Otter Creek iii Means to an end.

The remains of the fawn were tucked in to the drying hide and buried that morning. Kigipigak lingered over the burrow where the heaviest bones had been piled and with a raised leg he marked the surface. If he could not find much to satisfy himself during his travels he would return to seek this bundle.

Moving on was easy as nothing tied him down anywhere and had not for a while, so once the bundle was in place and suitably hidden in the wood he found a place to sleep and rested for a few hours, rising late in the morning, and marched north.

Kigipigak did not stop to investigate any animal paths he found on the way, his belly rarely swayed his decisions and it was filled with fresh fawn meat besides, so there was very little interest to the scattered wolf scents he crossed along the way - most on the edge of a dark wood.

He rested at a patch of riverside. The water was refreshing on his tongue and as he drank heartily of the mountain run-off he wondered what his next move should be. The mountains called to his spirit; they rose impervious before him and tapered off in to the hazy pulled-cotton clouds.