Honeyed Pasture kipik

@Rodyn <3

the sun continued its barrage in the days that followed. imi's nose burned and peeled and darkened to the shade of a bruised raspberry. so too did the flesh beneath her thick coat pinken, though it was hidden by the heavy cloud of shedding fur that kept her safe from the harsh light of summer. twigs and leaves tangled in her coat, turning her into a wild thing like those she'd met. 

the lands south of the sea were not what she'd pictured -- if taggâni could've envisioned them at all. 

her clan would've thought it paradise. 

there were mountains, to the west. forests and shelter too, though that was fewer and far between in the sea of grass. the caribou here were different, but caribou all the same -- though her first sights of them had made her think of twisted spirits and put fear in her heart. their coats were thinner, chestnut in place of the earthen sable and ivory she had come to know. and only the males sported horns bizarrely enough. but the caribou were everywhere, filling imi's heart with an unfamiliar envy.

if only the clan were here; her kin would live without worry. they might've even settled without the need to follow the herds throughout the seasons.

such thoughts were hard to dispell but did the dog no good in her task of survival. 

the snowfall woman did her best to ignore the faint pain that wound tightly around her ribcage at the thought of what once was, setting her precious otterskin upon a stone by a shallow stream. the words of the womens' song came to her as she purified herself in the rivulet, a broken and guttural whisper of a hum crooning beneath her breath as she attempted to wash out the multitude of natural debris caught in her downy fur.