Paradise Falls It's in our blood, it's on our breath

For @Ally || Light Snow, early afternoon

Molten gold irises watched the steady, albeit light, fall of snowflakes from the comfort of the packs communal den which served as Magg's infirmary and their temporary home. His tail swishing lazily at his rump from side to side in a failed attempt at easing the quietude. With his companion incapacitated and no word sent back home to warn the Cove of what had happened yet, the swarthy boy often kept his paws firmly planted within eyesight of the den, a rarity when one considered his track record of being rather prone to wanderlust.

A grumble in the boy's stomach.

Hoisting himself up off the cold ground a small shake to his pelt was given after fully emerging from the den, pausing to glance back down into the darkness. "I'm gonna grab a snack. I'll bring you back something if you want." He called down to his tawny friend before trotting off toward the location of the pack's cache. Perhaps wandering just a little ways away for a nibble couldn't hurt.

Galen stole a quick glance around him to make sure the coast was clear before getting to work, mostly out of awkwardness since he didn't entirely feel comfortable raiding their stores even though they had been given permission and he pulled his weight to refill what the two of them took to the best of his abilities. Black nails clawed and scraped at the iced over earth to reach the soil below the snow, digging until the first tufts of fur marking someone's leftovers began to peek through.

Word Count: 259

the night comes down like heaven

Ally had been here a couple weeks now, and she still felt out of place. She wondered if she ever might feel at home anywhere, or if she would end up wandering the earth searching for her dad. But what about when she found him? If he wanted to settle back in with his family - those that he had told her she should avoid? It was strange, but then she had been very small and didn't understand a lot of the worries that plagued him.

She'd liked her uncle @Eros , though. He was nice, and her dad felt better after the first time she'd met him. She could tell.

Hunger drove Ally from the hiding place she'd found, a small space under a tree root that kept her warm and dry. Snowflakes were gently drifting around her, but since it wasn't too heavy she felt save venturing out to find some leftovers. The grown ups had told her she was welcome to what they had, even if she was too young to be much help. Ally had been starving when she'd first arrived, after all.

Most of the pack remained strangers, due to her tendency to keep to herself, so she didn't recognize the dark man currently scraping at the cache closest to her hiding place. She paused, staring at him, and the ache of missing her dad seized her chest.

Galen paused in his digging and let out a small sigh at the little progress he seemed to be making at unearthing his snack, lowering his head to clench tarnished teeth around the tuft of fur that had become more exposed and give a few mighty pulls using the muscles in his neck and stabilizing his paws against the edge of the hole he dug. Nothing. "Man, I wasn't expecting a workout for a mere snack.." He grumbled to himself, head lifted and tilting at the frozen ground underfoot as if by sheer mental will alone it would thaw the soil enough for him.


In doing so, though, movement along his peripheral managed to catch his attention and immediately his molten gold gaze shifted from the tedious nature of digging up his snack to that of a female stranger's face younger than himself and who's name remained equally as mysterious. Galen couldn't recall having seen her around before, but their scent had been picked up here and there. Albeit those mismatched eyes seemed slightly familiar somehow. Wait..  Had she been there watching him struggle this entire time?! Second hand embarrassment had the skin along his cheeks warming instantly, thankful for his inky coloration that helped hide such.

"Hey there. You hungry too?" It was probably a cliche way to break the ice, but an attempt nonetheless.

the night comes down like heaven

The man muttered to himself as he tugged at the frozen carcass peeking out from the frozen ground and Ally had half a mind to simply back away and go find somewhere else to eat. If he was having such a hard time digging their stores out, she had little hope to do so herself. Maybe she would get lucky and find a lame rabbit or something... that was how she'd survived on her own so far. Luck and carrion.

Before she could make up her mind, however, the dark stranger looked up and spotted her, then asked if she was hungry. She hesitated, then slowly nodded. She nervously glanced around them again, wondering if anyone else might sneak up on them to help dig, but it did seem to be just the two of them. She didn't know what she was looking for anyway. More than one new packmate might be too much for her right now.

Galen could sense the hesitation the little girl had before answering his question with a small nod of her head instead of words, opting to remain mute which didn't bother the swarthy boy in the least. "Wanna help me dig up a snack? Two is better than one and I promise i'll share." A warmth filled smile adorned his muzzle and the fluff of his tail wagged slowly behind him in hopes of enticing the girl to come help him as well as possibly help her crawl out of her shell a bit. Besides, it would be less awkward if he was caught to be the only one struggling to dig up a bite to eat.

