[html]
All are welcome.
__________________________________________________________
Four disproportionately large paws, symbols of this one most awkward stage of growing, slithered and pounced from rock to rock, over rattling pebbles, through rustling clumps of frosty straw-like reeds and brittle vegetation. Legacy had spent many days almost exclusively in her fire-warmed home, hearing tales and inventing some of her own; absorbing knowledge like a sponge and trying her best to be helpful, though it was difficult without venturing out - and difficult for her, in her young unshifting body. She could only carry one or two sticks of firewood at once and wasn't big enough to bring down anything large enough to feed more than herself. Optimistically, she considered that there was always a chance: it was better than doing nothing about it while others provided for her. Every member of the pack had a job to do, but as far as she could tell hers was just growing up. Which she supposed was apt enough, but she felt pretty grown as it was, now. Almost six months.
Now the day was already about half over - not that the sun position was easily read through this cloud, but whenever it did peer through, the white surface of the Yawrah glittered attractively. She'd heard about the dangers of the frozen river in the winter season. She figured as long as she didn't venture onto the ice itself, she couldn't fall through. It was delightful to be so close to it though, thrilling to trace her path along the very edge of the solid bank. Ignoring the fact that here was unlikely to be any more prey and if she really meant to find success as a contributor to the den's supplies she should try elsewhere and even if a kill was unlikely now, a little practice would be in order. No, Legacy would rather follow the river, this huge belt of silver-black solidity that was both frightening and peaceful.
The far bank was closer now, the river narrowing. A pristine sheet of ice lay between her and the other side. No foolishness would cause Legacy to lay a paw on there without knowing exactly what she was doing, but she couldn't help stopping and turning her head to stare almost fixedly over at the far bank, like a wild horse at a pasture fence. She'd never crossed over. It would perhaps be a long time before it was possible again. [/html]
[html]
indent With the ban now lifted, Icarus had the freedom to travel to any of the neutral territories. Anything else was off limits, with the exception of Clouded Tears. At least, that’s what dad had said after Icarus had been barred home for quite some time due to his little adventure into Inferni. Dad had gone out to do some of his pack business, and Icarus couldn’t get either of his siblings to go out and play with him. It was a bummer, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t entertain himself. After all, he did have a rather large imagination.
indent Yawrah had grown rather familiar to him now, but it did look a lot different now that the top had frozen over. His dad had told him not to go too close, for he didn’t want to fall in. Yet the curiosity of a young mind had got to him, and Icarus had traveled out here just to get a closer look.
indent At one part, Yawrah split into two separate paths, leaving a strip of land in between. Sure, he’d have to cross two rivers to get across. However, the plus side was that each river was considerably smaller than the spots where the two reformed together. He couldn’t go to the distant pack Jaded Shadows that lay on the other side of the river, but he could go to Haunted Forest. He decided after playing with the icy river for a bit, he’d probably go there. He had heard that the trees were really creepy there.
indent He placed a paw on the frozen ice and watched as moving water moved beneath. Dad said not to go near the river, but Icarus had already disobeyed. Now, he had an even bigger motive in mind. He was going to cross it! He got a running start, and then bounded onto the frozen river. He could feel it crackling beneath his weight, so his tried to scurry across – though that was harder than it sounded, considering the ice didn’t offer much traction. Yet, he managed to fling himself across before plummeting below. Now, he just had to cross the other side. That wouldn’t be too hard, right?
[/html]
[html]
The river was even more bizarre than the sea, Legacy had decided. The sea was always there, and followed a similar pattern. There were waves - true, they diminished and grew according to the time of day or weather, but they were constant and did the same thing every time. As for the river, it was different every moment - sticks and so forth floating by, the water usually rushing along as if in a hurry to get somewhere. Where could all that water be going, and even more perplexing, where did it come from? How did rain get into the sky? Water never went upwards - or maybe it did, because she would have been certain water never stood still - and of course, snow and ice and water were somehow all the same thing.
Indeed here was the proof in the form of the Yawrah. It couldn't be solid all the way through, or it would be safe... so the water must be still flowing under there. Definitely strange. Perhaps when she got to know it better and had visited it a few times, she'd understand it more. As it was, she didn't even know about the dividing island in the centre of the frozen current. As far as she could tell, the banks had just become more narrow here.
