After hours of dark, somber wandering they had finally found a place of golden Apricity.....the sun peeked through the clouds upon the plains stretching out before them in a way that seemed endless. The sight was more than welcomed and Vida was quick to stride out into the patchy tussock smiling and exhaling an audible sigh of relief once they felt the golden light of the sun fall upon the fur along his spine, a shiver running through his limbs. There was nothing wrong with a good run through the forest but they hated being surrounded by trees for longer than a day...there was something about it that left them feeling caged in. The plains? Wide open spaces where he could run for hours on end, places where rabbits burrowed and could be spooked out or if patient caught popping out of....these places where heaven to them. Lifting their muzzle to the air to catch a whiff of the breeze they found their paws slowing to a halt, the breeze smelled of the Ocean though Vee couldn't see any ocean nor hear the sound of waves from where they stood. The more the breeze was sniffed at the more they became certain the sea was nearby and their heart set to thumping heavily inside their chest at the thought, something they'd only gotten to see once before in their puphood but never again. 


Without a goal set out to strive for anything was on the table, life was ruled by whim for the wolfdog and as such they figured finding their way toward the Ocean was the next step. The world had a plan to sidetrack them first with a rustling in the distance to their right, a glance bringing their attention to a dusky brown hare darting out of a hole. Immediately their ears perked and tail flagged behind them instinct sending them into the chase if not to catch up and take the bunny down, then to enjoy the sensation of running behind such a fleet-flooted animal which in itself was something not every wolf could say they could do. 

The wind whipped bitterly into their eyes and nose as the rabbit pulled a fancy maneuver leaping to the right and cutting sharply into a different direction so that Vida had to whirl into the gusts of wind blowing over the plains the speed at which he'd been going causing a slip on the snow soaked ground. Annoyed that their scent would now be spread absolutely everywhere by the gales and the fact that their pristine white fur was splattered with mud the hunt became more serious as they pushed their claws into the terrain, each stride from graceful legs sending them tearing after the hare with a vengeance. When they were within inches of the bounding fluffy meal they began to lean forward with jaws poised open to snap at any second...

The world had other plans. In a cruel and painful twist of fate their hind claw caught on the up lifted root of the tussock growing from the melted snow, twisting their paw causing a sharp cry of pain while they hit the dirt with a solid thud the quickly increasing sting in their paw signaling the caught claw had torn free. Eyes fastened on the disappearing tail of their lost prey a slow and weary sigh left their nostrils as they slowly rose to an upright position upon the ground turning to lick the bloody nail socket of his now missing claw. "Seems about right.." they muttered under their breath between licks while internally dying. This is a wonderful start to proving mother wrong.... their thoughts were interrupted by a sound in the direction they'd chased the hare from, multi-hued eyes lifting to see the wolf calmly striding their way. Not wanting to seem too alarmed Vee shifted so their uninjured hind leg was tucked beneath them in the scenario they had to get up while they continued to lick their claw a bit faster than before while keeping an eye on the approach with a silent tap of their tail to show they were friendly. 

Reading the mirrored friendly behavior they relaxed into the ground and slowed their licking to what was really the proper pace to slow the bleeding. "My confidence might not be" they replied to the concerned inquiry without much change of expression from the sulking downward curve of their lips to the way their eyes flashed with annoyance at every swipe of their tongue over the wounded paw while the stranger asked more questions about the injury. Appreciating the attention after some time on their own Vee tore themself away from the less bloody paw with a quick lick of their lips to ensure it wouldn't be an unpleasant sight as they smiled shaking their head "No though the risk of infection makes it comparatively worse" as light as the tone of their voice was it was now the top concern they had with food coming second. They couldn't hunt until this healed up better...this meant surviving on scavenging and unripe berries if there even were any yet. "Do you know where I could find a variety of herbs?"