and fill your heart with smoke

As soon as the command was uttered, Sechuan began to advance with more fervor. She was still wary of this dog, of his motives and his goals, and circled behind him like one of the crows in the trees. There was no hiding for her. The snow parted for each lumbering step Sechuan took, and she was not so nimble as to avoid stumbling - even on the flat land - from time to time. But she was silent still. Disinterested in conversation.

Her attention was divided between the dog (who, she noticed, was in better condition than herself presently) and the land ahead. What could he be hunting here, among the nothingness? Perhaps he had lost his mind in the crash - and now, only chased ghosts. She paused alongside him when they reached the flowing fresh water, and the bitch tentatively bowed her head to drink a few licks; but she shied from it quickly, as the cold felt sharp upon her teeth, and even sharper upon her wounds.