Down to the River

Hailstorm's ears pricked when, after a while of Summit Shadow being gone, she spied movement in the darkness ahead. Sure enough, it was the silver pelted male returning.

"Thank you." she said quietly as she padded off noiselessly, following his tracks down to the river. Once there she dipped her paws in the cool water and sighed relief. She scrubbed them through the sand and let each paw rinse well before submerging her face in the gently running river shallows. The cool water was refreshing, but she couldn't hold her face under long. Hailstorm came up for air and shook her head, sending silver droplets of water flying everywhere. Cleaner and refreshed, she turned and made her way back, nostrils flaring at Summit Shadow's fresh scent that she followed back to Camp. She picked up the pace when she spied the den, and wagged her tail a couple curt times at Summit Shadow. She took a deep breath, taking in the scent of fresh bedding, and felt herself relax some.
"Thank you for helping me, Summit Shadow." she said in a whisper, casting a glance up at the moon. Dawn was still quite a time away, but it was late nonetheless.