Willow Ridge a blizzards coming in the year punk died

Random Event: The weather is so frosty today that your nose has turned bright red, almost like it's glowing...

They hadn't arrived in time to have soft enough earth to reshape and repair the old Ridge den. Despite this, Scully still found ways to make himself comfortable on the shifted, frozen clods and avoid the roots and stone that poked through. Somehow it still felt comfortable, just as @Avella had said. It was home.

It was likewise the most comfortable place for him to be given how miserable he was currently feeling. His nose had started running the previous day, and by how he had rubbed it raw. The black leather had taken on a dark red undertone, and the frigid winter air did not make matters any better. He felt like a cold-ridden Rudolph, and didn't know if he'd actually caught something or if the weather had simply been that miserable.

Grumbling to himself, he attempted to curl up tighter, desperate to keep his own warmth and find comfort in sleep.

(This post was last modified: Jan 10, 2022, 12:00 AM by Scully.)

This time when Vana set off in the direction of the willows it wasn't a sense of longing that pulled her there, but rather, the woman was curious as to what might lay beyond their reaches. Of course, she hadn't anticipated just how cold it might get, so as the hours ticked by and the temperature began dropping to uncomfortable levels, the woman was nearly forced to turn around.  In fact, she was just about to turn tail and head home when the scent of another caught her attention. It wasn't abnormal for another wolf to pass through the willows, she knew, but it was interesting enough to send her off in the stranger's direction.

The trail brought her to what looked to be an old den, though she couldn't be sure. Either way, the woman did not want to just waltz up to someone else's den, so leaving a respectable distance between the entrance and herself the woman called out, "Hello?"

Scully was struggling to fall asleep, the only sure relief he had for now. When a feminine voice reached his cold ears and his blocked up nose couldn't correct him, he assumed @Avella had found him. The thought was comforting, though he didn't want to get his sibling sick. It would be dangerous for both of them to be laid up.

"Elwa?" he tried to call out to her, but the mucus hindered his pronunciation, which frustrated him. At least it was just his sister. His tail thumped the ground in an attempt to expend his agitation, and after a big old snuffle he tried again.

"El-la I thing I'm sick..."

The voice that rose up from the Earth was not one she knew, and she was, quite obviously, not the Ella that it was calling for. "Uhh.. nope, wrong wolf I'm afraid." But at least now she knew that he was expecting someone, and that she'd have to keep an ear out just in case the two decided on planning something untoward. "Are you okay?" Though she could hear the sniffle in his voice, she couldn't chalk it up to just a cold without looking at him, and she wasn't about to go poking her head into someone else's den uninvited. She liked her pretty nose too much to have it ripped off.

Uhhh nope a voice he was not familiar with answered him, making the hair crawl along his spine. It was a stranger, and he was in a very vulnerable position. There was no threat in her voice as she posed her question, but that only somewhat eased his concern. He hoped dearly that @Avella would appear soon .

"... I'm fibe," he lied, scooching backwards and away from the mystery wolf.

"Wha're you doib ou' here?" Scully couldn't keep the suspicion from his voice. What was this woman poking around for?

Her tongue clicked at the blatant way he lied. Surely he could have done better than that? But then again, if she had been in his position Vanadis likely would have done something similar. "Are you sure? I am a healer, and I can give you a once-over if you need it." She let the offer leave her tongue, indifferent to the outcome.

Her head cocked as she searched for an answer, deciding in the end that she had no reason to lie. "I was just passing through to scout out what's south of here. What are you doing here?" Not that he needed a reason to be in her ancestral lands.

She was a medic? Well that was far too convenient. Scully pushed back, slithering deeper into the dwelling he occupied so as to better hide. His muscles were coiled, ready to strike if push came to shove. She went on to say she was just passing through, scouting south, but he didn't believe any of her words and if she have seen his tail, it's agitated bottlebrushing would have communicated as much.

"I lib here," he shot back, tone firming up considerably. She couldn't see him, so he had to do the puffing-up in his voice.

"You ca'b jub pa' through abymore, Willow Ribge is back," and she should leave, before that pack came to rough her up; or so he hoped she would assume. Clearly, the only safety net he had at the moment was his absent sibling.