Just then, a brittle noise from the other side caught her attention, like the snap of a twig but more drawn-out and at the same time quieter... a little way down, she noticed the same moment, there was someone moving over on the other bank, but further downstream than herself. She should catch their attention before they went away again! Luckily they were near a narrow part where she would be able to make herself heard. Legacy bounded forwards, and in her haste one paw slid rather too far off a black-iced rock towards the river's surface. Unbalanced, she tipped over and felt the paw punch through a small patch of thin ice - her heart skipped a beat, but clawing and gripping with the other three feet she managed to tilt herself back upright and pull it back out. Panting as she recovered from the surprise, she looked up: was whoever-it-was still there? Leaving a trail of single-footed wet pawprints, she carried on downstream: more sedately now. [/html]
[html]
indent Icarus blinked his blue eyes, looking up at the scenery surrounding him. By leaping from his icy spot on the river, he had landed flat on his stomach. The snow on the ground had begun to melt in some places, but it still left him dusted on his underside. Picking himself up to all paws, Icarus shook himself off and let the glittering snow fall back towards the ground. That wasn’t so bad – the other side would be just as easy.
indent Walking the few meters to the other side of the island, Icarus surveyed the shores to see where the smallest gap between banks actually was. If some area was easier to jump from, why not go for it? After all, he didn’t want to accidentally fall in. Looking down, Icarus placed one paw outwards, touching the smooth icy surface. Once again, he could tell that beneath water was moving by the bubbles that wiggled below.
indent For a moment, he had thought that it was the ice below him that was beginning to splinter, but upon further inspection, realized that it was actually further up the river where the ice had gave in. A pup a little larger than him was pulling itself backwards out of the ice, and bounding down this way. Maybe that meant it wasn’t safe enough to cross yet. But then again, this wolf did look bigger than Icarus was. "Hey you!" He called out, leaving it at that for lack of better words.
[/html]
[html]
The boundary of the river was forbidding in her mind but solid as it appeared now, seemed she could easily just walk over to the other side and meet the pup face to face. Legacy knew she shouldn't try it, though it was a pity. If not for the damp paw, she would have felt braver. She had no idea that he'd already come across one stretch of ice. Her tail waved softly, a cheerful motion but there was regret in those green eyes as she answered him. "Hello over there!"
There was something exciting about talking to a wolf from the other side of the Yawrah. Life for him must be similar to hers in some ways, but different as well. In the confusion of relations and acquaintances in her head Legacy knew of few people who made their home to the west of hers. Maybe he didn't live there at all, maybe he was a wanderer. She knew little of those, too.
"Wish we could walk on it, don't you?" she added, still thinking of it as pretty much an impossibility, too dangerous - even without much experience to back it up - unless he had the knowledge of where it was safest, and then maybe he'd be able to tell her. [/html]
Yes, I do suck. Sorryy<3[html]
indent "We can!" Icarus simply responded as he watched the mysterious pup draw closer towards him. Unlike him, Legacy was on the other side of the bank – the safe side. Icarus, however, was still alone on the small island of land dividing Yahraw for a length of a couple hundred meters. He turned his nose up to the air, sniffing as if to access the situation, then looked back towards the Jaded Shadows youngster. Maybe he had found himself a new friend.
indent "I jus’ did uh minute ago. Over there," he directed her with a toss of his head over his shoulder. He padded closer to the frozen river and sniffed at the icy cover. "Though, it did start crackin’. D’you think I can make it over?" He wasn’t sure if he really cared about her opinion or not. He had halfheartedly decided he was going to attempt to across the ice either way.
