Shadewood the night of long fangs

sandpiper shared kingfisher's weariness -- even with company as fine as her brother, the road was long and trying. she was ready to embrace the touch of sand and the weightlessness of the water and was happy to never set foot in the taiga again.

she froze as she saw a slight shift in her brother's posture, knowing innately what he meant. her gaze followed his to the form of an almost entirely concealed hare -- one she surely would have missed. with a nod she swung wide, trailing close to the ground with her eyes intent and ears pulled back along her flattened body.

she was close; close enough she could spring from the brush and startle the hare directly into her brother's jaws. she awaited his command, hunkered down in the cold with her jaws quivering.