His eyes dropped back down to the slightly widening hole beneath him that showed his progress, or lack of, thus far, quietly getting back to work scratching his nails along the edge to widen it further and hopefully free the carcass below enough to free it from its frozen prison. All the while keeping the girl just within view to gauge whether or not she would offer her help. If not, it was no biggy to the Vuesain. "I'm Galen by the way." He nonchalantly added, his paws momentum unfaltering.

the night comes down like heaven

Ally slowly crept closer as his tail wagged, inviting her to help her dig a shared meal out of the ice. She nodded minutely and began scraping at the ground, following the man's lead and slowly gaining confidence in her motions. She was hungry, and it did seem to be going faster with two of them working to free the cache.

He didn't look directly up at her, but she could tell he was keeping an eye on her. Though she kept her eyes downcast, she was doing the same, though not so much out of fear as simply being shy. He gave his name and it was only polite to offer her own. "Ally," she said quietly. Galen was nice, she decided, and she slowly began to relax as they worked at the ground.

The younger girls form slowly crept forward and tiny paws began to dig along the edges of the hole he had began, the corner of his inky lips etching into a smile witnessing the shy girl start to come alive a little bit at a time. At first her movements were shaky at best, clearly indicating her lack of confidence in them before that too slowly changed. With each swipe of her paws her confidence grew to some degree and this pleased Galen to witness, albeit he didn't verbalize such in fear of sending her reeling back into her shell from the garnished attention.

Thus he quietly kept digging, a swarthy ear pricking forward to catch the softly spoken moniker that was offered in return after his own. "Ally. Pretty name." Galen commented, but kept his golden gaze fixated on the hole that how now doubled in size thanks to her help and allowed the frozen carcass in question to become easier to wriggle out. Once more tarnished teeth clamped around the tuft of fur and gave a heady tug while bracing his paws along the hole's edge, triumph radiating through the young man as their prize came out so much smoother and landed on the ground with an icy thump.

A deer leg suffice enough for them both.

the night comes down like heaven

They continued working and Ally's claws began to hurt, her toes growing colder as she picked at the ice. Little clumps of snow began sticking in the fur between her pads, but she didn't want to complain. Galen seemed to be unbothered and she wanted him to like her.

He complimented her name and warmth flushed through her. "Thanks," she mumbled, embarrassed. "My dad says I'm named after my grandpa." Her brother had been named after her grandma, but she didn't want to think about Andy just now. She barely remembered him anymore, but the potential of what they could have had if he'd survived gnawed at her, and Dad had been so sad.

A swarthy ear twitched in curiosity as the child revealed some information behind how her name came to be, an opportunity to keep the casual conversation flowing between the two of them. "Your grandpa huh?" Galen began, shifting from the hole they dug to the icy leg they had managed to retrieve in order to clench his jaws around it before he'd drag it a little ways off to give them some seclusion while they dined on their frozen snack.

"Do you happen to know your grandpas name?" It was a genuine question the swarthy boy posed, plopping himself down to allow Ally the chance to eat first while his attention focused on the pads of his paws. A salmon tongue licked at the collection of snow that had accumulated between his toes, although his ears remained attentive to whatever the little girl had to say. If she chose to expand further that is. He wouldn't pry, but sometimes curiosity did get the best of him.

the night comes down like heaven

Galen still seemed interested, his casual conversation helping to continue disarming Ally's reservations about him. She needed to be braver, right? That's what dad would want for her, so she could come home once the snow went away again. He pulled out their hard-won prize and sat back to pick at the ice on his paws and Ally, lacking manners, ripped into the leg, hungrier than ever after the labor. It was cold and hard but it was still food and tasted far better than the carrion she'd been subsisting on while alone.

She glanced up at her new friend as she swallowed. "His name was Aleister," she said like she wasn't dropping a bombshell, because she had no idea that's what it might be. "He was my mom's dad. My dad said he died." Her brow furrowed, trying to remember what dad had said about it, some warning she was sure; probably about the mountain, possibly about something else. Sometimes it was hard to remember those little things when she was so worried about the big things - like survivng.