Oak Tree Bend fill the valley up

For @Ember!

Early afternoon, cold, fresh snow on the ground.

A fresh powdery dusting of snow had fallen over night, and Serach had seized the opportunity and set off into the familiar woods to see what he could track down. With fresh snow on the ground, any tracks would have to be equally as fresh and now that the pack was beginning to grow in size, he was excited to learn what hunting skills the newest members of the Bend had brought with them. Thankfully, winter had been kinder this year (at least in terms of the weather) and while their caches were certainly not bursting to the brim with food, they had not had to suffer long stretches without nourishment. So with nose to the ground, the leader set off with an eagerness and energy to his step that hadn't been seen much since the rank challenge.

It had taken a little while for Serach to find the trail of anything substantial, although he had diverged from his mission to follow the tracks of a pair of foxes. He had chased them for a little while, their red and brown fur distinctive against the snow, but had given up the chase when he had felt confident they were not heading towards the pack den or the caches buried there. It was heading back towards the outer edges of the territory when Serach saw the increasingly-familiar cream and tawny fur of one of his new pack mates amongst the tree trunks. Chuffing to announce himself, he called out to her as he approached, "'Lo Ember! Whatcha doing out here?"