Phoenix Maplewood there was an empty space in the shadow beside you

blissful as he was, aditya was not ignorant. he had seen the shadow cross her face at the blood moon, the something hidden behind her gaze. it was not so overt as to catch anyone's notice, but since then, something had been off with dawn. something had changed.

he slept poorly in the cold night, shivering and sniffling, and when her warmth left his side, his golden eyes opened with a startling pop of light in the dark. though the forest gave them at least some shelter from the storm, still the snow piled up, settling on branches with ominous creaks and plopping to the ground--occasionally on his head, he thought, disgruntled--with a muffled sound. he missed his den at the plateau.

with a small groan, adi rose unsteadily to his paws, keeping his steps low and quiet so as not to wake easy. he kept one ear constantly turned back, so as to make sure no creature of the night ambushed the girl. he knew she was capable of defending herself--but he worried.

dawn hadn't gone far; her scent meandered to a small spring, where she stood, head bowed, lapping the water there. he stood off to the side, giving a low rumble in greeting; he did hope he wouldn't startle her, hoped the huntress had picked up his scent long ago. they had scarcely had a moment to themselves; perhaps, now with easy sleeping, she would reveal her heart to him.

he braced himself for what came next.