The Sunspire nihil

As she continued down the mountain, she remained fully aware of the bird. Whenever it flew overhead, it took every ounce of willpower that she possessed to not point her muzzle skywards and snap at it; the raptor stayed high enough that her jaws would never reach it but that didn’t matter, as she sought only to make a point. Eventually, she reached a point where she could ignore the creature entirely, focusing only on where she was placing her paws and the direction in which she continued to go.

When the bird called out to her, she said nothing. She spared it not even a glance, muzzle never turning upwards or head twisting around in its direction—no, there was nothing to offer the soaring burden. All that was given to show she’d heard the question was a discreet flick of a single ear, and only because it’d been an unconscious reaction to the sudden noise.