Bearclaw Valley rolling in and caught again

for a time, they walked alongside one another. astara was content in this - the silence between them filled by the rush of ice-cloyed water. she might have continued this path longer, did she not hear the turn of merrick's tread, and the shuffle of snow underfoot.

she turned sharply as he rounded her, expecting the burn of that singular eye upon her -- and reared, ready, with one paw raised to club roughly at his cheeks in playful counter.