In the days following Avicus' death, Watcher returned to old habits. The den where she was born became a frequent haunt. She sought comfort in the form of touch. She had taken to carrying and chewing dried rabbit ears, something she hadn't routinely done since she was four months old.
These were poignant signs of her mourning, no matter how outwardly unfazed she appeared. She had hardly known Avicus, so it was the loss of opportunity she mourned moreso than the physical being of her mother. Nevertheless, she felt it keenly.
Having shredded the last rabbit ear, the young Ulfr took to the foothills of the Rise in search of replacements. It hadn't taken long to find a warren tucked in the roots of a gnarled old oak. She watched them foraging in the low light of late afternoon from a dip in the earth, calculating the best approach.
She wasn't quick enough. The wind shifted, followed soon by the tha-thump tha-thump of a hind foot drumming on a hard surface. The rabbits scattered and Watcher shot after them, snapping swift jaws here and there, but unable to catch a single one before they disappeared into their burrows.
For a long hour, Watcher tried to flush a rabbit from the burrows, but to no avail. In that time, no one came by, and she saw no one as she slunk back to the place of her birth when she finally gave up.
These were poignant signs of her mourning, no matter how outwardly unfazed she appeared. She had hardly known Avicus, so it was the loss of opportunity she mourned moreso than the physical being of her mother. Nevertheless, she felt it keenly.
Having shredded the last rabbit ear, the young Ulfr took to the foothills of the Rise in search of replacements. It hadn't taken long to find a warren tucked in the roots of a gnarled old oak. She watched them foraging in the low light of late afternoon from a dip in the earth, calculating the best approach.
She wasn't quick enough. The wind shifted, followed soon by the tha-thump tha-thump of a hind foot drumming on a hard surface. The rabbits scattered and Watcher shot after them, snapping swift jaws here and there, but unable to catch a single one before they disappeared into their burrows.
For a long hour, Watcher tried to flush a rabbit from the burrows, but to no avail. In that time, no one came by, and she saw no one as she slunk back to the place of her birth when she finally gave up.
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