It wasn't until she had made it well into the center of the frozen lake did she look up. Her bronze eyes went wide with surprise, hardly believing she had gone out so far. It was an odd perspective from the middle of the lagoon, a body of water she was only familiar with from its shores, and it was quite alien in how different everything looked from here. She looked to the shore, a shiver working up her spine as she thought about walking all the way back. She was lucky she hadn't fallen through yet, and she wondered if she'd be so lucky to not fall through walking back. She was nearly frozen at the thought, her legs starting to wobble beneath her.
-----
He had not wanted to lose, nor had he wanted to leave the territory that he had been glued to since he had joined. No freedom had given to him and finally Rock had to accept that he needed to loosen up his leash and have a few hours to himself in the peace and quiet, where no loud pack mate would topple in and disturb his tranquility. He was not exactly paying attention to where his body was taking him, just glad that he was traveling further away from the drama that had occurred within the pack. The alliance, Shade stepping up as leader due to Koda’s disappearance, so much more was to be added onto that. He had not realized that his paws were leading him back to the lagoon, and though he did not favor the place as much as others, he could still find the inner beauty to it all.
When he arrived, the sight that he saw shocked him, a beautiful creature was making its way across the ice and he had to blink his golden amber eyes to make sure he was not imagining things. There, in the middle of the icy battlefield, was the female. Her multi-colored pelt stood out to him, along with her matching eyes that he could not see so well in the distance. She looked small from where he was standing, almost as small as a mouse if it would have been directly in front of him. Possibly, compared to him, she might have actually felt like a mouse, but it was time to find out. His body moved gracefully towards her body, his roughened pads gliding against the ice, using his core to keep his balance. He was sure she had seen her, and when he got close enough he tried to slow himself down, his large muzzle reaching down the support the body of the owner of wobbling legs.
Looking up, again, she was surprised to see a reddish shape making it's way towards her. From a distance, she was pretty sure it was a wolf, even though the wide shoulders and broad body were more reminiscent of a bear. Surprisingly for his size the wolf was quite graceful on the ice, and his pace much more self-assured than the little baby steps that had lead her out here.
Sibyl was starting to grow more nervous, but for a reason separate from the lake under her paws. She wondered if she'd done something wrong, but supposed that wasn't it from the amicable expression on his handsome features that were growing clearer by the moment as he came closer. If it wasn't that she'd done something wrong, then why was he coming towards her? She started to back up on shaking limbs as he continued his path, the fear that the male's considerable bulk in addition to her own would be enough to fracture the ice. Who knew how thick this stuff was?
His wide head ducked down towards her, and Sibyl wordlessly shook her head back and forth. Already she could imagine the ice cracking and cold water covering her ears. "T-The ice. S-sir, it's not safe out here, I-I don't think you should be-" Despite her protest he didn't seem to stop, whether it was the lack of warning or the lack of traction she wasn't sure. The rather gentle poke of his muzzle to her ribs was enough to nudge her right off of her unsteady feet, paws splaying out in all directions as she landed with an "Oof!" on the ice.
Then he faced her, his amber golden eyes blinking at her in silence. He did not say a word, but simply lay down and put his head in between his paws, trying to desperately catch his breath. He had enough strength to do what he did but perhaps not as much stamina as he would have preferred. It did not matter though, for she was safely off of the ice. Clearing his throat, he stepped away from her, his red ears pricking forward as he silently stared at her. Should he say something? His black nose twitched slightly, snorting out the small ice particles that had formed within his large nostrils. The red girl in front of him, though much smaller then himself, was of the same coloration and it made him relax slightly. With a small sigh, he decided to introduce himself, "Guiness Thorben..." He then looked away, his golden amber eyes drifting off to look at the sight of a nearby tree.
With some poking and prodding from him she was headed back towards solid, firm ground. With a squeak of surprise she found herself again levitating off of the ice, the bear-wolf lifting her up onto the shore though she was sure she could have made the jump easily herself. He had settled down to catch his breath first, and Sibyl stood awkwardly as she looked around, not entirely sure what was going on and wondering why he'd helped her out. She shuffled in place self-consciously as he stared at her, letting her eyes bounce around everything except for the red giant before her.
"Thorben?" She wondered aloud, looking up and at him. Luckily he wasn't looking at her now, rather, he was staring off into nothing. Sibyl was wondering what a Thorben was before it it hit her, that was his name! "O-oh, of c-course. My name's Sibyl Balik." She quickly introduced herself. "T-thank you for helping me off the lake, sir. I didn't notice how far out I'd gone."
His gruff voice replied softly, “You‘re welcome…I…I‘m sorry for scaring you…back in the…meadows." It was not that he was struggling with his apology, just with finding the words to give to her. The large man wasn’t much of a talker when it came to situation where is services weren’t needed. He preferred to keep quiet and stay in the back ground. The only other being that he had actually bonded with, besides his siblings, would probably be the male Kiche, whom had challenged him and won. Though, position wasn’t really something that bothered Guiness, as long as his job got done, he did not find a problem with it. But now that Shade had risen up to alpha position, the Thorben was no longer as comfortable in the pack. He hoped that one day soon someone would challenge the man and he would fall from the position of alpha.