Yet again the land was plagued by a seemingly never ending presence of fog, a particularly freezing case on this day as quiet footsteps fell upon the freshest dusting of snow. On the days the vision distorting fog couldn't come to work and make traveling nearly impossible it seemed its cousin of fluttering white snow flurries from the gray skies above came to take its place, coating everything in its path in a layer of white that continuously built one upon the other. The result of such layering now blocked Hexamora's path with a bundle of branches from the surrounding trees toppled over, the various sized bases snapped beneath the weight of the snow that had once rested upon its slumbering bark now left to wither in the coming storms and become a poor excuse for shelter to an animal small enough to situate its form beneath them. The dove coated woman though was not out and about seeking shelter - adverting her current path of travel to skirt around the obstacle - and instead was giving in to the ever present wanderlust that fueled her chilled veins, no set destination in mind nor plans of making a destination. For now the Beauvau woman was content to let her paws lead her wherever they willed to go.  

As it be they had managed to drag the emaciated frame -scant clad ribs and all due to a lack of proper meals - to a place yet to be traversed by Hexamora and known to others as the Secret Falls or to be more exact just shy of where the Darkwater Rapids lay frozen in a timeless layer of ice from the bone chilling temperature of winters frost until the warmth of spring came to melt away the crystals and restart the clock. Bringing her small frame to a halt her bi-colored eyes surveyed her surroundings, intent to avoid anyone who's presence was not wanted. Especially in her transpiring state of health. The last thing she needed was someone to come along and pick her off to secure their own survival or better yet mother nature to do the deed herself. Content that she was in fact alone her paws returned to their previous mindless motion, carrying her closer to the edge of the once flowing river that now was nothing more than an ice sculpture with the way the rapids had frozen over.  It was an art piece by mother nature how you could see the jagged edges of the waves leaping upwards, creating such an uneven surface that didn't seem logical. The dark waters was so beautiful. So beautiful and fragile to the touch. But if she wanted to continue onward she would have to cross the glass like river.

Hesitantly Hexamora padded forward, giving the edge of the river an uncertain prod with her paw to test its sturdiness. Her ears were met with the sound of faint crackling, but alas the ice held in place. That was without weight added to it. With a huff and putting on her big girl panties she cautiously set one paw in front of the other slowly, pausing each time the velvet of her ivory ears were met with the sound of crackling. "Don't break..don't break.." she whispered just barely above a hush, praying to gods she didn't believe in that the ice would hold beneath her weight. It wasn't like she weighed a ton these days anyways. Slowly her paws scuffled across the ice, her claws leaving tiny scratches as they clicked along the glassy surface. It didn't take long for her to reach half way across, the floor beneath her still remaining solid from what she could tell. One step at a time, slow and steady..

So far so good as Hexamora continued to slowly inch her way across the river, the scent of blood and deer now filling her nostrils faintly through the odor damping fog. But what side of the river was it on? With the fog making anyone's sense of smell and eyes all but useless there was no way of truly telling. If she could just cross the river or circle back and find the kill the Beauvau woman could (hopefully) chase off anything from the carcass and feed herself. Hopefully it was a nice plump deer that would help to put some more meat on the ivory woman's haggard frame. If she didn't get a substantial meal soon who knew how many days she had left to wander the earth. First, she had to cross this damn iced over river if she wanted to taste flesh on her tongue again. One paw slid forward, light crackling then the other paw followed suit, more crackling The ice seemed sturdy still, but unknown to her the ice was one miss-step away from giving way beneath her body and letting the river bottom claim her for itself.

Then a new scent wafted under her nose causing her facial features to screw into a set of distasteful wrinkles upon her brow and muzzle. Another wolf had come onto the scene and right now she really didn't need another's company. Quickly and without thinking her body whirled around to face the shore she had just come from to settle her bi-colored gaze on a dark silhouette against the white snow covered backdrop of the surrounding trees. Big mistake on Hexamora's part. "Go awa-" She shouted at the wolf on the shore, but her words fell short as her sudden change of position was the final straw for the ice, a loud crackling filling the air before her body tumbled into the frigid water with a loud splash! Air that once filled her lungs was quickly gone the moment her body felt the water against her pelt, leaving her gasping to try and refill them. 'Oh no..no, no, no!' She screamed in her head. This was not how she planned to go out.

Frantically she clawed at the edge of the ice hole she found herself in trying to bring herself back up before hypothermia could set in, but all her thrashing did was wear out her already exhausted bones and chip away at the thin ice. How was she going to get out? That was when she remembered the wolf on the shore she was in the process of shooing away. Now that wolf was either her savior or angel of death. "Help me! Help!" She called out to the unknown stranger, putting her bitterness aside for the time being. For now living to see another day outweighed manipulating the poor souls of the lore.

