Noctisardor Bypass Every morning, got a hollow where my heart goes

there was another wolf here. her pawprints lead out of the bypass, her scent as light as her presence. like the wind, in and out -- never staying long enough to become acquainted.

ava had become somewhat of a recluse since their stay in the bypass. she did not trust adults -- their motives were often confusing and wrong. and she did not often long for company -- her world, lonely as it was, was a colorful world. a world of fallen tree boughs and carpets of soft moss; of stone older than time, of gentle rivers and the sound of cold settling within.

fresh scents were laid on the wintery forest floor. ava paused from her task of visiting the cache, peering in the direction mae had gone. there was another scent braided to mae's that ava only barely registered as blood.