Larksong Grotto She is frequently kind

It was a bright day, and the wolf was in a bright spirit to match. She traced old paths through the snow and carved new ones when she found something worth exploring: a slim icy stem to chew on thoughtfully, a crumpled feather in the snow, a suspiciously-scented pile of leaves that turned out to be some small creature's abandoned home. Little details, each one committed to memory. All the while, the patch of evergreen flashed around the periphery of her attention and her line of sight, until the wolf found herself wandering near enough that it seemed worth investigating.

The first thing she saw, however, was another wolf! A slim, dark creature who appeared to be searching for her own path down. She stole a glance over the dark wolf, then looked down and saw the blue expanse, and she understood. The wolf stood still and scanned the perimeter of the grotto, searching for a place where the slope gentled and the path looked stable. There was none. Only a series of uneven ledges, some of them jagged and others unsteady by looks alone. She looked openly at the other wolf for the first time, only briefly to see if she would accept the challenge too. Then she started toward the path.