Secluded Spring i wish i had a better voice that sang some better words.

RE: Reyes, you wander across a frozen lake and notice there is something stuck half in, half out of it.
For my dear little @Askan! Backdated for 3/4.

Per Askan’s request, they were out and about by the next day. The beta took care of making sure they had permission from the boss man – and that was it, really, wasn’t it? There was nothing to pack. If they were hungry, they’d make a kill. Neither were planning on getting sick or injured, nor were they planning on being gone for a particularly long time. It was early still when the pair extracted themselves, meeting up on the southern border of Wild Rye Fields – and then they were off. In the wee hours, there wasn’t much to say. They traveled through the snow – much colder than it’d been the day before. What melted before now crunched beneath their feet.

It was the sound of running water in the distance that finally inspired the older male to break the silence. His ears pricked and he nudged Askan’s shoulder before breaking into a lope, eager to refuel on fresh, running water. “Hurry up, abuelo,” he rasped, moonlit eyes sparkling as he extended his gait, unaware of anything out of the ordinary as he bent down to have a drink. There was the stench of pack in the distance, but they’d simply avoid the neighbors for now. He lifted his head, about to ask the beta which direction he’d like to take when he realized there was something sticking out of the spring, further into the large pool of water. “What the fuck is that?”

REYES | Dead man walking.

Inspired by this article 

This was pretty nice. Askan enjoyed the freedom, the lack of restraint and best of all the complete and utter absence of any unwanted smells. Sure, he had to admit he missed the sense of security that came with remaining in the field, but with Reyes by his side he didn't feel as though he was vulnerable. If anyone could watch his back and keep him safe, it would be Reyes. Askan trusted no one else to do the job properly. It was either Reyes or no one. Not that he had to worry about that, as the grumpy rogue was here with him and for the most part he hadn't complained. Or at least his complaining wasn't that bad, it was tolerable. Askan was kinda getting used to it.

Still, he didn't really like being called... He still had no idea what he was being called, but he knew for a fact it wasn't anything flattering. In fact, every time that Reyes spoke his rumbly language Askan couldn't help but feel a little bit suspicious. Did he slag him off all the time? If so, it wasn't a great feeling. No one liked to be insulted. Snorting,  he followed suit, sped up and galloped through the new deep snow till he reached the waters edge.

Shoving Reyes with a shoulder, Askan bowed down to drink and had just extended his tongue when his companions words made him jolt with surprise. He shot him a glare as his ears lifted from being pressed against his skull, it was only after that did he notice what had caught the other's attention. Protruding out of the ice was some sort of...Brown things? And below them-whatever they were- beneath the surface was something large and darker, like a shadow lying in wait.

The memory of what happened when he last stepped on ice sprang to mind and in that moment Askan decided he wasn't going to set a foot off dry land. Not unless he really had to, and as curious as he was this sort of situation didn't warrant him breaking his newly created rule.

"I dunno, a log maybe?" It didn't look like any logs he'd ever seen. Or any kind of branch he'd seen either. What the hell was that? Now he didn't believe in monsters or the like, but if they did exsist, wouldn't they look something like that? Ugh. "Does it matter what it is?"

(This post was last modified: Mar 08, 2017, 12:16 AM by Askan.)

Shallow water has trapped several fish in a small pond. Hunt Opportunity

Reyes narrowed his eyes, tongue flashing out across his muzzle to wipe the excess water from his whiskers as he stared at the far off, shadowy figure. Figures, he realized, because it was not one large shape, but three or four different items jutting up from the top of the spring and into the air. Beneath, there was something else – whatever was trapped in the ice had clearly gone in before cold weather sealed it there. Idly, a thought crossed his mind; that could have been Askan if he hadn’t happened by the river when he did. They’d have never met. Never joined Wild Rye Fields. Never—

His heart did a weird flip flop in his chest and he gave himself a full body shake, some of his coat starting to explode off of his coat. “Don’t think that’s a log,” he decided, tail swishing in slow arcs as he studied the shapes. “Maybe it’s something to eat.”

