Cut Rock River snowfall sonata

For @Amaryllis -- early afternoon, 40F/4C -- light snow

The day started off like any other -- Felix was asleep, curled up with other wolves in the den. His tail was wrapped closely around his flanks, for the evening was a bit cooler than those past, and he slept. His dreams were deep, and even as others woke to go about their day, the young Macieo relished the world without limits. Each dream was its own discovery; if such things like water and food were not necessary, it was quite possible the boy would spend an entire day with his eyes shut, if only to continue his explorations.

Unfortunately, his empty belly had other ideas. The morning had well passed by the time its growling roused the child and he yawned, blinking sleepily around at the empty den – no one to join him in a hunt. Alas. He gave a sigh as he stretched his gangly front limbs, and then Felix began to pry himself out of the den. The cold burst of air gave him a shock, and he might have thought to complain had not the flurry of snowflakes danced across his vision, onto his nose.

“Wow!” the boy crooned, his tail beginning to wiggle behind him. All at once, any hungry left him, mismatched eyes lighting up as he pranced out into the opening. It was everywhere!

“This is amazing!”

The small amount of snow that had fallen left paw prints behind her as Amaryllis walked past the main den where the pups were. It was actually the amazed cry of one of the pups that caught her attention, a rabbit in her jaws swinging limply as her ears perked. She had gone hunting earlier, with the intention of both catching something to eat for herself and stock on the caches. She had already eaten, having found a small warren of rabbits and having caught one before waiting patiently for some to return. While they were skittish, they could also be fairly predictable creatures. They had small memories, it seemed and if one waited long enough, they would return once being scared.

Amaryllis walked towards the den and the pup, figuring she might as well check on him and see if he was hungry while she was nearby. Stepping into the clearing, she placed the rabbit down and just watched the small boy prance around in the snow, chuckling at the boy’s excitement. It was his first snow after all, why should he be excited to see it? Deciding to just watch Felix as he played in the snow, enjoyment filling her heart at the sight, the woman settled in the snow. May as well allow him to have some fun after all, before interrupting.      

(This post was last modified: Oct 13, 2016, 12:39 PM by Amaryllis.)

A lynx has left behind the remains of a deer. +5 Health

All of five months old and absolutely delighted by the change in the weather, Felix had lost all track of time and space – that well included anything (or anyone) around him.  The snow continued to dance lazily, drifting down only because the laws of gravity demanded it.  Watching quietly didn’t last long – soon the young Macieo was prancing around among the snowfall, ears flipped forward as he snapped at the little pieces.  In fact, he might not have noticed Amaryllis at all had he not awkwardly swung onto the woman as he chased after a particularly large flake.

He saw the older wolf only at the last second, a small yelp escaping the boy as he twisted his body to avoid a collision.  Felix’s paws slipped over the slick earth, and the pup went crashing downwards, as much a victim to gravity as the snowflakes he was chasing a moment before.

Whining quietly, the boy opened up his mismatched eyes and peered up at Amaryllis.  “Sorry,” he mumbled quietly, dropping his gaze as soon as the female looked his way.  “I didn’t--  Didn’t see you there.  I was distracted--”  Oh!  That’s right!  He was distracted because of the--  The—

“Do you know what it is?  Falling?  This white stuff?”

(This post was last modified: Oct 15, 2016, 02:49 PM by Felix.)

Watching the boy filled her heart with joy. It was obvious he was enjoying himself in the white powder, perhaps a little too much as his paws slipped under him, causing him to almost swing into her. Acting quickly, she shifted her body, and catching the boy between her front paws before he went slipping any further. And thankfully, he was quick to leap back on his feet, words tumbling from his mouth.

Once it was determined he hadn't been hurt in his stumble with a quick once over, Amaryllis just chuckled as hearing an apology in there somewhere.

"It's fine," she assured him kindly, noting his mismatched eyes and thinking how she had never really seen a pair of eyes like that. At least not since...well, not in a long time anyway. "Snow can be pretty fun to play in, especially if it's your first experience with it." It was true, snow was a fun thing to play in, as long as it wasn't in the from of a snow storm or anything like that. But the young pup needn't know that yet.

