Blackberry Fields Never let go

Northern edge of Blackberry fields, almost at the Palisade. Map Coordinates (56.55948, -39.375). @Cottongrass, Victoria, you get caught in a snowstorm.

Of all the terrible timing for her to decide to strike out on her own she just had to leave when she did, didn't she? Neither of her mothers were neither foolhardy nor pushy. She had heard Aniu mutter something about her aunt on more than one occasion, but it could have just as easily been her father to blame (not that the girl would know that). Her reckless streak would probably get her killed one of these days and it was looking increasingly likely that it would end up being today.

She gritted her teeth together and tucked her head, eyes squinting tightly against the snowy blast that threatened to bowl her over. No matter how she strained or tried to lock her legs it felt like every step she tried to take forward she only ended up losing ground. Her sides were shrunken, fur unkempt which only made it all the easier for the wind to rip what little warmth she had away. She may as well give in now, drop to the ground where she stood and let the snow swallow her up. Maybe Avery would come looking for her in the spring thaw and find her corpse as winter gave way to spring. But she wasn't a quitter was she?

Do you mind if we backdate this? Backdate it to say, February 10th?

He regretted everything.

It had been sunny when he left, the kind of sunny that was supposed to mean it would be a good day. And while it was cold, he hadn't thought too much about it because all he ever knew was bitterly cold winters. That was his first and biggest mistake, in hindsight. The brightness had lulled him into a cozy sense of false security and he didn't pay any attention to the cold, the cold that he could now see was a harbinger of a bad day. As the day stretched on it had only gotten colder, settling under his skin and fur and burrowing into his bones where it now sat. The sky had turned grey and the once happy sun disappeared behind gloomy clouds. Then, the snow had came on whipping winds.

Now, everywhere he looked it was white. Endless shades of white on white that swirled and danced before his eyes until he didn't know which was which. And the cold—the cold nipped and tore at his fur, tugging him every which way no matter how he stood or braced himself. In all, he was screwed. So very and utterly screwed, and boy oh boy did he know it. It didn't even have anything to do with the snow storm. No, it was about the fact that he was alone and lost during a snow storm that had him spooked.

He might as well have jumped back in time, to when he had lost Vic and Avery and he fell in that hole under the snow. And while he had eventually mustered the strength to climb out by himself, all he was greeted with was solitude and fear. It had been storming then, and he was pretty sure he would have died if Reyes hadn't literally bumped into him. A thought struck him, the kind of thought that had his mind whirring away and tail frantically lashing behind him. Because what if Reyes didn't come and save him this time?

The older wolf seemed so distracted nowadays, disappearing for entire days and sometimes even nights without explanation or warning. And while Cottongrass himself was no better, wandering off whenever he pleased and usually getting lost in the process, it was somehow different now. Because what if Reyes didn't find him in time? That would be bad. Like, really really bad and it would be way worse than the time he decided to go outside during a blizzard and he lost the tip of his ear to frost bite for it. Because instead of losing an ear tip or a tail tip or a toe, he'd lose his whole entire body.

A desperate whine pressed through his clenched teeth and his ears rolled back tight against his skull. The frantic lashing of his tail only got worse as he tried to make himself small, crouching as he pressed onward. Anything to keep his body heat inside of his body. He didn't want to freeze to death, not today and sure as hell not ever. His steps only came faster, big paws kicking up snow and stocky legs fighting to navigate in the mounting flurry.

And in his blind and desperate scramble forward, he walked into something.

Into someone.

COTTONGRASS

(This post was last modified: Mar 31, 2017, 03:43 AM by Cottongrass.)

@Cottongrass

As the girl shrunk lower to the ground, inch by inch, her eyes squeezed tightly shut. She should have just gone home when no leaders showed at the borders of Grizzly Hollow, but she was a stubborn child, headstrong and foolish and she would make it on her own. She wouldn't go crawling home unless she had something worthwhile to tell her parents... If she even survived this storm. It was then a warm mass bumped into her behind, sending her nose (and face) plummeting into the banking snow. Her yelp was ripped away by the wind, muffled by the snowy wall before her, but it was enough to get her blood pumping again.

She pulled her ashy head back with a yank, turning to face her assailant with an accusatory glare. It took a moment for her to discern the shape of the wolf behind her, to make out that familiar face, and before she had a chance to round on the man with hurled insults about looking where he was walking (in a blizzard no less), the fire left her veins and was replaced instead with an overwhelmingly gooey warm feeling that she usually reserved for family. "COTTON!" She exclaimed with a smile, her tail fighting against the cutting wind to wave at her back. She launched at the boy without warning, front paws spread wide to wrap around her companion's neck, to make sure he wasn't just an illusion dreamed up by a frost-bitten brain. She would force her nose into his ears, across his forehead and cheek before firmly burying her face in the thick fur of his neck.

