Oak Tree Bend baby, it's cold outside

 

The sight of Hal hopping through drifts nearly as tall as her made the boy grin, lowering his chin to allow his friend to bump her muzzle with his. A rumbling sound came from his chest in reply, glad that she was okay after the hellish storm that had swept through the territory. "D'y hear that?" she exclaimed, and he lifted his head. Auds swiveled this way and that and his nose twitched, taking in the sights and smells around them trying to pinpoint the sound she might have heard. Then, he heard it too. A faint scratching and the muffled sound of voices coming from somewhere nearby. The pair seemed to realize just what it meant at roughly the same time, Hal’s jaw dropping into an ‘O’ and his brows raising in surprise.

A silvery woman appeared who he’d yet to meet, instructing them harshly to start digging. His nose crinkled slightly, but he relaxed and shook it off, pushing through the drifts to where the woman was digging. They were joined shortly by a salt and pepper woman who began to aid them, the boy beginning to dig his paws into the snow and shoving backwards with strong movements. Snow flew behind them as they worked, his muscles pulling taunt and releasing and his breath billowing from his desaturated maw in clouds. His paws were slowly growing numb, but still he pressed on. If they were sealed in, there was no telling how long they had until they began to suffocate. This, however, he could not voice out loud to his friend.

 

Waking up to the unnatural darkness automatically caused Leotie to feel uneasy but she could tell that she wasn’t alone in the den.  She didn’t really understand what was going on at first but slowly as she listened to the voices around her she gathered that they had been snowed in during the night.  She didn’t know what this meant for them but she didn’t think that it was good but she also wasn’t sure what they could do since she hadn’t ever been in this sort of situation. 

However, it seemed that moving around in total darkness wasn’t the smartest choice she could have made.  This thought came to her as she felt her foreleg hit something large causing her to fall over a rather large body.  As it turned out it seemed that she had stumbled over Triell the realization came to her as she recognized his voice beside her when he spoke her name.  “Yes it’s me, sorry, are you okay?” She questioned hoping she hadn’t hurt him in her tumble.  “I think that we are,” she said answering Triell as she once again got to her feet.  “Do you hear that?” She questioned as her ears picked up the slightest hint of voices outside the den. She felt that she needed to help somehow and she had heard Spieden mention digging so Leotie felt that was what she needed to do to help get them out.  The problem was just getting to the place where she could help dig without stumbling over someone else.

(This post was last modified: Apr 07, 2016, 03:18 AM by Leotie.)

Please see Kajika's OOC profile for OOC preferences, thank you

Oh no.

Were they all going to die?

For a moment, Kyna froze in horror, forgetting how to breath as she eyed Speiden.  Not get out until spring?  Surely they’d starve to death before that!  And there were so many in here!  (That was why she had chosen to join the communal den that night, after all, it was warm with all these bodies.)  But surely they couldn’t all live here for weeks and months to come.

A soft whine slipped free from the young girl, even as Triell appeared at her other side.  At least he had the wherewithal to dig, and watching the swarthy adult began to slowly turn her gears.  Dig.  Right.  Dig.

Ears flattened against her delicate skull, the honey-spun wolf began to dig again, her claws scraping at snow so thick it was almost ice.  She might have not heard anything at all over the roar of panic inside her own ears had Leotie not spoken up, and the girl gave pause, tipping her snout upwards.  Sahalie!  Eyes brightened. “We’re down here!” she whined, wondering just how much snow stood between the small portion of the pack and the outside world.

 “We’re not – we won’t die down here.  Right?”

A wild dissertation appears!

Aponi's frustration may have been misplaced on the pups but the knowledge that it was not their fault did little to state her irritation. After all she had only wanted to nap , not dig out the den after already growing tired from her seemingly endless journey across the territory. Pups though the size of herself in the silver boy's case did not have as much experience and typically less stamina than an adult. Still they took up their places and began to do their best to pull the snow away from where the opening was supposed to be.

The mother grunted in exertion as her paws lost their grasp and dull claws skidded across the thin layer of ice she had struck beneath the first few shovelfuls. It was at this point that Jessie arrived and began to dig herself in silence. Blue eyes glanced sideways to take in the form of the woman she had hardly seen despite being within the pack for months now. She was smaller than most, but seemed physically able, at least she was another adult.

