All in all, this place really wasn’t that bad. Yes, it was cold and snowy, but, far as Aiden was aware, that was the natural state of winter. It had been cold back in his old pack lands, too, and it hadn’t gotten any warmer when he and his chaperone started traveling west. Even giving his warden the slip and veering south hadn’t really changed the fact that it was cold and snow was on the ground. He’d heard others talk of warmer places where winter never came, which certainly sounded rather nice, but… No proof of that, yet. Still, all things considered, this place, Moladion, was pretty nice, too.

That was the place Aiden’s thoughts were in as he tottered quietly through the snow under the trees. It was quiet and peaceful, and the weather seemed to be in a good mood today. It wasn’t nearly as bitter cold or windy as it had been a couple days ago. Since the storm had passed, the sun seemed to grow stronger, and Aiden felt for the first time that, yes, winter might truly be drawing to a close. That conclusion alone made up his mind against leaving Moladion just yet. If winter was leaving soon, there was no need to run farther to escape it. Actually, there really wasn’t any real reason to escape it at all. It was cold, sure, but he’d gotten pretty used to that. And white really was his color. He wore it well, both flake and fur.

Lost in his inner musings, the boy nearly missed the faint scent of something… bloody. A few idle twitches of his nose later, Aiden came to an abrupt halt as all thoughts about winter, weather, and personal appearance scattered on the four winds. There was that distinct “old” tinge to the scent, yet not so old to rot. Something dead, but not too dead. Mercy.

Changing direction, Aiden let his nose guide him toward what he hoped would be a somewhat decent meal. His iridescent cadmium and cerulean eyes were attentive as he glanced around, their gradient shifting in the light filtering through the trees. Despite the growing ache in his stomach as the scent became stronger, the boy’s steps began to slow. It wouldn’t the first time he’d gone on a scavenger hunt only to find someone or something else had beaten him to the prize.

That didn’t seem to be the case today. It was a couple minutes down the brambly scent train before Aiden’s head emerged from under a crop of brush to find the carcass of something small and furry, nearly bare to the bone and darkened by a couple days laying out in the snow. But, hey, it still smelled alright, and there looked to be a little bit left clinging about the edges. That was the important thing, right? A picky little boy was a hungry little boy, and he couldn’t afford to be any hungrier than he already was. That settled it, then.

Aiden gave another tentative glance around before pulling the rest of himself out from under the bramble and trotting over to the mangled carcass. He gave the jellied blood a few testing licks before setting his teeth to the task of picking off the spare bits of cold meat. Or, at least, that was the intended course… before he was set upon by a rather loud, startling interruption.

He wasn’t sure from where the raccoon came. In fact, as far as Aiden was concerned, the angry little animal had materialized out of nowhere. It didn’t really matter. What mattered was that, quite suddenly, there was a loud chittering, and the smallish, black and gray critter was charging him with bared teeth. Without much thought, Aiden reacted just as quickly as the terror set itself upon him. Clenching his jaws around the stiff pile of bits and bones, the boy picked the carcass up and began a mad sprint toward the nearest viable opening in the trees. Gangly though he may be, Aiden’s long legs soon had him far enough ahead that the sounds of the angry raccoon rapidly faded away. Did it feel good to steal? Not really. But... He was hungry. And, when he was older and a better hunter, he’d make sure to leave a few meals around for someone else to make up for it.

Still on the run, the boy gave a glance over his shoulder to make sure the raccoon was truly gone, feeling relieved when he saw nothing but snow and his own footprints in the snow on the path behind him. His eyes linger just a little too long, however, and…

The ground disappeared.

Well, not really. But it certainly felt that way at first, just before Aiden began a fast and rough tumble down the steep embankment. Then, of course, just to make things better—

Thwump!

Hitting something both solid, yet somehow soft, Aiden lost his wind and the grip on his prize. Collision slowing him down, the boy rolled once before landing flat on his side in the snow. The first thought that came to mind, besides the obligatory, “Ouch,” as he scrambled to reclaim his feet was, “How did it get ahead of me!?” Meaning the raccoon, of course. But, as he whirled around in a defensive state, it occurred to him that the raccoon couldn’t have grown in size in just a short run, and, in fact, wasn’t a raccoon at all, but… A girl?

“Uh…” The words didn’t come right away, and, at first, Aiden just kind of gawked. Giving his head a quick shake, he released the snow he’d picked up from his tumble and rattled his senses back into place. “Oh, no, uh—S-sorry! Are you okay?”