the largest of the boughs pressed into her chest, her hind legs supporting her precariously against the stem and a smaller bough below. her forelimbs dangled to the left of the main bough, and her tongue lolled as recovered her breath. she lurched forward once as her forepaws swung back and up to support her weight on the bough, gaze already searching upward for her next target, and finding none. with a huff, she maneuvered so that she faced the trunk, slipping carefully betwixt the pokey branches as she reared up against the crumbling bark.

pausing again, she surveyed the wide plain, remembering then the way she'd so disliked the wide open emptiness back at the cuesta. the sudden cliff face had made it somewhat interesting, but still, it lacked all the wonder of the wood. aditya seldom frequented the plain, as she well knew, and the maplewood had become her favored haunt as well in the past weeks. dropping carefully the half-thawed chunk she'd found near the cache, she set about making quick work of the somewhat unidentifiable lump.

it was curious, then, for someone who seldom frequented the plain to be found there now, but aditya had left the woods looking for dawn. he'd been thinking a lot of the idea of two packs co-existing in adjacent territories, and wanted to give his thoughts to her before expressing them to anyone else. after all, in theory, they'd lead together; she deserved to know first.

bristling at the icy wind, aditya trotted across the open land, face set in a grimace of distaste. oh, why had he come back out here? he felt ashamed, as if he wasn't a proper morningsider, weathering the chill of the rendezvous spot like everyone else. even the dens didn't keep him sufficiently warm.

her scent grew stronger as he traveled, and he followed it with alacrity, hoping he could get the conversation over with as soon as possible so he could head back into the shelter of the trees. interestingly enough, her trail brought him to the base of a tree. aditya slowly looked up and, with amusement, found his young wife. . .in the tree.

of course.

"namaskar, meri chhoti chidiya," adi called up to her, his voice playful. he smiled as he continued. "how's the view up there?"