Rising Sun Valley Dear Fellow Traveller

In one swift crack her senses recovered, scent and sight and hearing. Too quickly to recast the decision, now. Hanging in the air was the overwhelming smell of stranger, their presence affirmed by a gentle greeting. She crouched, hypnotized, like a rat before the adder’s mouth. A pair of blue eyes were all she could make out as she adjusted to the dark of the roost, and like hers they were wide in surprise. They did not move to strike or give chase, only to hold her in cordial wolf greeting.

Tauris did not want to share space. Least not one so scant and intimate as this, where she could not draw breath without a strange scent filling in her nose. Worse yet was the idea of being forced to make small talk while they waited out the storm. But with the needles of ice on her back still, a lesser of two evils was clear.

“Share your den,” words broke the quiet in half-rumble. Not a question, not a demand, but confident, she hoped. Maybe if she spoke loudly and clear enough they wouldn’t hear the quiver in her voice. Maybe they’d leave her alone. Most of being confident was playing the part, anyways.