Chasing snowflakes
#1
backdated 7th
1009

Cold. It was so cold. There was ice in her veins that sent shards of crystalline water into her muscles. She was shivering so very hard that she could hear her teeth clicking together over and over. Her fur was soaking wet, right down to her skin, water continually dropped from the ends and the frozen temperatures had sheets of ice forming upon her pelt only to be shook free by the ragged stumbling of her walk. Her breaths shuddered in and out of her, only cooling her more. There was no heat left within her now, no warmth at all. She had know this feeling before but never for quite so long, quite so draining. The wolfdog hybrid stumbled and staggered before falling to the snow, she had no balance to keep herself on her feet and her distracted brain threw pretty images of fire and heat before her eyes, taunting her with the one thing she did not have. Her mind had long ago ceased to function at an intelligent level, reduced to the most basic of thoughts, the most animalistic of feelings. Shelter. That word was like a beacon that kept her going, a light in the darkness, guiding her closer and closer towards her home, her lifeline.

She had been sure she could make it in time, reach the safety of her home before she reached the state she was in but it had not come to pass. After seeing X'yrin and Sarian home all of her energy had drained leaving her lifeless, almost dead. Her eyes were dull and glassy, a film of gummy white liquid made her eyes opaque, they drifted shut every so often and she started to nod before shaking herself awake and resuming her plight. She could hardly recognise where she was even though she was only a few hundred metes from her own home. She was confused, lost. Had she gone to right way? Where was she? She looked about for a landmark in vain. To make everything worse, it was snowing softly and the added chill of the snow threatened her even more. Shiloh. The woman's name brought a small spark of anger to the back of her throat, she had caused this, but the spark quickly fizzled out, leaving her even more befuddled. With a sigh she carried on in her painfully slow march, covering only a few meters within a ten minute time slot.

Temo would be sleeping now, her brain knew this because it was part of their routine, he always rested about midday to give Jace some time to play on her own with the kids. When he woke up they switched places and she slept whilst he played with them. There would be no one at the door to let her in, she couldn't open the handles with the paws she had and the kids would likely be sleeping with Temo. She bumped into something. What was it? She looked at it dumbly, unable to comprehend what it was before she rose her head and looking to the left and right saw similar structures. Then it struck her that this must be the pen they had built the horses. All three were inside, there was no sign of anyone. Jace was too tired to carry on any further and flopped to the ground where she stood, the snowfall immediately working to cover her up from the world, she would be a frozen statue in no time at all but Jace wasn't worried, she was too sleepy to worry much but she did anyway, just a little bit. She tried to bark, to gain anyone's attention but it came out as a small whine, barely even audible over the wind. She tried one last time to shift again, but soon regretted her foolish decision as pain flashed through her forcing a louder whine from her throat, she was overcome and knew no more as blackness swallowed her up.

Inside of the horse shelter the foal raised her head from her mother's side. All three were laid curled up together to save their warmth. They need not fear predators in the shelter of the dog wolf people they lived with. She shook her head, she could swear she had heard something. Then it came again! A low whine of the canine animals. The filly named Salvia after the sister of Wretch D'angelo stood despite her mother's protests. She moved to the entrance to their shelter and looked out into the whiteness, it was so pretty! A grey and black outline stuck out though from the snow, already half covered. It was the mistress! The one who looked after them, who had been there at her birth! She was laying in the cold, she wasn't moving. Without a thought for the cold, and ignoring her mother's whinnied protests she darted forwards out into the snow to the fence, when she could go forwards no more she stuck her head through the gap and called out to her gently. There was no response. She breathed but only just, her breath a whisper of air. Salvia's eyes widened in understanding. She had to get them, the other tow legs now! They were inside the big thing that they called home, like their horse shelter. She would have to make a very loud noise to get them to come out, to get them to see.

She raced towards the closest and struck out at the fence, and she screamed in a way only horses could, terror flashing in her eyes. She pulled back onto her hind legs and hit the fence again, the crashing was loud. And inside the house she heard an answering scream. It was the little one, the small white boy that sometimes came inside the fence and ran around with her when nobody was looking. She could see him at what Salvia would not be able to identify as a window, he could see his mother and was clawing at the glass trying to reach her.
#2
402

Usually he was laid in bed with his siblings and father, dozing away peacefully as they waited for their always loved mother to come home. But this day he had chosen something different, he wanted to lay on the sofa that dominated the main room of the house, it looked very comfy to him. Without the crush of his siblings and father it was a lot cooler and the young boy curled himself up tightly, letting his fur protect him from the chill, completely unaware that his mother was just outside fighting for her life as she made her slow way towards her home.

He drifted off into his sleep and dreamed of the future where he would be tall and wouldn't have to look up at everyone all the time. His dreams were the only place he could escape the voices and the shadows although the lights were still present, a child's mind was a playground of fun to them, especially during sleep when imagination ran wild. They used his mind like human children would use a playground, for fun and fancy free. He ran with them in his mind for they were embodies as pups as he was, he could play and be normal without the adultness forced upon him during the daylight hours.

