Duck Lake Your heart engages into heartless throes

He ran through scenarios in his mind, attempting to best simulate the real encounter with his parents so he could prepare himself. He had seen Mawk since his accident but he'd been too overwhelmed at the time to find any words to confront his father; now he was feeling bolder, empowered by Morningside, in a way. Burr wasn't one to hold a grudge at all, especially for an accident, but these days, he also wasn't one to hold his tongue. Telling his parents how he felt was necessary to move past the apprehension clouding him.

He became aware of the sound of paws in snow at the same time he began to feel like he was being watched, and turned sidelong, expecting Pema or Dauntless. Instead it was a stranger, cast in dark shades of grey with fervent yellow eyes, mistaken at first for a woman. Only when Iliksis was nearer did Burr smell that he was a man instead. "Oh, sorry," the adolescent said with a sheepish smile, pressing into the thicker snow at the edge of the trail in order to give Iliksis room to pass. He was going nowhere fast, but the stranger seemed to be in a hurry. He'd hate to be in the way.