Any meal was a good meal, after all, especially when they were out and about away from the pack in a while. Reyes stepped out onto the ice, testing the strength. When nothing cracked or spiderwebbed, he took a few more steps, shuffling his away across the icy surface. “I just wanna check, amado.”

REYES | Dead man walking.

Unaware of Reyes' sudden, unpleasant train of thought, Askan continued to glare at the ice with contempt. He supposed it could be something to eat, but how the hell were they- or rather Reyes- supposed to get it out? From what he could see it was firmly lodged in there, with the majority of whatever it was beneath the ice. As strong as Reyes was he'd no doubt have a hard time getting it out, especially without Askan's help. Which he most certainly wasn't going to get, since it involved standing on the ice , and all. By no means was Askan scared. Pfft, like he'd get scared of ice, of all things, but he'd admit that it made him at least a little nervous. As nice as sleeping with Reyes had been that day, beneath the slopes of Pasos al Cielo, he really had been fucking cold. Like he almost died, levels of cold.

The fact that he'd probably be dead if it wasn't for Reyes hadn't gone over Askan's head. He knew full well how much he owed him, even if he didn't really make it all that clear. He was working on it, gratitude was a difficult thing for the Selwyn.

"It might be, but it might not. Is it really worth it?" Askan wasn't so certain. He didn't like this at all. They could hunt just fine, the two of them worked well as a team. They didn't need to stoop this low.

Fuck ice and its tendency to crack under paw.

The Yukon wolf stiffened as Reyes placed his first paw on the ice and squinted his eyes , his hackles raising. He did not like this, not one bit. It was stupid, foolish and he was letting curiosity get the better of him. And to think Askan assumed he was smarter than this, that his head was screwed on the right way. 'Well surely it couldn't be', a mean voice said in his head, 'otherwise he wouldn't like you.'

"Yes, well if you fall in it's your fault and I'm not fishing your fat ass out of there." He snapped, doing a poor job of hiding his nervousness.

With bated breath, Askan watched Reyes shuffle out onto the ice. This was going to end badly, he just knew it.

“But it might be. Hard to tell without looking, right?”

For all that he’d scolded Askan about the stupid decision to toddle out on the ice in the first place, most of those reprimands seemed to be missing from mind. It wasn’t like was going to stravage across the frozen surface, after all. He would shuffled until he could see what lay beneath the strange figures, and then slither back. Maybe take a mouthful, if the item looked worth the risk.

His claws pit-pattered across the ice, and even when the beta wolf spoke back up, he didn’t stop to look. Reyes knew, at least, that it would be foolish to stop and let all his weight to settle in one place. “I ain’t gonna fall, Askan. Fine way to show appreciate though, that.” He snorted softly, his moonlit eyes narrowing by fractions as he realized it looked like…antlers? Antlers jutting out of the ice. But more than a simple pair. There were two sets, two! And two moose beneath the ice!

“Holy shit! Amigo, check this out! We could feast for weeks!”

If only they could get to the moose below.

REYES | Dead man walking.

Askan sighed. Any and all attempts to sway him had been in vain, if Reyes wanted to go out on the ice then he was powerless to stop him. Unless he wanted to drag him back in with his tail. As tempting as that was, he knew it wasn't going to happen. For one, if he even tried to then Reyes would throw the pissy-fit of the century, he would no doubt yell and curse and say all sorts of rude things in that language of his. It would be an amusing sight for sure, but the Selwyn wasn't sure he wanted to deal with the aftermath of that. The last thing he wanted was for Reyes to be mad at him. Besides, he couldn't forget that he was a heavy lump. Pulling him back to sure via his tail alone would be a difficult job, especially if he didn't want to hurt him. It was a funny mental image for sure, but not a viable option.

"Hmph. Such a hypocrite. A small vindictive part of him wanted him to fall, then he'd learn his lesson-and it'd give them a free excuse to huddle again. Not that they really needed one these days.

Reyes claimed he wouldn't fall, but how did he know he wouldn't? It was rather bold of him to say such a thing when in reality he was just as ignorant as Askan was. Still, all of his words weren't for naught, as Askan did care even if it didn't sound as though he did. The art of portraying these feelings and concerns was still something that Askan hadn't yet got a grasp of, it was all so complicated. The finicky bits of socialisation-even at the good age of three years- still flew right over his head. It was unlikely that he was ever going to be a suave chatterbox and that was fine with him.