Noises woke him from his dreams and games and he looked around groggily for the source. He couldn't see anything and so hopped off of the sofa, sniffing around to see if he could find anything. ovement caught his eyes and he turned towards the large glass doors, it was the foal that his Ma and Da kept, she was going wild, hitting the fence with her hooves and crying out shrilly. Honrin couldn't figure out what the fuss was about until his eyes caught a burst of color in the otherwise white land. It was a lump of grey and he squinted at it, trying to figure out what it was. The wind shifted outside and suddenly visible to him was the tan tip of a folded over ear blowing in the air currents. His eyes widened and for a second he couldn't breath, couldn't move. Then it all came rushing out,

"DAAD!!!! DAAAADDD!!!!!" The child's scream was enough to echo throughout the whole house and upon the bed with their father, Pandora, Dalgina and Keldava woke from their sleep with confusion in their eyes.
#3
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| +478

Whatever the dream was, he would forget it almost instantly when he suddenly went from the dream state to fully awake. He would not have time to lay there among his children long enough to wonder what woke him up because with the second "Dad" from Honrin that came down the hall and into the room had him up and heading out the door before his thought processes had even caught up. Then he wondered how he managed to extricate himself from the other three pups and be off the bed without dumping any of them as he rushed down the hall.

As Temo came into the living room he spied Honrin at the french doors and his stride made short work of the distance across the room. He could see that Honrin was ok but could hear something going on outsed, What is wrong? Temo asked as he got to the doors and looked out, a puzzled look on his face as he wondered what was wrong with the filly.

As he opened the door and started across the deck, his eyes scanned the area looking for something that he was not sure of what he was looking for. Then his gaze focused onto a lump of color being covered up by the snow. Even though he could not identify it, his heart sank because he had a feeling who it was.

With the speed and grace of a wolf on a hunt, Temo was off the porch and by her side in the snow. The worry and concern grew with each passing moment and reflected in his drooped tail and drooped ears. Temo knelt down next to Jace and gently pulled her from the snow and held her up to his chest. He held his breath while he watched for any sign of life from her. When he saw her breath condense into a small cloud of fog as she exhaled, he breathed a sigh of relief.

His sigh was short lived as seeing her breath galvanized him into a flurry of activity. With speed and strength that even surprised him, he stood up and picked her up and carried her into the house. As he set Jace on the floor in front of the fireplace, he barked out orders to the pups, Go get all the towels and blankets you can find in the bedrooms and bring them here. He pushed the door shut and put some more wood onto the fire and blew on the coals until the wood ignited and flames popped into existence. He quickly ransacked the kitchen for towels and started drying off Jace's fur being careful not to move her to much so as not to cause to much damage to her tissues if she had frostbite and he had the pups help him dry Jace off with the towels that they found.

Image courtesy of randompointoflife@Flickr

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#4
344

The white flakes piled up quickly despite the slowness that they floated down, as though attracted by the same color of her chest and tail to cover her and almost hide her completely. The doggish hybrid was clinging onto her last strands of life with loosening hands that would inevitably release them sooner rather than later. The cold seeped itself well inside of her body. Spreading it's chilly fingers to grasp around a struggling heart and deflating lungs and hurry the process of death. Any awareness of the world outside her mind was gone and she had not even dreams or nightmares to keep her company just an unending blackness. She had not even such a sense of self to question whether or not she was truly dead, just to float there, unending and unknowing, primed to become a wraith or ghost of the world that would wander restlessly forever with no sense of purpose only a vague notion of who she was.

She heard not the too loud cries of the filly or her own son's frantic screams or the sounds of the house door being pulled open. Her head lolled to the side limply as she was plucked from the ground and held against a blackened chest whilst concerned orbs of chocolate gazed down upon her prone form. Neither muscle twitched nor whisker stirred, to all appearances she had left the mortal plane for the afterlife beyond if not for the frail echoes of breath and cloud that escaped her maw. She was taken inside to the warmth that may have come too late and the children that could very much witness her spirit's departure.

A depressing sight it was to see the usually so prideful and elegant woman brought down to such lows by her own element, the life she had been born into and honed by years and generations of adaptation, the snow that flurried so gracefully within her heart. The toweling of her fur provided a rise in her bodily temperature that was practically unnoticeable but it was a start.
#5
Note: This is all in Honrin's head Wink maybe....
575

The emotions that swam within his chest, the boy had never felt such a thing so strongly before now as fear and horror ran through him. His daddy dragged in Mahn's non moving body and set her down gently. His white furred form shook with the strength of his fear for the Wolfe-Denahlii boy could see what they could not, see the spirits gathering now around his mother, the shadows ready to tear away her souls and steal off with it into the night, a horrible thing. He was the only child that did not scramble to obey their father's orders and this was only because he could not make himself move, he was tied to the ground it seemed and his small paws refused to listen he could only watch as the black shadows circled around like carrion eaters awaiting a kill to be abandoned.

