Northstar Vale Pretty lights on our tree

Boredom gripped Saena as she waded through the deep snow from the night before, eyes latched on a particular pack mate in the near distance. If anyone would engage her in a spirited game of tag, it was them. She aimed a companionable nip at their shoulder as she approached, and enticed them away with a flick of her muzzle and a playful bound.

For a time the two played the game simply, trading blows and turns being "it". Eventually, Saena grew a little cheeky, and tried to give her pack mate the slip by disappearing into a heavily wooded copse. Tag became hide-and-seek as she sought cover under the boughs of a tree, and that's when it happened: with a whump, the deceitful layer of snow fell away, dragging the first female headlong into a deep tree well.

From the heavy snow beside a stately little cedar tree, a Duskvale wolf might, if they listened hard, hear a muffled call of, "help me!"

December prompt.

indra had settled well enough, despite the painful absence of laurel. she recognized her mother was still too injured to entertain the idea of trekking back to the grotto, and indra had not yet mustered up the courage to ask warbone for any help. she had spent the earlier part of the day climbing the summit of their current travel range, and had sent a series of short barks and forlorn howls skyward for laurel. she hoped maybe the wind would favor her, or someday, that laurel would hear.

she did this in private, though the other pack mates knew of her daily jaunts. as she clambered down the slope she made for the rendezvous, following the sharp prints in the snow. they were scattered about and she nosed along, tracing the outline of prints that suggested the wolves had played and then dispersed into the woods. she could tell by the scent one of them was saena, and she trailed along, unhurried.

there was evidence enough her mother was in the woods and she was sure eventually she would catch up with her.

It was all fun and games until someone got buried. Dag still laughed as the muted thump of fallen snow muffled the sound of the first female's footsteps. There had not been so many trees to watch out for on the tundra, and so, Dag had never experienced being buried in such a way until coming to the wilds, until settling in Northstar Vale. To him, it was great fun. Running and leaping and then - suddenly - being surrounded by snow.

But when he heard her voice, heard her call for help, all levity ended.

"Saena?" he called, almost as if doubting she had really asked for help. She was tricking him - he was sure of it! - but it was always better to be safe than sorry, especially where the future of their pack was concerned. "I'm coming!" he yelped, setting his paws into the snow with fierce determination. His wide, thickly-furred paws made short work of the pile, but he couldn't find Saena! Was she on the other side? "Hold on..."

He dashed around and dug into the other side of the pile, beginning to pant from exertion.

When the snow began to fall again Tryphon watched it, but felt a nagging sensation in the back of his mind at the same time. He eventually forgot about the weather, shook what small particles of ice there were out of his pelt, and set out on yet another search for the leader he was charged to protect. Over the course of a few hours he found Saena and kept tabs on her; he made himself scarce when others approached, but inevitably resumed his careful guardianship of the first, as was his duty.

When the snowfall became much thicker, and the wind began to howl through the mountains, Tryphon was once again caught in the snare of a memory. He watched the dancing flakes instead of Saena. He flicked his tongue out to catch them, and even playfully nipped in to the wind when it blew against his cheeks. There was something about the snow that made him feel content. A sense of cheer that had evaporated from his spirit a lifetime ago — but then he heard the commotion beyond his fantasy, and snapped back to the vale.

It was the voice of Dagfinn calling out to Saena. Alerted by the motion of the dark wolf through the gray of the flurries (and feeling a vague sense of panic, which might've been related to his confusing moment of nostalgia or just the danger Saena was in), Tryphon dashed after the other wolf and followed him. When he saw him digging, Tryphon threw himself in beside Dagfinn to help — terrified that he'd failed his one purpose.

Panic snaked its long, cold fingers up into Saena's throat and made breathing difficult, or maybe that was the weight of snow pressing in around her. She struggled in place, trying and failing to find a footing to drag herself out with, but her thrashing only made the problem worse. Snow fell around her from above, and soon enough, she was buried. Thoroughly mired in snow and easily ten feet deep in a tree well, the first female slowly began to suffocate.

But she was lucky, for her comrade—Dagfinn—soon cottoned on to the problem. Saena heard and felt his spade-like paws digging into the snow, and when he opened a small pocket of air, she sucked it in greedily and whined quietly. She was glad he found her, but couldn't find the words to express it as he opened a wider and wider hole in the snow. Only then did Saena notice Tryphon with him. She was still oblivious to the fact that the yellow-masked wolf followed her around, but she was thankful to see him here, helping.

She struggled again, kicking out against the powder beneath her in an effort to free her hindquarters.

as indra trailed quietly after her mother's footprints, she thought she heard a slight commotion in the woods ahead. the slender child stopped, her long ears fluted forward in surprise. to her, the noises sound scrambled and desparate -- she felt a cold trickle fall down her spine as she realized the calls were cries of alarm.

she spurned herself into action and flung through the snow until she found dagfinn and tryphon; dagfinn was bent to work, hurling heaps of snow from the earth in heaves. tryphon was positioned not far from him, the two of their heads craned to the ground as their limbs moved beneath them.

indra felt a chill in her heart as she realized the dire nature of their task and the wolf stuck beneath them -- with a cry she threw herself between them and dug faster and more furious than she ever had in her life.

Finally, the first female was revealed. Dag could only just barely discern her pallid coat from the snow that surrounded her - it was the warmth and movement that gave it away. In short order, Dag had widened the hole that her bottom had been sticking out of and finally found her scruff, which he took hold of without much thought, gripping as gently as his frantic nerves would allow as he tried to help her to get free.

He continued to dig, and to dig, and to dig, as if he were the one trapped beneath the snow, suffocating. He couldn't breathe while the anxiety spasmed through his body. Then there was some sign of success — Dagfinn breaking through to the soft dampness of Saena's fur — and Tryphon became increasingly aware of how panicked he felt. He didn't notice the tawny body of Indra squished in between them; he only had eyes for Saena, and kept on digging while the darker of the digging trio grabbed at her scruff.

Woops sorry, missed that it was my turn!

More snow fell away, most of it around her face, and Saena sputtered nervously as it began piling up. She kicked harder, but her struggling only seemed to serve to sink her faster. Thankfully, there were three wolves diligently working above and only one of her, so her unhelpful efforts were much slower than theirs, and they unearthed her soon enough. She coughed when she accidentally inhaled a thick glob of snow that fell right in front of her gasping lips, then peered up at them with bleary eyes.

She saw now that it was Dagfinn, Tryphon, and Indra. She was surprised but very grateful to see her young daughter in on the task—a part of her feared that her children both would sooner see her perish than live, but this was solid proof that Indra wasn't poisoned by the same hatred Laurel displayed, even if she was a lot more sullen than she had been. Saena hauled on her upper body and managed to worm her way out of the hole, and with a great deal of raw strength and frustration, finally tumbled up onto the snowbank where her pack mates stood.

Panting lightly and uttering a soft whine, she looked around at all three of them and fervently said, "thank you."

Should we skip Lauren, now? D: Let me know if I should delete this.

Dagfinn sagged in relief when she was finally free, his belly sinking practically to the floor as he tried to give her space, while, at the same time, attempted to furiously groom her face and neck. He knew that she would probably want a little room to breathe after her terrifying ordeal, but the young male's nerves would not be calmed until Saena had been thoroughly investigated for injury.

"Are you alright?" he asked, his voice a high-pitched whine as he tried to check her over.