Secluded Spring if you're always keeping score

For @Vayko or Rhaegara.

Woya hadn't expected to find a lake nestled in the mountain's foothills. If it weren't for the abrupt vastness in the midst of the relatively dense forest, she wouldn't have even recognized it as water. Far enough to mess with her eyes, the ice extended from the shore, blanketed in unmarred snow. She tested it's durability, one tentative step at a time, but as it continued to hold under her weight, Woya grew more confident.

She began to shuffle, kicking up the snow and exposing the glossy ice beneath. It was rough in patches, but not enough so to make it ill-suited for what she had planned. Scuffling along and letting her tail brush against the ground as it wagged, Woya began to clear the ice of snow so that she could skate around on it unimpeded.

Rhaegara’s travels had taken her to many places, but nothing quite as dense as this. It felt like she hadn’t seen the sun in days, impeded by the overgrowth of trees that acted as a canopy that she imagined would be rather delightful in the summer… but in winter, she longed to feel the sun on her pelt. The forest came to an abrupt halt, her eyes widening as she saw an open expanse, her nose wrinkling as she moved forward. She should be getting back to the group soon, but for now, she could afford some time to explore.

She didn’t see the ice right away, her paws slipping on it as they slid out from underneath her, a soft thud though thankfully it was not hard enough to break the ice as she started to slide out a little further from the shore on what was a frozen Spring. She was trying to carefully get up on her paws, trying to use the snow to stabilize herself but she just kept slipping. “Help!” She called out a little when she saw a figure not too far from her.

Woya was pretty involved in the whole snow-clearing process, and did not notice the other woman slippin' and sliding about until she called out. The far-paler wolf turned and watched the other struggle, gauging just how much help the other really needed. The ice wasn't giving, it seemed she just wasn't able to get her footing. For a good long moment, Woya considered ignoring her altogether and returning to what she'd been doing before she'd been interrupted.

With a begrudging sigh and some grumbling, she decided to give the floundering wolf a moment of her time. With the ease that experience gifted her with, Woya skated with relative grace toward the bracken-furred woman.

"Y'know, the first step to gettin' yourself out of this is chillin' out."

(This post was last modified: Apr 25, 2021, 11:34 PM by Woya.)

She watched as she skated out with grace and Rhaegara was baffled. How could that woman gain her footing on such a slippery surface? She just didn’t understand. She frowned at her words, finding she didn’t particularly like her tone but she would also take any and all help that she could get at the moment. She huffed lightly. “I am calm, I’m just slipping every time I go to take a step.” She wasn’t truly calm, but she was also as close as she was going to get to calm so the other woman was going to have to help her as is.

Or, you know, let her slip and slide until the ice cracked and she drowned or froze to death. One of the two worked, she just happened to prefer and pray for the former. “How did you get out here so smoothly?” Clearly the other woman knew exactly what she was doing in that regard.

A young Bull Elk has gotten separated from its herd. Hunt opportunity! +10 Health

Woya smirked, muzzle tipping upward as she responded cockily, "experience."

She wouldn't lie, the predicament the other wolf had found herself in was becoming increasingly amusing to the Macieo woman, especially given how immense of an upper paw she had over her. Power trip? Duh.

"Of course you're slipping," Woya continued, anticipating that these unnecessary words would further agitate her victim, "you're on ice."

She snickered to herself while kicking off, back into motion. Practically gloating, she glided round in an oblong shape, circling Rhaegara once. When she reached the spot where she'd been, her pale form dropped smoothly down onto the milky-colored ice. Woya assumed an approximation of the other woman's current position, mirroring her as best as she could.

"You gotta learn how t'go with the slip. Stoppin' and gettin' up, that's about balance and patience. Ya gotta focus on your muscles and what they're tellin' ya. So follow me."

Woya flexed her paws, focusing the tension so that her weight fell upon her claws which were given as much surface area as possible to connect with the ice. Then, she focused on her legs. Keeping them tight to her body, she stood by keeping her balance and putting the onus on her claws to keep purchase.

"Make sense?" she asked, clearly believing her demonstration to have been crystal clear.

Disclaimer: i do not claim to be a physics anything i have no idea if this is actually a viable way for wolves to get up from ice but it's what makes sense to my brain in this moment thank u :'D

The woman was cocky, and it caused Rhaegara to huff in a pout at her words, eyes narrowed. “Clearly.” She stated back, feeling just a tad self-conscious. She was on ice… and then the woman was actually giving some helpful advice. She was trying to figure it all out. Go with the slip? That made no sense! At least, it made no sense until she started to explain it a little more. She hummed softly and slowly started to push back up to her feet, trying to go with the slip as the other woman suggested.

The demonstration had helped a great deal as well, and soon Rhae was on her feet, even if she wasn’t sure how to move. She breathed, though even her breathing was methodical and thought out, as if breathing wrong would result in her limbs splayed all over the ice once more. “Makes sense.” She agreed verbally before posing another question. “How do I get to the shore without falling again?” She asked, a hint of desperation in her voice. She decidedly hated ice, and this woman was cocky, but she was also helping and she was not about to turn her head to some help.

When Woya saw that the other woman was rising, a great big grin broke out across her muzzle. Aw yeah, she was a natural teacher. She scuffled back, from smooth, uncovered ice to the film of snow that existed around the unique shape Rhaegara's scrabbling had created. It helped, having that little bit of friction, though it didn't last long if you had any ideas about standing in place. Her best bet to get to shore without experience was, in Woya's humble opinion, to start and just refuse to stop. Hopefully by the time she did slip up she'd have enough momentum to scoot her the rest of the way. And if not... she'd just have to get back up and try again.

"Can't make any promises about that," she answered her company's query quite indirectly.

"Maybe you should just like. Start walking and just, get fast."

Woya trotted a few paces then began a very pointed walk, first paw by paw and then building into a full on scuttle that sent her sliding off to shore.

"Like that!" she called over her shoulder as she went.

Rhae found herself irritated, but whether or not she was irritated with the woman or the circumstances she wasn’t sure. She was something of a perfectionist after all. She wanted and needed perfection in her bones so the fact that this woman was so successful and having to teach Rhaegara irritated her to no end. Still, she answered her question seemingly with a statement about not being able to reach… and then her retort and Rhae raised a brow in confusion before it furrowed, watching her demonstration.

Where was the knowledge behind it? Where was the science and the skill? Rhae truly wasn’t sure there was any but at this point, it was the only chance that she had to get to shore before someone else showed up to make fun of her even more. She trotted a few paces after Woya, walking towards the shore before she felt more like she was sliding, her paws separated underneath her and she splayed out but the momentum was capable of carrying her to the shoreline. She had never been so relieved to feel the soft but icy fluff of snow. She carefully pushed herself up as she had been taught before, trying to balance on her feet again as she embraced the safety of the non-slippery surface. "Thank you." She managed, because the woman had helped.

(This post was last modified: Aug 05, 2021, 12:08 AM by Rhaegara.)

It seemed to work as Woya had hoped, even if the other woman didn't do exactly what she had been envisioning. Still, a clear success, and the smaller wolf was grinning widely as she swooped past the shore in an arc.

"Welcome," she chirped back, and began to skate her way back to the patch of ice she'd been clearing snow from. After all, there was still plenty of fun to be had, and she doubted the other wolf needed her help to walk on land too.