She had found him! ... or he had found her?

Did it matter?

Lemme know if I need to change anything <3

Whatever—or was it whoever?—he just walked into seemed to be there one second and not the next. Which bewildered and startled him to no end as he found himself stumbling forward into nothing but empty air. He flinched, violently, his entire body jerking backwards as he barely caught himself from crushing whatever he just knocked over. Somewhere inside of his chest his heart started to race. Because he just kicked a coyote, hadn't he? Or maybe—and his heart seized when the thought struck him—he had just pushed some poor wolf over into the snow.

He wasted no time in taking a hurried step back, eyes blinking fast and hard as he tried to discern the snowy shape before him. All he could make out was a dark shape at his paws as the snow and wind burned, but it was enough. Because whatever poor creature he just knocked over was moving, twisting around and coming right at him. And he was going to get attacked again, wasn't he? There were a thousand excuses and apologies ready on the tip of his tongue. Because as always, he didn't mean to and he was really, really sorry so if they would just give him a second to explain himself—his panicked thoughts stuttered to a halt when the attacker called his name.

A moment later something—no, it was someone—smaller than him and a whole lot more colder collided into his front. Dumbly he stepped back, allowing whoever it was to wrap their forearms around his neck. He blinked, not realizing he had even closed his eyes in the first place. What greeted him was a familiar blur of beige and grey, stark against a moving background of white. It clicked that he knew who his attacker was.

"Vic!" He called as realization struck. Because hey hey hey, his attacker was Vic! The very same Vic who was his friend, his traveling buddy, the one he almost killed twice and this would probably somehow make it thrice! Behind him his tail wagged hard enough to have the rest of his hindquarters swaying. "I found you! You've been found!" He crowed, squirming and wriggling on the spot while he did his best to lean and nuzzle into her every touch.

And unable to contain himself for a second longer, he launched forward to push her onto her back in the snow. He nosed at her face, at her neck, at her ears, anywhere and everywhere he could reach. She was real! She was right there! Finally, he affectionately headbutted and ground the top of his head into her cheek and neck. Just because he could.

COTTONGRASS

(This post was last modified: Feb 26, 2017, 10:17 PM by Cottongrass.)

Her exclaimation was met with one of her own. She couldn't help but laugh when he declared that he had found her, voice ripped away with the savage wind as the pale boy launched forward. The girl fell back, his warmth on her chest more than welcome in the foul weather as she squirmed in equal measure to reciprocate his touches and try to get out from underneath him. Even an airhead like Vic couldn't help but be concerned. It was too cold for him to bear the brunt on the storm like this. "Let's find somewhere out of the wind!" She suggested bracing her forepaws against his chest, squinting eyes turning this way and that looking for any sign of somewhere to bunk down until the storm blew over.

She was sure at least some of these drifts were actually bushes, and if they hadn't collapsed yet they probably weren't going to. If she managed to wriggle free from @Cottongrass she would work on poking into bumps of snow here and there, looking for one that had branches under all the snow, and a place large enough for both of them to huddle for warmth. She had so much to tell him! But it wasn't worth giving into her excitement now, lest she kill them both.

A large part of him was really, really tempted to ignore whatever Vic had just yelled and keep on standing over her. Because she was out of the wind in a sort of, not really kind of way. He was heroically shielding her with his own body, after all! And as far as he knew, there was no way they could lose track of each other if they just stayed like this. Really, it was like Vic had the best of both worlds in that moment. He was taking the worst of the storm and he wasn't going to just wander off and lose her again. Not then, anyway.

But while Cottongrass was usually oblivious to many things around him, he couldn't just pretend that he didn't notice his friend's squirming or the way her paws braced against his chest. He was also cold, and with the wind and snow howling at his back—he was only getting colder. So he bit down on what was going to be his heroic excuse of how the wind never bothered him anyway in favour of taking a few waddling steps back, letting his friend stand up. The wind sucked and he wanted out of it.

And with Vic taking the reigns of their search for shelter, he obediently shuffled after her. Even if he didn't immediately understand why she was so intent on playing boop-the-snoot with random snowbanks. He just focused on staying as close to her as he could and nosing at every lump of snow she did. It wasn't until he nosed at one of said lumps of snow and almost lost an eye to an underlying branch did it all click into place. They were looking for bushes! Bushes hidden under the snow! Bushes that were shelter!

Behind him his tail gave a happy sort of sway, the usually obnoxious action tampered by the fact that he really was cold. And after making sure the bush was something they could actually use as shelter, he stepped back. "Vic!" He barked to alert her what he had found, like he wasn't keeping himself pinned to her hip. It was just that if they were going to use what was scarcely more than a shrub for shelter, he wanted her to go in first so he could go second and block the entrance from the wind.

COTTONGRASS