Silver Creek Part One: Be Humble

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with each passing day, Laika's scent grew more and more faint. Casmir spent far more time than he intended to at the borders, gazing toward the deep forests from which she would appear, but the hope of that ever happening was becoming weaker and weaker. for the boy, who had lost his father, his cousin, his adoptive daughters, and the presence of his brother, all in a single year, it was too much, and he found he could not eat or sleep without being ridden by a deep anger.
and so he strove to physically exhaust himself, to seek slumber only when he had walked or run or hunted for hours. it occurred to him that he could go out and fight if he so chose, spar, attack until his muscles were weak. only then could he sleep. and soon, very soon, he had to leave, to go out and find his sisters and brother, and offer them apologies, seek their hearts, before winter trapped him in the hinterlands.
he sought out Grace instead, following the trail of her scent until he found her watching the sunrise. she hadn't yet been accepted, but he had no doubt she would be. "hey," he muttered gruffly, settling down not far from her. [/tr][/td][/table]