Cold Water Creek the snow itself is lonely

A snow thread for @Cottongrass! 28F, heavy snow (for the last few days, apparently.)

In truth, Reyes had little intention of loitering around with the pale yearling any longer than it took to hunt and share a meal. Share, of course, because it was a joint effort – but with a full belly, the wolf had found himself inclined to nap, and there was a certain safety in numbers (even if that other number as a bit of an idiot). When the awoke, he woke to snowfall; the loner had been certain he could wait the storm out, but it had gone dark and light and dark again, and still the clouds seemed content to simply dump the white stuff upon the ground, and Reyes couldn’t wait any longer.

“This stuff is gross,” he groused, finally uncurling and stretching his limbs. Almost immediately, the cold air nipped at his nose, breath curling around his dark muzzle as he shook the dust from his winter coat. At least the mountain had provided a dry place to sleep.

Glancing over his shoulder, the male reached down to nose Cottongrass, make sure the younger wolf was indeed awake, and listening. “Gotta find water, probably.” Another meal, if they could muster. “Time to get off the mountain, kid, ‘less you wanna spend your whole damn winter here.”

He blinked awake moments later at Reyes' prodding, their nose cold and damp against his fur. A large part of him was very tempted to mumble some stubborn, petulant response and fall right back asleep. After all - he was warm, he was full, and he was content to sleep the day away. But Reyes was insistent and he found himself drawing himself up onto his hindquarters. Wherever they holed up had served them well. He would mourn the loss of their makeshift napping place when he was more awake.

Water sounded nice, he guessed. If he was on his own he would have just eaten mouthfuls of snow and called it a day. But Reyes had a way of settling under his skin and forcing himself to take the other smarter action, it seemed. He didn't mind. And so he shook himself awake, stretching his front legs as far as they could while arching his back. The stiffness that clung to his body melted away with a few satisfying pops.

"'Kay." Came his sleepy response, the word slow and mumbled on his tongue. With an expectant stare he stood up, ready to amble after Reyes and wherever it might lead.

At least Cottongrass moved, he supposed. He watched the younger wolf with a wry expression, ears flickering back and forth as the kid got to his feet and popped all the sleep right out of his bones. Guess he’d learned a thing or too. That was a good thing. Guess he’d learned to be agreeable, too.

“Up. Up and at ‘em,” he rumbled, tossing his head as the yearling slowly ambled behind him. The weather outside would surely come as a shock after leaving his warm nest – even Reyes gave a small shudder, tucking his head closer to his bulky body with a huff. Winter was not his favorite season, not by a long stretch. Perhaps once he’d weathered this, he might consider returning to his mother’s homeland. There might be fire, but at least it never snowed.

He descended the tilted earth in silence, carefully navigating the mountain’s rocky side. Each paw was pressed down into the piling snow, until they finally came to the forest, dead ferns starting to disappear under a white blanket. Might be pretty, if he wasn’t slowly getting soaked – or dealing with a hungry belly…well, two, really. “You doing okay back there, kid? Think I might here water, ‘er something.”

The sudden break in silence threw him off.

"Uh." His mouth was moving before his brain could catch up, and he found himself in a moment of pure panic. Because they asked him something. And oh god, what did they just ask him!? The frantic whirring of his brain could probably be heard miles away. But thankfully - the moment was short lived, because it was then one of his paws slipped out from under him.

He landed in the snow on his stomach, limbs skewed at awkward angles beneath his bulky frame with a bewildered 'oof' slipping past his lips. He couldn't move fast enough as he pulled himself up and onto his hindquarters. That certainly woke him up. And he still didn't have a clue as to what Reyes had asked him.

"Yeah?" He was awake, but not necessarily smart, and especially not in moments of panic. Instead he kept on sitting in the snow with a cold belly and racing mind. Because he hoped that was a good enough answer for whatever the hell they just asked asked him. He took advantage of his own daze to take in his surroundings. And immediately balked because he knew where they were.

