Fallen Tree Cove Memories made in the coldest winter

RE: There is an active change in the Northern Lights! The sky lights up in greens, blues, and even shades of purple. | Early morning, light snow 10 ° F | Takes place in the middle of FTC. All pack members welcome!

The frigid air felt colder, sharper in Vespertio's lungs since the discovery of Anthem's body upon the rugged outcrops. Each morning since damning him with hopes of spotting the stormy pelted man tucked safely among the others alive, breathing as all did in deep slumber. Assuring the Vuesain man what they found was just another nights nightmare plaguing his overactive, restless mind, but the world proved itself crueler than that time and time again. An emptiness continuously filled the portion inside the communal den where Anthem would rest. He was gone and not a thing in the world could change that no matter how hard one wished, how hard one tried. Not only did the agouti man have a valuable subordinate stolen from right under his unsuspecting paws, but a brother as well. What usual glee and enthusiasm the patriarch felt patrolling the borders were now consumed by the dark abyss of gloom and depression. No trace of a genuine smile found present upon his stoic features nor a twinkle of acknowledgement in the depths of his once bright gold irises. Vespertio was an empty coffin of his former self.

A small nudge of his skull pushed aside the veil of vegetation that concealed the den entrance to allow the Great Plains wolf admittance to the outside world. Disheveled fur was tug in each direction by the blast of frigid air that greeted him, the cold easily ignored with each dejected step forward. A cloud of exhaled breath was the only thing keeping his nose from succumbing to frostbite. Underfoot the crust of undisturbed snow crumble into fresh powder, all around the world cast in brilliant shades of greens, blues and purples as the sky lit up and danced with its reflection on the surface of the ice crystals. A beautiful sight the hollow man could not comprehend. Wearily Vespertio padded toward the center of his lands in search of a cache not entirely frozen over by the snow, a quick couple jabs of his front paw shattering the ice that collected over one made recently. Digging away the snow and compacted soil a half eaten rabbit was to be his reward for breakfast. It was nothing suitable for a wolf of his size to be satisfied on for long, but hunger never seemed to be a problem while depression clouded his mind and numbed his body to the core.

(This post was last modified: Dec 22, 2015, 11:39 PM by Vespertio.)

Nathaniel was a grounded man in many ways, but this morning he could not keep his gaze from the sky. The sun had barely begun its rise, the only evidence that it had survived the night at all being the thickening line of gold upon the jagged horizon. Still there was light, varying colors wavering throughout the dark sky and casting their hues down upon the painted white land below. It was undeniably beautiful, some might even say breathtaking, but for the man upon the ground, able still to feel the grit of the dirt and ache of the cold, it was simply a fixation.

His neck began to suffer and with a deep exhalation he finally lowered his gaze, away from the ethereal and back toward reality. His verdant eyes fell upon none other than the king of the lake, still some distance off but close enough for Nathaniel to see that the man was tucking into an early breakfast. Strides drawing to a dwindling close, he stood silent to regard the other. It was evident the pain that Vespertio was in, that Anthem's death had caused them to at last share something. Yet Nathaniel felt no closer to the man, and still no desire to close the ocean between.

Except, it was what his brother would have wanted.

"Vesper," he called out, setting his powerful legs into motion once more to take him closer to the stranger who commanded his life.

A small twitch of a russet hued ear was the only indication the tawny man had heard the steady approach of Nathaniel, head slowly rising from the frozen strips of rabbit meat that lay scattered between creamy front limbs. "Nathaniel." Vespertio returned the meek greeting across the distance separating the two men, dull golden irises watching as the dark coated wolf and brother to the dearly departed approached closer. "You're up early." A poor attempt at stirring up some form of conversation that the original Vuesain man would have inwardly cringed at allowing such bland words to escape his vocal chords. But as much as the patriarch would have liked to seek out the darkness and reclusive walls of the den to grieve in solitude, running a pack and tending to his subordinates would not allow such behavior. Anthem wouldn't condone that of him and Vespertio struggled keeping this notion at the forefront of his mind.

Silence passed between them waiting for a response, guilt adding weight to the scraps of meat within his stomach when his mind pushed through the fog in realization who was standing before him. The shift in his ears posture to nestle against the back of his skull the only indication such thoughts were present. How could he be so blind? Here he was sulking about in his own misery over the loss, but what torment was Nathaniel; Anthem's own flesh and blood, feeling during this heart sinking time? The swarthy pelted man had a life long bond with the deceased Coldheart. That alone greatly outweighed the single, precious year Vespertio had been gifted and would be eternally grateful for. What was he to say when words felt like a concept far too large to wrap his mind around lately? I'm sorry for your loss, or my condolences were too overused, too cheap. Lowering creamy haunches to the frozen earth the king of the lake allowed the silence to consume them, drifting his gaze skyward to absorb the colorful display as it dances across the illuminated sky like sheer silk ribbons. As if somehow they could provide the answers he sought.

Nathaniel wasn't expecting sights quite so... lifeless as the ones Vespertio raised to take him in with. It only served to give him further reason to pause, maybe even to turn around altogether with a mutter of 'my mistake' and a tucking of his tail. To his core, at this very moment and probably for plenty more to come, through not fault of the king's own, Nathaniel did not wish to know the man before him. To stay with his routine of keeping his head ducked down and heart distant was what he wanted more than anything, and yet once his strides drew to a solidified halt several paces away from the patriarch there was no budging him.

"Yeah," he answered quietly and without heart, disinterested gaze flicking to the side to take in anything else. For a moment, his mind was empty of what could be said. Every typical question that could be asked was easy to answer on his one and unnecessary to plague Vespertio with. Then he recalled, that there was something. It didn't have to be thin and meaningless chatter; he had something of business to discuss. It just meant that he would actually have to say it, to commit to it.

"Hey. I... want to talk to you about my role here. I want to be a guardian." As Anthem was.

Finally the silence was broken my a simple, emotionless yeah by the Coldheart male. Attention slowly drifting away from the flashing lights of the northern lights above to settle once more upon @Nathaniel , a rounded ear flicked as he continued onward with what Vespertio supposed was his true reasoning for seeking out the tawny patriarch. In that moment it was made known he wished to pursue the role his now deceased brother had formally upheld. Nathaniel wanted to become a guardian. Where normally a smile would have graced a creamy maw in response to hearing a subordinate wishing to seek more for themselves, a twinge of pain tugged harshly upon the tender tissue of his heart. Of all roles; Anthem's role, he could have chosen that one sliced at a still fresh wound.

Once more silence began to manifest between the two wolves as Vesper contemplated how he was to go about this subject. Internally he gave a heavy sigh, escaping his body in a cloud of vapor just beyond the tip of his coal black nose. "I see." He answered stoically at first, inwardly cringing yet again at how void of anything his voice had become. "And what has made you decide to pursue such a role?" It was a dangerous question to ask and the answer he may have partially known already, but that didn't stop his lips from forming the words regardless. Patiently the patriarch waited for Nathaniel's reply, dull gold irises occasionally stealing another glance skyward each time the dancing lights grew brighter as it cloaked the world in a new color scheme.

There are several fresh rabbit tracks in the mud. Hunt Opportunity