Sleepy Fox Hollow pyroclast ii

snow had fallen all day, all night, and into the morning.

almost a foot had gathered. selenia shook soft mounds of it from her forelock, her withers, her rump. when this froze, it would be harder to find the grasses which she and fancy so needed now.

the mare went for water next, stamping a hard hoof into the surface of a thin creek until the ice began to splinter.

blackbirds lifted from snow-laden trees, cawing harshly in the greywhite morning.

Separated from her pack, Eliza entered the barren winter alone. I should have waited for spring melt to come. I should have kept Annabeth by my side.

But her sisters all found prospects in the west, or the promise of, and her paw remained unclaimed and unwed. Unwanted? Not yet. She had many more seasons before she would consider herself anything close to that.

And yet, this did not change the fact she was alone, and hunger ripped through her like an animal. Eliza picked through the snow for the track of hare, or anything close, and picked up instead the telltale steps of something large through the powdered snow.

Her ears picked in interest, yet considered leaving the tracks behind. They wouldn't do her any good to follow; whatever was on the other side, she was hardly a match.

Curiosity won her in the end, and in the end she crouched in the treeline, eyes locked on the powerful thrust of a prey animal against the ice - 

Only, could she call this creature prey? It worked with bravado befitting a wolf, and it's eyes shone with intelligence and determination. She made her decision on the spot and crawled from the bushes in a respectful bow.

You are of great might, she said, eyes glinting at the spot where it had broken the ice, what are you?

colosseum watched as selenia worked the ice, her strength and determination evident in the sharp movements of her hooves breaking through the creek’s brittle surface. the mare was diligent, resourceful—a quality he deeply respected, though he allowed himself a moment’s pride in the knowledge that these were his mares now, under his protection.

his ears swiveled, his dark gaze narrowing as he scanned the surrounding forest, his muscles coiling beneath his thick winter coat.

and then he saw her.

the wolf emerged slowly from the treeline, her frame crouched low, her posture deferential. his nostrils flared as he took in her scent, his tail swishing in a sharp arc behind him. she spoke, her voice carrying words of strange respect, but colosseum didn’t relax. instead, he moved forward, his massive body placing itself between the wolf and selenia, his head lowering in a clear warning.

not dinner. he stated firmly, his voice a deep rumble that seemed to echo through the stillness of the snowy glade. his eyes, sharp and unyielding, locked onto the wolf. what are you? the butcher?

his muscles remained tense, his stance protective as he awaited her response, every ounce of his being radiating a quiet, deliberate power.

Fancy, meanwhile, stripped bark from a cedar, and chewed it with her ears turned back, allowing the strain to show in her temple with each bite. It was a deer trick, stripping cedar bark, but not one she intended to do often. The bark was dry, and had little flavour unless she could pull away the faded, dark strips and expose the red flesh of the tree beneath. Then, it shared its classic fresh, cedar taste and smell.

She had just picked a section down to where the bark became rusted and the gleaming white of the tree’s wood showed when the scent reached her. A long strand of cedar back hung from her mouth as she turned to move alongside Selenia, snorting so loudly and suddenly that the strip of bark went flying. 

Colosseum was there at once, facing the wolf that had spoken. With him as a shield, she turned and began to scout the area. Might be more of them, She said to Selenia, whisking her tail against her hindquarters.

it was uncommon for selenia to see wolves here. they were all around; they traveled. she sensed them with her equine knowing, but now that a stallion had come to them, perhaps the wolves were veiled beneath her own new notion of safety.

colosseum proved himself now. fancy's sweet-cedar breath washed over her cheek, soothing the buckskin mare. "a waste on their part. it's lucky he hasn't attacked yet," she murmured back, though the note of admiration in her voice was quite openly for the stallion.

he was proving himself, each instance noted by her watchful dark eyes.