Moonsong Glacier pittaq ▱

The day caught him by surprise.

Dutch had fallen into a routine since his visit to Moontide. He hunted. He swam in the lake. He learned from Towhee and taught what he could to Fallen Sun. At night, he curled up with Sulukinak and whoever else joined their pile, and when he woke, he did it all again.

Leith had become his main outlet for conversation. Dutch thought him strange, but he was a pleasant man — a man of science! — and the panther was able to fill his days in this way without falling into despair.

Life went on.

When moonwomam's voice rang out, he found himself frozen in brief confusion. Her meaning was clear, but his routine has become hard-ingrained very fast, and for a moment, he wondered how it was possible for something else to exist. When that moment ended, it was with a mighty shake of his gold-framed pelt. He stood up straighter, and he looked around for what felt like the first time in weeks —

I am coming, he called back to moonwoman, and then he dashed away to fetch meat from their last kill before seeking her out.

"Moonwoman," he hailed her, breathless, a tender haunch laid before her. "I greet you."

There was a wild look in his eye. The look of a single parent who had just jumped out of bed after realizing things were a little too quiet.