Snowforest Taiga Some turn to dust or to gold

The climb was taxing. Low trees and shrubs dotted the sides of the slope, flourishing into a full forest and then petering out into rocky scrub once more. As she got higher, Saena noticed the ground sloping, as if the squat mountain's peak was actually a rounded dome. It was much too large to be a simple hill, and yet it felt like one.

When she reached the peak, Saena was short of breath for more than one reason. The trek up had taken a lot of energy from her, but the view was incredible. The mountain was actually a short chain, their tops connected to form a broad ridge. Bushes and rocks congregated along the top, and she saw that all sides were covered in a layer of deciduous trees. The sun glinted off a stream that was barely visible from the top. Overhead, nearly a dozen red-tailed hawks circled close by, eagerly hunting the mice that frequented the plains at the mountain's base.

Without realizing it, Saena had just thrown out her territory wishlist, and that sudden feeling of knowing rushed in and squeezed her chest. She was about to howl for the two loners, Wynter and Reek, when her eye snagged on a very pregnant wolf dragging herself from a patch of bushes nearby.

Concerned, the red-marked lone female paced cautiously toward Bazi. When she was close enough to be heard, she called out, "shouldn't you, y'know, not be climbing mountains while you're that pregnant?"