Sorry for the wait! <3 WC: 573

The girl was in a daze as she wandered today; incredibly exhausted from the stress of the recent snowstorm, and undoubtedly clouded in though. Between her fingers sat a nicely rolled, half-smoked joint which she puffed on thoughtlessly, absently, as she walked. At the moment, under this unfortunately dreary gray sky, she hoped to find a place to rest, if only for a few hours. After all, Inferni wasn't far from here, now, and a quick midday nap wouldn't hurt.

The air was frigid and unforgiving, and as the wind and snow whipped through the trees Sage's small hands held tight against her rabbit fur blanket, forcing the thing closer to her chilled body. The tanned leathers she wore around her body provided good warmth, but today it was just not enough. The cold was one thing that her favorite herb did not help with. With a frown she continued the rugged trek, knowing that she had seen a dilapidated and frankly rather uninviting cabin somewhere nearby. The Earth Mother seemed upset today, and Sage would not want to get in her way.

Taking a final hefty puff from the lit joint, the girl tossed it on the ground, the snow around it immediately melting and dampening the remains of the smoldering plant matter. Yellow eyes glanced around, trying to get her bearings. Hiding behind a rather thick clump of trees in the near distance was that beaten down cabin, and the tawny earth child moved quickly but gracefully towards it.

Halfway through her short jaunt, the snow began to fall with dramatically increased force, and the wind was so fierce that she nearly topped over. She hurried now, breaking into a run as she hunched over, eyes barely looking ahead. She made it over the threshold, the wind nearly ripping the door off as she entered, out of breath and panting-- she was clearly not one to exercise often. Without a look around, the girl shook the quickly melting snow from her clothing and blanket, tossing her wavy brown locks about fervently as she shivered.

Moments later, the girl actually looked up. Sage's yellow eyes widened immediately in surprise, jumping several inches back and not bothering to stifle the gasp that forced itself from her lips.

"Oh!" she said, startled. Not only a man, but a boy as well. A very young boy. "Oh, I'm so sorry," she breathed, her soft voice ending in a gentle, honest laugh. The pair didn't seem even vaguely threatening, and the man was even quite handsome, so it was with a relieved smile that she added, "I didn't think anyone else would be in here!" After all, it wasn't the prettiest of places.

The girl backed up against a nearby wall, letting her body relax as she slid down it gently, collapsing into a comfortably seated position, her eyes still on the pair. They appeared tired and travel-worn, a look she'd seen often.

As the wind and snow battered against the time-distorted shack, it's cracks letting in gasps of the cold air every so often, the girl's wide golden eyes glanced to it's roof.

"This weather is quite fierce, isn't it?" she asked, her voice innocent and quite cheerful considering the subject. "I do think she tests us, sometimes..." she said gently, speaking, however unclear, of the beloved Mother Earth.

; ; Don't hate meeeee... WC: 331

”We came up from the south...it's so much milder there. We were quite startled by the weather ourselves.” he explained calmly, though his eyes watched her without faltering.

Sage allowed her body to relax against the cool floorboards of the crumbling shack, her yellow eyes glancing around the small room with slight interest. She was more interested in the pair before her, though. It wasn't often that she saw a man traveling alone with a pup; usually, it was the other way around. Really, the girl wanted to ask about it, but knew that this was a time for tact. The ivory stranger did not seem entirely at ease with her presence, but she attributed this to her coyote heritage, and hoped that he might be able to overcome it. The hippie Lykoi was nothing like most of her ancestors and relatives, after all.

The tawny girl shifted her weight a bit, trying to gain a comfortable position. She took the blanket from about her shoulders, instead bringing her knees to her chest and draping it across her legs, hugging them gently with her arms. With a slight shiver, her voice rose against the howling wind curiously.

"The south, eh, love? A particular place, or did you wander?" she wondered, not quick to assume that he'd had a stable home; she hadn't, in fact.

After the girl had reeled off about the Earth Mother's control over the weather and it's odd pattern, the man had asked: ”By she...are you meaning Rhiannon? Or someone else?”

Sage's face momentarily expressed surprise, but she had to remember that this wasn't Juniper Peace, and not everyone knew who she spoke of. "Ah..my apologies..." she said lightly, shaking her head at her mistake. "The Mother Earth, I mean."

The Lykoi girl tried to speak quietly so as not to wake the sleeping boy, who was indescribably adorable, curled in a comfortable slumber in the stranger's arms. She leaned forward, raising a petite hand and pointing vaguely to the boy. "Who's this?" she asked, her voice low, a wide smile on her face.