Safer Together

Baird Byrne · 09-21-2012, 07:48 AM

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Word Count :: 40620.09.12. Optime. Near the border of CdC and the lake near the Sugarwoods. Do you have your Hurricane buddy!? XD

Everything was quiet.... Far too quiet for Bairds liking. There was a tense hum in the air and it felt like the land was holding it's breath in anticipation of something. The silence rang in his ears and made other noises sound muted. The sound of his paw pads hitting the earth barely registered anymore, there was no breeze to rustle the leaves on the trees, and no birds singing. The atmosphere had his hackles up, reminding him of the massive storms back home, the thunderheads pregnant with water and electricity crackling in the purple clouds. There were no clouds that he could see yet, but the feeling was the same, and he knew well the destruction that could be caused by extreme weather, having witnessed the effects all over the world. He had been personally affected by one storm in Australia; his tribe having been caught by flooding. They had lost three pups to the waters that year. So he knew the feeling of an oncoming storm, and knew that he didn't want to risk being out and about on his own when it hit. He had Pan and Gelar to look after.

As he thought of his companions he checked them again, Pan was curled around his neck, her chocolate fur puffed up and her tail tightly wrapped around his throat. Gelar was sitting on his shoulder, as close as he could get to the dingoes face, beak tucked down into his chest feathers, his plumage fluffed out as he reacted to the environment. Baird used a claw to tap on the birds impressive beak, muttering to him under his breath, keeping his voice quiet and calm, attempting to soothe his animals, "Don't you worry mates, we'll get ourselves somewhere safe before it hits." Gelar clattered his beak in response, nibbling the claw affectionately, knowing the dingo wouldn't let any harm come to them.

They had set out from Halifax early that morning, dodging through the city to make their way to the grasslands. He could smell a pack border nearby, mingled with lake water, the scent was unfamiliar so he knew that this was a pack he had yet to come across. He hoped they would appreciate his warning of oncoming danger if they had not sensed it themselves, he didn't know how attuned to nature the canines of Nova Scotia were to major weather dangers. He also hoped that they would take him in.

Photo courtesy of pierre pouliquin

Sonje Helsi · 09-22-2012, 06:41 PM

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(Lol, I got mines! Big Grin

)

Sonje by Sie!

The calm before the storm—a prospect that the traveling Sonje was quite familiar with. She'd spent a lot of time before Hearg Njorth and after it, learning the ins and outs of nature and how to best avoid the more natural dangers the earth had to offer. Flooding was probably her least favorite disaster, as she wasn't a very well-versed swimmer; so when she began to detect signs of a distant, raging storm, Sonje nervously left Halifax that afternoon in a rush.

Jagga had a sense of urgency to her trot as well, heavy hooves plodding at a consistent speed, muscles twitching with the nervousness that she gleaned from her rider. Sonje wasn't often nervous, so her horse was particularly attuned to the direct foreignness of such physical expression: the tight grip of the reins in Sonje's hands, and the constant press of her usually lax heels into the mare's broad sides. Jagga was probably more calm than the wolfdog, just eager to escape the oncoming storm, which she too felt and disliked. Thunder had never been an easy subject for the horse, though inwardly the two creatures felt a sense of duty towards the other during storms—meaning that they would never abandon each other, no matter their personal fears.

Sonje knew they would be back at the Bay soon, as she'd traveled this way before, and when thinking of a plan to escape the storm, she realized that she couldn't come up with anything solid. She'd never had to face a hurricane alone; her mother had found her and her family a decent cave to stay in when a storm had passed in her youth, but that was the extent of Sonje's knowledge to finding decent "storm shelters". Hating to admit it, she knew she'd need help.

Almost as soon as the thought crossed her mind, she saw him, golden fur standing out in the gray surroundings, like a beacon. She didn't have time to consider Fate or the existence of angels, though she'd probably wonder tonight how impeccably uncanny their meeting would be. She urged Jagga forward, and the horse nickered, loping the last thirty or so yards separating rider and walker. Hey! she said, pulling up on the reins so that they came to a dusty halt many feet behind the man. She hated asking, but desperate times called for desperate measures. You wouldn't happen to know where we could find shelter, would you?

Baird Byrne · 09-23-2012, 05:10 AM

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Word Count :: 273Crappy post is crap! Feel free to PP Baird in your post, and then we can give this an OOC ending?

He had been so wrapped up in his own world, his concerns over getting shelter for himself and his companions at the forefront of his mind. He jumped at the sound of the womans voice, his verdant eyes travelling over the pale dapple horse to reach the grey furred woman. He raised a handpaw in greeting, taking her question into mind when he answered. He shrugged his shoulders, eliciting a mewl of displeasure from Pan and a ruffle of feathers from Gelar, "You feel the storm too?" He raised his index finger and pointed in the direction of the nearby pack, "I'm goin' ta ask this lovely pack if they'll take me in. I don't wanna do it, but any port in a storm, right?" He wandered towards the horse and rider, closing the little distance between them. He was close enough to touch horse or rider now, but he refrained, knowing how the tenseness of the atmosphere could affect an animal, making them flighty when they weren't normally. He held out his handpaw for the stranger to shake, "I'm Baird by the way."

He tipped his head back towards the packlands, "I'm sure they won't have a problem with one more weary traveller. Besides, all the packs probably need as many paws as they can get to help out." He didn't even want to consider the possibility that the pack would turn him away, and if they did he knew that he would fare better if he had an able bodied companion. He saw this stranger as a potential friend and companion. "How about we stick together? Strength in numbers an' all that."

Photo courtesy of pierre pouliquin

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