Blacktail Deer Plateau now that the evening is slowing

before giving herself the chance to think, ying started sliding her way toward the stranger. the ice was thin (what was this girl thinking?), barely solid enough to hold her weight. she took each step with as much care as was warranted, but knew that time was of the essence; she fought against each slip to steady herself until almost close enough to grab onto the stranger's scruff.

only a few feet away, ying fell onto her belly. a superficial split was left in the ice, making the mission even more dangerous than before. she scrambled to get back up onto all fours as quickly as possible.

behind her, the ice began to cave. hindlegs slipped in first while ying clawed at the ice in front of her.