What provoked him into movement, into action was one particular shadow, it moved so much closer than the rest and long strands of saliva dangled from its cruelly toothed jaw, so close to a life force for them to feed from the shadows were taking on form instead of being bodiless balls of evil. The creature, the thing of bile and pure malevolence breathed in, appeared to be sucking in and a long strand of silver began to rise from his mother, dancing gently as though caught in an invisible wind. The creatures appeared to howl with joy at the sight of this, for they made no sound so he could not be certain. He was suddenly struck with this feeling, they could not catch hold of that strand! If they did then his mother would be lost to them all.

The boy ran forwards towards Jace's body and barked angrily at these shadowy shapes, again and again. How dare they! HOW DARE THEY! He leaped into the air and snapped at the monstrosity that was closest to his mother, the thing looked at him with soulless deep blue eyes and pure hatred radiated from it, whatever this thing was it hated him, it hated his mother too. But he had no caring for its feelings, it was an abomination! Something to be chased away, to be destroyed. Now that the child was actively defending her the shadows slunk back for the boy with the fiery amber eyes that now seemed to glow from within forced them too. He growled aggressively, snarled words leaving his tongue that neither he nor anyone else could understand. The shadows flinched at this and retreated all the more. He turned back to look for his mother, to assure himself that she was safe and he saw standing over her the form of one of the lights for some of them too had taken upon themselves canine appearance. As silvery and wispy as the woman was, for it was a female, he saw within her the things that made up his mother, the same markings and floppy ears, the only thing that separated her from his mother was her eyes, they were like Pandora's instead of Jace's, within her paw was clenched a shadowy dagger too and it was raised and ready to protect.

Again the shadows began to creep towards Jace again and the woman sprung forwards, her moves agile and elegant to strike out at a shadow, they all backed off then and this unknown woman bared her teeth at them.
#6
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OOC text here

Word Count :: +221

Temo's attention was focused on Jace as he busied himself with getting her fur as dry as he could without being to ruff so as not to cause tissue damage in case she had frost bite. He worked for a good while at the task turning the pile of dry towels that the pups had brought into a pile of wet and damp towels.

As he worked at getting Jace as dry as possible, Temo was so focused that at first, he had not noticed that Honrin was acting odd. Temo was to concerned over Jace and getting her warmed up to ponder much over Honrin's antics other than thinking that maybe he was just worried for his mother and was trying to get her to wake up.

After using the last dry towel, he spent a few moments watching Jace, trying to see if she was getting better. Temo moved to the fire and put more wood on it trying to get the room hot in hopes it would help. After dealing with the fire, he went into the kitchen and filled a couple of kettles with water and put on the fire to heat up. With water on to heat, Temo sat down with Jace and held her against him hoping that his body heat will help warm her up.

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#7
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OOC goes here.


Dalgina had been pulled out of her cozy dreams by something tugging on her ear. Sleepily she looked up to see Keldava standing over her. Deciding her tingla had probably woken her up for something no more important than a midnight expedition outside of the nursery she rolled back over. Not pleased by Dalgina's reaction Keldava growled this time, pushing at her. Grumbling Dalgina stood up, big brown eyes blinking. Keldava padded out of the room, with Dalgina slowly following behind.


They managed to reach the living room without any incident. Keldava immediately bounded over, taking position up at Mahn's head. What wrong? Dalgina watched Honrin dancing around, growling and fighting with things she couldn't see. Still mostly asleep everything appeared a little comical, her entire talnala gathered in the living room in the middle of the night. Padding over Dalgina snuggled into Mahn's arm and promptly fell back asleep, shivering slightly from the cold touch.


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#8
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I'm including Honrin's part in this post as well, too lazy so post a separate one XD / +yo numbah!



Without warning or notice Jace suddenly inhaled deeply, a grating, rasping breath that sounded as painful as it actually was, well would have been had she been conscious and able to feel anything. Then the female began to shudder violently, spasms wracking her body from nose to tail. Her teeth clicked together sharply repeatedly as her jaw opened and closed from the muscle convulsions.


Already extremely tense from his experience with the shadows and lights that were now engaged in a fierce battle just outside the home, Honrin leapt forwards when Jace began to convulse and dragged Dalgina away before she could be hurt by Jace's thrashing. He didn't grab onto her too hard for he did not want to hurt her. Hopefully he hadn't hurt her, whining quietly he pressed in close to her and Pandora quickly joined in on Dalgina's other side, Keldava was also quick to join in the impromptu huddle around Dalgina, Honrin proclaimed to his sisters in a solemn voice,


Mama is sick, the Olnayni made her sick.


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