Colibri had come to appreciate the beauty of winter. For most of her young life, the cold represented the death of plants, the stripping of the landscape, a bleak and inhospitable season best spent indoors. But as she felt more comfortable in her first permanent home, she could almost feel her perceptions shifting, her preconceptions fading into an open-minded peacefulness. Winter was still. Everything was so quiet here, and the intricacy of the ice, the delicate facets on every glistening snowflake, it was a masterpiece of nature.
The slender werewolf smiled, standing at the bank of the frozen Rabbit Lake. The pale sunlight was emerging from its white cloud cover, dappling the dull pearly surface of the ice, and she had the luxury to simply stand here and watch it happen. No anxiety, no fear... She wasn't afraid to be out in the open, where someone could see her. She wasn't violating any rules, she had every right to be here. The shy wolf bridled with pleasure, imagining how bold she would sound if she said that aloud. She had rights... that was a first.
Her gentle blue gaze wandered from the lake to its frost-rimed banks, where the reeds and brush had been encased in ice, forming chilled sculptures with the dead branches and leaves. Her mind always thought of Anu first; would the sparkling ice make a suitable gift? It was nothing she hadn't seen before, but neither were the flowers they exchanged. She just liked offering proof that even if she had trouble sometimes voicing how much the Lieutenant General meant to her, Coli was always trying to keep Anu happy.
She padded lightly forward, footpaws barely sinking through the encrusted snow. Her cream-furred fingers caught a sprig of the frozen bush, snapping it lightly before holding it up in the sunlight. It glittered like diamond... Yes, it was perfect! Quietly pleased, she tucked it behind one ear, already scouring the bracken for another piece.