Cold Water Creek I'm giving everything I've got

RE: Quickly melting snow has turned rivers into rapids.

The greyscaled female had lost the spring in her step today. She desperately wanted to find her brother, but she was forced to keep coming back to the Broken Timber Pines to make sure they hadn’t thought she was a deserter too. She hadn’t mentioned to anyone other than her family that @Zane had been missing, just in case he decided to come back and everything would be fine. @Erebos and her mother knew, of course - @Maeve seemed to hardly care at all about anything. Zane was her first family, the one that came first. They had been all in with everything in their lives, and now she had been left behind.. or whatever had happened. He was taken or gone or hurt or left or something. It was the not knowing that weighed the heaviest on the two year old; the everlasting sparkle that had always lived in her beryl-lime eyes was diminishing. Her few ventures outside the pack had ended up futile; no one knew an outsider who had never ventured past his immediate family for companionship. They knew his father, that was about it; usually they Erebos’ name for some wildly different reason. She was glad that she had at least her parents to keep her sane right now, but her biggest puzzle piece was still missing.

Her woeful paws had found her within hearing range of rushing water. She heaved a sigh; it was getting difficult for even Zeta to keep optimistic. She couldn’t quite commit to anything. She couldn’t just up and leave and look for him; Broken Timber Pines had gone out on big limbs to let their entire family join their pack. The water was much closer now, louder than she remembered any rivers around here being. But, she couldn’t just sit around and wait for him to come back either, right? He was her brother. Her best friend. A paw slipped out from underneath her and she yelped a rude awakening to her distracted thoughts as she had been following the bank of the river. The once creek was alive and rushing with power, the waters higher than ever. The shallow bank had let go underneath her and she began sliding down the bank towards the rushing waters. A stab of adrenaline washed into her stomach, her ears flattened in fear as she fought the descent. There were a number of washed over trees at the bottom of the bank that she was able to get caught on without being flushed into the rapids. A number of feet below her the white foam licked up at her, beckoning her to fall. She took a moment to catch her breath and look around. Though she had found the quickest route here, the slick mud on the bank promised not to be the best way to return. Her tail tucked at the potentially very precarious situation she had gotten herself into, and she continued to look around nervously at the few questionable lengths of tree around her, moving to test each with her weight hesitantly. Some gave way, some seemed steady, but she couldn’t bring herself to fully commit to any in fear. This is what happens when you leave, Badger! She thought to him bitterly.

(This post was last modified: Jun 09, 2016, 10:36 AM by Zeta.)

the rabbit

Adopt my twin!

@Zeta Sorry for the wait, this post is not good either ><

He was napping, the loud crash of water against the bank below him was a white noise that calmed him as he shifted his weight every so often, attempting to get the most comfortable position while situated atop a flat rock. He did not fear this land, his confidence had soared since founding Broken Timber Pines with his wife and the neighboring land had since been his safe haven--this land in particular would fair well for hunting.

He had known of the newest recruits though his efforts to greet them were absent at best, he worried over his wife and children and their lack of interest; he feared for losing them. He shifted in his nap, thick paws scraped against the stone on which he slept as he situated his weight from left to right but his mind would not allow him to dive deeper into the much needed rest he'd been seeking. Fed up, and notably exhausted,  he sighed deep as thick limbs brought him to his full height for a rough shake of his thick pelt, and after a wide yawn and lengthy stretch, the agouti male set off in search of something to occupy his busy mind.
A few minutes passed before a smell, strong of the pack, entered his nose and he perked almost immediately in search of the wolf who now carried their scent, and almost immediately he knew it was one of the newer members who had set off in a walk around the perimeter of the land. His pale eyes scanned the area around him, and locked only on Zeta once she came into focus. Her pale form against the violent backdrop of rushing water sent a rock to his stomach and his pace quickened in hopes to reach her before danger fell into her lap because of the precarious position she had gotten herself into.

She looked deep in thought, most likely scared, but the pale elder remained calm as he approached her along the bank, the only bridge that could potentially save her came in the form of fallen lodged tree trunks. "Are you ok?" no introductions, and no formal greetings-- he was much too concerned about whether she was well enough to walk across the log bridge.

(This post was last modified: Jun 09, 2016, 10:32 AM by Koda.)

Arla and Emma are the ish and made my pretties!
Koda will most likely always be accompanied by Chiron unless otherwise stated, or requested.

