Weapon for Hire

Asmul had been puttering along the wash when the rumble of voices caught his interest. Since the encounter with Ragnheithr, he had decided to explore a bit. The Wash seemed like a good enough place to do it, as it wasn’t much warmer than Cathedral Point. Plus, as Winter set in, Asmul could handle traversing lands farther south than he was used to without the great discomfort that came with the higher temperatures.
The wind was blowing from behind Asmul, and the voices sounded like they were straight ahead. He couldn’t smell whoever was speaking, but they surely could smell him. He squinted, seeing two pale forms just ahead, camouflaged by the glittering stone. With a friendly chuff, Asmul broke into a light jog, aiming to greet these fellows. As he got closer, however, he realized that the figures were enormous— one more so than the other.
The air between them was tense, that much Asmul could gather. They were about to face off, he understood. And, to his great surprise, one of the figures was a polar bear— enormous, fluffy, and fearsome.
Asmul knew that it wasn’t his place to break tension. He knew he should not intervene on others’ personal matters, so he did not. Instead of approaching further, he slowed to a stop. The wind picked up a bit, whipping his long fur around his face, still blowing from behind him, carrying his scent towards the pair. Asmul looked to the side, and saw... hares. They were lined up peculiarly along the river bank, huddling almost single-file together. This wasn’t their usual behavior: when he was hunting, he usually saw them on their own or in burrows. So many rabbits in a line though, unmoving, made Asmul want to hunt: they were just sitting there, waiting to be picked off. Something about their odd formation, though, made him hesitate. He would watch the events before him unfold for now.