---

Nate found himself having more frequent internal arguments about whether it was good to be in the company of another. Because he knew, deep down, that it wasn't. Eleanore had been the only person he'd ever thought to consider a permanent life with, and the dream of that had been cut so violently short that it invited no speculation about the severity of his mistake.

But he wasn't a person, anymore, was he? And there was some grim amusement in becoming a beast, like small-minded pricks had sometimes called him under their breath. He'd turned fists on them for it. But when they cursed hellfire on him, he was pretty sure it wasn't the shape of a wolf their damnations were meant to work upon his soul. You didn't give teeth like this to an enemy.

So something else was at work. And a she-wolf was doing her damndest to show him the beauty in an unfamiliar world, as if she'd never seen how savagely it could all be snatched away by careless strangers. It inspired some feeling of protectiveness in him, which he doubted she had any use for. But smiling for Mithwyth afforded him little time to brood.

Like now.

And he had to admit, she'd brought them to quite the sight. Black sand like black horses, darker than a starcast sky. With gleaming ice scattered across, a spotted blanket that near blinded him in certain angles. He hurried after her indulgently, breaking into a half-run with a wagging tail he didn't have to pretend at. I think you undersold it a little! He laughed.

Ko-Ga cried exultantly overhead, riding wind off the ocean high above them in playful rolls and spins.