He loved Neewa.

Through the first long weeks of winter he returned to him faithfully; he brought him meat.

He was filled with a strange grief--even greater than if Neewa had been dead.
For Miki knew that he was alive, and he could not account for the thing that had happened.

Death he would have understood, and FROM death he would have gone away--for good.
So it came that one night, having hunted far, Miki remained away from the den for the first time, and slept under a deep windfall.

After that it was still harder for him to resist the CALL.