Duck Lake dancing shores

Her game is cut short by a roar of bellows and hooves, and Fúyáo's attention is torn from the approaching figure to the mass of antlered beasts that shatter the quiet twilight. 

By their tattered pelts and ribby flanks, they have seen many more seasons than her. But it is the shadowed figure behind them that draws a keen bark-howl from her throat. Provider. The thought is a bitter tether, the promise of another meal.

The princess makes a move, slipping from the shore to reinforce his corral with feint nips and growls, dancing atop the slippery ice-sheets in hopes of preventing the beasts from breaking to deeper water. Her gaze scans their gates for injury, meanwhile her ears track the lone female, waiting, curious to see what role she might play.