Larkcall Lowlands the snow is falling down outside my window

RE: Drifting snows have left dangerous pockets in the Snowmarch Expanse. Don't fall in while traveling!
Open to one or two! And if you need some help visualizing...

Why had he gone north?

Reyes questioned himself for the umpteenth time, ears flat against his skull as he trudged through snow up to his chest. Hell, he couldn’t do anything more than walk with the snow coming down like this, but what was he supposed to do? Turn around and go back? Go back to what? An empty den on the stone cold side of the equally empty mountain? Or he could keep going further south…or try, at any rate. With the snow this thick, the man had to wonder how far he’d have to go to get out of the mess, and if he even could without dropping dead from starvation first.

As if his stomach was reading his mind, it piped up just then, growling softly to remind the loner that he hadn’t done himself the favor of filling it prior to fumbling north of the mountain’s side and further then, beyond the forest. His ears pressed further against his fluffy crown as he grumbled under his breath, echoing the noise his gut had made. “Happy freakin’ Solstice, Reyes,” he snarled under his breath, breaking through the snow with another hard push. The travel got no easier, but at least he wasn’t stuck.

As he glanced upwards, studying the horizon, a figure seemed to appear just clear of horizon. Another joined it, and two more after that. Reyes squinted, head lowering until it was just above the field of snow. His chin skimmed the powder there, though it did little to actually clear his vision in the blowing drifts. The first shadowy animal lifted its head, and that was when he noticed the antlers. Antlers? Elk? Definitely not a moose, the racks weren’t big enough. But elk – or maybe reindeer.

His stomach growled again, and Reyes cursed to himself. What the hell was he supposed by himself against an entire herd of reindeer? It wasn’t like the group was going to turn against him (probably), but he could hardly distract them, separate one ungulate from the group, and then ambush it and bring it down all on his own. The wolf gave a frustrated sigh – and trudged onwards. His pace picked up, something of an awkward, shuffling trot instead of the slow slogging he’d been at a moment before, but it still seemed to take forever before he finally got close enough to scent the beasts. Unfortunately, the wind was not with him, and he was not the only one who caught a whiff. The reindeer took off, and Reyes bolted off them awkwardly, bounding through the snow, catching up, he was catching up, and—

And he was falling!?

The wolf landed with a disgruntled yelp, a tangle of limbs in a crater of snow. The drift had built upon the tops of dead grass; with nothing solid beneath them, they gave way beneath his weight within an instant. His dinner had long since escaped. This was worse than finding the yellow snow. Is this what naughty wolves get? He was so angry, he could have spit.

“Hey!” he barked, unable to see over the top of the pocket. “Anyone out there?”

It had been months since he was in the lore however the large male had no idea that he had returned. The harsh winter had completely changed the landscape and he hadnt been to this part of the lore before. The tawny man had left in search of the white and silver she-wolf, Ayla. He doesn't want to admit it but he had completely fallen head over paw for her and then she went and disappeared on him. Poof. Gone without a word. It had left the man with a deep wound in his heart and a bleak outlook on life. He and his age mates had been ripped from their home and she had made it not so scary and like it was meant to happen. But nope he was stupid to think that anything good could come from them being ripped from home. So off he went in search of her and a way back to Bella Coola. His searching had failed and he was right back where he started with no knowledge of what happened to his packmates. While part of him felt guilt for leaving them behind the other part thought it was best. He wasn't blood related to any of them and the Mizuno siblings had each other. Or so he thought, Tyne has no knowledge that the only sea wolf left in the lore was @Pip.

The snow was particularly deep in this part of the woods for the tall man was up to his chest in some parts. He grumbled to himself as his cream limbs pushed on in search of a dry place to sleep or a meal. His stomach backed up his brain as if to say a meal was priority. Giving a snort like response golden eyes scanned the area. Nothing. Absolutely noth...wait, there were what seemed to be reindeer off in the distance. While the sea wolf wouldn't have any inkling of what a reindeer was he did know that if it wasn't a wolf, coyote, bear, lynx, or cougar then it must be food. His training as a hunter however told him there was no way he'd be able to bring one of the large beasts down on his own.

He decides he could at least follow the heard for a while and maybe one of the animals would get sick and he'd have a chance of a good meal. Picking up his pace as best he could Tyne was completely unaware of the other wolf to his right with their eyes also on the grazers. It wasn't until the heard got spooked and took off running did the tawny man scan the field. Golden eyes caught a dark blur bounding through the snow towards the heard before disappearing completely in the white powder. Charcoal dusted ears pressed forwards as curiosity lead him closer to where the blur was last seen. A voice emerged from the snow muffled just enough that if he wasn't closer he wouldn't have heard it. Watching where he stepped Tyne slowly moved to the edge of what seemed to be a hole. The sight that greeted the eyes was an amusing one that caused a small chuckle to leaving his inky lips. "Looks like you got yourself in a pickle there" he told the dark jumbled mess of a wolf that had fallen into the pocket of snow.

