The snow had stopped falling not long ago, and the result was a clean, white blanket all throughout the land. The trees were entirely bare, normally either covered in green leaves or dark brown, showing off their bark, but now they were caked in a layer of wet snow and sagged under the weight. Two sets of human footprints and a set of hoofprints defaced the newly fallen snow, following the scraped trees. The new layer of snow had covered any prints left by potential prey, and the evening was getting along, the sky dark and clear, the moon huge and full in the blooming night. They had decided to settle in a small, quiet clearing just up a gentle hill from a slightly frozen pond, and Karth was let alone to set up the tent and construct a temporary fire pit out of the snowy stones littering the area. He tied the horse to a small, stunted sapling and let the rope out a bit, taking the equipment off its back and setting it by a larger tree, picking and pulling until he found a small shovel, and began scraping the ground to reveal clover and grass for the horse, then starting on a couple bare patches for the tent and the fire pit.

Karth was a quiet man, not necessarily a man, however. His dark indigo eyes, though an odd color, hid quite a bit about him that he rarely told anyone that could spread the word. Maybe what was why he only had one real friend. One friend that probably knew more about him than Karth knew about himself. He pulled snow away from the ground, piling it up and around in a wide circle, then began lying out the bottom of the tent, a series of knitted-together furs. The bulk of the equipment---the tent and the tools---were carried by the stout-legged horse they called Bangi, a solid chestnut colored thing that wasn't necessarily a fast runner but could go on for ages without rest and on little food or water. Karth patted the horse's side, unstrapping the main canvas of the tent and setting it up carefully. It had seen dozens of hunting trips, but was in perfect condition, only a little wear around the hole in the bottom cover where the support pole went into the ground showing its real age.

He began digging into the cold but soft earth, pushing snow aside and building up the edges of the fire put before he began settling in the stones and rocks he'd gathered before. Pausing halfway through, Karth sighed and sat back on his legs, bringing his hands up and through his long black hair. It was usually a mess and never stayed back when he tied it tightly, but he didn't want to cut it. He hadn't cut it in years, and now didn't even remember what made him stop. But it was important. Straightening his light coat---an inside lined with rabbit's fur and an outside padded thinly with elk leather---he bent forward again and wondered where his dear friend had vanished to with their only lantern.