Big Salmon Lake i threw stones at the stars, but the whole sky fell

For Phox.

He had learned so much in crossing from Ad Astra to this place of old trees, with swatches of every color he knew painted over the leaves. He learned how to feel the depth and age of a place based on the light that was allowed to filter through the branches in a forest. He knew now what it meant to see the confluence of predator territories and the barren stretches of land which housed none. The true breadth of the migration that a flock of birds could take was far beyond his imagination – how did their wings not tire? Even as muscular as his limbs had become, they still tired.

Above all else, what Ira had learned was that there was so much he did not know.

Stalking slowly through these woods was the first time in a few weeks now that he had entered a territory inhabited by wolves again. Despite how firm packs seemed to be at controlling their hunting grounds, he found it amusing that they all seemed to exist in clumps. That was how it had been near the mountains and valleys of the Snake River, and it had proved true over and over again since. Though he and his son hadn’t encountered too many individuals directly on their way northwest, it was easy to tell when they crossed through a land run by wolves, and there were always big stretches of nothingness before you got to a grouping of them again.

He walked, therefore, with a gentle quietness and calm demeanor, not sure if this place was more or less diplomatic than others, not sure what differences existed here, and yet somehow he was not concerned. Based on his starmapping, he knew he was closer now than he had ever been to where his Astoria ancestors had come from. It was a comforting thought, steering him onward through the game trails that he was now beginning to see led to the rim of a brilliant lake. It reflected the patches of clouds and stars in the night sky above them, rippling slowly. He breathed a contented sigh, and continued toward it, ears flicking every so often.