Charred Ash Draw [s]ide parts and skinny jeans

for @Leviticus, since everything is covered in snow you made a wrong turn and are now unsure of your location / Snowmaggedon (@Incus so you are aware)

Whatever warm day had greeted her back at the edge of the realm had faded quickly into a biting cold and more snow. A false spring, Arcus had to conclude with a good measure of disappointment. She longed for the sunny days and dainty little flowers on the hillside, just being able to go for a walk without snow clinging in round clumps to her stomach, legs churning as she waded chest high through an exhausting ocean of crystal water. To be sure, her favorite season was the Autumn times, but anything would be better than this.

This particular storm came on far too suddenly. The little blue peeking out between the thin, whispy clouds was swallowed by a dark, growing belly of a much more substantial cloud. Arcus practically groaned out loud. Vaguely, she looked around for some sort of shelter, knowing this meant that she would have to hunker down. Incus was probably not too far away, but now she had to worry that her sister would get caught out in the open and end up drowning in the snow or turning into some sort of icicle-wolf. Sure, those things weren't possible, and Incus could just make her own little den in the snow to keep warm but they travelled here together and mom and dad would most certainly skin Arcus alive if something bad happened to her little sister. An ugly feeling settled in her stomach, so she threw her head back and howled, hoping to hear a quick response from her sister.

Nothing so far.

"Fuck." Shuffling her paws anxiously in the snow, the snowflakes began to fall more rapidly. Tilting her head back up, the flakes were so large and fluffy they looked almost black against the sky. That did not bode well. With one angry sigh the Leigh girl turned towards a thicker knot of trees, hoping to find some sort of pre-dug hole she could drop into.

It had been nearly a week now since Levi had seen anyone. The wolves at the river were gone and he'd yet to come across any sign of the others that he assumed would be around. After the encounter, he'd meant to simply turn around and make the overnight trip back home. Instead... ugh, he felt like such an idiot over it.

Especially now as the sky above swelled with slate-colored clouds, pulled over the land by strengthening winds like a cover.

The snow had just kept shifting and falling, constantly changing the landscape and obscuring markers that otherwise would have allowed Leviticus a far easier time navigating. It even erased all traces of him, to the point that every time he stopped to sleep, he would wake up to a blank slate of fresh snow and little idea as to where to continue to. A more clever wolf would have devised a system by now, or even gotten somewhere farther. Levi instead was too consumed by deep cold, acute loneliness and heart-pounding anxieties to think clearly and figure his way out of the mess.

What if he went too far in the wrong direction? The opposite direction even, and never got back?

Sure, yeah, he was ultimately meant to be looking for River, who clearly wasn't here, and in that sense it didn't really matter that he couldn't find his way back to some old hollowed-out tree. The thought of doing that to @Sawyer though, of just staying gone and disappearing from his foxish friend's life, made his heart drop and his stomach turn. It felt nothing like the decision to leave his pack or even his family, and perhaps that was for the simple reason that none of them had ever just been nice to him the way Sawyer had. Whatever the difference, Leviticus' heart ached to think about the hurt the other wolf might experience, even if all he felt was ditched rather than outright abandoned or deserted.

But worst yet, though he felt selfish for it, the auburn-backed wolf worried that if he didn't make it back to headquarters quick enough, his newfound friend would simply... move on. It was taken for granted that your family and the pack that raised you would always remember you. What if to everyone else, to Sawyer, he was utterly forgettable?

The sky above churned unfavorably, and his tail tucked inward against his stomach. Sad green eyes filled with trepidation lifted to gauge the turning of the weather, and it certainly didn't look good. Levi whined as his ears folded back against his skull. What had he done to deserve all this?

A howl cut through the air, and while it was utterly unfamiliar, his heart jumped with hope. There. There! Leviticus lunged forward, heaving himself over drift after drift to chase the brief tune's origin. He shot out his own short call, over here! and hoped dearly that whoever it was wouldn't just disappear.

(This post was last modified: Mar 06, 2021, 10:25 PM by Leviticus.)

As she was slogging through the new, powdery snow heaped over the ice-coated snow—her frame being so broad and heavy it sank through the crust and made it quite a labor—her ears were tickled with the sound of a howl. Arcus' head shot up, ears straining forward on her head as she tuned in for any sign that it was her sister. Curiously, the voice was unfamiliar. It sounded... masculine? Really, it was just more masculine that Incus' tone. It beckoned her.

And who was Archie to turn down a good beckoning?

A longer, excited howl echoed from her dark muzzle. Coming! Even though it was hard to tell where "over here" even was. Already the snow was beginning to fall much faster. The wind picked up, carrying her call out into the wilderness and throwing snow up in her face. Blinking and staggering back, the girl tried to get a handle on herself and her location relative to the howler. Or... she could just begin walking.

"Hello....?" she barked, "Where are you?"

You discover a half-eaten deer carcass. +5 Health

Not only did he get a call back, but they actually seemed happy to hear him! He put even more effort into bounding through the snow at top speed, even if it could only be considered speedy in a relative sense, it still got him away from just himself seconds sooner and that was enough.

"Hi!" he called out excitedly when he finally saw the other wolf, a dark moving shape at a distance between the still trees.

"Hi! Hello!"

Levi continued after her in big hops, unsticking himself from the ice and snow just to plummet right back into it. Thickening snow drifted down through the air between them as the storm picked up, as though threatening to cut them off from one another. It caused his heart to lurch.

"Don't go okay?!"

