Chinook Coulee I Wanna Go Out

Dated to November 15th. For the adorable @Ember who gets a very bewildered Cottongrass that just accidentally went sledding into Chinook Coulee! Let me know if you need anything clarified or changed~

It seemed like with each passing day winter drew closer. The nights and mornings were cold enough for him to see his breath curl in the air before him. Frost clung and seemed to take longer to melt. But the most obvious sign would have to be the snow and ice. It piled on the ground in thin but determined layers and refused to leave. But lucky for him his winter coat had grown in. He was as fluffy as a baby owl before its feathers grew in and warm. Which of course meant he could explore to his heart's content even though the ground was slick with ice and the snow too powdery and soft for good traction.

The weather just added more of a challenge to his self-assigned task. Or at least that's what he kept telling himself as he continued his descent into what he called The Void. There was a random valley covered in so much fog that he couldn't see the bottom. For reasons he didn't fully understand, Cottongrass was determined to discover its hidden treasures. And it... Well, it wasn't his brightest idea but it was still an idea in his books. He was just scouting! Being a good pack wolf even though he was pretty sure he wasn't actually part of a pack!

(He would have to ask Askan or Reyes about it whenever he got back.)

His tail wagged and he continued his clumsy descent into the depths below. It was there his footing slipped out from under him and he promptly died.

Except not really.

His paws slipped and he found himself on his rear end. Gravity — gravity, his old friend and sworn rival — quickly took care of the rest while his other enemy of ice cheered from the sidelines. Because he was sliding. He was sliding down into The Void on his cushioned rear and there was no stopping. Not when the ground was a horrible sloping mixture of ice and sickeningly powdery snow. His eyes pinched shut and he braced himself for the worst. This was it. He was dead. And to think he didn't even get a chance to tell his friends about the —

The slope lessened and Cottongrass slid to a slow and gradual stop at the bottom. His eyes remained squeezed shut.

Ember hadn't meant to discover the boy, and hadn't much thought of pursuing him either even after his scent was analyzed by her senses. Her goal was @Kyna, and she was already breaking the rules there. But then she saw him, already halfway down that hill and picking up speed. From the back of his head, she couldn't quite tell that he was terrified by the experience. Ember actually assumed he was playing a game. An excellent game.

Her paws took her rapidly and back and forth across the crest of the hill, as her mind raced to plan exactly how she should mimic him. Fun wasn't exactly something the Hounds had celebrated, but it certainly hadn't been disallowed. This was definitely alright. Ember gathered her hindquarters beneath herself, squatting to imitate the white sledder before leaning forward and letting gravity do its job.

Her stomach flipped, but in a good way, as she was suddenly flying down the hillside. Her lips lifted in a wolfish grin as her gold eyes widened with excitement. If he couldn't hear her cutting through the wet snow, Cottongrass's only warning would be her squeal of joy right before her diminishing momentum sent her thudding into him. Ember then promptly collapsed into a fit of gleeful, giggling laughter.

Was he dead?

He was pretty sure he was dead.

There was no way in the world could he survive an accident like that. Not with his terrible luck. But the more time he spent sitting in the snow for something to happen the less sure he became. Wasn't something supposed to happen when you died? Cottongrass didn't know what but he was almost certain that it involved more than darkness and only his thoughts for company. And his ataatatsiaq told him once that unhappy spirits came back as demons while happy spirits came back as something good like a plant or animal.

Was he a happy spirit? He was pretty sure he was a happy spirit. And —

His poetic thoughts were cut short by what sounded like laughter. His yellow eyes fluttered open and he peered over his shoulder towards the sound. He immediately regretted it. Because what was sliding down the mountain towards him at the speed of light was a girl. One with pale fur and bright eyes. His jaws parted and his tongue flapped uselessly in his mouth. But what could he say? Please stop? She was heading right for him and his damn paws were too slow.

He was going to die.

She was going to kill him.

Fur collided and Cottongrass was shunted forward with a panicked yelp dying on his lips. He landed in the snow in a crumpled pile, no worse for wear but confused out of his mind. Did she slip and fall like he did? But why was she laughing? Maybe she did it on purpose. He didn't know. His tail fluttered in the snow and he remained on the ground. Everything was still spinning.

"Did you —" He didn't know why he was even asking. "Did you do that on purpose?"

Oh, maybe she had hit him too hard. Maybe it hadn't been a fun thing to do after all. Ember's goldenrod eyes widened as her laughter died away, mirth taken over by a openly curious stare. Was he hurt? She tried to stand up, but her paws cut through the dusting of snow and slipped upon the ice. Ember had done this before though, she just needed to remember how.

"Yeah, um," she answered to his question, gaze flip flopping from his bewildered features to her own unsteady footing as she tried to make her way to him. "Sorry, I totally thought I'd just surprise you a little. Are you uh, are you okay?"

Gosh she would feel horrible if she had just bowled over some poor injured wolf.