Word Count :: 385
Dated the 13th.
Slowly but surely winter was receding and the first shoots of spring grass rose up through patches in the snow. The sun was shining and the day was warm compared to the normal winter weather. Somewhere in the forest a bird chirped, its call reciprocated by another. The song birds were returning and the land had begun to wake. Kiara emerged from her den, tired and slow. She stretched out her back and grunted, the extra weight of the puppies made it ache. The mud stained her pristine white paws brown, but she didn't really care. After a quick sniff and a short shake the arctic wolf set off.
Kiara's first stop of the day was the river. It's bank had frozen over during the winter and formed solid sheets along the ground. The very middle of the stream rippled and flowed freely, the moving water too warm to ever freeze. The once thick sheets of ice were thinning breaking in the warmer weather, which made walking on them precarious. As Kaira approached the bank her footsteps became more slower, more careful. Cautiously she approached the ice and tested it with her forepaw. The frozen water cracked slightly under her weight, and Kiara backed away. The snow wolf repeated the test several times before she found a sturdy piece that was thick enough to hold her weight. Carefully Kiara lowered herself and drank for the stream, the icey cold water sent chills down her body. Once her thirst was quenched she left the banks of the river and headed towards the remnants of the human highway.
It took longer than expected for the pregnant female to reach the highway. Already the snow had dissipated from the familiar path. Kiara stepped onto the black earth and allowed it to take her deeper into Ichika territory. Kiara had been running up and down the highway for a month, and earlier in her pregnancy she had also done drills. Between the two daily exercises her body had become the picture of health. Although she could no longer run or do the drills, Kiara still found pleasure in traveling along the expansive road. Kiara moved at a steady, almost lazy trot. It wasn't long before she had fallen into an easy rhythm and had left Wentworth Valley behind her.
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