ready to be hurt again

She had taken to patrolling further north than she usually might have. Winterfell's impending threat of raid hung heavy on her mind. No matter how she tried to spin it, she couldn't ignore her hurt feelings. Why was it so hard to set them aside? It was baffling. Theory focused her thoughts more closely and tried to imagine a box that she could open and shut. Eventually, she loaded all of her worry into that little capsule and tried to force the lid down tightly enough to close. Although she could put them away, she just couldn't lock the box. Simmering with unease, she headed towards the wide fields of the rock garden. It was dotted with monuments that seemed to have grown straight from the ground itself.

Theory paced between pillars and long, flat planes of rock. Each one was unique in its own respects, leading an air of authenticity to the idea that they were organic structures. What had placed them here? No creature that she knew would be strong enough to lift them, not even a herd of buffalo working in unison. Strange. Theory circled each rock, inspecting it thoroughly. Maybe if she could lose herself in the how and why of this place, her thoughts would finally settle. She passed over a very, very fresh carcass and gave it a cursory inspect. These lands were good for hunting - fertile, relatively untouched by the volcano. They must have lay on the right side of the summit after the eruption. Theory tracked the scent of the kill onward until she came across a lone, dark-furred female. "Hello," she called out in a friendly tone. Perfect. Another distraction.