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Red trudged through the frozen wastes, grumbling as the cold slipped under her furs and the sun, in turn, slipped beyond sight. It was dark, save for her torch, and she had been set on a task.

Red wasn't sure what she had been expecting the Wild Tribe elder to have her do, but she hadn't been expecting to go out into the tundra. Sure, she was earning the right to use an Aiskalan orb for her clan choosing, but did that have to mean going out into Aisko? Alone?

Not that she was scared, or anything, but it was cold out here. She was supposed to bring back twenty Baowi claws, and she'd been pointed in a direction, and then that was about it. She brought them back, she got her orbs... that was the deal.

Cept, she'd been walking a good, somewhat scary distance from the wild tribe village, and no sign of Baowi. Red wondered if it was some kind of trick, a joke played on the newcomer from Ayr. If so, Red was not amused. She was afraid – an unreasonable fear, she was sure – that if she went too much further, she'd get herself lost. How could one get lost on a flat place like Aisko?

But, as the village receded into a small – and getting smaller – dark dot on the horizon, Red had to wonder...

She stopped suddenly as the ice shelf dropped off into a valley-like series of ridges.

Well she thought, That's new

She began to climb down into it, in equal parts because it was there, because why not, and because it was the only promising-looking place in this flat, white hell.

As she reached a ledge below, she saw it: Baowi tracks. She turned to see a cave carved into the ice and, sure enough, there was a Baowi in it. Before it could attack her, she threw one of her axes, striking it in the head and killing it.

And then she settled down to wait for more.

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