Her paws pressed gingerly on branches in front of her, testing their stability over and over again but never able to fully commit her weight to any of them. Some splintered with ease, crumbling through the cracks to be torn downriver by the rapids. The holes they left made her pathway back to safety look less and less ideal. She almost didn’t notice – or maybe she did, and didn’t bother registering him – the large male that peered at her from atop the bank. It wasn’t until he made his way down meticulously to her that he was able to draw her attention away from the rushing water beneath her. Had she been afraid of him, she might have moved away, but where she stood that was not an option. He did not seem to have air of danger about him, and instead she simply stood where she was, shoulders hunched and tail tucked.
 
When he asked her if she was okay, her eyes widened considerably at him, fear her obvious emotion. What could he possibly mean by asking if she was okay? No, obviously. Her normal docile nature scolded her for thinking so lowly of this new stranger that she just met and thought alternatively that perhaps he meant to ask if she was hurt. Yeah, that made more sense. He wouldn’t be so silly. Her senses were so overthrown with adrenaline and fear that she had yet to notice the familiar scent on his fur that matched her own. “I uh,” she began, noticing how little and shaky her voice had gotten, “I mean, yeah, other than Mother Nature threatening to eat me, I’m okay,” she gulped and nodded, almost assuring herself at this point that she was, indeed, okay. Her mismatched green eyes looked down at the pathway between them, trying to imagine the right path super imposed over it, then back up at the older silver male expectantly. He was going to help her right? Her autonomy was still a foreign concept to the two-year-old that she was working out the kinks of. Without her brother, she was without a heuristic figure in her life to show her how to stand confidently on her four feet. And unfortunately, today would not be that day, either.

the rabbit

Adopt my twin!

His question became an after thought as golden eyes looked her over expertly, and though her predicament was dire, she had yet to sustain noticeable injuries. He looked about him, the tree trucks that laid about in front of her were probably her best bet in getting herself out of this sticky situation--from this angle he was not certain which would be safe enough to walk across. The rushing water was a welcoming distraction from his heavy beating heart, he was concerned whether the rapids would take this wolf with it, the path that it lead was not clear and he was not comfortable in allowing her to figure that out for herself. "Is there anything that you can possibly jump to, or grab onto. A outstretched sturdy branch...anything?" he asked, his voice felt strained against the loud water surrounding them.

As she thought over his words the male made an attempt to inch himself closer, moving near the clogged bank and standing mere inches from the fallen logs. The soft sound of cracking wood could be heard, the strain each log was placed under could give way to the weight of Zeta and instantly he knew that his burly weight would cause the logs to crack almost immediately--what a dilemma. For the first time, Koda found himself uncertain of what to do, ideas seemed to slip his mind as he paced the bank, thinking of what he could do to save this wolf, but nothing that didn't also potentially sacrifice his life popped in his mind. He wasn't sure if he wanted to place more strain on his family for the life of stranger.

His legs had always been strong, allowing him to excel at swimming (or anything physical for that matter) and he contemplated the option of jumping into the raging rapids to grab ahold of her, but the fragile state of the fallen over trees made him hesitant on attempting it just yet. He wanted to exhaust all other options first, "Can you run across?" he wasn't certain how fast the young woman was, but if fear played any part of her survival, it should give her the adrenaline she needed to help guide her safety to the other side.

Arla and Emma are the ish and made my pretties!
Koda will most likely always be accompanied by Chiron unless otherwise stated, or requested.

Shallow water has trapped several fish in a small pond. Hunt Opportunity

The larger male was trying to help Zeta, but she willingly let her legs lock up and freeze. To not move at all was the most comforting thing at the moment; in theory, if she never moved again then she would never fall into the rushing rapids below and die. Drowning, nor underwater bludgeoning, were her preferred ways to die. Especially without her brother. Was it strange that she had always pictured dying at the same time as her twin cater-cousin? There. Neither of them could die until they were reunited; now that was comforting.

 The silver-cream wolf encouraged her to look for a way to help herself; a wise wolf, not joining her out here. She cringed as he confirmed his bright idea by watching his heavy weight snap crackle and pop the branches around them. Her reluctant mismatched eyes lowered to her near vicinity, eying the branches again with a new outlook. Would she be able to bite a branch with enough confidence that if she were to fall, she’d be able to hold herself up? Then he mentioned just making a bolt for it. This wolf was going to have to make up his mind because Zeta was definitely not the wolf for the job.

