The world was bright. The kind of bright that made me have to squint, and even then it barely worked to help me see.

“How’s snow so bright, teacher?” I asked quietly.

“It’s reflective because it’s water, basically. It's white water, so what else would it do to light but reflect it?” Witch answered dutifully.

White water…? What an apt way to describe it…

“How does water come from snow?” I asked further.

“I honestly don’t know. It melts into water, yet the world doesn’t become one giant puddle after the winter thaw, so I’m not sure,” she said.

I shifted a little next to her, and the cloak of leaves I wore rustled as I did. “The mountains become lakes, though, teacher,” I told her.

“Hm…? Do they?” she asked, frowning at me.

Nodding at her, I remembered all the rivers and lakes that formed after the snow thawed, sometimes overnight sometimes, back at the mountain I had been born upon.

“Not sure then. I also don’t where snow comes from either. A wise woman once said it comes from the water in the air, but I’m honestly not sure about that,” she said.

“It does come from the sky, though,” I noted.

“Yes. From clouds. I think the water and snow are in those clouds, not the air,” she said.

Weren’t the clouds in the air? So didn’t those count as from the air then…?

And…

I shifted a little again, to let my tail peak out from the cloak of leaves I wore. It twitched in the colder air, feeling better. It was hot under all these leaves.

“So clouds make rain and snow then,” I suggested.

“Yes. I think so, at least. I think they’re like lakes up in the sky, basically, and overfill and fall upon us,” she said.

I nodded, and I chose not to tell teacher of all the times I’d seen snowfall and also rain without a cloud in the sky.

“Really though… I wonder how much longer we’re going to have to sit here,” Witch complained as she sighed and leaned back.

I nodded again, agreeing with her.

We were in what she called a blind. A makeshift little room near trees and rocks. Witch and I had covered ourselves entirely in leaves and branches. Ones that were all different shades of red and orange, to match the world around us. There were a few small windows we’d made, that let us view the world around us. Particularly we were focused on a small cave off in the distance, one that rested against the base of a mountain.

Here in this area, it was all leaves. But off in the distance, near the base of the mountain where the cave was, were patches of snow. Glistening snow that blinded you if you looked at it wrongly. The reason for it was oddly thanks to the lack of trees in the distance. The lack of trees allowed the sun to warm that area better, but the lack of trees had also allowed more snow to pile up in the first place. The result of it was the snow had melted unevenly.

We had no snow around us, but that cave was half covered in the stuff.

I had not seen any tracks or hint of anything in that cave or leading up to it… but my teacher had disagreed with me. She claimed, without a doubt, that there was a creature within it. One of the elders of my people.

Or well… an elder of us non-human peoples. She said it was likely not like me at all, but just similar. Not a cat, but something else.

“Maybe it’s hibernating,” I suggested. Some animals did that.

“No. They don’t do that. They’re beyond such things,” Witch said.

Were they…?

I shifted again, and reached over to scratch my tail. The large cloak of leaves I was wearing was very itchy, and kept bothering my tail something fierce.

Originally I hadn’t minded it much. She wanted us to blend in as much as we could, and it also helped to mask my smell she had claimed… but…

I was growing very tired of it. Not just of wearing all these leaves, but hiding in this house of leaves too.

Especially since Witch wouldn’t let us leave it. Which meant we not only had to eat and sleep in here, we had to relieve ourselves in here too.

I had dug a very deep hole, and made a nice little way to cover it up, but I was really starting to dislike being stuck in here. I’d even take just… making a larger window for a bit, to let the breeze in and air this place out. But I knew not to even suggest it, since by doing so all I’d be doing is releasing our stink out into the world beyond us.

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Which would only keep the creature deeper in its cave for longer, supposedly.

“Why would an elder hide like this?” I asked annoyingly.

“Honestly two reasons. First is you. You stink to them, or it, likely. Second, as I assumed before this one is likely a lesser elder. A weaker one. One more normal than not. I bet it ends up being just a larger animal, without much else. No sentience, no abilities…” Witch shrugged, her dress of leaves rustling as she did.

I sighed. “Do I really stink that badly?” I asked. If anyone stunk right now it was her, in my opinion.

Witch giggled softly at me. “You’re not that bad. In fact I’ve grown to like it. Makes me relaxed,” she said, teasing me.

I huffed softly and shook my head at her.

She was lucky she was pregnant; else I’d tease her back.

I side-glanced my teacher, and wondered when she’d tell me. So far she’d not said she was pregnant, but… it was rather obvious.

