Break the Ice

When the forest finally thinned, Domina could expell a sigh of relief. The snow was the only thing to slow her down now, and that was something she could handle - at least, that's what she told herself. It was pretty difficult to maneuver through the thick layers of ice and powder, considering her size. She kept moving because she had to - because to stop, meant to freeze. The strangest sensation (aside from the obvious hunger, and the weariness within her muscles) was the thirst. She was thirsty, very thirsty. Even though each leap and bound had her chin-deep in snow; she would try to lick it off of her dark lips, but it would melt far too quickly.

The open air was a nice break from the claustrophobia-inducing trees. While she wasn't particularly fearful of such an enclosed space, being out in the open was far more relaxing. Domina thundered along, creating a thin path across the snow. Her paws hopped and bounced along, until finally there was a very strange sound.

It was like cracking. It started out quiet, dull, as if quite distant - and at first she didn't hear it. But then with a few more steps, the sound became more drawn out and deliberate sounding; so she paused, and looked at her feet.

That was stupid. It was also the last thing she did before losing her footing, because a split-second later, the ice finally split and she went down.

"Owh!" She called out, right before her head submerged the first time. The spring had been obscured by snow; layers of ice rimmed the edge, and now she was bobbing in a brew of shockingly icy water.

(This post was last modified: Dec 11, 2013, 06:24 AM by Domina.)

Having mover further South with the pack, and into a different region of Relic Lore, it fell upon the Scout now to search out the area, in hopes of finding food and understanding the lay of the land. While she still felt as though she'd been starving for ages, she pushed herself to rove and scout for any frozen prey. Even frozen wolves would have made her drool- she'd eat just about anything just now, though she knew it was beyond her, at least at the moment, to kill a wolf simply to eat it. No, she wasn't a killer- but she was a thief. She'd stolen food from wolves many times before, and had even fought for a scrap of meat..And this had been during a time when food had been relatively plentiful, and she in good health.

It was with a hungry look in her eyes that Sagacity first looked upon the wolf who'd fallen through the ice. She didn't feel capable of killing another wolf, but if one died...They would certainly make a good meal. The other members of the pack were so starved that she didn't think they'd care. But this wolf wasn't dead- she was in a tight spot, and would only die if Sagacity did nothing an condemned her to death. So she took a moment to think- and to any passer-bys, it would have looked as though she was simply trying to figure out a way to help the wolf. This was perfect. She'd help the wolf- but maybe she just...Wouldn't be fast enough.

"I'll get a branch," She said, putting just enough urgency in her voice for it to seem convincing that she wanted to help her- an to tell the truth, she hadn't quite made up her mind yet, that she'd slowly let the female die if she couldn't get herself out of the water. So Sagacity darted off in search of a branch- but purposefully chose the first one she came across, which didn't look as though it would be the most dependable branch in the world. In fact, as she carried it over to the female, she highly doubted that it would do anything but crack in the woman's teeth- but at least she was trying, right?

Avatars by Arla!

The downside of wolves, dogs, and anything of the canine variety of life, was it's lack of ability when it came to water. Domina became aware of her inability to hold her breath as soon as her head made the initial plunge; she gasped with an inward breath, gulping cold air and water, which only made things worse. When she came up again the girl was sputtering and coughing. Her warm tongue was pressed to the roof of her mouth out of some sort of instinctual need; the purpose at the time, eluded her. It was possible the girl was trying to warm her gums, as the icy water had rendered them numb. The pain of the cold in her teeth was something unexpected - but then, Domina hadn't planned to fall in to a lake, exactly.

Her legs scrambled for purchase upon the earth, yet found nothing. The motion did not stir any kind of warmth within her limbs - instead, further exposure seemed to only numb her from the outside, in. Domina didn't know what to do; everything had happened so fast. Was she going to die here, alone, in the ice? Killed by a weakness in the lake's surface? How pathetic. Her teeth began to chatter as she headed towards shore, but as it was rimmed in ice, there was nothing she could do.

The girl didn't hear the call of a stranger, as the water was sloshing in and out of her ears. The diaphanous sounds of the forest were swallowed up by great moments of hungry silence, and cold.

Then, as Domina's head bobbed once again to the surface (who knows how many times it did that), she saw it. A branch, as if a tree was reaching for her - trying to save her - and it was almost within reach. With a desperate kick of her legs she launched herself towards it, grabbing with her dainty muzzle (and a not-so-dainty grip); it was enough to stabilize her for the time being.

Except, that moment was fleeting. There was a cracking sound that vibrated through the stick and in through her teeth, as the stick that anchored her crumbled. Domina's head plunged once again in to the water, which was followed by an effervescence of air that she forced out of her lungs. By the time the girl was inhaling again, she was on the up-curve towards the surface. Only a small sampling of the lake water reached her tongue this time.

"Help!" She sputtered, useless and afraid, unaware that she had a guardian angel at the lakeside - one that couldn't entirely be trusted.

Amid the splashing water and fragments of ice that were thrashed about, the dark female re-surfaced a few times before noticing the stick- Sage didn't push it forward but waited patiently for the partially submerged wolf to find it herself. She bit into one end to keep it still, but as she'd predicted, the branch was far too thin to drag the wolf out. Part of her felt guilty, seeing the woman cry out in fear, but part of her only wanted to satisfy her own hunger.

For a wolf who considered herself to be quite intelligent, though, Sagacity only realized after her branch broke that she'd have absolutely no chance of eating the freezing wolf if she drowned. And she couldn't exactly be bothered to risk her own life, trying to drag a soaking wet, water-logged carcass out of the water. So she looked at the helpless female for a second, silently hating her decision to step in, waste her own energy and help at all, and turned away.

She trotted toward the treeline and snuffled around in the snow, finding instead a much longer, sturdier branch which had fallen from a tree after having been laden with too much snow and ice. This one was much heavier and had to be dragged out across the ice, and more than once she heard a dull crack as the ice protested the extra weight- she sidestepped neatly, though, to avoid breaking through and moved quickly. The female's head and shoulders were out of the water- her last effort hadn't been completely in vain- but this time, she figured, would do it. She grabbed the opposite end of the branch and shoved it forward, watching the female with the one eye that faced her. Once she latched on, Sage would pull.

Avatars by Arla!

Look Out!

A fight broke out between two male mountain goats. Hunt Opportunity