 She looked at him crazily, “K.. uh.. all the branches look the same and I don’t really know if jumping is a good idea. One time when I was little, my brother dared me to jump a river with his friends and I did not do well. Like I mean, obviously something.. but I’m just saying.. you’re giving me too many options here and I would really like if maybe you could just.. help me,” she rambled nonsensibly, going in circles with her words. The young-minded femme was used to being told what to do, always following faithfully and blindly in her brother’s tracks. Her essence of innocence was heavily laden on her features; more of a scared yearling more than a grown adult wolf. “Please, just.. just tell me what to do and I’ll do it,” she assured the older wolf with her frightened and worried tone. Options would not help her; if he was to be her new savior, then she would follow his orders willingly.

the rabbit

Adopt my twin!

Sorry for the wait @Zeta I seriously had a brain fart with this thread >< its not everyday Koda saves someone!

There was loud crashing, water rushed to knock against the weak bridge that was currently suspending her from the watery depth below but soft creaking confirmed that time was running short in protecting her. They needed to act fast, or risk her eventual death.   "Stop talking..." he attempted to cut her short, the story she had given him of her brother and the event in her youth was irrelevant today; they did not need distractions.

A whine, so soft that it quickly fell in the background, flowed from his mouth as he cracked his brain in hopes of something popping up, but nothing did and he was growing desperate. "I need you to run, run as fast as you can. I'm right here, you'll be okay." his voice was calmer than before, in hopes of regaining her focus as he stood at the opposite end of the log bridge, waiting for her to approach him.

He knew that she was afraid, and he was aware that there was a risk of the log bridge collapsing the moment she laid any weight on it but it would prove a better idea than simply sitting like a duck in harsh water. She needed to be an advocate for her own life, and what better way then by propelling herself to the other end of the logs. He exhaled sharply, eyes were focused and seemed to have grown red from worry--if she perished he could not live with himself. "Move....move...MOVE!" he bellowed, wanting her to put her paws in motion if she didn't want to end her life by drowning.

(This post was last modified: Jul 11, 2016, 06:18 AM by Koda.)

Arla and Emma are the ish and made my pretties!
Koda will most likely always be accompanied by Chiron unless otherwise stated, or requested.

Zeta's mouth clamped shut at once at the older wolf's commands, almost grateful that her rambling could come to an end. Most just let her continue on and on, and even when she knew what was happening in her mouth, she could not stop it. She listened for the rest of his words, sure that he would have some great idea that she had not thought of, and they would both get out of here without a hitch and life would be grand. Unfortunately, she wilted even more at his simple instructions. "Just run!?" She exclaimed, though even as she did so, there was so search for explanation in her tone. She would be okay. He said so. Certainly this wolf just saying so could not be enough, in practice, but it was all she was going to have to hold onto today, so it was going to have to be enough. 

Her eyes widened considerably, eying the fallen and rickety branches that lay between them wildly. She looked at the thick ones, and the thinner ones. The thick ones tended to be underneath the looser ones on top, so there was a chance that if she slipped and dislodged looser ones, the thicker ones would also follow suit. There genuinely could be no way out, a one way trip down the bank and into the water. She had gotten down here due to her distracted mind, and now she was wracked with entirely new sense of inability to focus. This time because there was too much stimuli. Not realizing that her brain had pulled her in again for freezing and lingering thoughts, she jolted when the wolf barked at her again. The face of fear met his, but as she gazed one more time at the rushing water beneath her, she knew he spoke the truth.

Oh god, oh god, oh god, oh god, oh god, oh god. She squeezed her eyes shut for a brief moment in one last attempt to wake from this nightmare, but when she opened them, she forced her tense muscles to unfreeze and to shoot her forward. Immediately, loose twigs slipped underneath her paws, and like a roadrunner, she spun her legs a couple of times before they finally found traction to actually bring her closer to the shore. Her adrenaline screamed in her ears when a trusted trunk snapped underneath her, but it got caught by a hardier one beneath it. The distance was getting longer, it seemed. She was sprinting as fast as she could possibly, but it only gained her clumsy ground, her legs slipping in between branches, causing more crunches and giving way, and then more desperate leaps to save herself onto mildly stronger trees. She was pretty sure a couple of yelps escaped her, but everything was thunder in her ears.. or was that just her blood pumping? 

