King Elk Forest and in the winter night sky ships are sailing

she poked her head into the den, ensuring the tiny pika remained inside. it had taken her a long while to build up the entrance to ensure that it would not escape, and longer still to hunt for a small pile of dry grasses to keep the tiny male (for she'd decided it to be a him) fed. tiny bits of dried vegetation were dried haphazardly across the creature's sides, for she'd found that the tiny rodent squirmed wildly when she tried to help it. 

she pulled away, beginning a meandering path deeper into the territory, wondering at why she'd even bothered. perhaps it was the fact that caring for something else made her feel stronger, that something to concentrate on and worry for dashed away the darker thoughts. perhaps, she was just stupid.

with jomyo's trip underway, something in delight comes unstuck and settles comfortably in his chest. a sturdier establishment of his own leadership, maybe -- settling into the crown the prince has left for him, though on him it's less a crown so much as a cap. this metaphor is getting stupid, he thinks. 

anyway. anatha's scent catches his attention as he makes a sweep of the forest, and delight realises he's not checked on her in a little bit, distracted by burke's death and jomyo's trip. she seems to be doing okay from what he can tell, but she's also his friend and it couldn't hurt to check on her more personally. the morwinyon picks up his pace with wagging tail and calls out, "anatha," hoping to walk with her.

a leaf was plucked deftly from the earth by an errant breeze, the grey mottled thing twisting betwixt the branches before settling somewhere beyond her sight. the girl shivered - her coat was one of sun and fire, not meant for the chill. the winter marched on, however, and offered no respite; taking its toll on anatha. 

she twisted as her name was called, answering softly in kind. "delight," he is morwinyon now, and Mato has been seclusive. the old man has died, she'd come to learn, and new members had filled their ranks. delight is the only one she feels comfortable around to allow a small smile to slip, and her tail moves once at her hocks.

he matches her smile with a small one of his own, catching up to her slight figure. the way she shivers does not go unnoticed although he's not sure what he could offer to help -- it's cold, and cold is brutal. all he can do is hold out for warmer days soon. the silence settles between them briefly as the morwinyon organizes his thoughts, expression soft; he breaks it with, "so... how have you been holding up?"

he asks carefully how she fares, and she dips her head a fraction. "better." her answer is simple, but it is sincere, and when it finished filling up the silence she makes a move to broach it herself. "Queenie has been teaching me to fight,"  she offers, gaze flickering to him. the wind again rakes cruelly through her pelt, though this time she struggles to ignore it.

a smile fleetingly turns his lips, glad to hear she's recovering well enough. it turns into a slightly knowing laugh as anatha illuminates that queenie's taken her under her wing. her little plan to turn them all into ferocious warriors (or at least mediocre self-defenders) seems to be working well. "i'm glad to hear it," delight tells her genuinely, noting the way she shivers. "do you want to find somewhere to get out of the cold?" he asks, a touch concerned -- being out in the cold like this can't be good for her if she's all shivery and he doesn't want to force her to stick out in the wind just to catch up with him.