Fisher's Split When it's time for breakfast, I like toast and marmalade

Random Event: Claw, your personal cache has been frozen over.

The first rays of morning light finally began to breech themselves over the looming peaks in the distance and offer the chilled world below a small taste of the warmth they offered. One such adventurous beam of light managed to grace the marbled fur that lined Claw's face, stirring the young Archer from whatever pleasant dream he was having. Sleepy limbs stretched themselves out while a yawn pried apart once-clamped jaws to allow the young boy's tongue to curl and expel a cloud of heated breath like a roaring dragon.

Gradually Claw finally managed to roll himself onto all fours and hoist himself up, bowing to once more give his body a proper stretch before heading off toward the location of his personal cache tucked not too far away. While it had been some time now since the young Archer joined the rag-tag group of renegades under the leadership of Loach, the once-loner child still found old habits of his loner lifestyle hard to shake. The sharing of food was one of them. Alas, breakfast this morning would be his alone. Or so he thought...

Well if that wasn't just great.

A less-than-pleased grumble could be heard coming from Claw as he came upon his personal cache only to find that it had become frozen over in the night, his claws doing little more than scratching the surface with each swipe of his paw. Now, what was he going to eat for breakfast?!

It was early morning, with dawn's light casting a certain peaceful beauty over the little snowed-in valley surrounding the Split. Mist was rising into the blue sky from the trees and river, which seemed to run without danger of freezing.

Lana made a frequent habit of wandering its banks to look for anything of use, to her or the group. She was still unsure what to call the little gang, they weren't a pack exactly but they were still something. The tricolor woman had become rather fond of the place, the faces of Loach and Linnea and a daily routine that involved more than scraping by. She had begun to familiarize herself with the other animals of the place and the still mostly dormant plants, learning what she could of them as they revealed themselves from winter's shroud.

Today, she happened upon one of the faces she was less familiar with, except by scent and at a distance. The boy had been hanging around, though, so she might as well introduce herself now that she had the chance, see what he was about.

As she approached, she noted that he seemed perturbed, clawing at snow that had solidly iced over. Lana cleared her throat, in case he had not noticed her yet, and raised an eyebrow. "Not sure that's gonna give," she commented with raised eyebrow.

Currently traveling with Loach, Llinnea, Clouse and Claw.

"Yer a little shit for this, y'know." Blissfully unaware that he had gained unexpected company, Claw grumbled his frustration with mother nature to himself in a way that temporarily brought forth not only the partial accent he had adopted from his mother but her angry side as well. Another fruitless swipe of his paw at the iced-over cache was made before the sound of a clearing throat and an unfamiliar voice had his young muscles freezing in place, ears splaying back in embarrassment that he had been caught having a rather vulnerable moment.

Oh, today was definitely not his day.

The yearling whirled himself about in a flurry of snow to settle his emerald gaze upon a tri-colored woman he had yet to properly meet and knew nothing about. Other than the small personal details he managed to filter out whenever his paws passed over one of her scent markers scattered along the general area the Split crew occupied. Embarrassment was clearly etched onto his young facial features and heat instantly rose beneath the fur that lined his cheeks, but Claw wasn't one that liked to admit his shortcomings if he could help it.

"Pft, I knew that. I was gonna go get somethin' else anyways." He tossed his head off to the side and adopted a tough-guy attitude, but all the acting in the world couldn't stop the empty rumbling of his stomach that vocalized its desire for sustenance first thing in the morning. Embarrassment instantly washed over the young boy once more and he dared to peak out the corner of his eye at the strange woman that walked up to him and wondered if she had heard his bodily noises. Secretly he hoped not.

An amused smirk was hinted at the edge of her muzzle, as she caught his words just before he spun on her. Lana took a step back as a spray of snow was sent her way, raising a paw to ward off the frozen stuff before lowering it to the ground again.

She felt a bit bad for surprising or embarrassing the youth, making his overreaction understandable in her mind, but she also had to wonder if such posturing behavior was a habit of the boy's. If she'd been more like her mother, it would probably have pissed her off, and that fact alone made Lana warm up to him a little more.

Her smirk slid into a smile as she heard his stomache rumbling. Where did these kids keep turning up from, anyway, she wondered? No matter right now.

"Luckily that'll keep just fine," she chose to affirm the youth's words, motioning to what was presumably his iced over meal. "I bet we could find something fresh instead, want to see?" Lana offered, flicking an ear. It would be a chance to work together and see what the kid was like past first reactions, but she wouldn't push him about it. She turned to move off, leaving it to him whether he'd visit one of their other caches in the little area, go hungry, or take her up on her offer to go try and catch a live meal of some sort.

Currently traveling with Loach, Llinnea, Clouse and Claw.

All the hope in the world hadn't been enough to avoid well trained ears from picking up on the gurgles of an empty tank. Great. The agouti woman before him affirmed that despite being frozen over the contents of his personal cache would be just fine, opting to then extend an offer to the hungry boy for a chance to acquire something a little less cold and a lot more fresh. The prospect of something fresh had the boy licking eagerly at his chops, all former embarrassment swiftly cast aside as if it hadn't even happened.

Claw's curiosity in regards to what fresh morsel they could find in a place like this had swarthy ears pricking forward, his emerald gaze watching the woman as her body shifted position to begin heading off. For a few minutes the boy contemplated his options here, humming silently to himself before giving his pelt a shake. Well, if he couldn't beat them then join them right? Especially if a meal was involved.

