Hoshor Plains the fire tests the gold

Alarian was digging. The boy couldn’t have given a reason if asked, but he was having a nice time, so perhaps it didn’t matter. He was shoulders-deep in the hole now, beginning to hit frozen dirt under the snow. After a few moments his paws started to ache, cold and now sore from digging in hard dirt, so he decided to peer out of his hole.
The boy’s ears rose up from the snow first, and then his eyes and nose came into view as he lifted himself up with a most serious expression, surveying the area around him. His head turned this way and that, until finally he saw something-- another wolf, trotting through the snow alone. Instantly Alarian’s attention was focused, and he hopped from his hole easily. He stayed where he was, chuffing softly to get the other’s attention and hoping desperately he would be more interesting than digging in snow.