Blackfoot Forest Misery

Kaito didn't often wander far from Easthollow, but some days, the presence of the family overwhelmed him there. Although they had come to affirm that he was a part of them now, he still sometimes felt so other. And, truth be told, the feeling didn't surprise him. Everyone in the pack seemed related in some form or fashion, by marriage, or blood, or adoption. And he, well... he didn't really fit in as any of those things. And he wasn't really bothered by that, not usually, any way. But some days, the feeling hit, and those days, he just needed to get out.

Today was a "some day", and he made his way along the well known path to Blackfoot Forest. Snow sprinkled down in lazy flurries, splotching the half-thawed ground in white, and making the hills look like the back of a mangy coyote. He laughed at that, through a smile, and thanked the One, as he turned toward the woods, that at least the trees would offer some reprieve from the weather.

He found himself alone, until he did not. Kaito took a second to place the woman he glimpsed up ahead, but her name came within the moment, and he sprung forward with a happy clip. "Serem!" he called. His tail swung in great sweeps behind him. "It's Kaito! I never thought I'd see you on this side -- " of the mountain, he meant to say, but he was distracted by the gleam of white at her paws, the freshly turned ground, the mud on her paws, the heaviness which sunk her shoulders, and he realized -- he had interrupted something sacred, and very important. His ears slicked back, hesitant now, "Oh - sorry - I didn't... I can leave - " the boy drew a small step back.