Greatwater Lake Supersymmetry

He could hear the crack even with the distance between them, he could feel it, perhaps vicariously, but it was enough.

The sudden descent of her front half made his head raise to attention, and muscles tense — once again he lurched forward, taking a few too many strides out of the dark of the forest's edge and coming in to full view of the surrounding light. A grey silhouette against the black trees.

She was distracted and hurriedly trying to adjust, to save herself from the cold depths beath her, and Njal wished he could go to her — to taste her fur, and lift her free.

But Proudheart did not need him, despite the terror of her plunge. The girl fell upon the embankment and Njal, without realizing he had lost control of his body, had sped towards her in the interim.

There was a choice here that Njal did not want to make.

To stay, to lend his warmth and sooth her chills, to become a part of her life again and root himself within her life's path, for good. Or to leave her — to flee in cowardice, knowing her own abilities would keep her alive. How desperate he was for an answer! Njal paced, his body between the lake the trees now, stuck at an impass of thoughts.

Proudheart could survive anything. She was resilient, strong, and the inferno of her own spirit would keep her going. The cold wouldn't bother her. Njal's head dropped and his tail, dragging against the snow, carved a curling line where he turned and retreated. The flash of his coat turned muddy and dark as he fled, leaving the light of his life behind.

[Njal flees because he's a dumbo.]