Turtleback Lake kickstart my heart.

RE: Ice boulders have formed on the shores of Turtleback Lake.  Open for one or two!  3F/-16C, late afternoon, cloudy.  Some pictures for inspiration! 

Mathéo Tainn came and went without much regard for the border these days – no one had much regard for him, not really, and so he felt no urge to do the same. Only itchy feet compelled the young ghost, but a sense of duty always brought him back home to the center of his gravitational pull. If it wasn’t to Hearthwood River, it was to where the dead wolves were buried beneath the Ethos.

But today, he lingered longer. Today, Mathéo Tainn had made a delightful discovery – spheres, giant spheres, bigger than rocks! Made of ice and water, all along the shoreline of Turtleback Lake. He had no idea what they were, or how the lake had churned out such things when the river hadn’t, but the youth was happy to bark and dance around them on his lonesome, chewing away on the largest of boulders as he tried to get to the center. Who knew what was on the inside?

The little Crow bounded through the snow toward the lake. She'd managed to slip away from her mother after their snow tracking session. They had been going at it since early that morning and Oksana was ready for a good long break so she'd once again slipped passed the borders and caught Matheo’s scent. She wondered what he was up to heading away from Hearthwood.

She followed the scent all the way to the lake. Before she saw him she could hear barking which made her even more curious. She traveled as quickly as she could through the snow until he finally came into view. She could see that he seemed rather excited about the ice balls in the lake.  She'd seen them before but still didn't know what the deal was with them. As she approached she saw him chewing on one of them. Have you discovered if they can be eaten yet?

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Theo heard Oksana before he saw her, was able to recognize his packmate easily even if he could not smell approach - the cold air did that to his nose. He offered her a small smile, weak at best, and gave the ice boulder a considering look. Discovery felt like a strong word for it. After all, it wasn't as if he created it. All he did was nibble.

The Tainn tipped his head to one side, considering.

"Yes," he decided after a few moments. "But they do not taste like anything. And I am not sure if they are just ice all the way through."

Chewing on the boulder clearing wasn't getting him anywhere. Circling around it, he rocked pack on his hind legs and pounced, not unlike the way he'd seen a fox do - but his front paws hit the ice boulder to no avail. Nothing happened. Hmmm…

"I am not sure how to break it…"

Oksana had not spent much time around Matheo with everything else that had been going on in her life she had found it hard balance a lot of things. Getting to know the other pups was one of those things. She supposed she had something in common with the Tainn though, neither of them had a dad, at least not one that was around. She didn't want to start a potential friendship off on that though, how gloomy.

She came a little closer to inspect the ice boulder that Matheo had been trying to eat. Her orange gaze landing on him as he confirmed they could be eaten. What do you imagine is inside of them if there is something? She asked trying to think what could be in there.

She stepped back a step as she watched him as he first circled around it before then pouncing on it like a fox would a mouse. It didn't do anything which was disappointing for them both she was sure. The little Crow looked around for a moment after he spoke about not knowing how to break it. “My mum told me about how to break ice in the water so that you could drink,” she explained as she came to a rock that she could easily pick up but was good enough size that might be able to help.  Picking up the rock she brought it back to Matheo and dropped it at his feet.

“You pick a good rock and drop it with some force on the ice maybe it could work here?” She suggested with a shrug.

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"Oh. Maybe."

That was not a bad idea. No one had taught Mathéo how to break ice - he was lucky enough that the pack lived on a river, and more often than not, the running water had left a gap somewhere large enough for a wolf to drink. He had no mum, and with everything that went on between all the adults, he largely went unnoticed. He was not as loud as Lilliana, nor was he as needy as Risaela. And that was okay. If his sister needed the attention, he was happy to let her have it.

"I am not sure if anything is inside. But I have never seen ice like this. Round. I thought maybe there was a reason?"

The only thing he could think of was water freezing around something. A fish would be nice, but he knew that was wishful thinking. But there was only one way to find out, and Oksana had the only idea between them. Mathéo set his nose to the ground in search of a decent-sized stone, but… "The snow is making this a bit hard…"

There is a deer that was killed by a lynx nearby. +10 Health

Her tail swayed as he seemed to like the idea of using the rock to try and break the ice balls. She didn't know if it would work and had never put her mother's advice to use. Still they could at least try and see what happened. Since the balls weren't very large a good size rock might do the trick.

I don't know either so I think we should find out. I saw it once a few weeks ago when I came to the lake but I didn't get the chance to see if there might be something inside. I would like to know, it might be something fun. She give the other pup a smile, I don't know if there is a reason, a slight frown forming across her maw.

She watched as he went to work in search of a rock for him to use for a moment before she looked for another herself. His voice stopped her looking as she turned to him. Oh, Matheo, she said going to this side and nudging his shoulder, I’ll help. We can do this together.

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Something fun.

Theo had no idea what something fun could be, really – no one could accuse the pup of being a ‘fun guy’ – but the idea still made him smile. Just a little, tiny bit. But he was smiling, his head ducked low, and the very tip of his tail giving a little wiggle. The young Tainn never did play much, but this felt awful close. And it felt pretty nice. He never really knew Oksana very well before this, but… Well, maybe he should have. Maybe he would seek her out again for company after this, if it turned out okay.

His smile grew, just a little, and he nodded a head at his cousin. Niece? Something? They were related, though he couldn’t put a paw on how. He bumped his shoulder back into hers gently, and continued to sniff around, pushing his snout through the snow until he found a small rock. Using a paw to drag away the snow, he considered it. “What do you think? Is this too small?”

@Oksana -- I'm so sorry this slipped by me for so long!  :c

(This post was last modified: Apr 10, 2018, 01:51 PM by Matheo.)

She was happy that he seemed to be on board with the idea of breaking one of the ice balls open. She wanted to know everything about them naturally. How were they made and what was inside them, did they have a purpose? Maybe she would have to ask Lachesis later all if her questions. Maybe he would know the answers, he'd been around the lake longer than she had after all. She'd gone to look for a rock that would help him but then he seemed to need her where he was looking so she went over to him.

Her tail wagged at the smile on his face and she couldn't help but think that it was the first one she'd ever seen. She smiled when he bumped her back. Deep down inside she couldn't help but feel that in some small way everything that had happened with her mother had kept her from things she should have been doing. Getting to know Matheo was one if those things, she felt badly for it but that all could change now. She watched as he uncovered a small rock before looking up at him, Let's try it and see, she said, If not we can look for a bigger one.

She didn't mind the idea of spending the afternoon looking for rocks to break it open, she was spending time with her family. You do the honors, she told with a smile and a wag of her tail.

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“Okay,” he agreed to her first assessment, using his nose to roll the stone free from the rest of the snow. Trial and error seemed as good of a method to him as any. At Oksana’s second suggestion, he hesitated, glancing up – clearly uncertain if he should be allowed to do such a thing. He thought to offer it back to her… But after a few moments of mental war with himself, bent back down to pick up the mid-sized rock.

Trotting back over to the ice balls, he eyed them for a moment. Positioning himself directly on top of one, Theo dropped the rock. It bounced off into the snow, leaving a small dent in the ice’s surface. Not a complete crack, but progress. “Maybe if we both do this, it will go faster…?” he suggested shyly, reaching over to pick up his rock again. Otherwise, he might be at this a little while.