For once, Vlarindara had decided to stick around their den.. doing some cleaning and remarking their territory markers. They didn't have many.. or much of a 'territory' perse but she didn't want anyone wandering in either. The white female had always kept up with Borden's scrapes along a few of the trees surrounding their nearly hidden grotto.. but was careful to mark a few other trees as well. With plumed tail curled loosely over her back, the white female trotted back through the trees and hopped over the low brush and thistles that were bared to the sunlight. This hop landed her in the semi-circle she called home and she stopped, admiring the view as she tended to do.
It was beautiful.. the light was bright, slanting across the clearing and sparkling off of only a few bits of snow. Thanks to the reflection from the mountainside their den was tucked in against, the small clearing had help melting the snow.. along with the constant tread of paws. That wasn't to say that there wasn't any at all..but in some places there were clear bits - but compared to anywhere else.. there was almost no snow here. The sound of water was music to her ears, drawing her attention to the thin, but steady trickle of water that filtered down the mountainside from stars knows where. Her paws carried her over to the water where it gathered in a shallow pool that was in reality a large indentation in the rock bed. It was only three, four inches deep at most and stretched about two feet in height, four in width.
She lowered her head and lapped at the water with a soft sigh of content - whether it was the natural filtration of the mountain...or the knowledge that this source was hers...it tasted sweeter than most waters she could drink. Large, triangle ears swiveled this way and that as she drank her fill, finally returning to rest over her neck as they tended to do. The female straightened and trotted to her den, a small triangle opening in the side of the mountain. At first, the opening was small.. even she had to squeeze through it, but once her shoulders cleared the small entrance, it widened into a larger cavern. The floor was naturally warm, leaving the cavern inside warm as well no matter the strength and viciousness of the wind howling outside the entrance. The inside was big enough for two, maybe three wolves.. but just perfect for herself and Raigo.
Vlarindara began carting cracked and gnawed bones from the den, carrying them to the corner of their clearing and adding them to the pile she'd had started. She could have simply dropped them around their clearing, or even outside it but there was no reason to do something like that..Besides, she really didn't *WANT* to be discovered.. and bones randomly appearing and scattered about were usually a good indication that some one was skulking about. She got the bones cleaned out and moved out to where a large, flat rock was situated near the water puddle...pool? It was usually quite warm even in the winter, so she climbed up on it and settled down on her side, stretching her hind legs and tail out, and resting her head on her front paws.. Raigo was out and about somewhere...and she did worry.. but really couldn't know where he'd gotten off to..