Late Fall Cleaning

*Valdís* · 12-23-2018, 07:26 PM

Valdís was up at the crack of dawn. The late fall morning broke chilly and frost covered the ground. The shift to cooler weather was arriving later in the year than Valdís was used to from living farther up north with Niente. They'd already had snow by the time Chaos initiated his challenge. She stood outside her den, her breath turning to fog in the cool air as she thought back to how she'd ended up here. Three packs in one year. Spirits she hoped that this one would last! Her year had started with her journey from Auster to Boreas after Talis had been taken by Ashiel Abraxas. From the southern continent of Auster she'd traveled all the way to the top of northern Boreas where she'd joined Niente and lived in the S. S. Antiox. Now, here she was, settled somewhere between them, nearly in the center of Boreas. Chaos had claimed his pack and they were now called Legion. So much had happened and on top of all that craziness and her own worry she'd found herself falling away from Ásvor. If she had one resolution for the new year it was spend more time with her friend and rekindle that friendship, and perhaps, if she was being to presumptuous, something more.

Enough reminiscing, it was time to get to work. Valdís slipped back in her den and using her front paws she began to scrape out dirt and leaf debris that had collected in her den over the fall season. She had dug her new home to face southeast in an effort to get a bit more sun in the morning and also to keep it turned away from the north winds that might cause snow to drift into her den. It was hard work that required some patience. Carefully aiming, she'd fling dirt and leaves out of her den. She found a few twigs as well as a number of bones, left over from a few snacks she'd snuck into her den. Valdís wrinkled her nose. She really needed to stop doing that before she started attracting ants into her home.

Once she was pleased with the state of her den after removing the debris it was time to line it with furs and skins for added warmth. She didn't know for sure how cool the winter nights would be here but she'd rather have more furs than she needed with the ability to shuffle them out of the way if she got to hot then wake up half frozen in her den. Valdís emerged from her den and wandered toward her storage den where she'd stashed a few skins from earlier hunts. It had taken quite a bit of trial and error to get them cured in the way she wanted but once they were there she couldn't be more pleased. Valdís rooted around in her storage den. There wasn't too much in the den since she hadn't moved in that long ago. Valdís seized a mountain goat skin in her jaws and gently pulled it out.

When she was sure she had a good grip on it she trotted back over to her den and carefully slipped inside where she laid the skin upon the floor of her den. She moved back and forth until she had cleared out the storage den and had her living quarters snug and cozy. A mountain goat skin, a deer skin and two rabbit skins made for a nice, snug place for her to sleep. Satisfied she slipped outside of her den to take care of another item on her checklist. She had a log rolled up along one side of her den that still needed to be placed. Carefully she put her paws on top of it and began to push, rolling it so it aligned parallel with the opening of her den. It was more a precaution, for though the ground here was fairly level there she wanted to make sure that water was directed away from the opening of her den and down the shallow incline. She'd need another for the other side eventually but the one log had been a stroke of fortune. She didn't know quite yet how she'd acquire another one but she would eventually. Then she'd have a nice framed walkway to the den entrance.

Valdís stepped back from her den as the sun continued to rise higher in the sky and she nodded her head sharply. Yes, this was a good start for her winter preparations. Now she just needed to make sure she had some good food stores and make the storage den deep enough, and thus cool enough, to keep the meat good. Though this late in the year she probably didn't need to worry too much. She gazed up at the sky for a moment. Time for a lunch break.

"Talk" "You" Think

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