you do not know who is your friend or who is your enemy until the ICE breaks. "No, not very long," she responded to his query about her time in the Lore. He nodded to himself, striding on, long legs carrying him across the thick, clinging undergrowth of the Ghastly Woods. The noises haunted them, and she mentioned a brother. It sent his thoughts careening back through time, crash-landing in a land of ice and snow and bitter winds, where four brothers had been born and huddled together when the blizzards raged... and sung together, under a sky full of stars and northern lights. He found himself missing Snow the most of them - Snow, and their mother, Viemina. He missed them, and in some corner of his heart, regretted leaving them, but it was best this way. He had his own life, free of scorn and the constant threat of being left in the wilderness to starve. Viemina had surely raised more litters since he left, and Snow had probably set out, too, and found a mate of his own... or possibly stayed, to help Viemina with her cubs. Snow was nice like that. Ice wouldn't put it past him to remain, and after all, their father had only disliked Ice, and never his brothers. He was just about to sigh wistfully and ask about Cessair's brother when she broke into a run, passing him in a heartbeat and disappearing along the path. Surprised, he looked after her, a slight grin on his face when she went flying. He wasn't the only one to tangle his paws in the shrubbery. Ice broke into a lope, eating up the ground beneath him as the light grew larger. He'd finally realized what it was she'd been charging for, and was eager to follow; closer and closer they came, sunlight streaming down as the trees thinned and the wind died down, shedding its ghoulish noises. He managed to avoid mishaps, broke out through the thickest section and where the forest thinned out. Cessair led the way, prancing along in the light, and Ice bounced after, fur flashing silver in the sunlight. Warmth lapped against him, the songs of birds and the wind across lush grasses the only sounds - a pleasant change from the hellish cacophony in the Woods. He flung a look over his shoulder. It loomed dark and foreboding behind them, and he didn't mourn getting out of it. A happy woof rolled from his mouth as he loped on, Shadowstorm and the tension forgotten. Perhaps he could've gotten along with her on another day, but... For now, he had Cessair to socialize with. She was likeable, if a bit shy and cautious. The last of the trees gave way and a large field lay in front of them. Breathless, bright-eyed, Ice broke off to a wolf's trot before stopping entirely. He'd skirted around the fields a couple of times when exploring, but he'd never taken the time to actually enjoy it: he did now, though, drinking it in with eager eyes. Tall, lush and green, the grasses waved in the solemn breeze and clusters of blackberry bushes huddled together here and there. Above them, the sky was bright blue with only a few cirrus clouds, and a sun just slightly past noon. "It's beautiful, isn't it?" he said with laughter in his voice, turning to Cessair. "Much better than that forest." The Ghastly Woods, on a good day, held a certain charm and beauty of its own, but it was dark, wild - unpredictable, morbid. Ice preferred straight-up beauty like these fields with the sunlight slanting down, and no damnable rivers in sight. He fired off a large yawn and lowered himself into a bow, stretching out his legs. Once up on all four again he gave himself a shake, sunlight glinting in his eyes as he turned to Cessair, once more struck by his inability to "know" what to do. Awkwardly he left it up to her to guide their meeting in a meaningful direction. .ice aesir |
(This post was last modified: Aug 26, 2012, 05:08 PM by Ice.)