Big Salmon Lake Polar bear plunge

The master Gamekeeper neared the shore of Big Salmon Lake in search of prey. Large ungulates tended to cluster around watering holes like this one as they migrated through the area. Unfortunately, the banks were sparse, practically devoid of life. He saw a coyote drinking on the lake's opposite shore but it split as he approached. Peregrine sighed, then dipped his own muzzle down, used it to break through the thin ice and took a refreshing drink.

He wouldn't go much further before turning back toward the caldera. For the moment, he roamed around the lake, sniffing the air and the ground in turn, looking for anything to hunt. An icy wind swept over the water, ruffling it and tousling the long fur at his nape. It brought with it a scent and he turned, pausing as he tilted his snout into the frigid current of air. When Peregrine identified the animal he smelled, he deliberated but decided to go ahead and give it a whirl. Meat was meat, even if it was stinky.

Ten minutes later, he tore into the skunk's warm carcass. It had succeeded in spraying him and it was difficult to ignore the terrible smell, which was so strong he could also taste it. He polished off the entire rodent, then glanced at the water. It wouldn't get rid of the scent, not really, but it might take the edge off it. He licked his dry lips, trying to muster up the courage for what would be a painfully cold dip.

Peregrine sucked in a breath, then leaped. He crashed easily through the brittle ice, then came up with a gasp. He turned and hooked his claws into the shore so he wouldn't risk drifting under the ice (though he was sure he could bust through it if he needed). He remained submerged for as long as he could stand, then jumped back out of the water, teeth chattering as he gave himself a mighty shake.

Once he got rid of most of the moisture, he put his nose to his own black shoulder and inhaled. He grimaced. He still smelled like a combination of burnt rubber, rotten garbage and unwashed socks. Awesome.

*sees open peregrine thread* *gasps* snagging this if you don't mind me! :D
edit: okay nevermind

Prima had been wandering around the area where she'd had her encounter with Shiv, and promptly found herself at a large lake, frozen over with a thin layer of ice. It wasn't long before she caught a scent of a...

A...

Something? Whatever it was, it smelt kinda bad. She wasn't sure which creature the scent belonged to, but when she spotted the large, dark-furred wolf, she didn't doubt that, well, that he was the one who smelled like rotten eggs. Figuratively speaking.

He had probably tried to wash himself of the smell, judging by the fact that he was half drenched in lakewater, seemingly sniffing himself. Well... ”Hi!” She called as she began to near him. ”Failure to bathe?”

The sandy hued hippie had no intention of staying in too long today, because,.. Hell,..it felt nice out. Yea, it was winter, and blah blah, it was blah blah degrees with nag nag wind temp. But it felt so nice to be out.
Ignoring Mother Natures natural way I telling him to sleep in and hibernate.
He wasn't a hibernational kinda dude, any way.

With a sunny tassel held high, swishes every sashed way it could go, he took a happy little tippy top trot through the Dera, until a smell that could nearly personify gangrene de-bo'ed through his snout.
Te fuhk?

It was then that Ash remembered the scent. It was that salt and shadow rat, named a skunk. The one and only bayestahd that could outfart a dying elephant.
The Doctor spun a complete 360 to make sure the rat couldn't be anywhere near him, and his eyes fell upon Per, the one and only Dark Dude he knew of so far. Head honcho of the Dera.
Not too long after, Ash spotted the puddle of blood.

"Unless ya feel like waiting till spring dude, that rank ain't sheddin for quite some time.

damn it. whatever. still throwing him in. :D

Wanderlust took hold of the bi colored wolf and once more he found himself leaving Caldera territory and going to who knows where. Peregrine and the others should find no fault in him, after all Theseus still patrolled the borders and hunted for the pack, he was a valuable asset for the pack, or at least he thought he was. If war ever befell upon Redhawk Caldera, he would be happy because he would finally be in his element. Not that Theseus wanted war to happen on his own pack, just if it ever happened.

The Chinese was nearing the lake he'd went to before he even joined the Caldera, he had been there to dive into the water and see if it was cold and nearly died, it was a great experience but that wasn't what drove him forward now. It was the smell of fresh meat, prey that had been freshly slain that tugged him forward. He should have learnt his lesson by now, with the encounter with the cougar, but that was one thing you should know about Theseus, he usually liked being on the run and he only learnt when he actually cared.

Curious, he moved into view, aqua eyes flashing from the skunk carcass to his sooty black Alpha, who seemed to have gone for a dip in the lake and emerged smelling like absolute shit and to the female loner he'd met sometime ago, and then to Ashton. Whatever. Making sure his tail was tucked and in a submissive position, Theseus called out, "Am I the last to the party?" a light smirk on his face.

Woo, party! I'll bring the smellz.

Wolves suddenly came crawling out of the woodwork, descending like flies on shit. Considering how he smelled, the analogy was particularly fitting. Peregrine's eyes narrowed when the first, a stranger, approached with an exuberant greeting and a jest. Before he could answer her, two of his own pack mates appeared. He was surprised to see them so far from home, yet he was happy to see them all the same. His lips twitched when Theseus tossed a joke into the air, though he quickly turned to Ashton with a frown tugging his lips into a thin line.

"I hope you're just fucking with me... I don't wanna smell like burning asshole for the next couple of months. Fox won't let me live in the den and the pups will be born thinking I have the worst case of dad breath ever!" The swarthy male shook his head. "Nope. Ash, don't you know of some plant or something that could help with the smell? Like, can't I roll in mint leaves or something?"