"Hi!" Was the response she heard but not one that she saw. It was definitely a boy, though. How exciting! As she walked she craned her neck to give her creamy chest fur a few swift licks. What did she do with the rest of herself? Would her breath smell okay? She had to be honest with herself—honestly, Incus already knew—that half this trip was to get away from the seemingly omniscient and omnipresent gaze of her father. He didn't like loners hanging around their territory, and definitely not boys. Arcus had hardly met a male outside of her own immediate family, and had desperately been waiting for just someone, anyone to talk to about... well, anything! Sometimes she, Incus, and Juniper would stay up late discussing what boys were like and what it would be like to be in love. Her mom was allowed to be in love, why not them? At least Incus wouldn't end up with such a lonely teenage life, now that Arcus had dragged her out here.

"Hi! Hello!" Arcus looked left, looked right, but saw nothing and no one besides the thickening wall of snow. "Where in the devil's bush is he?" she grumbled to herself, because he sounded close. Really close! She could have sworn she was headed in the right direction.

When suddenly the voice was begging for her not to go, something clicked in Arcus' mind and she jumped in a full circle. The blizzard conditions made it difficult to make out, but there was definitely a shadow coming.. bounding towards her? "Okay! I'll stay here!" She plopped her rump down in the snow, her tail making quick work of brushing some of the powder away in her excitement.

The vague shape began to grow and solidify, until all out once he could see two bright green eyes. Yes, they saw him! And... listened very well. Leviticus would have laughed if the situation hadn't been so dire for him beforehand. As it were, he didn't slow down until he was right there, the final leap landing him inches away and nose to nose.

His muzzle broke apart with a wide grin and his own tail whipped enthusiastically back and forth behind him.

"Thanks," he all but purred, completely unaware that she might very well be just as lucky that he'd shown up as the oncoming storm threatened her safety too.

"Do you um, where should we," he shot a hurried look over his shoulder, head twisting like an owl's from the other wolf to the darkened sky and back again.

"We shouldn't be out here with that hittin', right?"

Levi didn't know why he suddenly felt unsure of what his gut was telling him, as though the other wolf might tell him no and challenge everything he knew about weather. It was difficult for him, especially in serious situations, without a leader to follow, and he definitely was hoping this woman would jump into that role for him.

And there he was: Mr. Man himself! His face was pale, nearly floating disembodied in the snow storm were it not for the cape of pale browns that fell over his ears and down his back. And his eyes were green too, what a coincidence! She could have practically squealed, and for a moment she glanced around, wondering—or, rather, wishing—that Incus was here to see this! Absolutely nothing had happened yet and already Arcus wanted to tell her sister all about it and lord the whole experience over her silver little head.

I met a boy!

And we was polite! Dad would like that. "No problem!" she chirped back cheerily as she followed his glance toward the storm. Ah, she had more or less forgotten that the snow was about to get way, way worse and much higher than it was right now. He seemed to struggle with the suggestion he clearly wanted to make, which Arcus decided meant that he was very egalitarian. He didn't want to force her into something, even if would be in her best interest. That was good. Probably. Plus, it would get her to stop fixating on the gymnastics going on in her imagination at this very moment.

"Ya know, I was just thinking the same thing. I was looking for somewhere to hide. Looks like it's going to be bad," motioning with her leg, the girl resumed walking in the direction she had been before: the trees. Making out the dark lines of the tree was very difficult now, and since she had to squint they looked like just a dark wall, so she hardly even realized that she had been here before or walked among these trees.

"m'Arcus!" she tossed back towards the boy.

Levi was relieved that she agreed, and better yet, got right onto leading the way. He bounced after her, but it took some effort to catch up and stay caught up, given that her longer legs carried her just a little more efficiently through the snow.

"I'm Levi," he answered, sticking close by the other wolf's side to both share and receive a little heat. More than anything, it felt good to relax into someone else's presence, to hear the synchronizing of their strides and breathing. The storm could bite it, just having Arcus around was already beginning to melt the ice that had made it's way into his bones. The anxiety was gradually easing as well, though not as swiftly.

Something about their surroundings was shifting, but it was hard for him to promptly notice when he was already so disorientated by the blowing snow and constant white. Eventually, with the earth around them growing high enough to sufficiently cut off the wind, Levi felt that at the least this was better than nothing.

"Too bad there couldn't be some kind of cave like, right here," he remarked, the thought of going back into the howling wind's path making him shiver and lean into his company for more warmth.

Levi

That sounded so smooth, so "CO-ol," she chirped, though midway through the vowel she caught herself and lowered her voice back to normal levels. But even though she could tell her voice to sound less excitable, her brain raced a mile of minute with various possibilites. Like he was some rogue, slipping around unnoticed. And maybe he was a good hunter, too—yeah, she surmised—he was a good enough hunter than probably even her dad.

She tried not to focus on how close he was walking next to her, because Levi smelled absolutely delicious. Did all boys smell this delicious? She would actually have to verify that. Incus would have to gather some data as well. Arcus noted this for later discussion. Sometimes her fur and his fur got all mixed up together and she thought she was going to jump right out of her paws. She was practically vibrating. Would he notice? Arcus had to acknowledge that she'd never felt this way before and it was honestly a bit alarming. And distracting! A month ago Arcus would have bemoaned the fact that they were still out in the open about to die of exposure, "or something."

"Yeah, too bad," absently she turned in a cicrle, staring up at the trees. "Honestly this place feels...a little familiar?" The sensation was hard to place. The trees had a very inviting layout, as if she'd been here before. It reminded her of another place that was hard to name, but seemed much larger. "Which meaaans..." Abruptly she turned sharply right mid-step and continued on.

To her surprise, there was a great mound in the snow. Moundier than the other mounds. "This... might be an old den?" she said breathily, speaking as if by instinct.