the winter had been long, as had the spring. Desperately the white and smudged girl had tried to find her way back home. Everything had been covered by snow and the scents muddled and stale. The cold had gripped her and made her unwilling, or too weak to move. She could not hunt for herself and had tried to eat berries and pine nuts, anything that would give her even a little bit of sustenance. It wore at her flesh and dulled her otherwise brilliant coat.

Zeus had taken her to the outcropping when he had first saved her. They had spent time there, but then he had vanished and she had been lost. Once she had left to go to the crags, gotten lost and returned to the one place she knew. After that she dared not leave or venture too far. The sparse area around the cave had been cleared of anything and everything edible during the winter. She had not known it would keep other things from growing in the spring. Once the snow started to melt she had grown accustomed to the gnawing of hunger in her stomach.

Once she could hear the scrapings of little paws on the dirt, her stomach roared at her. She was hungry for flesh. Early in spring she needed to learn to hunt field mice. At first she was clumsy, catching nothing. Eventually she learned to capture them and finally she was able to fill her belly and crunch on the little bones.

As the spring progressed she had gained a little of her strength back, but her body retained its thin look and her fur still had not come back to its luster. She dared not venture too far from the cave, hoping Zeus would come back to her and they would go up to the mountain. It was a dream she dared not let go of. The dreams of storms, and the dreams of home.

She missed her family, she missed her sister. She had cried herself to sleep at night as the emptiness in her stomach had been matched only by her loneliness and longing for home. Night after night she had considered leaving to try to find her way back to the beaches of Glorall. Fear kept her where she was. Every one of those nights she had convinced herself that if she held on for one more night they might come find her. When the sun and warmth started to return to the world she could not tell if it brought hope, or if time had started to kill it.

Curled up in the farthest reaches of the rocks, she was huddled against the conflicting thoughts that went through her head. Would today be the day she tried to find her way home? What if Zeus came back? What if those wolves who wanted to eat her returned to finish the job?
White ears flicked at the sounds of awkward scrapings coming from the mouth of the cave. She lifted her head in the direction it came from, curious about who or what would have been entering her haven. It did not sound like the big strong paws of Zeus. The tip of her nose twitched. Did she dare go to investigate?

Then her name was called and emotions exploded in her body. She did not even have time to cry with joy when she recognized the voice that called out to her. The girl bolted to her feet and launched herself at the mouth of the cave. Two toned eyes were wide and she ran circles around Abel, unable to contain her relief at seeing him. Low to the ground, she spun in circles in front of him, now being careful not to completely tackle him and his tired body. Instead she licked his chin excitedly.

“Abel! Abel Abel Abel!” Her relief was as plain as her emaciation, fur still hanging off her thin body. Though mice and nuts kept her alive, she had clearly not thrived in her seasons alone. Her eyes though, they shined with a spirit that was still very much alive.