Little Goat Mountain So close, no matter how far.

Patience. Thoughtfulness. Qualities that this stranger to her carried, apparently. Ciri thought quietly of him and imagined him to be gentle, with a warm smile, though she shed it from her mind as swiftly as it was formed.

She no longer wished to dwell on her hopes of the opposite sex.

The remainder of their time in the hollow was silent. Soon the storm began to wane, and Chakliux withdrew from her side. Cold crept into the space where he'd lay alongside her; she lifted her muzzle to watch him go. He turned to regard her one last time and she blinked tiredly up at him. Farewell, seal-hunter, she told him, and stared out into the frozen wilds until he was gone from her sight.