Sacred Grove after a rain

Aiyana was demanding to have this interaction. I'm guessing it'll be short and sweet.

you do not know who is your friend or who is your enemy until the   ICE breaks. It was a beautiful afternoon. At noon, the clouds had clumped together and it had rained, quite intensely, but after a few hours it had driven past. Now, the sun peeked through the gaps in the gray cloud cover, sending rays of beautiful sunlight down to the earth. Water drops clung to every thing that had been outside during the rain's wrath, and the light shimmered in each drop. The grass sparkled. The leaves sparkled. The wolf - Ice - sparkled. A faint rainbow stood against half of the sky, and Ice sat upon a mossy rock and watched it. He'd taken cover during the worst of the rains, but now he'd gone out again. Water ran down his clumped hairs, dripping off at the tips and falling onto the damp green below. Still, the wolf smiled, enjoying the beauty of the day. If you didn't care about getting soaked, rain was very beautiful, and it certainly left the air cleaner - cooler, too. The wind lapped gently against him, and the world smelled pleasantly of wet rocks. Ice loved the smell of summer rain. And, surprisingly enough, he didn't mind the water when it crashed down from the sky. He only minded it when it moved, even if it was just a placid creek. Those were the easiest to deal with, and puddles were no trouble at all, but once it approached river size... And, he'd probably never go into a lake of his own free will. Swimming just wasn't his thing. Sighing contentedly, he kept watching the beautiful, damp world. .ice aesir

let the stars above shine in your soul

Aiyana Tainn

I walk upon the river

She and stupid, silly Rissa had been on an adventure earlier that morning. She'd been shaken from her sleep and dragged from the comfort of the den onto a pile of rocks, to look for snakes of all stupid things. And then they'd found one, and got stuck on the pile when Rissa was stupid enough to poke it in the head. Growling, Aiyana kept wading through the mess of wet trees. To make matter worse, her sister had, what, panicked? and jumped down, twisting her leg and getting hurt. Not wanting to make herself useless by doing the exact same thing - because she did want to save her sister, after all - she'd taken the riskier route by going down by the snake. While the oncoming autumn had made it slower than usual, it'd still been surprisingly fast, and its teeth had managed to scratch her right hock when she jumped past it. It was a very shallow wound, not even spilling blood, and it had tasted normal when she'd licked it clean, but - Rissa had said that Ice had said that snakes were dangerous. Once it became clear that Rissa wasn't going to die from her hurting leg, Aiyana had set out on her own to find the pale guardian, wanting to soothe the worries of her mind.

It didn't even hurt anymore. It'd stung a bit at first, but now it just felt normal. Still, she was worried. Ice was sometimes a bit excited, which was annoying, but he'd never told them anything stupid so far. If Ice said snakes were dangerous, they were, and she'd gotten herself scratched. Frowning, she kept tracking him to the best of her ability. Mother had told her to practice and watch the world, and she'd learned to follow people. It was useful for spying on Rissa.

Finally she found him, sitting on a rock. His damp fur suggested he'd been outside when the rains had come, which Aiyana hadn't. She'd been sulking in the den, waiting for a chance to go find him. If he'd been out in the rain, why hadn't she been? She decided to ponder that another day, and instead yipped at him. What was he doing out here? Did he watch, too? Aiyana's tail began to wag at the prospect of an adult doing what she did. But.. she had to ask him. About snakes. All of a sudden, the sullen nervousness came back to her. It was all Rissa's fault anyway. What if she died just because her sister was a klutz? Swallowing, she climbed up on the rock behind him, snuggling up close to his side. It didn't even hurt to sit on the scratch. "Ice," she greeted him. His was probably the only name she said every syllable in, and then only because it was only one. "Snakes? Dangerous?" It would have to do as a question for now. She wasn't sure she could phrase it better, and she didn't want to blurt the entire story to him. Too many words. She shivered, her black fur against his damp silver one, and felt her heart race. She didn't know what would happen, and it made her afraid.

