Hot Springs Show Yourself.

@Flair

Strong legs sliced through fresh snow as if it were the warm waters she grew up in, where one could see the wind in the grass as it rippled like the river and breathe in the scent of rain that was being carried in the dark clouds above. Yet other than that, this white powder was nothing like her home and Gwendolyn for a few moments fiercely missed her home she had made with her - late - mother. And even more fiercely and deeply mourned said mother, who had been her closest friend until her death.

And for her entire life, it had just been her dear mother and her until Gwendolyn had finally pried the story of her father from her heartbroken lips only months before her passing. It had been a flighty romance, one where her father was greatly broken and lost, yearning for a place that pained him utter grief and guilt and her mother was desperately searching for something to make her feel after the fresh loss of her previous mate to a prolonged disease that she had been unable to find a cure for.

So they simply settled for each other and were as happy as a pair like them could be, bouncing from place to place. Until...until one day, after a year of slowly building each other up to heal again and there had been talk of finally settling down and starting a family, as neither of them were getting younger and wanted to at least try, he was suddenly gone.

And Gwendoyln was no fool in picking up what her mother was implying. Oh, Gwendoyn had been burning hot when it had sunk in what exactly he had done and how broken her mother had become again after his leaving, even though it did cross her mind as to why.

He’d gotten cold feet at the potential idea of binding himself to one place, to potentially never returning to some lost land and wolves that had him still racked with guilt, unbeknownst to his mate. However, unbeknownst to him, he’d left her one last gift before departing without a single word.

And that’s why Gwendolyn was in this frostbitten place, lost on some godforsaken mountain, on the search for some word of her father, even though she was almost certain he’d have passed onwards by now, as her mother had done.  

Her nose twitched as the smell of something in the air, it smelled like...Well, she could smell what she thought was water but something else entirely almost engulfed the scent of it. A heavy scowl settled on her jaw, her brows switching together as she headed towards the scent. That probably meant it wasn't very drinkable but scaling this mountain had left her with quite the thirst and if she had the eat snow one more time...

(This post was last modified: Jan 22, 2021, 03:06 AM by Gwendolyn.)

Eating snow was the least of her worries. After two years in the arctic, Flair was accustomed to the harshness of winter; Though that did not mean she enjoyed it. She still wondered at the sense of this whole mountain endeavor, but she was here now, so she supposed the point was mute; I’m a moron! With an angry huff, she shook out her fur, trying to fluff it up against the cold. She was following a trail along the western shore of the big lake, paws moving confidently over the icy rock. She’d say this for the place: It was pretty. The water source probably drew most of the wildlife in the area; If there is any… Yeah, she still wasn’t sold.   The fiery shewolf paused to sniff at some hoof-prints at the edge of the water, brow wrinkling as she tried to figure out how old they were. Then a sudden whiff of an unfamiliar, strong scent hit her nose. Flair’s head jolted up and she sneezed multiple times, veering her head to try and be rid of the vile odor; What IS that? She turned her head in the direction it had come from, squinting over the snowy wasteland. All she saw were some trees in the far distance. And a wolf!   Curious, though more about the smell than the stranger, Flair decided to approach, letting her tail sway slowly around her hunches – not exactly friendly, but not aggressive either. The stench seemed to grow more pungent the closer she got, putting a scowl on her face and a permanent wrinkle around her nose. And so, she stopped as soon as she was close enough to address the other wolf, having no wish to get any closer. Her head held high, ears perked forwards, she called in a tone of distaste perfectly matched to her facial expression: “This you?” How on earth did one wolf get to stink so bad? Word count: 323 ”Speech" Thoughts

dawnthieves.de

This is why Gwendolyn preferred good old grasslands and plains in general. All this stumbling and fumbling in the snowy mountain terrain was annoying; at least it was easier when for the most part, the ground was relatively flat. Granted, the weather was certainly as wild, if not more but she’d take the sticky weather that built up to the dark summer storms that thundered over the grass and pelted raindrops as hard as stone at anyone unlucky enough to not have taken cover in the few moments of warning they’d had.