Her front paws caught her on a tree closer to the male, but as she pushed the rest of her body weight, her back legs fell into nothingness beneath her. Her paws splayed and her whites showed, attempting to pull herself up, but her strength was not there. Her back legs sprawled out for foot holds but there was nothing. She was falling, she had exhausted all of the strong branches with her foolish scrambling and karma was laughing at her now. Sharp, tiny stumps on the last tree were ripping into her fore legs. Pain was shooting through her but also giving her the only last traction she had to keep her body weight from slipping backwards and into the water below. She continued to struggle, panic set in when she realized that there was nothing left, and that this was where it was ending for her. Once she slipped or ran out of energy, her suspension would be gone and she would fall into the rapids below. Panic rose steadily, but she refused to stop scrambling just yet, despite her imminent fate, her companion lost in her freneticism. 

the rabbit

Adopt my twin!

I've been slowing down recently, I apologize @Zeta!

He could tell that the command had frightened her, the sheer look of shock and horror was plain on her face as the situation she was in, though he knew her options were limited. He waited, with patience and a tinge of fear, for her to make her move and braced himself when she finally sucked in enough courage to move her legs. The event was clumsy at best and he had expected as much, fear seemed to have tangled her paws she she ran, seemingly without much direction, as fast as she could to safety, and when the logs fell beside her with the sound of rampaging elephants, he lifted to all fours to witness the bridge trickle into nothingness below.

His eyes could do nothing but grow wide in fear, witnessing her try to save her own life by running out the fall of what was breaking below her was excruciating but silently he had been rooting her along the whole while. It was when she finally reached the edge, with outstretched forepaws and scrambling rear that he took a deep breath and ran to her side to inspect the damage. From what he could tell she was fine, terrified and probably regretting her actions, but otherwise she was merely in need of additional help; to persuade her, he craned his neck to reach her own where his teeth latched on to the remaining fat along her scruff.

With a bum back leg his stretch had seriously declined, and yet her pulled with all his might to get her onto to safe land, and wouldn't stop until he knew that she was safe. He braced his legs, pushing down on the earth to lock himself at the spot and tugged at her nape in hopes that eventually her hind legs would find some kind of ground--if they could. 

(This post was last modified: Aug 17, 2016, 02:35 PM by Koda.)

Arla and Emma are the ish and made my pretties!
Koda will most likely always be accompanied by Chiron unless otherwise stated, or requested.

The imminent feeling of doom that was quickly increasing as Zeta continued to fail to find anything for her rear legs to push against had begun to affect the girl's clumsiness. At this point, she likely would have missed an obvious had there been one since her mind was racing faster than she could keep up. She continued to swim through the air with her rear legs, feeling the sharp twig stumps cutting her front legs that held her body weight up. She was going to fall. She was going to fall. She was going to fall. Whines started emitting from her mouth in her fear, and if she could have weathered up the emotion, she might have cried right then and there.

A new sharp feeling came to her, and she suddenly realized that her sacerdotal saviour was still there. And he was standing over her. All at once, she felt one last surge of hope that if he could reach her safely, then she might be closer to safety after all! The problem was, the older male would not be strong enough to lift her body weight up. She wanted to fully give herself to her guardian, and relinquish control of the situation to him. He would save her. Someone had to. She was out of options on how she could save herself. But the male tugged nonetheless, and in between tugs, the girl felt her burning muscles take a break. While he was not able to pull her entirely, he was able to take enough stress off of her muscles so that she could inch her way up the logs. So she did, again and again, and when it finally felt like they wouldn't make it, one of her swimming back legs found a step and catapulted her forward up onto the earth. She tried to bolt to safety, but her legs were jelly, and she stumbled and tripped all the way until she was sure she was safe.

She wheeled, eyes wide and breath heaving. She stared at her previous spot, the rushing water, the broken logs, and finally, her saviour. She felt her heart pounding, but her relief began to slow it, and with its relaxation came the pain. Her muscles were exhausted, the cuts in her forelegs started pulsing and burning. But she was alive. The pain felt good. Her green eyes laid incredulously on the agouti male in front of her, at a loss for words. She couldn't think of what to say so she just settled for catching her breath instead, and staring warily at the water again. After some silence, she was able to find her tongue, and blurted out: "I almost died!" And after a few more breaths, "You saved my life," she said, all in fact and disbelief. Her mind still dumbfounded to come up with gratitude yet.

the rabbit

Adopt my twin!