like it's easier than land

Love is all, from what I've heard, but my heart's learned to kill

you do not know who is your friend or who is your enemy until the   ICE breaks. You saw a lot of things after a rain - and a lot of things you didn't see, either. He'd been busy gazing up at the faint rainbow, trying to savor every moment since it was slowly fading out of existence. Vacantly, pleasantly free from thoughts, he'd been looking at it for a couple of minutes when something moved on the outskirts of his vision. Twitching his ears, he let his gaze drop - and surprisingly, it landed on no one other than little Aiyana Tainn. What was she doing out here? Of course, the weather wasn't all that bad anymore. In fact, it was quite pleasant, and by the dry look of her fur she hadn't spent time outside when it poured down. She yipped, and he smiled fondly at her, and yipped right back. He hadn't spent as much time around her as he had Rissa, but he adored her all the same. He adored all three of them - Aiyana, Rissa, and little Torrel. The only hint of sadness it brought him was that he hadn't been around to see Fenru when he was this small. She climbed up beside him silently, pressing herself against his wet flank. A soft laugh escaped him and he leaned his muzzle down to give her ears a gentle lick. "Aiyana," he replied warmly. It sent a warm thrill through him that she sat so close. If this was what it meant to be pack, he wondered why he'd not found one sooner. He'd spent a whole summer up in the mountains! What had he done there, when there was Swift River to be had? Smiling, he shook his head to himself, and looked up at the sky again, thinking she'd just come out to sit with him and look at the world. But apparently, it wasn't so, for she asked him about snakes and danger in her pitched, chiming pup voice. His gaze snapped down to her rather abruptly. "Snakes? Yeah, they're dangerous. You don't want to get bitten - quite a few of them are venomous. And if they not, they can kill small animals with their bodies. You'd do best to stay away from them. Why?" Had Rissa cooked something up, or just told Aiyana half the tale and then left her to find out for herself? Cocking his head, he waited for an explanation. .ice aesir

let the stars above shine in your soul

Aiyana Tainn

I walk upon the river

"Snakes? Yeah, they're dangerous. You don't want to get bitten - quite a few of them are venomous..." Something cold settled in her belly, heavy and painful. Her 'brows drew together in a look of pure devastation, and she nearly forgot to listen to the rest of what he was saying. They were dangerous. Venomous. And you weren't supposed to get bitten. But she had - well, not really bitten, but scratches. Her heart kept racing, but now in fear. Was she going to die? She didn't want to. She didn't want to disappear like that at all. And especially not out here. She wanted.. no. No. If she had any say in the matter at all, she wasn't going to go along quietly. And she wasn't going to make herself sad by think those thoughts. Trying to swallow her fear, she craned her head back to stare down the length of her little black snout and into Ice's kind, silver eyes. Fear and anxiety swam in her own.

He looked at her so kindly, so nicely, and it made her feel like a fool for having gotten hurt in the first place. Trembling, she disentangled herself from his flank and stood up. Silently she turned away from him, and stuck out her right hock in a manner that, at least to her, indicated he should look at it. The scratch had scabbed over, and it wasn't even slightly inflamed and warm. It was just.. normal. How could something normal be dangerous? She swallowed again, staring stubbornly at the forest, waiting to hear the dreadful words that surely would come from the pale wolf any moment now. But it wasn't all that easy balancing on three legs, and after a moment she set the paw down, but she still didn't dare turn and face him. Her tail had curled up beneath her belly despite her decision to challenge the prospect of dying. She clenched her jaws together to keep them from rattling, and waited.

like it's easier than land

Love is all, from what I've heard, but my heart's learned to kill

you do not know who is your friend or who is your enemy until the   ICE breaks. The look in her eyes when she met his broke his heart. But more than so, he was shocked - how could such a young creature look so devastated, so mournful? He was stunned into silence, just staring at her until she got up and turned her back on him. What had he done..? Where was she going..? What had happened..? Perplexed, he expected her to jump off the rock and go back to the den, and do stars know what - but instead, she just lifted her right hind leg and stuck it out for him to look at. And then, he understood. She'd found a snake, and it had hurt her. Bitten her? His gut coiled into a tight knot, and barely daring to breathe, he leaned down to peer at her tiny leg. He couldn't see any swelling, nor any puncture wounds, just a scratch across her hock. It could've come from anything.. including a snake tooth, he guessed. Frowning, he peered at it, nearly lying down when she put it down again. She smelled of terror, and who was he to blame her? He'd just told her snakes were highly dangerous, and she'd been bitten by one previously. The wound didn't look older than a day at most, so perhaps it hadn't been a venomous one? Cautiously he sniffed the wound, and then gave it a gentle lick. It tasted clean, too. He clung to the notion that she'd been lucky and found a harmless one. But, he couldn't know for certain, and didn't really want her to got back to the place where she'd found it. Question remained - had she seen it, or had it startled her? If she'd gotten a good look at it, perhaps she could describe it for him, and then he might be able to know if it was a dangerous one or not. While Ice's climate hadn't really been suitable for snakes, he knew of a few, and had picked up information about others on his road south. "What did the snake look like, Aiyana? Tell me all you remember of its appearance," he asked her gently, trying to keep his voice calm, but it was hard - after all, snake bites could potentially be fatal. Until he knew what kind of snake it was, he'd not be calm, and even so he'd probably keep a close eye on her for the next week or so, to make sure all was okay... If she described a snake he even knew of. And if it was a harmless one. .ice aesir

let the stars above shine in your soul

Aiyana Tainn

I walk upon the river

She flinched when his warm tongue washed across the wound - not because it hurt, but because she was so high-strung. Before she could stop herself, she peered over her shoulder, but he just looked thoughtful. That was.. that was.. she couldn't quite decide if it was soothing or terribly, terribly rude. Was it okay to look like that when she was potentially dying? No. Not at all. But.. if she was dying, shouldn't he be more worried about it? So maybe it wasn't dangerous at all? Was it.. could it.. could it be okay? She didn't want to dare hope, so the fear remained a cold weight in her chest even as she turned around to face him again at his question. It had been pretty, really.. she'd liked the touch of its smooth, cool body beneath her paw, the muscles rippling under the scales. Could such a pretty thing be a killer? She frowned. She didn't want to think it could hurt her...