It was why I thought she stunk. Something about her had changed. Certain smells were different from her. Her sweat. Her pee. Her hair. They all smelled… a little off. As if she’d suddenly become someone else, somehow. Plus she was now breathing differently. She took deeper, longer, breaths while awake and had shorter and sharper breaths while asleep. As if she was sick. But she wasn’t. At least, not sick in that way.

To be honest I was so happy for her I could cry. When I had realized it myself a couple days ago, I’d actually shed a few tears. She had noticed… hard not to when we were sitting next to each other so closely for so long, so I had blamed it on the leaves rubbing my eyes accidentally. Somehow she had believed me.

There was no way she didn’t realize, or know. She had hinted it at a few times on our journey here, and as we made this little hunting spot… but it seemed she found it to be bad luck to say it aloud.

Maybe it was. Maybe humans didn’t speak about it, or something. Maybe there was some kind of weird culture thing, or…

“Oh…!” Witch perked up, and I focused as I narrowed my eyes again… to look past the gleaming snow in the distance.

Focusing, I watched the dark cave with great intent… and then a shadow shifted.

My heart thumped up into my throat as I felt my eyes go wide as something large sauntered out of the cave’s entrance.

It was huge. Likely as big as a huge bear… It walked on all fours, with a strange swaying gait, and was a strange gray and black color. Its head was hung low, like how bears were, but it was obviously not a bear at all. The shoulders were thick and round, but its head was long and pointy… kind of like some of the smaller rodents you typically found in forests.

The thing had huge, black beady eyes, and strangely cute ears upon its head. They kind of reminded me of a mouse’s ears, a little.

“A opossum,” Witch said.

“Opossum?” I asked.

My teacher was proven right very quickly. It turned a little, to sniff the air, and as it did its tail came into view. The rat-like tail was rather obvious.

“It is…” I mumbled in awe.

It was oddly scary while such a size.

“Hm… and not as big as I thought I’d be at all. About as big as a large bear, maybe?” Witch wondered quietly.

I nodded, agreeing with her. It wasn’t even half the size of my elder great-uncle, and twice smaller than that of that snake.

“Still, we should be careful. Opossums can actually be rather dangerous,” she whispered, her voice going lower as the creature slowly walked farther from its cave.

Were they…? It was the kind of animal me and my sisters would have toyed with while hunting. It was harmless… at least, in its normal size and shape.

“This would also be its breeding season, if a normal creature. So it might have a partner, or children, too,” Witch added.

Oh…? Interesting.

I studied the thing, and didn’t see any of its young clinging to it like they normally did.

At its size… its babies would likely be as big as small dogs, roughly. Medium sized wolves maybe? They might be cute.

Wonder if you could tame them…?

“What do you want to do?” I asked softly.

We’d been waiting all this time but Witch hadn’t actually outright said what her plan was yet.

“Well, now that we’ve seen it I suppose we could just trap it,” she said.

“Trap it?”

She nodded as we watched the thing slowly walk to the right. It followed the base of the mountain, walking slowly as it sniffed at the ground and air. It really did look like just any other beast in the forest.

“Those things are scavengers and are always hungry. They eat anything they can get to, and ferociously. If we bait a trap it’d likely fall for it rather easily,” she said quietly.

“What if it leaves?” I asked.

“It’s been here for months, I doubt it will leave right away,” she said.

“But I’m here now, right? What if it smells me?” I asked.

Witch paused a moment and then hummed. “You’re right. I’d not thought of that.”

Shifting a tad, I watched the creature disappear behind some trees. It re-appeared a little later, still walking lazily as it sniffed at the forest’s floor.

It really did seem like a bear a little.

“I’d rather not try to just grab onto it. It looks slow and stupid but they can be pretty dangerous. I can see its claws from here,” she said.

I nodded. “Yes. Let’s not get you hurt, please,” I said.

Especially since you’re with child.

“And no more using you as bait, either,” she said happily.

I blinked, and couldn’t help but smile at that.

Then I sniffed.

“Aww… Don’t cry,” she whispered as she leaned against me. Our leaves rustled together as she did.

I nodded, and did everything I could to keep the happy tears at bay.

Witch giggled at me, and then she went still.

Glancing at her, she groaned as her face scrunched up. “Sorry… I uh…” she stood and hurried to the corner of our little leafy hut.

Right. Upset stomach.

Was that because we were about to face an unnatural beast made by gods…? Or was it her baby in her belly, I wonder?

I sighed as I returned my attention on the creature. It was slowly walking away, heading for a hill. It’d not be long until it was out of sight.

Good. If we were to make a trap, that meant we’d get to leave this stupid leafy hut at least.

Finally.