The further they travelled the worse the weather got; the air dipping far below freezing and blankets of snow growing thicker and thicker, with frequent flurries adding to it. However, none of this deterred Annie, or served to dampen her spirits in the slightest! She was on an adventure, finally, like all those their Tad had told them about, exploring these strange inlands where he had grown up.

Practically skipping along through the snow, the strawberry blonde constantly looked to-and-fro, rust-tipped ears constantly spinning in every direction, wholly unbothered by the howling winds, ruffling her fur and whipping the powder snow against her face. Nothing could dampen her spirit, a wide grin on her face as she turned her head to call over her shoulder: “’urry up Kat! These Backwater’s gotta be ‘round ‘ere somewhere!” As eager as she was to explore the northern woods and mountains, she was excited as well to meet those of their family who still called Relic Lore home.

Thoughts ”Speech”

Winter had nothing against Annie’s spunk, the freezing winds and hard grains of ice merely an added challenge for the travelling sisters to brave. She could feel the same exhilaration in Ozark, the thirst for adventure that had set the two youths on their trek in the first place.

She playfully returned her sister’s nudge, happy to have her along, to make these long stretches of walking less tedious. Smiling impishly, she glanced sidelong at the darker girl, taunting lightly: “Ye gonna be thwarted by this bit o’ gale?” A particularly strong gust of wind whipped up just then, as if in challenge to the comment, making Annie duck her head with a high-pitched giggle. It would take a hurricane to truly dampen her spirit, though she made sure to keep her head down until the gust was well passed, to protect her eyes from the whirling snow. Only once it was clear did she look back up, shooting her sister a, only slightly sheepish, grin.

Thoughts ”Speech”

Contrary to her sister, Annie saw a certain beauty in the open fields of snow – not unlike the ocean, with its own waves just frozen in place – though she wouldn’t mind some shelter from the howling winds. The question made her pause though, head tilting in thought; No ocean at all…

It only took a moment for her smile to return though, tail resuming its casual wag as she answered: “Ah’ s’pose, a wee bit. Bu’ then they’ve other things instead, like that mountain from Da’s tales.” That was one thing Annie was especially excited to see; And to climb of course! Mount Dire, the Grave of Dragons - she’d give up the ocean for an adventure like that – at least for a few moons. Then a sudden thought made her frown, head spinning to look back at her sister; “They still ‘ave water, aight?” It couldn’t all be frozen; Surely they have fish, somewhere!

Thoughts ”Speech”