"Long. Thin. Round." She frowned. That was the shape it had had. But he had asked for details... When it had risen up, she'd stared at its face for a while, mesmerized by its flickering tongue. "Tongue-flick. Red-black head. Then..." Which order had the colors been? It had been predominantly red, but the other two... "Red. Yellow. Black." That had been it, right? She tried to envision it, the larger red patches, and then.. then.. one color had broken it up, and then it had been a third color, and.. which order had they been in? She replayed the memory in her head, watching its exotic form slither out of the hole again. Red... yellow.. no! It had been red, black, yellow, black, red. "No. Red. Black. Yellow. Black. Red." She gave a slight nod for emphasis, and then chanced a glance at his eyes again, trying to read his reaction.

like it's easier than land

Love is all, from what I've heard, but my heart's learned to kill

you do not know who is your friend or who is your enemy until the   ICE breaks. Moment of truth... She began with the physical qualities, long, thin, round. As she continued, he marveled at how different the sisters were. Rissa talked a lot, but she messed words and grammar up at times, often adding s's to the ends of words.. but Aiyana, she spoke in a clipped way, saying few words and pronouncing each with great care. As she came to the colors, Ice listened, if possible, even more sharply. Red. Yellow. Black. The breath stuck in his throat. He'd never come far enough south to encourage one of those snakes, but he knew the saying - red on yellow kill a fellow, red on black alright Jack. Red and yellow... he'd spoken to a traveler once, who was seeking a mate up north, away from snakes. She said she'd lost one of her pups to one of the red-yellow snakes. Gradually after the bite, her breathing had worsened until it'd stopped altogether. Cold dread settled over Ice as he watched little Aiyana and her furrowed 'brows. When had this happened? This morning? If it was one of the red-yellow.. then surely it should've set in by now? He was just about to blabber something when she corrected herself, and Ice held his breath, wishing his heart would shut up so he could hear what she said. "No. Red. Black. Yellow. Black. Red." He let out the air in a shaky exhalation, and felt like crying as he leaned down to put his forehead against hers. Relief shone in his eyes, and a nervous, cracked laughter escaped him. "Oh, Aiy, it's okay. Red on black is harmless. They're called milk snakes. But don't play with them anyway! They bite hard, even if they lack venom. But if you ever see one where yellow borders the red... Stay away." Still feeling shaken, he leaned back to lick her ears for a moment. If she'd been certain it'd been a red-yellow one.. What would he have told Cori? What if Aiyana had gotten bitten just because he'd told Rissa about snakes? A smile made its way onto his face; it was okay. She'd be okay, right? He'd still keep an eye on her, but there was no danger. She'd be okay... .ice aesir

let the stars above shine in your soul

Aiyana Tainn

I walk upon the river

And all of a sudden, Ice was nearly falling on her. She was too tense to squeal or yelp, just stood rigid as he pressed his white forehead against her black one. What was this? A farewell ritual? Or? Doubtfully she remained where she was, trying to battle hope and nurture fear - she did not want to hope, only to have them crushed by his words. But instead... instead, her heart soared when he spoke. Harmless! She- she was going to be okay! Relief overwhelmed her and she sank down on her haunches, sighing deeply. Red on black. Red on yellow. She gave a thoughtful nod - she'd try to remember that. And play with a snake? After this scare? Unlikely! Plus, her legs felt like jelly. She didn't want to play with anything right now. And so she just sat there and stared mutely at him for a moment, before a grin broke out across her face. She was going to be okay! It sank in, deeper and deeper, and she let go of the dark, hard fear, replacing it with joy and freedom. It felt like having both the Wind and the Light inside of her, all at once. A tinkling laugh joined his smile, and once she felt a little steadier, she climbed up on all four again. Gingerly she perched with her front legs leaning against one of his sturdy ones, and with a playful nip to his ear she said goodbye. He returned it with a lick to her cheek, and then she hopped off his rock and began to toddle away on today's exploration of the Grove. She had a favorite bush that was always very, very pretty after a rain. Her brush with death mostly forgotten, she chirped to a nearby butterfly and left Ice to watch the rainbow, a mixture of thoughtfulness and relief on his face.

like it's easier than land

Love is all, from what I've heard, but my heart's learned to kill