Ears swivelling towards the words being called out to her, her silver eyes following the motion as they laid on a reddish ruffled figure approaching with a look of utter distaste smeared on her face. The other wolf stopped some distance away, as if she truly thought Gwendolyn was the source of the smell and couldn’t see that the stench was causing a similar look of disgust on her face.

“‘Course not! Does it look like I’ve been rolling in whatever rotten shit could cause a smell like this?” Allowing her tail to twitch in annoyance while Gwendolyn huffed at her, offended enough to even consider her manners, she almost followed up with the words ‘are you sure you’re not the one stinking things up, with a coat like that?’ How on earth could one go about with a coat like that? It was almost wrong to not point out how dishevelled the other she-wolf looked.

After all, this stranger had just come up to her and implied she stank higher than a rotting bear corpse stuck in a cave in the height of summer. Okay, maybe the smell was not as bad as that had been but it was most certainly close in terms of strength. But the words stayed stuck in her throat. It’d be no good making enemies that quickly, especially for what she was even on this mountain for.

“Sides, my momma taught me better than to be so unkempt. Raise herself from the grave if she knew.” It was true, her mother would surely heave herself out of her grave if she knew her daughter wasn’t keeping her thick coat in at least a somewhat presentable look. “What are you doing here anyhow? Just like finding wolves to point out how much they smell?”

When it came to manners, Aideen had given up on teaching her oldest daughter proper – after many, fruitless tries. She just wasn’t cut out for all this politeness stuff. That said, walking directly up to a stranger and asking why they smelled so bad was perhaps a new level of coarseness; But it is an exceptional stench!   Perhaps unsurprisingly, the strange shewolf was none too happy to be called out on her hygiene, huffing back in righteous anger. Flair actually considered the question, giving the other female a once over. She looked quite ordinary, rather heavy-set, and large for a female, with a few touches of tawny brown in her grey coat; Which one could mistake for something else… Flair smirked. But before she had time to deliver the quip, the stranger spoke again, bursting her amusement.   The comment hit a little too close to home, as she could practically hear her mother lamenting over the state of her fur. Why did it matter so much to everyone? The point of a pelt was to keep you warm, and hers actually seemed to do its job better this way; Doesn’t anyone have any better things to do than obsess over their fur? Well, she certainly did!   Sneering at the stranger, her own flame of tail twitching almost in a mockery, Flair said: “’s a favorite pass time of mine, actually.” She sniffed, grimacing as the stench hit her again. Lifting her head high, she looked away from the other woman for a moment to glance around the area; “But if it ain’t you, then what is it?” Word count: ”Speech" Thoughts

dawnthieves.de

Giving a slight sneer back, because Gwendolyn wasn’t above being slightly childish back if it felt needed, even if she was technically middle aged at this point in time. But just maybe, she figured she’d act her age just a tiny bit and not snipe back with anything. Someone had to act like an adult after all and she didn't have all day to squabble over the semantics of what or who smelled without actually trying to find out what was causing it. So shrugging at the question, Gwendolyn jerked her chin over her shoulder, towards where she was originally heading before being distracted by this other wolf.

“Dunno, thought I smelt water so’ve been heading towards it.” Which was true. She truly had no idea what was causing the smell and was just as curious as the other as to what was causing it. Turning back towards the smell, because as much as it stunk, overwhelming morbid curiosity had taken over her at this point and she wanted to know what the hell was making it. Was it some rotten carcass that was stinking the place up? Had some creature fallen into water and drowned, unable to get out due to the ice and coldness of this weather? “Can join me in findin’ out, if you want to.”

“Name’s Gwendolyn by the by.” Figured if the two were insulting each other, may as well as give out her first name to the red head anyway, so she could put a name to a face, if she ever decided to complain.

