Ravensblood Forest halichoerus

after following dutch to and fro, searching for the red woman and her nanuk, the girl spent some days in moonsong with him, and then slipped away. she did not give warning of this; it wasn't a malicious thing she chose to do, but a momentary lapse in thought. sulukinak had tasted salt upon the air while they had gone southeast and the taste had lingered. she missed the frozen sea of her home.

heading northwest initially, she was drawn among the hills of the mountain range and then found herself in a dense forest unlike any she had seen before. here she could smell the ocean all the better, even with the snow piled high. sulukinak moved effortlessly through the falling snow and on occasion felt compelled to snap at some of the motes of ice as they fell, catching some in her mouth but most upon her nose, earning little snorts.

when the snow proved to be fluffy rather than packed down like the ice she knew, her playful antics ebbed and she began to scout through the forest for a place to rest and dry off. the snow was up to her shoulders in some patches, and so it felt like she swam through it; luckily, there was not much to sulukinak and her body could whip up and away with minimal effort.

so she went, cavorting.