Watching him closely, Askan flinched at his sudden exclamation. What? What was wrong? His ears perked, waiting for the of shattering ice but no such sound came. Instead, Reyes kept talking, becoming increasingly excited as he did so. Hm. Reyes could invite him onto the ice as much as he wanted, there was no way in hell he was going out there. Not after what happened last time. Squinting, Askan leaned up, stretched out his neck to try and see what it was. Nope, the same as before. A dark blob with brown things sticking out.

"What is it?"

(This post was last modified: Mar 10, 2017, 09:43 PM by Askan.)

When Reyes glanced backwards over his shoulder, he realized his packmate remained firmly on shore. He opened his mouth, about to bark an insult (or several) when it occurred to him that maybe the beta had no desire to be back out on the ice after his last…adventure. That thought was quickly followed – if they were both on the ice, and something cracked, they’d be pretty well fucked, wouldn’t they? No one to grab the other, and imagine if they went under the ice in the same place?

Suddenly, his situation seemed a little more perilous, that maybe his discovery wasn’t quite as amazing as he thought it was. Reyes shuffled sideways, spreading his legs just a bit to distribute his weight a little further, and peered at the moose. They certainly didn’t just…jump in there. How close should he get?

“Two bull moose,” he replied, tipping his head to allow his voice to carry back to the other wolf. “Their antlers are locked. The rest of ‘em are just below.” His ears flipped forward and back, and after a moment, the delta edged forward again. If he could just see, maybe he could figure out how to extract one. “Bet the boss would like some moose, huh?”

REYES | Dead man walking.

"Two?"His brows shot up in surprise and once again Askan stretched out his neck to try and get a better view.

How the hell did they manage to get under the ice like that? From what Reyes said it sounded as though they had been fighting, but that didn't explain how they'd managed to get frozen together. It was interesting to say the least, so much so that he was almost tempted to go out and have a look, he wanted to see it for himself. But that fear, that sinking feeling crept in, making his body freeze in place. What if he fell again? What if Reyes couldn't get him out this time? What if he ended up like those moose? Stuck beneath the ice until the lake thawed out. What then? Would he rot, would he be eaten?

No,it would be best if he remained here, where he was safe.

Reyes did have a point though, bringing home a damn moose would be a fine way to get into Drestig's good book. Getting one out, let alone two , was far easier said than done. Surely they'd need the whole pack for this, he couldn't even imagine Reyes hauling it out on his own. No matter how strong he was- and oh boy was he strong- he wasn't getting it out. Askan frowned and ventured a little closer to the edge, to where land met ice.

"He would. Hauling it back would be a pain though, let alone getting it out of the ice. Unless you have an idea, I think you should come back here." He was being a nag wasn't he? Ugh. Like an overbearing mother who didn't like her pups venturing too far. "You know, if you want. I dunno." That didn't help matters at all. He was really pathetic wasn't he?

“Yeah, two. Dos. Deux. Two bull moose, under the ice. What are you, deaf?”

Or are you just not listening? He liked Askan, he did, but the guy could be so vaunting sometimes. Sometimes he wondered if the beta wolf-- Eh. Whatever. It was no use wondering. The swarthy male gave himself a shake before creeping just a little closer to where the antlers jutted out of the ice – and then, finally, the nature-made flooring gave an ominous creak. His ears plastered against his skull as he all but flew backwards, barely making the time to turn around before scurrying off the ice in the most graceful manner he could actually manage.

“Hauling it back would be a pain,” he agreed, as if that were the reason for his sudden retreat. Ears flipped back forward and he rolled his shoulders, evidently ignoring his hasty return to the safety provided by solid ground. He flicked one ear, snaking his head forward to boop the other wolf in the shoulder. “Could probably find something easier. On our way back.” Wouldn’t be as good if they just left it, right? Or it would defeat the purpose to turn around and head back to Wild Rye Fields now. “You ready to move?”

REYES | Dead man walking.