[/html]
it's no problem. You don't suck! This post sucks. -_o
[html]
IC
A flood of excitement hit her, the warnings she'd heard suddenly balanced out by the evidence before her. A puppy that looked to be around her age who had been over some of the river already! Not that she could see the exact place, but it had to be something like this one. It wasn't impossible, just uncertain, she knew that much. And she trusted him, he must know what he was doing. It had already been done. The little cinnamon-coated girl smiled over at him, registering most of all his striking glass-blue eyes. Her own were sparkling recklessly. "I don't know," she could only offer in reply to his almost-rhetorical question, but continued without pausing to let those words take effect - he couldn't lose heart now. Somehow he must be encouraged, tempted, enticed into coming over. Legacy wanted to see those eyes up close, and find out his name. "Do it really fast!" she suggested. "I'll catch you!" He couldn't just go crashing into the rocks on the bank, could he? Laughing, she was half-joking but positioned herself opposite him anyway, bracing her limbs into the earth as if expecting to be hit by a torpedo. [/html]
Aww, puppy love. Haha.[html]
indent The tail behind him began to wag rather furiously at the thought of attempting the forbidden once more. If his dad or another wolf from storm knew what he was doing, he would surely be banned to within Storm’s borders once more. He knew that would be inevitable if he were caught. If. And the whelp had no intentions of being discovered today.
indent "Okay, I’mma do it. But you hafta help me if I fall in!" Icarus once again turned his nose up into the air and sniffed at it. It didn’t tell him anything, but he needed to put on a show. After all, he needed to impress this girl. Turning around, Icarus trotted a few feet away before spinning back around on his paws. With a big grin on his face, he gave her a nod. "Get ready!" With the running start he had given himself, Icarus almost cleared the entire span. However, he landed just short of the bank, and collided with the ice, cracking it. His momentum from the run, though, send him sliding across the surface and onto the bank. And more specifically, into the Jaded Shadows pup. She hadn’t really caught him, but he did happen to end up in her arms. "Woahh, that was fun," he giggled.
[/html]
[html]
Buzzing with anticipation as he moved back, she shuffled her paws a little to plant them firmly against solid ground. She knew that if this failed, she'd have to rescue him from the ice and risk going in herself. She wasn't about to caution him, though. Up here everything was so clear and still, it was hard to believe there was a drowning world of dark water with only half-frozen fish for company just below their feet. Unfazed, she called back "Ready," her blunt claws gritting against the ground.
Not seconds later, the wolf came hurtling at her with a tremendous leap, so prodigious it almost covered the whole width. Her eyes widened in the heat of the moment as with an ominous cracking sound he landed just short. Without thinking, Legacy moved on reflex and was already rushing forwards - evidently to grab him before he went under, but it didn't happen: instead he came whizzing towards the bank and right at her, who already had a front foot on the ice. Utterly lost for balance as they collided, she tumbled backwards - she would have kicked and wriggled to try and keep upright, but she found her arms full of wolf puppy and was knocked to the ground on the bank, breathless but delighted. He'd made it!
She was rather winded and lay helplessly where they'd fallen, panting through a shaky, relieved smile. Courage was something Legacy respected, and now she admired Icarus as much as anyone; she'd hardly admit this, though. "It was close! You really smashed the ice up, there!" she replied when she had breath enough to speak. It was praise, and the impressed tone of voice gave that away even though her words were tinted with the shock. She'd seen over his shoulder the pattern of cracks that had begun in the ice, cobwebbing out from his landing. There was a chance it would still hold, considering what it just stood up to, but likely no sensible wolf would set foot there for a few days. [/html]
[html]
indent Icarus got to his feet so that he could get up from the heap of puppy. Shaking himself, his rich brown fur fluffed upward and he offered a grin at her words. He really had done it! He wouldn’t admit it, but for a moment he had been worried when the ice began to give way to his weight. Luckily he was only a puppy and the ice had held long enough for him to go sliding across to the bank.
indent "Woaaah. I ‘unno if I’m gonna be able to get back home. Uh oohh. My daddy ain’t gonna be happy if he fin’s out what I did." He looked towards Legacy with a sheepish grin. Perhaps she had an idea of what they could do to avoid punishment. "Hey," he paused, realizing he didn’t know what to call her. "Err, wha’s your name? I’m Icarus Phoenix."
indent Though the threat of being scolded for his actions loomed in the air, the Storm whelp’s tail wagged satisfactorily behind him.
[/html]
[html]
He got up, allowing her room to roll onto her front, then to pull her forelegs under herself and sit up, still a little out of breath. Her red fur was dishevelled, speckled here and there with grit and earth. She wasn't sure how he could get back either, but she was beginning to notice things; like where she'd broken through so easily earlier no snow had settled on the ice. There were patches, mostly along the banks, where there also was no snow: maybe these places were thinner. She didn't know it, but the swifter current thereabouts was the cause of this. Although you in fact couldn't always trust this guideline, her logic was that if the snow was melting, the ice probably was a little too, and if not, not so much. She was fairly confident that with some guesswork, she could help him find another safe place to get back.
