Blacktail Deer Plateau ◊;

geirmundr stood like a shadow made flesh, the wind threading through his thick fur as he watched her—head slightly tilted, brow furrowed in thought. the girl was small, black as cinders, and full of strange focus, her body hunched over the earth with purpose, yet grief clung to her like frost.
she dug not like a scavenger, not like a beast in hunger, but with meaning. with hesitation. and so he did not move, only watched, the bones of the pronghorn cooling between them.
when her paw flexed against the hide, when she paused to look toward him, wary and unsure, he finally broke the silence—just barely.
hví?
a question without threat.
only a thread of curiosity, loosely held.
he did not understand her silence, or her purpose.
but he wanted to.