Sitara followed the path until she was sure she had reached the place where Piccolo had dropped her off about half a year ago. As the spot was not far from a fork in the path, she recognised it, even if the trees without their leaves and the white of the snow had clearly changed the view. She looked up at the grey sky and hoped against hope to see him there.

She hadn't seen the green man in the last six months, but she had thought about him a lot. Why had he saved her? Why shouldn't she mention his name in front of the villagers? She had kept to it, but was more than once been tempted to ask the villagers about Piccolo. He had only exchanged a few words with her before he had brought her to this village, yet Sitara was fascinated by him. And he had given her a name.

With a sigh, she shook off the thoughts and walked into the bare forest. Her first destination was the river. If she followed the river, she would eventually reach the forest where she had crashed with her capsule. And maybe she would see Piccolo there again.

The snow made the path uneven and slippery. Sitara did not make as much progress as she had hoped. When she finally reached the river, she had to rest for a few minutes on a fallen tree trunk. For a few minutes she looked at the river, which was much wider and flowed faster than in the forest where she crashed. It also seemed to be deeper here.

As if in a trance, Sitara took off her right glove, stood up and stepped right up to the river. She squatted down and dipped her hand into the water. Coldness enveloped her and numbed her hand within a few seconds. Instead of pulling her hand out again, Sitara pushed the sleeve of her coat up as far as she could with her free hand and let her arm sink even further into the waters. Pain, then numbness.

Sitara waited. After a few breaths, her fingers began to tingle. The tingling spread all over her hand and into her arm. At first it was pleasant, almost invigorating. But with each passing second it felt more uncomfortable, more painful, as if her hand and arm were commanding her to take them out of the water. She ignored the feelings. Breathed on calmly.

For minutes Sitara crouched on the riverbank with her arm under the water. The tingling under her skin had increased to a painful burning sensation and her legs protested the uncomfortable position she was in. There was only one word pounding in Sitara's head, "Keep going!"

When she finally pulled her arm and hand out of the water and sat back down on the tree trunk on the shore, she looked in wonder at the cold arm that felt as if it was no longer part of her body. Unable to move the fingers of the cold hand, she tugged the glove off her left hand with her teeth and ran her fingertips over her right arm. She did not feel the touch on her arm. Strangely enough, it did not frighten her, but filled her with pride for having braved the cold water for so long.

She looked at her numb, cold fingers and forced them to move. She imagined the warmth of her body flowing into her cold forearm and spreading from there over her hand to each fingertip. When she felt the tingling in her fingers, she intensified her mental efforts and shortly afterwards her arm felt warm again.

Sitara put on her gloves and stood up. She glanced at the edge of the forest. Then at her hands. Had she really just immersed her hand in ice-cold water for a long time? Why had she done that? It seemed to Sitara as if she had only dreamed it.

She scratched her head in confusion, stroked her forehead and then turned around. She had wasted enough time here. If she continued like this, she would never reach the forest where she had crashed. Determined, she started walking upstream.

As Sitara walked along the river, she thought about the last six months. She had arrived limping at the village square, which was populated by villagers doing errands and chatting. A young woman with a little boy on her hand had approached Sitara. When she noticed her injuries, she took her to Yumi, the village doctor. Yumi had lived in the village since her birth and was respected by everyone. She treated Sitara's wounds and took her in.

Sitara learned cooking and sewing from Yumi. Sometimes the hunters took her hunting and taught Sitara how to kill animals with a gun and how to set traps. Sitara soon realised that although she was good with the handgun, she did not like firing it. The bang hurt her ears every time, the smoke burned her nose. She preferred to set traps. Since she was also very skilful at it, she was a welcome member of the hunting party. When she was not hunting, she helped Yumi take care of the sick. The villagers treated Sitara with open joy and respect.

But soon Sitara realised that she did not belong in the world of the village. She was restless, often slept badly and felt more and more like she was in the wrong place every day. After six months, these feelings were so overwhelming that she could stand it no longer and told Yumi of her decision to leave the village in search of her capsule. Yumi, who was the only one she had confided in that she had crashed in a space capsule, tried to persuade her to at least wait until spring and it was warmer again, but Sitara would not be dissuaded from her decision.

