1,545, Open to everyone involved, please post at your convenience
Dahlia was a mess, almost everything around was impassible, or covered in over 2 feet of snow. It didn’t look much like a habitable place at all. Saluce had done he always did, grabbed tools, shovels and everything else he needed to help dig out whomever called for aid. The brute was exhausted, the dark hues across his brow where a reminder to just how much he’d been working the past few days. His eyes didn’t have the same luster they normally held and his body moved with dull aches and pains causing any movement to be thought about. Saluce could hardly remember a time of such peril as this, and the storm had threatened to merely wipe everything off the face of the earth. It really was just a irony that something so beautiful could be so deadly. At home Saluce had been keeping busy shoveling snow off his roof, keeping exits cleared, and moving limbs from his home. That wasn’t counting helping everyone else as well, several major events had happened already and that added yet another toll on him. It seemed even as the storm seemed to be letting up that he was finding the ability to get up and move about to be difficult. After this storm he’d have to work on clean up and again help fix the damage to his packs mates homes. Another thing that weighed heavily on his tired mind, no rest would be available to him anytime soon and he needed to finish off some work at his shop as well.
If he had really thought about it, he could have decided against the decision to trek to his shop. He could have easily stayed home making sure Tempest was okay and rest. The wind had picked back up and again he grew worried about several items at his shop, especially the forge. It needed to stay hot until he could clean out the pots he used to melt the alloys he created. That itself was a priority, he needed to get back to the shop, re-fire the forge and clean up everything before shutting it down for the rest of the winter. If Saul hadn’t come along he probably would have shut it down earlier, until a time when he could safely have access to his shop again. Now though he wasn’t sure how long this weather would stay, it could very well keep him from returning the shop.
Tired muscles finally raised out of the bed, instantly hit by the cold that had settled in the room. Eyes looked around the room lazily, he’d been laying in bed for an hour or so already, hoping he could just return back to sleep and let that be his answer to his predicament. A paw raised up to rub his temple before finally swinging out of bed to stand, the pops and creeks his body gave off again reminded him that he had been over exerting himself lately. Stretching wide he finally moved toward his dresser. The wind wouldn’t make things very easy for him, he’d have to actually bundle up which was a break from normal. Settling upon a hoodie and jeans, along with a scarf the clothes where easily put over his frame. Well it was bundling up to him at least; all the fur underneath such simple garments would provide quite a bit of repeal from the brutal cold. Again he contemplated his decision to run out to his shop and try to get things in order. And again he decided it was the best course of action. If he grew lazy now then he’d start lapsing on other duties and he couldn’t let that happen.
The cold wind greeted him just as quickly as the door was cracked open. Another several inches had fallen over night, lighter then when the storm had first came upon them, howling like a banshee, bringing sheets of snow that would block out even his acute vision. The wind still was at it blowing the snow all around, eyes looking out at the drifts that had formed; some of them looked as if they could swallow up even his frame. Travel was very tough going from the looks of it and best he get this done now in case the storm picked back up.
The trek was rough, several times he slid into a large snow bank, the snow growing up past his waist, and he’d have to dig himself back out. Ice had formed across his nose and he felt the fire under his feet from ice forming on his pads. It was dangerous out, even for a wolf meant to survive in weather such as this, and it wasn’t lost on him. Still the dark grey male continued to travel onward, the normally short trip took an extreme amount of time to travel and he hoped everyone was staying inside. If he had to respond to an emergency it may well be a long time before he could get there. Blue hues looked out behind a mask of snow blanketing any exposed fur, looking at the massacre seen in front of him. Trees over loaded by the weight of snow had simple cracked under the pressure. Eyes took in the alien landscape, foreign unrecognizable to anyone who knew what it should look like. Everything seemed to just have stopped, nothing moved except the windblown branches, the snow kicked up and the occasional tree snap followed by a loud thud as snow and tree connected in a white explosion.
Again his feet moved and he continued onward with stubbornness that only he really could have. Finally eyes set upon the shop and instantly looked for any tree that might have fallen and was glad to see none. One tree was on his list to remove, the old oak had become rotten and he had hoped to remove it sometime in the spring. Now though he was just glad that his stubbornness was only matched by the mighty old oak still clinging to its root. A hand swung the door open and nothing but cold greeted him, no fire had been going for several days and the wild had at least regained its foothold on the drafty shop.
A sigh was given, an innocent stretch and then to work he went. A fire was easily built, the smoke easily starting to billow out of the chimney. Hands welcomed the warmth, hoping to release some of his form from the biting cold. God he was not aging well he supposed, he shouldn’t be feeling this terrible at only 3 years old. He’d have to start taking better care of himself, and he’d have to start soon or else it would mean he be an old crusty man by 5, and that thought didn’t appeal to him at all. The grey male was supposed to be in his prime but why he felt his best days where behind him he couldn’t reason.
As the fire heated up he began stoking and adding more wood to raise the temperature to a suitable level. It’d take some time for the heat to warm the Bronze allow currently in the pot into a molten state, several hours at least, and by then he could finish what he came here to do.
Time passed and a soft covering of molten bronze would float to the surface and solidify before another batch would rise up, repeating in endless motion before the piece of metal finally liquefied under the fire. With a mold nearby he grabbed the pot with the tongs easily and poured out the offending metal. Next he’d clean the forge itself as it cooled and he’d be done here for the next month or so. Saluce really didn’t have to do this, the bronze would have easily kept in the pot through the rough winter, but it was on principle, a job was half done and he needed to complete it.
The bronze had just barely become solid when his ears perked atop his head, the wind could now be heard through the walls of his shop. “Damn it’s really picked up out there” he said to no one really. Maybe to himself to make him feel a bit better but it didn’t, he hardly got the words out of his mouth before again a loud crack brought his attention back to what was happening outside. There wasn’t much time to react, he only had stood up before the tree came crashing down, the mighty oak had finally succumbed to the weather.
A foot pressed eagerly against the floor as he started to move out of the way but it wasn’t for lack of trying, the grey male was brought down forcefully, the moment itself lost to the man. The weight had plowed down on his head, knocking him unconscious instantly. For it now was the savior’s time to be saved, and who would answer this silent call? Already the tree had knocked over the smoldering forge; the snow at first would act as a way to keep the hungry embers from striking up against a ready supply of wood, but for how long?
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