For the moment, a sympathetic attentiveness was her sole reaction to his worries, for he'd asked a question she needed to answer. So Icarus had a father, unlike her. His name also stirred various memories. She had heard people mentioning the name Phoenix, she thought, but didn't dwell on the recollection. And wasn't Icarus from a story? Legacy knew a great many stories, and couldn't quite remember. "Nice to meet you, Icarus," she answered politely. "My name is Legacy Kali - I'm from Jaded Shadows." [/html]
[html]
indent Icarus sniffed at the air once more, this time trying to detect the scent of anyone from Storm. He didn’t smell anything, but that didn’t mean that Dierdre or Dad weren’t close by. After all, Yahraw was a popular place for the wolves of Storm to frequent. Icarus grinned back at her. "Nice tah meet you, Legacy." He took a few steps forward, and shook his fur again, sending a few more bits of debris flying free. Looking back towards the Jaded Shadows pup, Icarus remembered what his idea had been earlier.
indent "Hey, Legacy, d’you know anywhere we can go an’ play so my daddy won’t find me here?" Icarus didn’t consider the fact that his dad could easily follow their shallow paw prints in the snow, and he figured he had concocted a rather brilliant idea.
[/html]
[html]
It was a good thing Legacy hadn't suggested looking for a place to get back over, because now he'd assented that he had an interest in staying around for a bit longer. Her tail beat the ground indelicately and she offered him a rather childish smile as she spoke. "Is your home all along the other bank? What about going up the river? I want to try the ice - you could show me how to walk on it," she suggested, being rather stumped other than that. Her favourite places like the beach and her mountainous home were too far away to be there and back before dark. Her wariness of the solid water had not dissolved, but if he could cross over it she would like to try too. Besides, it would make his inevitable return journey safer, if they put in some extra practice.
Getting to her feet, she faced him, "Or d'you have anything you like doing, particular? Maybe we should go somewhere else, where your Daddy is less likely to see." She wouldn't admit to having second thoughts about the ice. Still, it was an uncertain prospect. Besides, maybe Icarus had different hobbies she'd never thought of before.
[/html]
[html]
indent "Oh, I ‘unno." Icarus looked around, afraid of the possibility that he would get caught crossing the river. He knew he was disobeying his father’s judgment, but the curiosity that came along with being a pup was just too overwhelming for him. And with Firefly gone, somebody had to be the trouble maker!
indent "Well, we could try walking on the ice, but I don’t want my daddy to find me. I’muh ‘fraid he’s gonna find me here. Mebbe we can go somewheres a little bit farther away from the river. And we can play on the ice when I gots to go home. " Icarus’ tail wagged behind him, even though he felt a little apprehension about misbehaving. Either way, though, he wouldn’t admit to Legacy that he was worried about his actions. At the moment, all he wanted to do was have a bit of fun.
indent "Mebbe we can go sliding!" Icarus piped up, remembering what Pilot had shown him to do earlier. All they needed was a good hill.
[/html]
[html]
He was just as wordy as she tended to be; it was encouraging to talk to someone else who wasn't afraid to chatter. She didn't think she was so much of a trouble-maker, considering she wasn't actually breaking any rules that she knew of, but he certainly seemed rather worried about his father finding them - she was beginning to build up a picture of this mysterious figure, and it was a rather imposing one. She wondered who he was, whether he was an alpha of a pack like her mother.