For OOC preferences just check Moonshadow's profile

As Tyne had not noticed the presence of Reyes, nor had Reyes noticed the presence of another wolf, too interested in his empty belly and the small herd of reindeer he’d spotted upon the horizon. Food, his stomach said, and the man hadn’t thought of anything else. That he’d been upwind of the herd meant the other wolf was, too, and hidden from Reyes’ nose. Maybe, if he’d seen the other loner, they might have worked together chasing after the critters.

Rolling onto his belly, all four feet tucked beneath his solid frame, he squinted up at the other wolf hovering around the rim of his snowy crater. This is worse than the yellow snow, he thought with a huff, tail thrashing behind him. He’d yell at the other guy for staring, but-- It was a pretty shitty predicament.

“It’s the most wonderful time of the year,” he finally groused under his breath, no love lost for the hellish snow as he finally hauled himself to his feet. Ears pressed backwards as he peered at Tyne again. “Look, cabrón, you gonna wassail me for my fuckin’ brilliance, or you gonna be nice and help me outta here? It ain’t shits and giggles, you know.”

OOC! Merry Christmas!

Golden eyes watched as the dark jumbled mess of fur and limbs repositioned themselves into a more wolfish form. The sarcasm that fell from the disgruntled male warranted a snort of amusement from Tyne. It was the first time in a long while that the large man has found anything even remotely funny. Since this stranger had so kindly bestowed the gift of laughter upon him, he decided that ya he'd be nice and help Reyes out. "Sure I guess I can be nice as you put it. Let me see what I can do." He replied before looking up from the hole. Golden orbs searched the surrounding area for something that could be used to pull the dark loner out of the embankment. The lowlands weren't exactly equipt with such tools since it was mostly wide open plains. This time however they would be graced with a small patch of forest in the direction from which Reyes came. Creamy limbs pushed their way through the deep snow towards the trail that the dark male had already made. He moved slowly for he didn't know how wide the crevas was and didn't want to fall in as well.

He made his way to the previously carved trail, once there the trotted towards the trees with ease. Once Tyne was among the trees he looked for a fallen branch, or a vine, or if he was back home in Bella Coola he'd use some kelp. Seeing nothing useful on the ground golden orbs looked to the trees. Perfect! There was a dead low hanging branch that with a good tug would come off. Positioning himself under the branch the Kersey used his powerful hind legs to propel himself upward. His creamy muzzle grabbed the branch tightly between his jaws as he tugged hard. The branch came off with ease as expected and was taken back to where Reyes was stuck. "Grab on. Ill pull you up" He said placing the bigger end of the branch in the hole. Looking at his feet he cleared some snow away to give himself better traction.

(This post was last modified: Dec 25, 2016, 09:11 PM by Tyne.)

For OOC preferences just check Moonshadow's profile

“Well, thank fuck for that,” Reyes muttered under his breath, thankful that the other loner felt more like being a nice guy than someone who wanted to be put down on the naughty list. Maybe that was reserved solely for him. Or maybe that was just the sacrifice that justice and freedom demand; as long as he was determined to live on his own, he would keep having shit luck like this.

His ears airplaned out further even further as he continued to grumble to himself, left to his own thoughts while his knight in shining armor was forced to get creative with the rescue operation. Reyes was aware the guy probably didn’t have a lot of options, especially given that everything was currently blanketed wolf-high in this hellish white stuff.

Eventually, just when he was beginning to wonder if the other guy had fallen into a snowy grave himself, the loner appeared with a mouthful. As it was offered, the swarthy male eyed the stick with some degree of suspicion. “You realize I’m fuckin’ heavy, right?” he grunted, raising his brows. Look, sure, it might be hard to see each other given the relative angles, but he was a thick wolf – it sure wasn’t gonna be lifting a pup up by the scruff.

But what other choice did he have?

With a huff, he bounced up. The first attempt was a miss, but the second time, the wolf managed to clamp his jaws down on bark and woody flesh. Before Tyne really even began his efforts, the branch made an ominous crackling noise, and his skin prickled. This wasn’t going to be good. Not at all. If Tyne used this for an excuse for jollification, he was gonna kill the bastard. His pride demanded it.

