Heron Lake Plateau The Elgar Cello Concerto- but not Yo Yo Ma's version.

WC: 584

Mornings were no longer an issue for Niamh, as the frost nipped at everything under the sun's awakening eye, but not on those who slept beneath the shelter of the ground as Niamh and Colt did. The den she had dug for them protected them from the bite of the chilly air, and she'd chosen the location of her den wisely. Having a fairly low, narrow entrance and being situated on the South-facing side of a knoll, and framed by shrubby bushes that were still dense with twigs and branches even though their leaves were gone, they were about as protected from the oncoming onslaught of cold as they could get. When she woke up in the morning in the dark den, she was no longer as reluctant to leave her mate's side, given the fact that she was relatively warm. Nowadays, though, with Ceara missing, Colt was often out searching for a couple days at a time, making it even easier for her to get up in the morning as she was no longer tempted to sleep in longer. It was only when she stepped out into the early morning light that the chill seeped into her fur and made her cough lightly as she inhaled.

She squinted in the bright morning light, and lowered her front half, spreading her toes apart as she stretched, yawning and curling her pink tongue as she audibly drew in a large breath and then exhaled, standing up as she did so. She felt the bones in one of her shoulders crack softly and she smiled to herself. Was she actually beginning to show signs of getting older? Impossible. Niamh was going to stay young forever; she was invincible, so why the heck would she ever age? Even just the idea seemed ridiculous...Though she'd have to face the music someday. And after popping out thousands of children- as she intended to- would likely take its toll on her eventually, but not until she was 10 or 11 years old, right?

She roved away from her den, sniffing around as she did so, and headed off toward the borders with the intention of checking out the surrounding areas to see if Raven and Colt had been by recently. She assumed they would be back later on in the day, as promised. Thus far, they had both been punctal, returning as they said they would, though they hadn't found much to encourage them with regards to their search for Ceara...And now Tegan too, who had apparently gone off to Blackfeather with a wolf from Moonspear. No one seemed to think it was a good idea to send a search party to Blackfeather, though Niamh couldn't help but wonder if they were doing harm by abandoning possibly two of their packmates there, in order to save the rest of them from the potential danger of going there. She hated the idea of forsaking Tegan, and, for Colt's sake, Ceara. But she had begun to muse over the thought of perhaps instead sending someone to Moonspear, to see if their packmate- Llewsomething- had returned. If he had, he might know something of Tegan's whereabouts and if he had not, then perhaps the two packs could rally together to sort Blackfeather out. Regardless, she had a lot on her mind as she trotted along, drawing blanks here and there as she tried to find some way to ease the worry that was hovering over the pack like a dark cloud.