Big Salmon Lake hateraid

Rian saw the trepidation that plagued her was of a similar nature to the one stopping him from racing over and introducing himself. He was not an outgoing creature by nature. Maybe in a universe where his family hadn't been killed, vanished, or otherwise left him he would be. But the forces that be were not kind to the young O'Malley boy, so he did his best with the cards he'd been dealt so far. But the girl—the dusky teen with the same gangling bearing as his own, called to him in a way he could not fathom. It was the unknown, not the void, that beckoned him now. 

When she took a few steps forward he waved his tail in a few lazy sweeps and mimicked the motion, skipping forward a few lengths only to stop and judge her reaction once again. It was as if he feared she might fly away and flee back into the woods—that the mystery would never be solved. Rian, above all else, wanted to know. It prevailed, even over his depression. Knowing, experiencing, and understanding. 

A burst of energy took him and he bounded over the snow-covered lake with his tail strung out behind him, and his movements spirited. He stopped short of her by about a dozen yards and lowered his head to sniff idly at the snow, while his eyes remained transfixed on her. He was utterly fascinated.