Dawnlark Plains winter waning

Easy's digging waned at the sound of another's approach, but when she realized that it was Catori watching her, she continued on as she had been. It was important to her that Catori saw that she was working toward a common goal; like her brother before her, it was in Easy's nature to make proud her parents, and like her elder sister, Easy felt a deep, burning need to do for the sake of doing.

But the tension in her shoulders broke at Catori's comment. She laughed, and turned to face her pseudo-mother with a wagging tail. "I'm gonna miss the catfish pond," Easy admitted, looking around the open, empty landscape. It was breath-taking in its starkness, but something about the landscape made her feel oddly alone as well. Daddy had assured them all that there would be good hunting in the summertime and that the brush around the area would make itself known as the snow melted away, but for the moment, Easy wasn't quite sure how to feel about the plains. "But the ocean isn't far, either. And there are river and streams to the east."

Did Catori know these things? Easy wasn't sure she'd ever been out this direction. In this way, she began to feel slightly older than she had previously felt; it was strange to have knowledge that her parents did not.

Easy turned back to digging, shuffling to the side so that there was room for Catori in the narrow opening. A bit too narrow, perhaps... "Does it look okay so far?" she asked, feeling a little anxious, all of the sudden.