Redtail Rise the unparalleled adventure of one hans pfaall

referencing Lilia's thoughts here

they're home. Avicus breathes a sigh of great relief as they begin to climb the gratifyingly familiar slopes, and that sense of a weight off her shoulders carries her nearly to the rendezvous—until it doesn't.

Chacal's scent, a barrier against any intruders. she remembers faintly their conversation, the offer the woman had made. . .

and she'd accepted it then, albeit begrudgingly.

but it eats at her.

she lifts her leg and pisses like a man upon the nearest marking, saturating the snow and earth with her own acrid smell. more where that came from, she thinks bitterly, and moves on.

for now, she's eager to check the state of their caches, and to see if anything needs her immediate attention.

the exhaustion is bone-deep; her heat has passed, and with it, the energy that had carried her home. her eyes are sunk deep into her angular face—dark, lackluster pools.