Ouroboros Spine iii. out of this home

The painter pulled back, hauling as much dirt as she could keep pinned beneath her paws in a loose mound as was possible. She dragged the pile of clods and clumps, kicking them with her forepaws away from the slightly sunken hole that was to become the entrance to her den. Once the churned loam had been brushed away from the crevice Aiwë was digging, she returned to the small pit and would begin again -- scraping out the dirt handful by handful as she shaped the vision of her future home into a reality.

It was a prime spot, not so far as to seclude herself away from the others but enough distance to assure privacy. A boulder had crashed into this tree sometime long ago, half pulling its roots from the ground. The earth had become shaped around it overtime, morphing to suit the tree's needs as it continued to grow defiantly. It made an almost perfect shape for a den -- she would dig out a pit beneath the low point where the tree and rock had collided and the roots would serve as a sort of roof. She could stash caches around the roots for herbs and meat and was already planning on securing some hides to line her den with eventually. She could even mix some paint and decorate the outside of her home by painting the boulder's far side -- she might even begin arranging an altar to the spirits amongst the tree roots. 

As somber as the atmosphere was here, and for good reason, the vagabond could not help but feel a bit excited as she pondered the seemingly endless possibilities in her mind which helped the digging to go by faster.