Hidden Berry Hideout Best Day of My Life

early afternoon - light snow - 33 ° F, 0 ° C

From beyond the treeline, the snow fell slow and lazy. He drew closer towards the forest's edge, squinting at the field of white that was marked by its odd formations. Where those... rocks, under the snow? He shrugged, pace slowing as he came upon the edge of what seemed like a very bumpy, raised platform. Birds scattered at his sudden immersion from the woods.

Thunderstruck he shuffled forward, head down as he nosed at the ground. The only thing his nostrils drew in was the smell of cold and plant. He huffed, breath white and shimmering in the air. With a careful left paw he went to step onto the lumpy platform. But just as he put weight down - his paw immediately went right through, breaking through the surface with a hollow sort of crunch. The snow gave way to startling shades of orange and yellow, the kind that had him drawing back in abrupt confusion.

His paw was fine even if covered in slime, the orange thing however - was not. He had more or less destroyed the poor thing and exposed its gooey innards. There was a tense moment where he was torn between guilt and fascination. He settled for sympathy as he poked at what remained of the plant's walls and licked at its broken edges in apology. From the back of his throat he gave a soft whine as if to express how sorry he was for the strange plant. But the moment was short lived when he drew back, yellow eyes peering at the field and all of its lumps. His tail started to wag.

There had to be hundreds of them hidden under the snow! He set to work digging them up in a frenzy, brushing off the snow with his muzzle all while his hindquarters wagged in excitement. His tail was nothing but a white blur behind him that had the rest of his body shaking back and forth. He had to see how many there were, even if the field stretched on for a quarter mile ahead of him and the snow kept erasing his progress. This time there wouldn't be any causalities on his part if he could help it.

(This post was last modified: Mar 10, 2017, 07:49 PM by Sahalie. Edit Reason: I added hidden berry hideout to the drop down list, so it shows up properly now :) )

you see I cannot be forsaken

He had gone the wrong way. He had known it by the time the moon had grown full and waned, but why he had not turned around and returned the way he had come was well beyond the dark prince. What lay south of the known borders of Relic Lore ultimately held no interest for the Ridge-borne royal, and after weeks of wandering, he found himself somewhere he thought was somewhat familiar - hadn't he met that oh-so-willing woman somewhere in this general area?. A part of him was certain that the mountain that loomed beneath the gray snow-laden clouds was indeed the Mountain of Dire.

Back at home, he would have been fast asleep; but, given that the weather had been favorable as of late, he used the daytime hours and overcast skies to continue on his journey towards somewhere he felt safe, sheltered, and preferrably not alone. The days of solitude had at long last taken its toll and, when he thought he would never feel such a thing after being smothered by his family for so long, that inescapable and instinctive pull towards some sort of companionship. He could have been okay with a bit of posturing, if he was going to be honest with himself, but a deep conversation would have been just as fine.

The snow began to fall and Skoll Archer was physically at the end of his rope. He had eaten recently, even if it had only been some coyote leftovers consisting of a pair of rabbit legs and what muddied innards he could lap up, and it was just enough to give him energy to find his way into the Fen. There was nothing but slush and sludge here but it was better than the rocky tundra and dry terrain he had encountered so far.

When the flapping of bird wings sounded out through the air, Skoll flinched. His colorless eyes came up and his ears slowly twisted forward. Someone was here. He lowered his head and stalked forward, until - there! somewhere up ahead - he saw that blur of a white tail against the snow-covered trees. At first, he scowled, unsure of what the youth was so interested in. A tilt of his head was quick to replace his frown with a more curious expression.

A modest clearing of his throat ought to get the lad's attention, he hoped. If not, perhaps this would, even if his voice was a bit too raspy for his tastes. "Care to share?"

sköll ARCHER

i'm a dreamer, i'm a man

i'm doing whatever i can to make the bad things go away

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

Care to share?

The voice, deep and smooth, came from somewhere besides him towards the treeline. He twisted, drawing himself up to face whoever talked to him. His face was covered in powdery snow that he didn't bother to shake off, but his expression was curious all the same. Atop his head his short white ears twisted, and he stood up straight. Oh. "Sure." He chirped, jaws falling open in an easy grin with the corners of his mouth curling.

(A part of him felt like that wasn't the right kind of answer to that kind of question, but he kept on talking all the same. He was going to segue his way to his little discovery either way.)

"But only if you uh.." His voice trailed off, mind elsewhere as he looked down at his paws and at the few orange blobs he managed to uncover. He had to find the perfect one for it to work, or else he would just look like a fool. As if he ever looked like a fool. It wasn't much of a plan but he wanted to go along with it anyway. He'd find one of the more modest sized plants and show the wolf for emphasis as to what exactly he had stumbled upon. Pumpkins, were a new and foreign experience for him, and he wanted to unveil his discovery properly. If only he could find the right one that he could fit his jaws around...

"If you, uh, tell me what these are!" He pounced, head down as he darted at one of the smaller blobs. It snapped off its root with a satisfying sort of crunch and he pulled back to stand straight.

Except he looked up too quickly, and he watched as his orange treasure was suddenly sky born before him. Panic fluttered across his features and in that brief second, his heart stopped. But thankfully - thankfully - he lunged forward at the last second and his jaws snapped shut around his beloved. And all before it could smash onto the ground! He straightened up and beamed at the wolf, entirely too proud of what he just accomplished. It wasn't much, but it was the little things that mattered to him. Like saving mysterious orange plants from the brutal death of shattering on the snowy ground.

For emphasis he gave his head a little shake. It wasn't exactly a proud or teasing look on him, seeing how he was covered in snow and prancing like a pup. Instead he looked more along the lines of goofy or silly, but he'd take it.

(This post was last modified: Nov 05, 2016, 01:52 AM by Cottongrass.)