Wapun Meadow and sit with their pictures until they grow o-o-o-o-old

piercing the snowpack with a brittle crack, astara's paws landed upon and crushed the body her keen ears had heard above the snow. closing her jaws around the mouse with a snap, astara withdrew from the delve and froze.

ahead, the lurking figure of a wayfarer: her gaze locked with the molten hues of the man's eyes warily, waiting for him to state his intention.

the mouse, stilled between her jaws, was gripped tightly -- only the tail and a tiny paw visible between clean teeth. those too swiftly disappeared down her gullet. apprising the agouti with a sense of suspicion, astara sniffed the cold air between them and read of no other presence in the vicinity.  she did not trust the smile that hung from his features, but with no rejoinder to his compliment, astara raked her paws against the snow and continued listening for any other signs of life beneath the snowpack.