Qeya River i carefully did stray

the morning was cool; a biting chill in the air that simutaneously surprises kivaluk and ...does not. this is not a new trend and there is always a coolness that lingers in the taiga with the gleaming, whitecapped glacier in the distance. this feels different. ominious; though perhaps this is a conception kivaluk comes to because of lestan's haunting words which gnaw at him like frostbitten fingers, drawing a crease of worry to his brow.

it was not something he should likely be worrying about, but his father's continued absence and veiled knowledge of possible return hangs heavy; understood better now. with a vigor that could be either described as religious or obsessive, kivaluk gives pause to his patrols to check the pack's food caches; taking mental stock of which ones need tended to, which needed pruned and which needed the bulk of meat stored away.