Secluded Spring you're welcome

for @Kobe :o time for sahalie's famous "ice skating"

The frozen water spread out before her made her heart ache with longing for her pond back home in Oak Tree Bend, all those days slipping gracefully on the ice. The times with Alastor and Kyna had been the best. Her heart fluttered in her chest, stirred by the happy memory, and the girl realized she was smiling. It had been so cold for weeks now she was the spring was frozen solid, and the ice tempted her. Without knowing why, the girl looked around before feeling rather foolish: she did not care if anyone saw her, she had never cared if anyone saw her. Perhaps she was just afraid that it was not a free lake and this was not a free territory. There had been scent trails of other wolves miles back. There were so many new things to be afraid of now that she didn't have the safety of a pack at her heels. Sahalie told herself that Alastor would probably be along shortly. The ice slipping would cheer him up, too, she felt as her paws began to shuffle out onto the frosted surface.

Slipping gracefully was a little harder than she remembered. Last winter she had taken to the ice like a duck to water, but now she found her legs unsteady beneath her like she was a newborn calf. The magic was nearly gone. It was the confidence that had been taken from her, she knew, as nearly everything she knew about herself had been left behind in the mists of Spectral Woods. But the things she possessed by magic as a child, she knew, could be brought back with hard work and a, "Positive Attitude. Stay Positive," she recited once again.

Gently, her back leg pushed off the ice and she drifted forward. Not as fast as she would have liked and not just like old times, but her body did not tremble dangerously on her legs and it felt just a little familiar to her. Her smile deepened.

(This post was last modified: Dec 29, 2016, 03:35 PM by Sahalie.)

Sorry for the wait @Sahalie

There’s too much damned snow. Kobe thought as he stuck his nose in it and snapped some up. How he missed spring and its unfrozen streams. He wanted to drink water out of a river like a decent individual, not have it melt in his mouth. Winter was by far his least favorite season.

It was cold and wet and unforgiving. It made hunting harder which made him leaner. Furthermore he had to push through snow that was at times more than elbow deep. It was a wretched season and one he wish he could implore mother nature to skip completely. Falling into a particularly deep drift, he let out a huff of frustration and jumped out. His irritation rose as he landed in more snow. There was no end to it.
Pushing past shriveled and frozen vines that once enclosed and hid a spring from view, Kobe turned his head sharply. His eyes had caught on a dark brown, almost black female and her antics as she slid onto the ice from the other side. Taken aback by the sight, he stepped towards her on impulse only to pull back as his own paws slid forward.

“Just what are you doing?” he called out to the yearling. His puzzled frown couldn't have been deeper.

(This post was last modified: Jan 01, 2017, 10:37 PM by Kobe.)

~~ Do it or don't do it, you'll regret both ~~

@_@ i also make the apologies @Kobe

She didn't notice the starkly contrasted form against the snow until it called out to her, and thoughtlessly, instictively, the girl startled. The jump was small but enough to bring a paw or two off the ice so that, when she came back down her balance was not steady, her weight slipped out from under her, and the dark girl found herself splayed out on the ice. Her paws already felt numb from the chill, but having the cold pressed against her belly was enough to give her a shiver. Spread eagled, looking entirely silly, the girl raised her head, tried to put a paw down in front of her, but felt the ground slip away and, "Oof," Sahalie flopped back down again, the small momentum carrying her whole body a few inches backward.

"Ice slipping," she called out, her tone a little more tense than her usual, chipper greeting. "It's uhm. Supposed to be...more graceful than this." Her paws were supposed to propel her forward, she was supposed to glide forward with barely any movement and make turns simply by leaning. This was not even close. "Just uhm... been awhile since I done it." And she did not exactly remember how to get back up. Like an awkward, out-of-water doggy paddle the girl pulled and pushed herself back towards the bank of the frozen spring, hoping to get back to somewhere less slippery so she could stand up and try again.

The reaction to his question was more than he could handle and Kobe burst out laughing. The yearling had slipped and gravity had no mercy. He cocked his head to the side, watching her futile efforts to stand with a smile. What a fail. What a klutz. Her antics fit her age. Even as the thoughts crossed his mind he couldn't recall a time he was such a fool in his youth. His siblings yes, but him? No. Never. He was the quiet one, the silent one. Always observing the audacious nature of his siblings alongside them as they dragged him by the tail to explore everything. It had been fun for sure, when they messed up.

"Ice slipping." He said, mulling over the words. What a strange preoccupation. He listened to her explain the grace that was supposed to be behind the hobby and smirked at her excuse. "If you knew you sucked you shouldn't have tried it." He wondered if he should offer to go out and help her. He had never walked on so much ice before. "I would help...but wouldn't want to end up like you."

~~ Do it or don't do it, you'll regret both ~~

Sahalie had no problem being laughed at: she knew she probably looked as awkward as a newborn calf or a half-paralyzed frog doing the belly-slide on the ice. Her own giggle, however, was a little less enthusiastic in her cocoon of awkwardness, self-doubt, and confusion in the aftermath of leaving her home. When she reached the snowy bank of the lake she gave her coat a shake, turned to him, and said boldly, "Like I said, it's been awhile." She wasn't exactly defending herself, but it seemed as though there was a point that this wolf did not get. "I'm not afraid of sucking or falling, so it's no big deal to go out and try it." How was she supposed to know she'd be bad at Ice Slipping when she'd taken to it like a duck to water the year before? No way to know besides to try.

"Besides, I don't need any help," Already she was turning around and taking another, more ginger step out onto the edge of the lake. "And you'd definitely fall on your face. Or your butt," the laughter that came from her lips this time was genuine, full of all the bliss and energy of childhood. The loner wasn't huge, at least, but there was something about him that seemed so stiff. He was like a piece of bark that was so brittle it snapped the second you stepped on it. Ice Slipping took fluidity. Sahalie didn't need to be good at her skating anymore to know that.

"So you gotta name?" she said, her paws awkwardly lifting off the ice as she turned about in a circle.