Mount Apikuni When I find myself in times of trouble

Malila was confused, disoriented, shaken and upset. She was far too young to be homeless. Far too vulnerable to be wandering out in the wilderness in the middle of a blizzard. All she had ever known was the sheltered life that only a pack could offer. And all in a day, that was gone now. The scent of her brother, Mohe, was no longer there with her. She fretted, bursting into frequent bouts of tears, wondering if she would ever see him again. If things would ever go back to normal.

But she had Speedy, who had refused to leave her side. Malila adored her mother, and stuck to her like glue while they pushed through the storm, together through the mountains. Her winter coat had not yet grown in fully, her thin guard hairs offering only so much protection against the bite of the cold. Head tucked low, ears plastered back to her skull, she squinted against the snow that whipped at her face. The air up here in these mountains was thinner, but she didn't know that, making her breathing more difficult. Her lungs weren't accustomed to this.

Shivering and panting from exhaustion, her young legs burning with a raw ache, she managed only a meager nod when Speedy signaled it was time to rest. She hadn't even laid eyes on the refuge her mother had discovered. Her legs and eyes felt heavy; it took her everything she had just to stay awake and not collapse in a heap. Prying her eyes open just a little further, the crack in mountain wall materialized before her eyes, albeit in blurry focus. She sniffled. "O-okay." She stumbled forward, and when she reached the shelter, squeezed her tiny body in as far as it could go, to distance herself from the bitter cold. "I just wanna sleep. Momma...I really don't like winter..." She mumbled drearily as her eyelids drooped shut at last.