The past few weeks had been filled with lessons and day trips for Joukahainen. The boy was steadily growing and was beginning to stray more and more from Jörmungandr’s side. She knew it was inevitable, but knew also that he needed to learn some important lessons before he went out on his own. He had been begging to go to the crossing for weeks but Jörmungandr did not feel comfortable straying so far from the herd. Her trip to the bay had been brash but much needed and she knew they weather was settled. Summer storms had been plaguing the islands though and she didn’t wish to get stuck on the crossing for days in case the herd needed her. Instead, they explored the far reaches of the forest and the surrounding areas.

She started in the woodlands that used to be the general meeting place for the horses of Luthien. The first place her father had taken her when they had ventured out of the thicket and the place Impazienza had taken him when he first ventured from the forest. It was tradition. It was also the place where she had run off to explore on her own. This was where she had found a dead body of a mare and where the gamla tík had snatched her away believing that mare to be her mother. When she looked at Joukahainen now, she could only imagine the pain she must have felt to have her child ripped away from her. Worse, her Olaf had gone after them leaving her mother completely alone.

After exploring the woodland’s wild and overgrown borders during the days, they moved back to check on the herd at night. Exhausted from their days spent exploring, they slept more than they interacted with anyone. Things seemed mostly settled though, so she tried not to worry about them too much.

Their next stop was the savannah, or what she assumed used to be the savannah. It was uninhabitable long before her birth and Olaf had never told her any stories about it other than its existence. She assumed he had never been or if he had, it was not interesting enough to speak about. Their visit gave little merit to either theory. They did not spend many days in the savannah.

The thicket proved different though. Once they cut their way through the thick and thorny brambles, Jörmungandr was struck by the familiarity of the place. While it had grown thick with towering trees and wild undergrowth, it was not so different to what it once was. She was surprised she actually remembered so much all by herself and not through Olaf’s descriptions. For the first time since she’d been torn away from the place, she thought she could see her mother’s face. She had thought she had forgotten in forever.

The trip back to the forest had been a sombre one and the mother and son duo exchanged few words. They had moved to their positions on the edge of the herd where Joukahainen quickly drifted off to sleep while Jörmungandr watched over everyone with a sentimental mind. Eventually, she too drifted off to sleep and her dreams were occupied by visions of her mother and father.

In the morning, as the sun rises above the forest canopy, she goes about patrolling the fringes of the herd. She had heard on the grapevine that some of the other islands were having problems with wolves and she is keen to make sure that problem does not spread to Luthien – or to the forest at least. She has little interest in their presence within the uninhabited lands or even the Prairie. Those not within her lands or family are not her concern.

Satisfied that all is well, she takes a moment to just stop and appreciate her surroundings.