Even beneath all the snow, he could remember those dead ferns from anywhere. For good measure he cocked his head and squinted. Yep, the forest was definitely ringing a bell in the back of his head. He never regretted anything as much as he did right then. Not when he interrupted an important hunt, not when he went hunting for the Qalupalik, and not when he wandered off and almost lost his ear because of it. None of those past moments could live up to what was happening right then.

(Maybe he was being melodramatic but what did he know, ever?)

His heart rate spiked as the weight of guilt and anxiety hit him full force, just as it always did when he was under even the slightest amount of pressure. So he did what he did best when he felt static-y - and broke into rambling, stuttering speech. Neither the rambling nor stuttering were new elements to his speech patterns but he spoke all the same.

"I think - I think - I think, I was uh, attacked, somewhere near here." His gaze flickered back and forth from tree to tree, and he couldn't stop shuffling his paws. The entire world was suddenly bearing down upon him and boy oh boy, could he feel it. He forced himself to focus on the dark form of Reyes, yellow eyes blinking owlishly.

One half of him said bad no go like a petulant child, and the other half of him said follow friend now also just like a petulant child. Never before was he so torn between options. "Yeah." He finished lamely, so unsure of what to do with himself in that moment.

@Cottongrass -- I'm sorry this took so long...but boy do I love Cottongrass oh my goodness.

The silence might have stretched on for ages in Cottongrass’ own might, but for his companion, there was nothing else but the soft crunch of snow and the panting of two traveling wolves. If nothing else, it made tracking down the far-off trickle water much easier to locate. Unaware of the flash backs his companion was having behind him, the man might have actually found the entire thing a ripsnorter that the yearling would be so worried – as it were, he simply dipped down into the tree line, only halting when he heard the younger male speak up behind him.

Ears pricked, and Reyes’ turned his head, one brow raised.

“Yeah?” he asked gruffly, looking around the forest with slightly more interest. “By what?” Because yeah, sure, snow made it a little harder to detect pack borders and the presence of other wolves, but even with the weather, the dusky wolf was fairly certain they were the only two present, at least at the moment. If it was another canid that had attacked the youngster, said canid was long gone by now.

Turning back to his companion, he shrugged a shoulder. “C’mon, kid. We need water. Ain’t nothin’ gonna bother us – not while there’s two, anyways. That’d be plain stupid. We’re fine.”

"By a wolf." He mumbled, staring down at his paws as he stood. There were a whole lot of other words lingering on the tip of his tongue, but he swallowed them down. Because he had a feeling that breaking into rambling dialogue about how it may or may not have been a monster in the form of a wolf wouldn't help his case. But that was just a thought he had. There was a moment where his brain unhelpfully argued that he could keep pushing on that instinctive point since hey, you never know. At the sight of Reyes' retreating backside his jaws, thankfully, clacked shut and he scrambled forward.

While the idea of throwing a fit was growing more and more tempting with each step, like hell was he going to be left alone in or around Bad Time Forest. Which was his new unofficial name for the forest he'd been trapped in not so long ago. He thought it was very, very telling if he were to say so himself. His yellow eyes drew carefully over every shadow and tree. Because he swore if he saw the tree, the tree where he met that wolf, he was going to -

He nudged into Reyes and started, violently. His white coat puffed up and his eyes darted for all of two seconds before he realized what happened. And really, he wanted to listen to the older wolf but his brain just wasn't having it. So he blurted out the first thought that hit his mind because maybe talking would erase the jitters in his nerves.

(...It never did.)

"Have you ever been in a fight before?"

There is a moose carcass that has been scavenged by coyotes nearby. +15 Health

“Huh.”

There were plenty of questions he could ask. Did you ask for it? Sure, Cottongrass had his moments…could be kind of…dumb. But the kid was well-meaning enough that the man had to doubt the boy intentionally started a fight. He might be a stickybeak, sure, but most wolves would prefer to move on than waste their energy in a pointless assault. Were you in pack territory? A possible cause, but for all the blundering the pale wolf did, Reyes had a hard time believing he was that stupid – and if he was? Well, then he damn well asked to be attacked for being a damn idiot.

