Fool's Gold Chasm Storm Warning

RE: Enera, blowing snow has disoriented you. All welcome!

1/3, later afternoon.

Enera had gotten herself into the habit of finding some place warm to curl up and take a nap in the afternoons, when it was cold but still far enough away from bedtime that her nap wouldn't bleed over into the night. She wanted to be able to cuddle with someone warm when the night was at its coldest.

The sky had been mostly calm and clear when she'd bedded down between the roots of a tree for her nap, so when she woke and crawled out of her little hole she was shocked to be met with blowing wind and white snow swirling in her face. She grimaced and forged out into it, heading for the den she knew her mama would return to that night. Maybe today wouldn't be a bad day to simply stay down in. She just wanted to be warm!

As she walked the wind seemed to blow harder, threatening to tip her over and throwing white powder in her face. She couldn't see anything, because the sun glared off the snow, and the snow was in her eyes, and the wind burned, and her ears and paws and nose were already frozen, and she just couldn't-

Feeling lost and disoriented even though she was only a few steps from her makeshift den, Enera sat down and began to loudly cry.

The weather had taken a turn, and Woya begrudgingly pulled herself from the warmth of the pack den to seek out those who had yet to return to it. Specifically, @Saga's children. Enera hadn't necessarily been in mind, but there was no hesitation on her part when she crossed the young girl's scent. Woya followed it through the driving snow, intending on finding the girl and sending her directly to her mother.

Before she came into view, however, her cries could be heard on the vicious wind. Alarm jump-started the woman's gait, sending her running toward the noise. When she found her, no greeting was uttered before getting into the youngster's space and inspecting her for harm.

None was found.

Woya sat back, nose wrinkling with agitation.

"What is wrong with you?" she asked bluntly, without kindness.

Was this girl really crying over the snow? It hadn't even been storming that long...

(This post was last modified: Jan 04, 2022, 02:48 AM by Woya.)

Enera felt like she'd been crying for ages, even if it had only been a few minutes, when suddenly there was an adult beside her. Woya had appeared out of seemingly nowhere, blocking the storm intermittently as she moved around the pup. Enera was startled into quiet by the sudden manifestation, especially of someone she was still somewhat scared of, even if she didn't call her the Scary Lady anymore.

Then the pale woman sat back - and now the snow was burning Enera's eyes again - and snapping at her.

Okay, Scary Lady. She was still a Scary Lady.

Enera sniffed and ducked her head, eyes squinted nearly shut. "I can't see," she complained, "An' my eyes and nose and ears and toes are burning."

She wished she'd never crawled out of her napping place.

The girl whined out a string of complaints, and Woya rolled her eyes. It really was just the weather. How much did @Rhaegara coddle this child? The dove understood it was her only one, but damn. It wasn't like March wasn't just around the corner - this girl would be a yearling before they knew it, and her red-eyed mother could squeeze out another bastard litter to preoccupy herself with. She needed to be more independent, in Woya's not-so-humble opinion.

She huffed and started nosing at Enera, pushing her back toward the hole that her scent trail told Woya she'd come from. It didn't occur to her that the youth had lost track of even that.

"Y'get back in cover then," she instructed, and wouldn't stop her prodding until the youngster was back underground and out of the weather.

(This post was last modified: Jan 12, 2022, 10:29 PM by Woya.)

If Enera had been hoping for even a fraction of the sympathy she'd received in the bee incident, she was sorely disappointed. Woya didn't even seem to care that Enera was trying to go somewhere else, or that she was freezing, or that not being able to see was scary. Just like she was being right now.

Enera's ears flicked back as the pale woman nudged her, nearly knocking her over as Enera didn't budge. She finally scrambled to the side, confused as she tried to escape the Scary Lady's pointed nose. "But I was trying to go back to the den!" she protested. "Mama worries when I don't come back on time!" She didn't want Mama to worry, especially with how scary the weather was right now! If Enera couldn't see, Mama probably couldn't see either. But then, how did the Scary Lady find her?

Enera protested, and Woya could feel her patience draining away, until she took a moment to actually look at the young girl. Her distress was clear within her eyes, along with a hefty dose of confusion - Woya was just making things worse. She gritted her fangs, and considered just calling out for her mother as she'd so furiously told Rhaegara she would. Instead, she took a breath, and tried to think. How would she handle this if it were Marrah or Caelyn lost and upset?

"Okay," she said slowly, lowering her haunches into the snow. The wind whipped and screamed around her, but she appeared unphased, focusing only on Enera.

"Lesson one, ya don't leave cover when it's like this outside. Y'wait. Since ya did already, the first thing to do is close yer eyes and tilt back yer ears. Keep the wind n' snow out of 'em."

There was no way to make the storm vanish, but Woya could show her how to mitigate it's overwhelming effects and focus past what was uncomfortable in order to use her other senses to find safety.

(This post was last modified: Jan 17, 2022, 06:02 PM by Woya.)

had a dream so big and loud

JUMPED SO HIGH I TOUCHED THE CLOUDS

The Scary Lady seemed to stop and think for a moment, while Enera just sat there miserable as ever. When the Scary Lady spoke again, her voice was kinder as she explained what to do to, and the pup followed her instructions. It helped the roaring and to keep the ice out of the sensitive insides of her ears. "Okay," she said, "but now I can't see at all." She didn't understand how this was supposed to help her find shelter. It was still cold.

Enera sniffed. "I hate snow." It was cold and wet and blinded her and made the ground slippery and mushy. It was no good. She missed the warmth of the sun and going swimming to cool down and playing in the mud with her sibling-friends.

"Y'got more than eyes, y'know," she told her, and tapped her cold leathery nose against Enera's, bumping it gently down toward the ground.

"Yer paws're stinky. All of ours are. Follow yer own scent back to the den."

It was possible the girl had already passed the point of no return, and so thoroughly crossed and trampled her own trail that she would be unable to find her way. To be safe, Woya put her own nose to the snow and began to ruffle through it, seeking out a distinct line of scents that would guide the girl right to shelter. Once finding it, she would nudge Enera in the right direction if she began to veer too far off course or otherwise struggle.

(This post was last modified: Feb 04, 2022, 05:04 AM by Woya.)

had a dream so big and loud

JUMPED SO HIGH I TOUCHED THE CLOUDS

Enera had to admit closing her eyes and tucking back her ears like the Scary Lady said really helped, so when the woman tapped her nose down and told the pup to search for her own smell, Enera resisted complaining that her nose was too cold to smell anything. Instead, she tried inhaling, then sneezed when she got a nose-full of snowflakes. Her tail tucked tighter between her legs and she let out a low whine, but tried again.

This time, she picked up the odor of her own trail, mixed with that of Woya swirling around her. "I found it!" she said proudly, looking up at Woya and then immediately closing her eyes again. Stupid snow. "The snow makes it hard," she added, even as she started shuffling back the way her scent led.

Enera didn't need as much help as Woya expected she might, and she smiled back at the girl as she happily exclaimed. A lot of life was doing things yourself and learning as you go, and so she didn't go about any elaborate explanations or detailing every step.

"It does," she commiserated, but the sympathy was faint, causing the words to come across as more of an amicable statement. Talking about it wouldn't change their situation.

She walked alongside Enera, near enough to give her a little buffer from the blasting snow.

"Ya up to making it back to the den or do ya wanna hunker down here and wait it out?"

(This post was last modified: Feb 04, 2022, 05:14 AM by Woya.)