Ouroboros Spine let me hear you sing

The isbjørn prowled at night, keeping the borders safe when the sun went down. There wasn't much to do; he marked most heavily where the borders faced the far reached of the Great Bear Wilderness, leaving the borders where the scent of the moon villages mingled a little more ambiguous.

He was thinking about Morningsong. Thinking that he should visit, except not before Minnow returned home. She'd not been gone too long, but he was anxious already that she might not return. He couldn't sleep knowing she was out there, so close but so far. It used to be he'd push his back against Dutch's when things got like this, and the panther would tell him a fanciful tale to set his mind at ease. For all they'd supported each other through the years, though, they'd never really seen eye to eye. But even if he was settling quickly into this more grounded (and yet somehow more lonely) existence, he supposed he still missed Dutch.

He wandered back when he'd tired himself out, mind still whirring away with worries. He came to the ulax, where he slept nearby under the open sky, most days —

"Didn't mean to wake ya," he said in a hoarse voice when he saw eyeshine in the dark. But, now that someone was awake, he settled himself nearby in hope of conversation.