Turning her attention back to the ice she growled in frustration. Snow was bad enough but if random layers of ice had formed within the lump than this truly was going to be a task. Rearing onto her back legs she slammed her paws down onto the ice with the majority of her body weight. To her satisfaction it shattered and as she cleared it she heard the muffled voice of her daughter from within the den. It could have been her imagination but to Aponi it sounded closer than before, "Kyna? Kyna you have to dig from the inside so we can get you out faster." The mother called louder than she normally would have, unsure of just how much precipitation lay between them.

Spieden's paws worked tirelessly against the ice, her face set into a determined scowl that was hidden by the scant light. It was a sort of dull, monotonous work that really required nothing more than her dogged effort. Voices of her waking packmates rose up from behind her, only momentary distractions from her primary task: getting the hell out of here. The muffled, high pitched sound of Sahalie didn't particularly set Spieden at ease


"We won't die if we quit the jawin' and just dig," Spieden grumbled back to Kyna, not looking up from the <i>scrape scrape scrape</i> of her hefty paws. From above came a crackling sound, small chunks of snow freeing themselves from the wall and raining down on the woman's grizzled head. Spieden appreciatively chuffed, rearing up on her thick hind limbs to reach forelimbs into the compromised portion of the wall and pull back pawfulls of loose powder mixed with icy shards. 

Just above she could see the pale glow of light through snow, a welcomed treat for the eyes. "Here!" She shouted, not caring that her swishing tail was smacking somebody. If they concentrated their efforts on the weakest point, all the sooner they would be free.

"Could be better," he replied to Leotie, a tease to his deep tone. Why he cared for her consideration, she was light as a feather to have really done him harm. Right now, it would take a lot more than damn snow to keep him down. Why he could make out a bit of the voices above them, there was only one way out of here. Now it was only obvious to the others outside who could help in the rescue. He didn't feel the need to speak, his breath was already coming out ragged.

Anxiety was pouring off the golden girl beside him, but he'd like to hope his composure beside her was aiding her own efforts. For a moment she kept at it. She unlike the rest of them felt the need to answer Hal, soon panicking if they would live in these conditions. It did seem a little silly, humorous even she believed they could die, in the eyes of a child this was a pretty big deal. For that Triell could sympathize. Thankfully her mother heard her, and was encouraging her from the other side. The Coho woman was less than amused, but waking in snowed over den was the equivalent of the wrong side of the bed.

"Kyna, I won't let that happen," he murmured to her only, giving a gentle nudge to her shoulder. Right now that was the best he could do under the circumstances. Onward they dug, and he wondered if anyone was making much progress. How bad was it from the outside? Soon enough an old would in his shoulder was began to ache, and protest. He didn't need the damn thing locking up, and tried to angle his paw in another place. About then he noticed the change in the darkness. It was lessening. Why, he had to cough out a good piece of a dark silvery tail, he could see where Spie was mentioning. Swiftly he lunged forward, breaking against more of the chilled snow, plowing back the broken pieces, clipping away another part of the small opening with new found energy. "Here Kyna, I bet if you get up here you can get out." 

are you with me through it all?

   

Her mother’s voice came as a bit of a surprise, and for a moment, the golden pup forgot about her fear of suffocation.  It was strange to hear Aponi like that – not angry, not disdainful.  Muffled, yes, but just Aponi without any of the disguises she wrapped herself in.  The young wolf began to dig again, and perhaps she’d not have remembered her fear if not for Speiden’s reprimand.

Ears flattened backwards, orange eyes darting sideways to eye the alpha.  She did not want to die.  Death was horrible, death was painful – she’d watched Phineas suffer and gasp his dying breaths before bleakness took him.  She knew no other, and Kyna did not want this.  So she dug, heartened by Triell’s attempt.  Perhaps fatherhood offered him a better perspective on handling youth, and the girl dug harder, with no ill effects of age to slow her down.