Swallowing her first impulse, she decided the suggestion of sliding sounded even more attractive. Not that she was totally sure what he meant. "Sliding, that sounds like fun. Down a slope of some sort, you mean? I, uh, I might need you to show me how to do it first." She gazed at him with her intense, earnestly green eyes. "You don't mind, do ya?" He might be impatient with her inexperience, she figured, used to taking charge more often than not. But she was more than happy for Icarus to take the lead here. [/html]
[html]
indent Icarus was more than ecstatic when she accepted the idea he had thrown out there. Sliding was some good, clean fun if you could find a suitable spot for it. Pilot had even brought a burlap sack he found in the human city for them to sit on when he had first showed Icarus how. Even though they didn’t have that, Icarus knew that they would be able to slide almost as well.
indent "Sure, I don’t mind! We just gotsta find a good hill we can go down. It’s really fun! Pilot showed me how to do it, and it aint hard at all." He began to trudge along in the melting snow, though he had no idea where exactly he was going. They were closer to Jaded Shadows lands more than Storm, so he figured Legacy might have a good inclination where a suitable hill was situated. "Follow me!" Either way, Icarus felt a need to be the leader, perhaps even show off, and so he led them to a destination that was currently unknown.
[/html]
[html]
She figured it involved packing the snow down - but how? Or maybe you didn't need to; it was quite slippery sometimes. "Who's Pilot?" she asked as an after-thought, following him as he suggested. The way Icarus was going led away from the river towards a few the first foothills of the mountains, so she figured they'd come across a suitable slope sooner or later. Which was good, as she wouldn't have to usurp his decisively-taken leadership. So much the dominant puppy in her own pack, it made a change to be the one following - though she knew she wouldn't take much prompting to assert herself if she needed to, it was quite a pleasant feeling.
Just then one paw skidded beneath her in an odd fashion and made her totter. The snow had turned quite icy in places. "Oops," she said as she leant precariously towards Icarus to keep herself from slipping right over, "but hey, it looks like I'm already starting to get the idea of sliding!" she said as she righted herself. "Heh," she added with a bit of embarrassment, unusually shy. It was a good thing it was him and not any of her siblings, who with more familiarity than he had might have teased her. [/html]
[html]
indent "Pilot’s this wolf in Storm who’s good friends with my dad. He’s really weird. He told me he had a squirrel for his mommy and brother. I don’t believe him though, ‘cause the squirrels are so small!" He bounded through the snow, finding it more exhilarating if he hopped his way there, instead of merely marching. When he heard the skid of her paws on the slick snow, he turned his head over his shoulder and gave a grin. "Slippery, huh? Then we must be getting close!"
indent The pup turned back to face forwards, and decided that a not so distant hill would work just fine. The two just needed to make their way up to the top, and then the sliding would commence. "Okay, good. We just need to make a trail up this hill, and then… and then we can slide!" He began bounding up the slightly sloping hill, throwing a glance back every other hop or so, just to make sure she was still there. Doing this by himself wouldn’t be as much fun.
[/html]
[html]
She couldn't help bursting out into giggles at the idea of a wolf with a squirrel family. It slowed her progress all the way up the slope as she kept on regressing into fits of laughter, and trying not to. Maybe she was just a little giddy with excitement, for her breath was coming faster than usual too, or that could be the effort it was taking to climb the slope. He was getting further and further ahead, it seemed. She was walking almost exactly in his tracks, placing her paws with delicacy. But the pinnacle of the slope wasn't getting any closer, it seemed. She was so impatient to start the game that suddenly she sped up, her four paws flying through snow that began to spray behind from the force of her speed. Aiming to bound right past him, her stride was playful and bouncing, her narrow limbs only really good for one thing - agility. "Come on then - I'll race you to the top!" challenged the golden puppy as she hurtled to level with Icarus, accelerating as fast as she could.
[/html]
[html]
indent Icarus couldn’t help but giggle a little to himself at the sound of Legacy’s laughter behind him. He, however, was focused on their goal on reaching the top of the hill, so he didn’t let his humor over come him. Instead, he put more distance between he and the Jaded Shadows pup. That was, until she decided she wanted to challenge Icarus to a race.
indent The pup paused for a moment, watching as the golden girl torn through the snow past him. With a grin reappearing, Icarus bounded up the hill after her, using all of his puppy power to try and beat her. "I’m gonnaa get ‘chou!" He called after her, trying to find more traction on the slippery surface.
indent He didn’t catch up to her right until the two had finally made it to the top. He pounced at her, though missed, and went flying into the piled snow. "Oooff", he grunted, before getting up and shaking off his coat. "We made itt!" He walked towards the edge of the hill and ran a paw along the ground. "This should be perfect! It’s super slippery!"
[/html]
|
