The day was cool, the sky covered in clouds. Though mid-morning, it felt more like evening, and shadows coated the rocky forest below like a velvety second skin.
Some time ago, the great jagged boulders had wrenched their mossy backs from the earth as it heaved. Now the gnarled roots of trees anchored them soundly to the ground, and lichens and mosses turned the weathered rock myriad shades of green. In full sunlight it was a beautiful sight, at least to some, but few Ulaya came here anymore. More than one kit had slipped and fallen while playing, and the rocks were especially treacherous in the mornings. The solitude suited Kuragari perfectly.
The ink-dark fur of the godling kit blended seamlessly with the shadows of the rocky crevice he was perched in. With his eyes shut, as they were now, all that could be seen was a metallic shimmering at forehead and paws and his faintly glowing crescent moon marking - if the observer's eyesight was very good. His ears occasionally swiveled to pick up the noises of wildlife around him. That rhythmic knocking two trees to the left was a woodpecker; he could hear two other birds of a type he didn't know scolding each other and what was probably a foraging squirrel in the opposite direction. The kit let his mind drift with the innocent sounds of life, trying not to remember why he was here. Trying not to remember why he had chosen a place so far from other Ulaya...
