Noctisardor Bypass We're sunflowers in the rain

There was a new blanket of snow over Rivenwood when Wylla woke that morning. Even for a cynical middle-aged bitch like Wylla, who could not shake her perpetual grim outlook, there was something magical about being the first to walk over fresh snow. It brought her back to being a child. It helped that Rivenwood was not as bitterly cold as the mountains this time of year. The wind still cut through her thin fur, but the bite didn't go quite down to her bones.

Wylla pranced in the snow, making great long leaps to see how far she could bound between steps. She was quite agile, all things considered, but could never jump quite as high as her mother. Lusca could clear another wolf in a single bound. Wylla did not dare to try it herself. But she leapt over logs and danced around stumps, losing herself in the simple pleasure of it all.

Until she came to a stream, where she stopped to break the ice and drink deep of the frigid water. When she was finished, she straightened and peered into the forest ahead, licking her chops and thinking suddenly of spring and what it might mean for her now that @Mahler was being treated.