"Well, it's snow." Amaryllis looked up to the sky, watching the snow lazily fall down towards the then and the ground, getting caught on the branches of trees and their coats along the way. What should she tell him? She felt he'd be mystified by it no matter what she told him. "It's...snow is frozen water, if I remember correctly what my mother told me. But as you can tell, it falls from the sky. It comes around every year, around this time." Sticking out her tounge, she managed to catch a flake on it, though it quickly melted on her tounge. "Here, try doing that. Just stick out your tounge and try catch one. I always used to do it when I was your age."

Thankfully, the woman wasn’t upset at all about his stumbling – Felix’s tail gave a small wiggle of relief. A reassurance and nothing more. It was like his blunder never existed at all, allowing the child to focus wholly on his newfound wonder and the wild change in the weather.

“Snow…” he murmured softly, glancing back upwards at the canopy overhead. The flakes continued to drift slowly, an eximonious display of nature’s truest beauty. Briefly, he wondered where his sisters were – what they thought of the flakes falling from the sky. If they knew it was called snow. Even the word tasted good.

The wolf’s ear flicked, and he glanced back over at Amaryllis. “Frozen water?” How fascinating. His feet bounced across the ground excitedly. He had no idea!! And you could-- Was she eating it? Felix resisted the urge to yelp with excitement, prancing in a small circle before mimicking the older wolf. He stuck his tongue out, just as his pack mate showed him, his mismatched eyes growing wider as he caught a flake and it slowly melted across his tongue. It didn’t taste like much, except perhaps the nicest water he’d ever tasted. The young Maecio crooned softly.

“I love it…” He glanced back at Amaryllis. “And this happens a lot? Every year? Does it freeze everything else, too?”

"Yes, it happens every year." Amaryllis confirmed for the boy with a smile. The boy seemed fascinated by the snow and also wondered how his sisters would react to this powder, though a quick glance around told her they were no were in sight. Probably getting into some sort of mischief, as pups were known for. "And quite a lot of things do freeze, like creeks and rivers and even the tops of lakes if it gets cold enough! You have to be careful around frozen water though, since it often can be deceiving." She warned Felix, thinking it would be best to tell him now and not after he attempted to cross an icy river.  "Even most plants get frozen and will die off, before growing back in spring, since a lot of plants can't handle the cold." And wasn't that true, with a number of plants dying and not to be seen again until the warmer months came around.

Taking a deep, chilly breath, Amaryllis released it, watching her breath become smoky and eyes tracking after the wisps as they float upwards. "You can even see your breath it gets so cold, see?" The wisps slowly disappeared from their vision as they went higher. She was feeling a bit nostalgic about the snow, remembering her own youth an her own first now. An memory emerged and Amaryllis grinned slightly, looking over at Felix.

"But do you know the best part about it snowing?" Dipping her nose down, Amaryllis ignored the sharp coldness that struck her nose as she flicked snow towards Felix with a laugh. "The best part is playing in it!"

(This post was last modified: Dec 02, 2016, 12:17 PM by Amaryllis.)

Every year.

Felix’s eyes sparkled with delight. Amaryllis had delivered such a wonderful little tidbit of information – for another pup, it would be like getting their favorite snack, or perhaps the attention of their favorite adult. But oh, what it was to learn. The child’s tail swung wildly behind him as his ears strained forward and he soaked in each and every drop of knowledge like a little sponge, only glancing away from the woman to inspect the snow-covered frondesence.

“Oh!”

She was right! Even with the exclamation, a little white wisp escaped from his jaws. The boy grinned again, the sides of his face aching as he exhaled a second time – truthfully, he might have been content with just this new discovery, but the older wolf was far more adventurous than he in this regard. Today, the boy would benefit from it. For a moment, he paused, mismatched eyes settling on Amaryllis just in time to get a face full of the fluffy white snow. “That wasn’t nice!” he gasped, but the sparkle in his gaze gave him away. After shaking it from his snout, the boy bent down to mimic his packmate. While his first attempt was helpless, the second flung flakes right back at the woman, and he laughed in delight.

“Are there other games to play?”