Kin and Kind (Family Reunion)

It had been a boring day, mostly. Nothing to arouse interest or raise suspicion. Snow was piled at the roots of trees, but seemed to retreat still from open areas during the height of the day. Every morning had risen anew caked in thick frost, and this morning had been no different. Amaranth felt like she was wandering aimlessly, and, well… she was.

She paused in her walking to shake the cold from her coat. Day by day her skin seemed more acclimated to the cold, or perhaps the exposure was killing off her sense of feeling. She’d be happy with either option. Picking her head up she looked around, and turned her nose into the wind. She’d eaten two days prior, so hunger was not so pressing that she was desperate, but she wouldn’t pass up a meal if there was a chance at one.

Suddenly, a scent hit her. Like a charging bear, like an avalanche, like a boulder rolling down a mountainside. It wasn’t the scent of meat or prey, but it was hauntingly familiar. Achingly so, in a way that her youthful ambivalence struggled to express openly. Her body surged towards it quite before she knew what she was doing. Even as she’d been searching Amaranth had tried to keep the hope of it all in the back of her mind. Save herself the pain if she was unsuccessful, but now… Her family awaited her.