Shy Deer Steppes sotuknang

Despite the chill of the season Sitala felt a twist, then a burn, to the pit of her belly. It was not the same feeling she had beheld when coupling with either of her suitors—nothing so tangibly basic, nothing good—and she wondered if perhaps leaving this stranger and his meal was a wise decision. Hunting was always more difficult at this time of the year even if Sitala ran with others; she wondered if this feeling was something close to hunger, but it was too vague a sensation.

She lifted her eyes to the dark-shape of the man in passing, and noticed then the eyes glowering back across the snow.

It was impossible to tell if she had been spotted in earnest, or if he was merely searching with his senses. Her pace slowed then, for she grew cautious despite her strength of body and deep-seeded confidence, and as her momentum ceased Sitala took to watching him. They stared at one another across a gap of bare snow, and she turned an ear, thinking that the wind had carried a sound upon it—but then the wind picked up, and a weak but eerie howling commenced.