Like most mornings around this time of year, it began crisp and cold with a thin layer of hoarfrost covering just about everything in sight. Their day began as such, with the deeper patches of ice crunching gently underfoot as they passed although none seemed too deep to pass with any kind of difficulty. At its deepest, the larger patches of snow barely seemed to come up more than half way up Brienne's legs, leaving most of her belly warm and dry with the longer bits of her mane across her chest collecting small, tangled balls of snow and her own share of wet fur. Behind her, Coyote and Cinnamon trailed placidly, letting the bigger beast carve their path for them rather than waste half the morning trying to chug along at either side of her. 
As they set their course, Biter manifested quietly, their equivalent of a 'handler' preferred to stay out of broad daylight at any given point of time, but understood the merits of actually having a guiding hand assist the puppies while they h