Fool's Gold Chasm take a trip down Candy Cane Lane with me

December 15th; Early afternoon; Light flurries; 43° F, 6° C. Out on the border...

RE: The icicles hanging off the trees have formed into strange shapes! They're long and curved, if you were human you might even think they look like a candy cane.

Adelard hated this part of his patrol. The snow, though thick and uneven over the ground, did little to mask what had happened on this part of pack borders. He could feel his jaw tighten and his molars grit together. His limbs were stiff and his hackles were starting to bristle.

This was where Riven had been taken.

Even before the winter weather, the stranger's scent and the traces of struggle had gone. Every time his beat brought him here, he stalled. Today was no different, but it had to be.

His lip curled and he forced his body to move. Underfoot, the snow crunched over the places where Riven's paws had skidded. Adelard tried not to imagine dirty blond paws, flashes of teeth, or the crisscrossing marks in the mud. It was hard to remember how terrible the scene had been, how far it stretched through the trees. Though, once he believed he had traversed it, the Leader carried on in a slow, leisurely walk. Overhead, the trees glistened with icicles and shook in the light hibernal breeze.

His recent exchange with Sawyer with Woya close by had been pleasant. These days, Adelard walked a fine line between savage beast and disciplined sentry. All he knew was that something like this, what happened to Riven would be the last on his watch.

(This post was last modified: Mar 02, 2022, 07:20 AM by Adelard.)

         

ADELARD

heat stroke, bring the fire black smoke, I take it higher

Enera was restless in the winter and even though it was snowing today, it wasn't as bad as it had been. It was even a bit warmer than some of the more recent cold drops. So, the young girl was out running around. She hadn't ventured beyond the border in a while, and decided to make her way out for a bit of a treat, since she was wandering anyway.

The scent of another pack member tickled her nose and Enera stopped, looking around for whoever it was. She didn't think she'd get in trouble for being out - Mama hadn't said she couldn't go to the borders, after all - but she didn't want to risk it if it was the Scary Lady. She never knew with her.

It wasn't Woya; it was Adelard. It had taken Enera a while to remember his name. She cocked her head, watching him stiffly pick his way across a seemingly innocuous piece of land before carrying on like normal. She picked up her pace so she was trotting along side him. "Why were you walking funny?" she asked as she caught up. "Did you hurt your paw?"

"Why were you walking funny?" the youthful tone of a cub's inquisitive voice was enough to snap him out of it.

In fact, it was enough to make him almost stop altogether. The need to remove himself from this part of the vale was all that kept his paws moving. He filled his lungs to the extent of their capacity and counted to three. One... He waited for more, for the inevitable beginnings of conversation. A conversation he could not ignore because the youths of his pack deserved his attention. Two... A twitch of his nose confirmed that Enera, although not so little as she was before, had ensnared him again. Three.

"Did you hurt your paw?"

The corners of his mouth flattened his lips into a hard line. He had to swallow to release the tension in his jaw. It was a good thing he still had his head and had not succumbed to the blind rage that met him at the old breach in the border. His eyes opened and he slowed to stop so he could face the girl. She had grown so much since they had their little storytime together. The first thing he noticed was how he barely had to lower his head and tuck his chin to address her.

"No," he answered with a slight shake of his head. "I'm jus' gettin' old." A part of him wondered how easily he could lie, or honey-coat, his words this time around. Enera and her agemates were a whole lot closer to their yearling days now and much wiser and warier.

One of his whiskered brows quirked, "You weren't following me all this time... were you?"

         

ADELARD

heat stroke, bring the fire black smoke, I take it higher

had a dream so big and loud

JUMPED SO HIGH I TOUCHED THE CLOUDS

Enera watched Adelard closely. It seemed like it took him forever to respond, but when he did he seemed to be shaking something off. He must be cold too. She squinted slightly at him. All the adults seemed ancient to her, being so young, but even she knew that Ad couldn't be that old. But how was she to know what old was? She'd never actually encountered anyone older than her mama or Woya or Saga or Adelard or Riven. She tried to think of more names, but that was the extent of her circle for today.

Then he asked her a question, and Enera sheepishly shook her head. "I was just going for a walk," she said. She glanced around, unsure if she was allowed or not, before sharing, "I was gonna go outside."