"Hold on.." Claw called out after the woman, taking a couple bounds to catch up before settling into a comfortable, leisurely pace along her side while still holding back just a smidge. He couldn't seem too eager but also couldn't fall behind.

She wondered if he'd follow, carefully flicking an ear back in a nonchalant manner. Not wanting to seem too curious, but she was assured moments later with the sound of paws bounding after her across the snow. Lana paused a beat to let him catch up with her, then started off again. She was headed vaguely westward, toward the eponymous split itself.

"Loach seems quite fond of fishing, even in the cold," she began conversationally after a moment, glancing over to the contrasted youth as they walked. Fish was the ever-present option around here. "But I also found strong signs of rabbit back a ways in the trees yesterday." The scent had been strong along trails through the snow, along with numerous prints. She suspected the shy but plentiful creatures had a budding colony in the sheltered thicket. Either prey could be more efficiently caught with a companion to strategize with.

"What do you think?" she wondered if he'd take the chance to choose, or take part in the decision. If nothing else, she'd give him the chance to offer his thoughts, perhaps decline an icy swim this morning. Lana had grown used to them, but she didn't have to enjoy them!

Currently traveling with Loach, Llinnea, Clouse and Claw.

Without word she slowed her pace enough to allow the yearling a chance to catch up, waiting until he had fallen into step before casually stirring up a conversation between the two of them, name dropping the very captain of their crew Claw assumed was an attempt to put them on common ground. He obviously hadn't taken the time to learn the backstories of the other's yet and how they came to join their little group, but he did wonder if it was Loach who had found them, or was it them that had found Loach?

An ear closest to the tri-colored woman flicked to signal she had his attention despite his gaze having wandered off to the side, visually searching for himself what possible opportunity there was in the Split for food resources. The sheer mentioning of taking a dip in the cold water, though, had an instant grimace marring the young boy's facial features. Fishing wasn't something that he considered his strong suit yet that did seem to be something that was always readily available in these parts. Rabbit was another good option and something he was better equipped at handling thanks to lessons from his mother growing up, but that was also what he had tucked inside his frozen over cache. Consider it a grudge against mother nature as to why his mind chose to go with the first offered option.

"He's a weird one for sure." Claw commented with a soft, amused chuckle. "But m'not the best fisher and I'd like to get better at it." He admitted with some reluctance, the notion of admitting a shortcoming of his leaving a rather bitter taste on his tongue.

He seemed to think it over for a moment. Lana let out a low amused huff of agreement. She was still not sure she really understood the gruff man who'd become their de-facto leader of sorts, but she had grown accustomed to his manners and the way of things here at the Split. Still it was very different from her own upbringing, and she was not sure if anything here would last beyond the coming season. She'd decided to take things as they came for now.

Her ear flicked again, somewhat surprised at the kid's choice. While she'd have rather gone after the rabbits herself, she'd given him the choice and he had chosen. Not without thought, either. Lana smiled despite herself. "Then the river it is," the tricolor woman declared, her path diverted towards the waters now that their destination was clear. "I could use some practice myself, anyway," she admitted, unsure if the destination she detected in his own tone was out of embarrassment or simply lack of enthusiasm for the cold swim it would entail. Lana was getting better at fishing herself since her arrival here, but in truth it didn't come naturally to the desert woman at all. "You can call me Lana if you like, by the way," she added, figuring some informal introductions were well due.

Currently traveling with Loach, Llinnea, Clouse and Claw.

Apparently Claw wasn't the only one that was humored with the personality of their elected captain, the woman's huff of agreement further solidifying such. He was rather different that most others he had met so far his in his young life, but that didn't negate the fact there was definitely something special about him. How else could one lone wolf manage to rally together a group such as theirs?

The woman declared, after much thought from Claw beforehand, the river would be there hunting grounds for the day, but not without revealing the swiftest moment of surprise in his choice and going on to admit her own desire to hone such a skill. In all honesty the Archer wasn't entirely thrilled with his choice either, knowing very well that in order to catch a fish you had to get wet and the thought of putting one paw into that icy water had the boy wanting to shiver. Alas, at the end of the day fishing was a good survival skill to have and one his mother hadn't the patience to teach him. And if there was one thing Claw knew well how to do, though, it was survive.

Their paws would then divot from their current path to make their way toward the river's edge, his gaze shifting from the path ahead to her once his ears picked up on a vital piece of information. Lana. The moniker was immediately tucked into the back of his mind for safe keeping, offering the woman his best warm smile which didn't exactly come easy for someone raised alone and lacking the developed social skills others his age had. "Name's Claw." Short, sweetish and to the point.

The kid's smile was returned, as Lana committed his name to memory as well. Claw, simple, but fitting somehow for the young wolf walking along beside her. She wondered where he'd come from, how he'd found his way here. Theirs was an odd little group, an eclectic mix to put it kindly. But she rather liked that.

Life was not all about fitting one proper mold, despite what she'd once been taught. Here she was, trying to teach herself to fish and possibly him, too. And who knew what Loach's plan was, if he had one? They were all just figuring it out as they went along, she supposed, Life didn't seem to respect grandiose plans any more than none at all.

Today, at least, hopefully they could secure a meal. Fill their bellies. Enjoy the day. Maybe that was enough.

"Well Claw, let's see if we can catch a big one today, eh?" she smiled wryly as she approached the river's edge, bracing for the cold.

Currently traveling with Loach, Llinnea, Clouse and Claw.