Flair didn’t know whether or not to be offended that the stranger ignored her quip, but at least they weren’t arguing about personal hygiene anymore. She shrugged, giving her body a light shake, as if to underline her approval of its state one final time. Then she set off at a light trot to go search, equally as curious as the other, keeping a good distance between them but matching stride; who knew, she might end up needing help facing whatever it was.   The mention of water did make the fiery girl roll her eyes slightly – You do know there’s a massive lake right up there, right? – But she didn’t say anything, simply huffing in quiet agreement to follow along. The air seemed to grow thicker with every step, the stench soon growing strong enough to burn at the eyes, or at least that’s how it felt. Flair gagged a little when she opened her mouth to answer the introduction, breathing a simple: “Flair.” Before quickly shutting it again.   She had eaten some fowl things in her day, loner life didn’t exactly offer much choice, but this was really beyond anything she’d ever experienced; I don’t care how hungry I am, if it’s something dead I’M not eating it! She glanced over at the other, apparently a lone traveler too, maybe she could be convinced to give it a first try. But now that it had been brought to her attention, Flair did scent a faint trace of water under the stink, though surely it was water poisoned by something horrid.   The russet shewolf raised her head up as they crested a small rise in the terrain, looking down over an area which seemed shockingly naked in the snow-covered surroundings. Smoke seemed to be rising from it, thick and opaque, but there was no sign of fire and it didn’t smell that way either. Pausing, Flair glanced over at her companion: “Y’ think it’s toxic?” She was no scaredy-pup, but she also wasn’t prepared to die for her curiosity. Word count: 339 ”Speech" Thoughts

dawnthieves.de

Being so unfamiliar to the mountains around her, Gwendolyn had no idea that if she’d kept going the way she had and not taken this slight detour, she’d have come across a giant lake. But honestly? Even if she had known about it, this seemed more interesting, whatever this was.

“No idea,” Her curiosity had reached its peak as they crested the small rise and looked down upon a remarkably snowless area, surrounding the smoky water. Squinting slightly at the smoky moist rising from the water, it made for an odd sight for sure and as the heavy set woman stepped up to the edge of the water, she could feel the warmth lapping at her toes that made the snow practically non existent. Huh, that was interesting. She hadn’t really come across water this warm before, except that had been warmed by the sun and not by whatever was going on here. Was there something heating it up from below?

Thinking for a second, because she wasn’t sure if it was just simply because she’d gotten closer or had gotten used to the smell, Gwendolyn peered back up to her new friend with a small grin on her face.

“I dare you to drink some and find out.” She challenged, her tone almost asking her to say no so teasing could be taken further if she was told no. “‘less you’re too scared? It’s just some water after all.”

Of course, Flair might have guessed that this Gwen-whatever was new to the area, much like herself. She wasn’t interested in playing tour guide though, if the chick couldn’t even find the giant lake, she deserved to die of thirst. But it seemed that was not to be, as they inched closer to the white smoke to find pools of water beneath; Smoking… Water?! Oddly, the larger shewolf seemed completely unperturbed by this completely unnatural phenomenon, walking down for a closer inspection while calling back unconvincingly. Flair hung back, sniffing the air again and grimacing.   Gwendolyn didn’t keel over though, despite several minutes of investigation, in fact she seemed to relax somewhat. Then she called back up again. Flair felt heat flush to her face, tail lifting high behind her in defiance of the accusation. With a little growl, she jumped down nest to the larger wolf, instantly prepared to prove her bravery; Like I’d be scared of some water! But she came to a pause when she felt, as her companion had, the light swell of the pond against her paws. Slowly she bended her head, sniffing at the water with a mixture of curiosity and distrust. “it’s… Warm?” She mumbled half to herself, though she glanced up at Gwen, again noting that shit-eating grin on her face.   “Alright then!” She said, steeling herself before quickly lapping out her tongue and sucking up a mouthful of water. Surprisingly, the temperature was actually the worst part. She tried to hold it in her mouth for a while, but had to swallow almost instantly, gasping and sticking out her tongue afterwards. While panting, the fiery wolf looked over at her greyer companion, and suddenly she couldn’t help but grin too, lifting her leg quickly to bump the other girl’s shoulder; “Your turn! Come on, it’s delicious!” Word count: 305 ”Speech" Thoughts