Yumi reluctantly relented and gave Sitara as much warm clothing and provisions as she could spare. She accompanied Sitara a little way along the path on the morning of her departure and gave her a small round thing in her hand as she said goodbye. She explained to Sitara that it was a hoipoi capsule. If she pressed the button at the top and the capsule was away from her, a small house would appear. Since Sitara did not want to believe what Yumi told her, Yumi demonstrated the application to her.

She threw the capsule. Smoke formed and after a plopping sound, a small hut stood next to them. Yumi entered the hut through the wooden door and showed Sitara around. To the right of the door was a bathroom with a shower. Next to it was a small bedroom. Then the room expanded and offered space for a sofa with a small table in front of it and a kitchenette in one of the corners. Everything was bright and friendly.

Sitara marvelled with wide eyes at this marvel of technology. She could not possibly accept this gift. But Yumi insisted. She had bought this hoipoi capsule with her husband. They had only been able to use it once on a hike, then he had died unexpectedly. Yumi wanted to give the capsule to someone she could make happy with it.

Sitara smiled at the thought of Yumi. Her long grey hair revealed that she had already seen many summers. Nevertheless, she was as agile as a young woman, both physically and mentally. She had felt very much at home with Yumi and promised to visit her again one day.

As night fell, Sitara had reached the edge of the forest. She used the capsule and entered the hut, turned on the light and put her backpack next to the sofa. Exhausted, she let herself sink down on it. She ate some dried meat and bread and then went to sleep. She thought for a moment that she must have felt a little uncomfortable all alone in the forest, but then she had already fallen asleep from exhaustion.

Sitara slept without interruption until the next morning and only woke up when the sun shone through the windows. She got ready for the next stage of her march. She continued to follow the river. This time, however, she was not surrounded by a forest, but by a flat plain, mostly covered with grass. There was no paved path, which confirmed Piccolo's statement that the village near which he had dropped Sitara off had indeed been the nearest gathering of people.

Sitara's thoughts wandered back and forth and she contemplated the beauty of the landscape. The white of the snow had thrown its winter blanket over everything. The only sound was the steady lapping of the river. As night fell, she made camp. The following day was just like the previous one. She rarely rested, as she wanted to get to her capsule as quickly as possible. She wondered if it was still there where she had crashed.

After another night and another day's walk, she saw a forest in front of her again. Mountains rose up behind it. She was sure that this was the forest where she had fallen. Feeling good, she fell asleep and started the next day euphorically.

Just before the day drew to a close, she reached the edge of the forest. She wondered whether she should go in or wait for the morning. She decided to go on. A place to sleep would surely be found. Determined, she trudged off. The snow was ankle-deep here and made the hike more strenuous. But she had her destination in sight and would soon reach it. Bursting with energy, she strode far out and hardly noticed how it was getting darker around her. Nor the uneven ground that was hidden by the snow.

Sitara's foot caught in a tree root and she fell lengthways into the snow. She could still stretch out her arms to cushion the fall somewhat. Her wrist snapped. She felt a burning pain that went all the way up her arm to her shoulder. As she tried to sit up, she realised that her leg, which had been stuck to the root, was also hurting badly. She tried to sit up but could not put any weight on her foot.

Sitara cursed softly. This could not be true. She would not give up so close to her goal. She awkwardly detached her backpack from her back to dig out the capsule. Then she would spend the night here.

All her senses focused on finding the capsule, she was suddenly pushed aside. The backpack fell from her hands. Someone or something was on top of her. Hot breath touched her cheek, a growl reached her ear. Slowly she turned her head as far as she could.

She looked into yellow eyes. Saw bared teeth in an elongated snout. A wolf. Her eyes searched the surroundings. A wolf did not usually hunt alone. Sitara saw more wolves coming out of the darkness between the trees. Crouched, teeth bared and eyes flashing, they crept towards Sitara and the wolf that held her.

Sitara's head rattled. How could she escape? She listened inside her body. What parts of her body could she move? Adrenaline shot through every fibre of her body, making her forget the pain in her wrist and ankle.

The wolf standing on top of her was watching the other wolves of the pack. Was he the lead wolf? Could anyone dispute his prey? She had to do something! Sitara pulled her legs to her body and got the result she was hoping for. The wolf, who had not expected this movement, stumbled, quickly regained his balance, but now no longer stood on her. His head jerked towards her. He growled. Stared at her.

Sitara crawled backwards, trying to put as much distance as possible between herself and the wolf. But the wolf would not let her escape. It started to pounce, its mouth wide open.

Sitara put her hands in front of her face and screamed.