Soon, the leading lady had made a small break in the ice dam, and the swarthy male lunged at the hole.  It cracked, and gave way.  Eyes sparkled as sunlight beamed into Oak Tree Bend’s communal den, and once summoned, Kyna joined the pair.  “It looks a bit small,” she murmured speculatively, chewing on her lower lip.  What if she got stuck?  She’d starve to death there and everyone else would die.

But what if she didn’t get stuck?

The girl made a determined noise and stepped forward.  “I can do it,” she murmured, more for her own benefit than anyone else’s.  With that, she pushed forward.  Most of her body slipped through, catching only once the packed snow met her girth.  The wolf struggled, brows furrowing as paws slipped and scratched across the snow – and then, with one great tug, she was free!  More snow fell away from the den as she scrambled away, leaving the opening a bit freer for the next wolf.

A wild dissertation appears!

sorry for taking so long on this! as the thread is so old this is going to be the last round. they can finally get through the snow and everyone can hug and go home

Jessie was beside them now, but there was no time for a greeting: only work.

Silence fell amongst the group as they worked tirelessly. Her paws had gone numb some time ago but now the feeling was coming back to them and they felt raw and the snow and ice in front of her was stained red. She ignored it. She would gladly lose a paw instead of her family. And she wasn't going to lose anyone because they were going to get everyone out. Even now she could hear the muffled sounds of someone and it was all the reason she needed to dig harder. They were making ground.

There was a loud crack to her side and she looked over to see that Kyna's mother had broken through the toughest shield between them and the others. Hopefully there was not too much ice. If there was a layer that thick on the inside Sahalie was not sure that the den-bound wolves had enough leverage to punch their way out.

Her mouth hung open as suddenly her sunlit friend burst from the hole Aponi had made. "Kyna!" Sahalie wanted to run over and tug her the rest of the way out, but the girl was handling it just fine herself. And now that some wiggling had been done the hole was much bigger, though not quite big enough for the congregation of large wolves just below. Standing near the edges of the hole Sahalie began to stamp with her forepaws, hoping to dislodge enough for the other wolves to free themselves. 

Yes I suppose so,” she agreed. It was somewhat embarrassing to Leotie to have tipped over Triell but she also knew that now was no time for her to be worrying about that. With everything going on she had quickly come to the conclusion as everyone else had, they were trapped in the den. Once she had gotten over her intial panic she set to work digging to try and help get them out as soon as possible. It was a lot of hard work especially in her past she hadn’t ever dug anything. It was because of that it even took her a moment to get the hang of that but once she did dug at the snow as hard as she could. Depite her feet getting colder by the moment she didn’t give up.

With everyone working together their hard work finally paid of and there was soon an hole large enough for them to squeeze out. Leotie waited her turn to slip out of the hole in to the opening and out of the staleness of the den. Finally when she was finally able to climb out she gave her coat a shake and took a deep breath of fresh air. A smile crossed the young female’s lips as it was good to see those of her pack that had been on the outside.

(This post was last modified: Jun 06, 2016, 08:06 PM by Leotie.)

Please see Kajika's OOC profile for OOC preferences, thank you

Wow this post sucks but this is Aponi's exit

The area below her paws gave out and crumbled into the den below, revealing the dark face of Spieden below her. The hole was definitely too small for the well fed woman and after a short shuffling Aponi's daughter's blonde face appeared. Instinct kicked in as the girl began to push herself through and the mother moved to grab at her nape but hesitated. Kyna was doing just fine with the task herself and so the Aquila took a step back, giving the pup more room to be freed.

Finally her daughter's whole form wriggled free of the den and the silver woman moved forward to embrace her. The moment lasted only a second before Aponi released her and moved back to the task at hand which was allowing the others to get out as well. As Sahalie pushed snow on one side the older woman moved to the opposite and began digging.  Between the two of them the hole widened in only a few short minutes and the Aquila dipped her head in to briefly look at who else had been trapped. Glancing back at how large the area around her cranium had before turning back to the pack, "Leotie should be able to fit now I believe, hopefully that will widen it enough for everyone else." Retreating back once more she watched as the tawny form appear upon the snowy terrain. The rest fell in quick succession behind her and once the job was formally completed Aponi nodded to both Spieden and Triell before nudging Kyna gently behind the ear and disappearing back into the trees.