He continued his trek towards the sound of water, the flow increasing in volume. His mouth watered as they neared the banks. As he lowered his muzzle to the stream, Cotton pipped up again – the dark wolf paused, furrowed his brow, and took his damn drink anyways. Only once his thirst was quenched did he lift his muzzle back upwards.

“Sure have,” he grumbled, ear flipping backwards. “Plenty a’ wolves don’t cotton up to lone wolves.” Here, he had to congratulate himself on the wordplay, a small smile crossing his mouth. “‘sides. I have little sisters. Had to keep ‘em out of trouble until they were old enough to decide what they wanted.” Reyes rolled his shoulders in a shrug. “My face didn’t get this way on its own, y’know. Now drink, niño. ‘for the damn thing freezes over.”

"Sure, Cottongrass had his moments…could be kind of…dumb." I really love Reyes, cause that just made my day <3

He had almost missed it, too distracted by his own worry to pay complete attention to Reyes words. It took a second, but he caught the wordplay on cotton and he gave a snort of laughter. He liked that! His tail wagged and he trotted past Reyes towards the stream, worries completely forgotten in that moment. Because he'd have to reminder that joke for later.

He dipped his paws just barely into the water, stooping low to get a drink as the older wolf had instructed. But he paused, their words looping in his head and drawing his attention away. It wasn't like the river was going to actually freeze over, anyway. He stood back up straight, turning his head to face them. Scars, he took note of them with gentle eyes and a head cocked to the side. A blink of seriousness before his jaws fell open into a grin. His tail took to wagging and he gave the slightest shuffle forward, closer towards Reyes.

"That's cool." He chirped, and in back of his head his brain echoed an awed you're cool. But he kept that to himself, and instead turned to get a drink like they wanted him to. He took a few greedy gulps, dipping his entire muzzle into the cold water and swallowing. The snow fell fast, white upon white all around. And suddenly there was a thought in his mind, as he distractedly peered across the river to distant forest.

"What are you going to do for the winter?" He asked, pulling back and facing Reyes with honest interest. It was going to be his first winter alone, and he really didn't have a clue on what he was supposed to do. He was hoping Reyes would give him a clue, or at least inadvertently nudge him in any direction. Really, he wasn't picky. All he knew that Reyes seemed smart, smarter and more experience than himself.

(This post was last modified: Jan 12, 2017, 02:24 AM by Cottongrass.)

Okay, but I just adore Cotton.  He's so stinkin' cute.  <3

The silence stretched on without interruption, and Reyes was content to leave it as such.  Back in the old days, back when he was still responsible for two little girls who’d inherited enough curiosity for four, peace was the most valued prized wrapped up and placed beneath the Tannenbaum.  It never lasted, though.  Not with those girls.  Mighta taught them to be that naughty, the loner thought with a grimace, knowing well his own behavior had been anything but model back in those days, no matter how hard he’d tried to help his mother.

Pale eyes shifted as he lifted his head from the chilly water, regarding the boy with mild interest.  His mouth twisted into a half grin as he rolled his shoulders in a lazy shrug.  “Dunno.  Too late to go back south.  Winter’s here, so let’s hope it’s a good one without any fears, huh?”  But that didn’t answer the kid’s question now, did it?  Probably didn’t know what to do with all this snow.  Hell, maybe he’d come from further south himself, where it never did snow this much.

“Probably try to be a bit nicer, I guess.  Hard enough to live on your own when it gets real cold.  Usually try to avoid the snow, but…”  The man rolled his shoulders in another shrug, pausing to get a drink of water.  “Dunno.  Think most wolves pack up ‘round this time.  Ain’t real fond of packs myself so…”  Maybe a traveling partner.  Maybe not.  He glanced over at Cottongrass, ears swiveled out to the side.  “Wouldn’t be a bad choice for you, kid.  If you like people.”

Given the amount of chatting this brat did, he had to believe Cotton did.

(This post was last modified: Jan 20, 2017, 04:47 PM by Reyes.)