Hex barely heard the stranger(a woman by the feminine tone of voice) shout for her to hold on through the panic that overtook her. Time was ticking and she needed to get out of the water as soon as possible. Not only that but once she was out she would need to find a way to warm up quick before hypothermia could set in more than it already was starting to. As Hexamora thrashed at the thin ice, widening her hole in the process, her jowls couldn't hold still for a second leaving her teeth to chatter as fast as a wood pecker hammered away at the bark of a tree to catch the insects hiding inside. The rest of her body followed suit as chill after chill began to run down her spine and through her bones, causing her entire body to shiver violently from her plummeting body temperature. Her life was hanging in the balance and on the efforts of a stranger.

Pausing her splashing to gasp for air(which was hard to do when your entire body was submerged in subzero water) her double tinted eyes found the darker coated stranger flat on her belly just off to Hex's right. The next moment she felt the faint grip of teeth around the scruff of her neck through the numbing that was settling over her skin. Slowly her body began to be pulled up and out of the water until the white pelted woman was able to heave herself the remainder by digging her claws into the ice. It was a small burst of energy that allowed her to do so, but as soon as it arrived it was depleted from the cold encasing her body. "T-t-thank..y-y-you.." The words stuttered out of her mouth through chattering teeth while her body curled up on itself in an attempt to bring warmth to her freezing bones. Out of the water at last, but she wasn't out of the woods just yet.  

Through the chills that racked her poor excuse of a body her mismatched eyes took in the stranger that had saved her from certain death. This woman was no older than a year at most and inside Hexamora made mental noise of disgust. She was saved by a mere pup! It was an embarrassing thought to process and her body wanted to cringe the longer she thought about it. The woman's word went barely unheard as her mind settled on other thoughts than a meager you're welcome. What was more important was getting the hell off this ice before it decided to claim them both and give way beneath their combined body weight. A second dip in that freezing water was the last thing on Hexamora's to do list. Warmth and getting some much needed nutrients were though. Suddenly an odd sensation brought the drenched woman back. The younger woman was licking her fur. If her body wasn't so intent on shivering to generate warmth for herself a low growl would have rumbled in her chest to warn the other to quite it. Any form of physical contact was unwelcome by the Beauvau woman unless she insinuated it first and usually that only happened when she was trying to manipulate something out of someone. Right now wasn't the case. 'But the warmth does feel good.' Her mind whined before being interrupted by the strangers voice once more. What should we do? Oh she had a lot to learn still about surviving and Hex was not in the mood to be a teacher.

"F-first we n-need to get o-off the ice." She stumbled her words out between violent shivers, slowly easing her trembling limbs to tuck beneath her body in a laying position. She couldn't walk away from this yet, but she could still army crawl. Who knew how much longer they had before the ice broke. "Then I-I need to w-warm u-up." Slowly she inched her body back towards the shoreline she had first stepped onto the ice from, following in the path of the tiny claw marks her nails had made where the ice was safest to walk over.

Inch by inch she scooted across the ice until finally her lanky limbs found safety on the solid surface of land. The woman had never been more happy to feel snow and land beneath her paws then she did now. If she wasn't in the company of another she may have even graced the colorless snow with a kiss from her cold ebony lips. Her rounded ears then cupped to the side as she heard the woman speak up with question if she belonged to a pack. This resulted in Hexamora offered an amused half snort, rising to her paws on shaky legs to rest her two toned eyes on the young lady. "I don't do the whole pack thing. Nobody gives me orders." She retorted and it was true. The dripping wet woman was a solitary wolf and would never surrender her free will to please another. Nobody controlled her. She controlled everyone. Everyone else was a pawn in her game of chess and wasn't allowed to make a move unless she willed it. Just like now with the yearling pulling her out. It was purely lucks choice that casts her fate and allowed her to see another day. Not this pup. But that was just the way a woman as evil as herself lived. Everything was based on luck alone.

Giving herself a hard shake to rid what water she could from her fur, Hexamora removed her gaze from the woman and settled it upon the opposite side of the river where he chance at free food lay. Untouchable. A low growl rumbled in the confines of her chest while her rump fell with a thump into the coldness of the snow, tail wrapping tightly around her paws as if it could help to return what body heat she had lost from her little swim in the river. Shivers still raked her body as she sat though not as badly now and her ears swerved to rest back against the contour of her skull. She needed food, but who knew how long it would take to find any on this side of the river. "What's your name, pup." The words fell without much thought from her lips as her gaze never strayed from where she had planned to go. She wouldn't stay in the lady's presence for long and had no intentions of ever crossing paths again, but she liked to keep tabs of names. Who knew when they came in handy to getting what she wanted in the future.