ancelin had become used to the cobwebbing of newly pink scars across his face. looking upon his reflection in the water did not anger him so much.
the months sprawled toward his first year. he had grown to his full height and gained a hard, pantherine demeanour, carved to bone and sinew by his endless hunting and patrolling at the fringes of redtail.
ancelin meant to earn back what he had lost, and it required focus. and that required isolation.
aventus had been alone a long while. if his father could do it, why not ancelin?
he went out and found a small herd of elk in the plains. he wanted to do as augur did, but could not quite find the nerve, not hoping to be half so large as the hunt-leader. instead, ancelin folded himself against the ground and became a shadow, slinking ever closer.