Totoka River odobenus

It was all so fresh in her mind!

Was she okay? She was alive; is that what he meant? Was she even that? And her brothers weren't with her —

A new wave of panic crept up. Sulukinak tried to tamper it down, swallow it; to embody the dark and the deep water which had threatened to swallow her. That worked, to a point.

I'm... I'm, it was something to focus on at the very least. A mental life raft. I am. I am here. A breath, as steady as she could make it, and another, but her jaw was tense and her teeth set.

She turned to look over a shoulder but she knew her brothers weren't there. They hadn't followed her all the way, and she knew that, but... Still, she looked. And upon turning back, saw the man again, anew.

It was like the embodiment of winter's stagnation had descended upon her. She froze it all out.

I don't know where to go from here.