Redsand Canyon i am one among the dunes

like auriel, renard had very little to go on about their new packmates, besides what they’d picked up before joining – this only contributed to the rapidly growing…not quite worry, exactly…that everyone here was at least a little out of their mind. that might turn out just fine. it might not. it promised, either way, to keep them on their toes, and that was what they were here for.

auriel, now, led them down the slope of the canyon. she looked as though she was more made for this weather than renard; the sun was high in the sky, already soaking through their thick fur and forcing them to pant to stay cool. hers was short, the same color as the rock that surrounded them. she was made for stealth here – their markings had suited them fine in the north, under pine trees and above the snow, but here they were already nowhere near as successful.

they were happy to follow. for now. neither she nor derg ahead of them looked back as they begun their descent into the valley’s midday shadow, and renard, quiet but for their breathing, catalogued everything as they passed, from the hollows and ridges carved into the cliff face to the tufts of desert flowers below.