Gilded Bay Till Valhalla

Sugar hung back toward the rear of the caravan, keeping a watchful eye on Towhee. Fen walked at her mother's side, the two of them keeping up with the group despite the former's blindness and the latter's healing injuries. After a while, the young caregiver gave up on babysitting them, instead turning her attention to their strange surroundings. She fell further and further back, though Sugar made sure not to let the gang out of her sight.

They were just a bunch of dots in the distance when Sugar stopped to inspect some strange spoor on the frozen ground. For reasons unknown, she thought of Crow and felt a pang in her breast. Everyone else seemed to accept his absence, almost as if it had been inevitable, but though Sugar wasn't deeply bonded to him (like she was to Avery), she felt the loss deeply. She felt her breath hitch in her chest, her throat tighten, an ache forming as she did her best not to let the tears slip free.

Eventually, she gathered herself, but Sugar realized she could no longer see her cohorts. Dropping her nose to the ground, her black eyes searched for their prints in the snow, as well as their scent. Before she could locate either one, a strong and frigid wind blew against her with such force that it pushed Sugar sideways. Instinctively, she crouched and turned her back to its fierce teeth. Still it battered her, smelling strange (like salt) before its bitter cold robbed her of her sense of smell entirely.

There was nothing for it, so Sugar desperately sought out the nearest cover and dove beneath it, shivering terribly as she waited for the gale to settle.