At the border, Early evening, Heavy snow - 23 ° F, -5 ° C
with a hunger that feeds the fire
The cedarwood forest was a different place than she had left behind that autumn. Winter's grasp had taken hold, a stark reminder of the months that had passed. The needled evergreen boughs did little to hold back the heavy snowfall, big fluffy flakes drifting between the trees to settle over her dappled grey shoulders. The snow lay in a thick blanket between the trunks, where Oula occasionally found herself wading elbow deep through a drift.
Nothing would stop her though, with dull sage eyes fixed on the snowy path ahead and her sturdy limbs working tirelessly to push herself onward. She wanted to be excited to see her pack, her children, her... ...whatever it was Veho was. But a deep fear had gnawed on her the whole way back south. She had been gone far too long. Would things be as she had left them? Morbid thoughts consumed her mind, constructing the worst case scenarios in disturbing amounts of detail. It wasn't an entirely unfounded fear. Though she hadn't found Rook - another thing she regretted - she'd instead discovered things she wished she hadn't.
She paused at the border, hesitating before she slowly tilted her head towards the heavens. A long, clear single note trailed from her muzzle into the dark sky. It felt wrong to stand and wait at the fringes of her home like any other vagrant, but again she didn't know what she would expect to return to. She stood rigidly, head held high more out of habit than pride. Inside she felt tired, carrying the bone deep ache of travel and the weight of a heavy heart. She didn't have anywhere to return to, Grizzly Hollow was the only thing she had left.