lost in the light

Áki was tired. He'd spent much of the day traveling, with few breaks to rest in-between. The weather wasn't particularly brutal; in fact, the winter had been rather pleasant as of late, with plentiful prey and only moderate snowfall. The fresh snow beneath his paws made a soft, satisfying crunch with each step he took as he made his way across the frozen surface. It seemed to have been a body of water, once, but long ago. His gait was lazy as he moved across it, feeling his nails tap against the smooth surface as he pushed snow aside with wide paws.

His crimson gaze searched the horizon for awhile, briefly lifting to eye the evening sun. It had begun its descent below the horizon, though it was far from fully dark yet. A slight smile tipped the corners of his lips upwards, though it faltered when he noticed a slight flicker of something out of the corner of his eye. It looked.. like some kind of bug, but he knew there wouldn't be any insects here. His tusked skull tilted down as he eyed the thin layer of snow. Using his paw, he pushed some of it aside, eyeing the ice - parts of which were hazy, though some were crystal-clear. Below the ice, he saw strange, flitting lights. He narrowed his eyes as his paw pushed more of the snow aside, wondering what on earth he had found.