Endless Night
Kiyo had certainly gone further south than she’d been before, but she was relishing in the warmth it provided in contrast to the cold of the north. Per usual, she’d been out on an herb collecting trip, scouting the various territories to see where would be the best to gather certain herbs when Boreas was in the clutches of winter and Auster was warm with the summer. Ashen was located in prime real estate, bordering Auster perfectly with one of the Archipelago islands, making access to the bifrost quite easy. From there, the journey was much more pleasant and warm.
The pale woman had skirted along the edge of the canyon, applying an abundance of caution should the rocks be more loose that she thought and sent her tumbling down to the depths below. She would certainly prefer not to be traveling so close to the drops this late into the evening, but it couldn’t be helped as some of the herbs she was looking for grew in the particular climate that the Canyon possessed. As she went, a pale figure appeared in the distance. She paused, wondering if her eyes were deceiving her and that she was starting at an apparition. With the strange ambiance that had spread across both continents, she wouldn’t put a trick of the eye past the effects of what it could do.
Yet, a gust of wind told her otherwise. The clear scent of a real wolf brushed past her, and suddenly her heart was sinking. He was far too close to the edge, his gaze far too glassy. She knew that look, she’d worn it herself many times before. Kiyo picked up her pace, a bit of relief washing over her as he turned and walked away, flopping into the grass to stare absently at the sky. She didn’t know the pup, but he didn’t seem much older than her grandchildren. She wanted to pull him into her embrace and let him feel whatever emotion he needed to feel, anything to get out the emptiness that she saw there.
She approached quietly, choosing to sit down a few feet away. Her own silver gaze turned to look up at the sky, watching the oddly colored falling stars that seemed to stop and go and stop and go and switch directions, as if driven by some entity unknown to them. “What a strange world we live in,” she commented, her voice gentle and soothing.