as far as the eye can see

Fana and Alnus leaned uneasily against the mossy heap, watching the snow churn, wriggle and collapse as the unseen creature moved about underneath. Whatever it was, it was too large to be a snow-worm or an ermine, and too completely covered to be a dog or a bear cub. The real head-scratcher for them was the totally erratic path it was following, moving from one stand of trees at a good clip, then doubling back and then pausing, then doubling back again. It seemed like the handiwork of something that evolution would have eliminated many mutations ago, it was so clearly self-defeating and inefficient.

Of course, the more Fana reflected on the uselessness of it's movements, the more clear it became to him that it was just Foma, drunk and tunneling through the snow again, getting frostbite and muttering to himself in the dark.