. If they heard her she honestly did not know, but there was little else she could do aside from walking down to a stretch of the creek that was conveniently shaded by a beautiful maple tree to loudly slurp a few good sips of sweet, cold water. Then she sat back in the shade, tongue-out panting to regain some energy before she tried reaching the coyotes again. But before she did, though, she found herself staring a white wolf a few yards away from her. How didn't she see her before!? Chulyin! she barked gleefully, confusing the wolf, which was no one she really knew, with her young relative, who was probably the only reason Negiliq was this far south at all.