dawnthieves.de

"Yeah, for whatever reason, it's warm." Gwendolyn hummed in response, watching the other closer as she landed next to her, taking up inspecting the water as well once it was proven clear that Gwendolyn didn't topple over, being so close to the smoke. And still grinning slightly as Flair glanced up at her, before agreeing to the dare that was passed over to her first.

A small part of Gwendolyn was saddened that the other didn't do something drastic at the warm water passing her lips and going down her throat, sans gagging and gasping for air once it did slide down. Gwendolyn cackled lightly at her new - friend's?- reaction to the water. Her face had scrunched up and her tongue lolled out as soon as the water was swallowed.

"You looked like something foul went down your gullet," The large wolf snickered as she side eyed the other, bumping Flair back with her shoulder. At the return dare to drink the water, Gwen tilted her head at her companion. It clearly wasn't going to kill you outright -it was just water after all, even if smoked - yet she certainly wasn't one to back down on a dare either. So matching the grin again and deciding to go a bit further, Gwendolyn dipped her head down and took a huge mouthful of the weird smoky water.

Like Flair, the warmth of the water was very off putting and it almost felt like she had a mouthful of very warm saliva instead of water on her tongue. It sloshed around there for a few moments and she nearly held it in her mouth as along as Flair had - until she couldn't take it any longer and it slid down her throat.

Yet her body decided to betray her and the greyish red wolf wasn't sure if it was cause she sucked up too big of mouthful or in her hurry to get rid of it, some of the liquid went down the wrong tube. But either way, it did and it hurt.

And of course her natural respond was to try hack and cough it up, the last tiny bit spraying out as she gasped for air.

The taste of the weird water actually wasn’t that off-putting at all, the minerals giving an unusually strong, metallic flavor. Paired with the temperature, it was somewhat reminiscent of blood from a fresh kill, though without the satisfaction of having just completed a hunt.  In the end, I prefer regular old cold water… Flair thought to herself while she watched the other shewolf chuckle at her plight. For some reason, she didn’t mind the teasing, it felt collegial in a way, a shared joke rather than one mocking the other. Gwen’s words even made her snort – an unwise move with a bit of the spring water still sitting at the back of her throat, getting sucked up into her nose – and she had to hiss and sneeze a few times before she could respond. Raising a paw to rub water from her eyes, the fiery lass sputtered: “No worse than day-old caribou!”   Meanwhile, her larger companion had taken on the challenge, grinning fearlessly as she bend down towards the pond. Flair watched, wide-eyed, her own wide grin betraying her gleeful anticipation of the other wolf’s reaction. Gwendolyn too, failed to hold the water for long before swallowing, but apparently she messed up somewhere, creaking out into a violent coughing fit. For a moment, Flair worried that the water might have had some ill effect on the other, but then Gwen finally cleared out her throat, sending a jet of water and spit shooting right into her unfortunate new friend’s face.   Everything seemed frozen for a moment, Flair included, as she tried to process what had just happened. She blinked rapidly to clear the liquid from her eyes, face contorted in a grimace of shock and disgust. And then she burst out laughing. Bending down in her forelegs and shaking her head vigorously to get rid of the water, she cackled almost manically, fresh water brimming to her eyes from the continued effort. She looked up at Gwen briefly, gasping: “Y’ should’ve seen your face!” Then she went back to laughing, jerking out her shoulder to bump the other girl’s, including her in the joke. Flair couldn’t remember the last time she’d laughed this hard, it felt great! Word count: 367 ”Speech" Thoughts

dawnthieves.de