OOC! Sorry about the shortness Dx

The other mans obvious statement caused Tyne to snort. Well no shit he was gonna be heavy. He wasn't a pup but he also didn't know the Kersey males strength. Golden eyes looked in the hole with annoyance as Reyes skeptically looked at the branch. Finally he jumped but missed and slid back into the crevasse. He kept up again and was able to grab on. The added weight momentarily pulled the tawny man down and when he readjusted the branch made a cracking sound. Charcoal ears rounded forwards as golden orbs eyed the branch for any cracks. Not seeing anything alarming he began to pull. He moved slowly for fear the rescue tool would snap. Each step backwards was slow and carefully placed. One mishap could cause one if not both to tumble in. Tyne could see the tips of the loners ears begin to rise above the ground. Soon his whole ears were visable and so was his skull. When golden eyes could clearly see the majority of the other wolf he gave it all his might. With one swift yank the other man was freed from the snowy trap.

Creamy jaws released the branch and his coral tounge hung out as he began to pant. He hadn't exerted that much strength in a while, but it felt good. It reminded him of his father and why he had decided to follow in his pawsteps. Tyne sat down and watched the other man. "Maybe next time you should lay off the marmots" he teased the other bout his weight. While the other man was no where near overweight Tyne found the whole situation amusing. It had been a while since hes found anything funny and figure a little humor wouldn't hurt. Even if his companion didn't find it as funny. As he sat the scanned the lowlands. After that exertion he would definitely need a meal. Maybe the two loners could work together and bring something of size down.

For OOC preferences just check Moonshadow's profile

Despite his reservations and stubborn insistence that he was too heavy, the stick found it within itself to hold. It groaned and complained, but the branch never splintered, and with some effort, the other male was able to haul him from the deep, snowy crater. That they were roughly of equal weight was probably helpful (even if Reyes manages to pack more weight into a smaller frame) in the feat, and as soon as he could reach, dark paws scrambled on the snow until he was on (relatively) solid ground again.

“Yeah, I don’t think so,” he snorted, allowing himself a moment to shake the mess of snow from his swarthy pelt. It fell away so innocently, like it wasn’t frozen flakes threatening to trap him in a frozen coffin and cut his lifetime all too short.

But, no. It wasn’t marmots, but a wolf needed to eat, damnit! That Reyes was built like a tank certainly wasn’t his own fault, and the loner was hardly looking to risk starvation while trying to survive the winter. Still, he wasn’t looking for a fight, not already tempting fate once per day. He tipped his head, glancing back at Tyne. “Think I might owe you one. Maybe.” Committal wasn’t really his thing. “You know if there any more of those damn holes ‘round here?”

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

Reyes' remark to Tyne's teasing allowed an amused smile to form on the tawny mans lips. The light humor was refreshing for the Kersey male - actually any half way civil interaction was. Since leaving the Hallows the tawny man had had very little interaction with others. There were a few loners he had come across while outside the lore and not all of them were friendly. So the fact that this dark male was being civil was nice. His words pulled the others golden gaze back from the low lands. "Think I might owe you one. Maybe." Maybe? Tyne snorted, maybe just a little since I just saved your sorry ass he thought to himself. "Ya maybe just a little" he replied with a small chuckle.

The dark coated man went on to ask if any other holes in the snow had been seen. The tawny sea wolf shook his head "Nah haven't seen any other ones" he affirmed "but you can't see these until the snow above caves in." He admitted, while there weren't many crevasses back near Bella Coola, he had been warned by another wolf on his travels to watch where he stepped. If one were to fall into a crevasse without anyone around it would surely seal their fate. This was why Tyne had come over to help. While he may not know the wolf he pulled up he wasn't about to just let him die. The scent of moose crept into the tawny mans nose. The delectable smell pulled his attention from his companion. "Do you smell that?"

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“Just a little.”

Yes, that sounded about right. Didn’t owe the guy much, but Reyes really might have struggled to haul his hefty ass out of that surprising snow pocket. That there might be more open gaps of air hidden beneath the thin blanket of snow was a chilling thought – but was it any safer to travel in pairs? Anything that might hold him up definitely wouldn’t hold two, and it wasn’t like a second wolf in the hole would get him out any sooner.

Keeping his thoughts to himself, he instead turned his nose to the wind at Tyne’s comment.

Smell them. Oh, he smelled them alright. Reyes’ upper lip curled backwards, revealing a row of ivory knives as he scented the scavengers. Dios, but he hated when those damn overgrown rats ran together in packs. Made it much harder to chase them off. The additional song of carrion whispering to his nose was tempting, so very tempting, but there was no such thing as a free meal. They would have to drive the other canines off, and quite frankly… Reyes really wasn’t interested.

“All you, kiddo,” he grunted, regardless of the other loner’s actual age. “Consider that your favor, huh? Free meal. No competition.” Reyes turned about, quite keen on heading back south and away from this horrific, grassy wasteland. “See you when I see you.”

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