Remembering that he had yet to properly acknowledge the lone she-wolf among them, Peregrine faced her. "I'm standing here soaking wet and the wittiest joke you can come up with is 'failure to bathe'? The water didn't do shit. Who are you, anyway? I'm Perry and these are Ashton and Theseus. We're from the caldera." He secretly hoped this information would intimidate her. Normally, Peregrine attempted to recruit young, healthy wolves but, quite frankly, the caldera didn't have room and didn't need any more warm bodies.

well this is gonna be interesting. but hi, anyway, xandir & will :'D

Prima moved backwards as suddenly two wolves seemed to appear out of nowhere. She wondered if the black furred guy was as bewildered as she was, but instead he moved in to greet them. The other two males— what the hell wasn't that the guy she'd met earlier— seemed to have the same scent of some sorts— same pack, she guessed, but with the dark furred one... hard to tell.

Okay? She thought, wondering what she'd gotten herself into. "Well, it isn't everyday when you see a drenched wolf with an... exotic smell.” The silver-graphite girl shrugged, rolling a slim shoulder. ”Then two other guys just... randomly appear. But I'm sorry if I bothered you, anyway, uh, Perry.”

When an introduction was given, she came to learn that they were definitely from the same pack. She'd hadn't encountered much packs, though it would probably be of her best interest to join one sooner or later. Anyway... She nodded at the three wolves as a way of greeting, a slightly uncomfortable smile on her features. ”Name's Prima. Ideal situation for a meeting, Perry, Ashton, Theseus of the Caldera. Yeah, I remember you, Theseus." Whatever pack that was.

The musky macho man didn't take to chill to the stone chiseled newbie babe who figured throwing a joke in his lane, to be too dandy. The attempt swied and crashed Ito the hillside. Massive K.O. However, to himself an Theseus, the light duo received no gunshots.

The golden teen turned to the doll who had her winter pelt, saying softly,

"Hey there, sweets. Gnarley ta meet another Dudette of the Dera. Hope ya enjoyin ya stay. "

A warmer smile surfed on his maw as he turned to the Chinese wolf that could've been his cousin from another bussin, and the Doctor offered the dude a paw bump.

"Sup there, 'Mano. Surfin those caches, and bangin the waves? "

In truth, the teen wasn't all that good at hunting, but he knew exactly how to. Hell, every proper wolf did. But considering he was from a pack that primarily ate nasty salads for their times, another reason Ash had ta boogie on outta there. He hoped however, the dude was able ta have a nice stay at the Dera, instead of flamin out.

The Ashtonator turned to Per, a jest clearly placed on his face, and a friendly tail swish born for him,

"Bro, ya gonna need a helluva lot more than just a few mint leaves. I woulda snagged you a mass of tomatoes, those red ball vegefruits are the only thing I know of that can smash the smell. And even that isn't permanent. It's the only dashin fashion I got for ya, bromigo."

When the swarthy man remarked on his mates probable -and understandable- behavior towards him, and the probable -and double understandable- happening of the pups, Ash gave his leader a reassuring grin.
As many times as he had been sprayed with a skunk, he kinda managed a bit of immunity to the smell. His nares simply dubbed the smell as another smell.
His fellow Aspens simply got used to it as well.

"Screw ups are what shape us, man. Not perfections. If Fire Babe's gonna nail momhood, she's gonna have ta dig that. Even little ones wipe out. Hopefully she laughs it off, and doesn't cringe away from ya like a diseased coon. Maybe flash a few jokes here and there, then smash it, ya know?"

Theseus flashed Prima a smirk, Guess you just can't keep away from me and my godly beauty, he said jokingly. It was simply not in his nature to be serious, especially in situations like this. But then again, you don't get situations like this, when your Alpha decided to get sprayed at by a skunk, take a dip in the lake and emerge smelling even worse. This deserved a nobel prize or something, because this simply does not happen.

The Chinese returned Ashton's paw bump, a grin on his face. You could say that dude, he said with a laugh. The golden male was the first wolf he'd met that was from the Caldera, and immediately he knew they could be firm friends, after all the other male did not stare at him like he was some kind of crazy shit. Or that he was speaking some kind of alien language. It was nice to just be how he was like around the Caldera, instead of pretending to be serious and all professional-like. Not like he wasn't professional, but....you get what he meant.

Yep. You're going to need like a massive bunch of those weird red ball veggies and their juices, he wriggled his eyebrows at that. But in all seriousness, its yeah, just like Ash said, only temporary. Theseus himself had gotten sprayed by a skunk once and it was seriously not a pleasant experience, he would not recommend it at all, skunk spray was not perfume and not something to wear on your first date. Unless your definition of perfume was shit.

Ya got it easy, Perry. I got sprayed on my first date, this probably ain't gonna help but she ran away, like immediately.

"You're no more bothersome than my awesome new perfume," Peregrine remarked dryly. His eyes cut to Ashton. "She's not from the caldera," he said, his brows knitting quizzically. He was pretty damn sure, anyway. He knew his three co-leaders accepted wolves but the last time he'd checked, their ranks were seriously swole. Still, he felt dubious, especially when Theseus treated her like he knew her pretty well.

Peregrine forgot all about it when Ashton told him that tomatoes, of all things, would be his saving grace. Theseus corroborated. "Do they grow this time of year or am I shit out of luck...?" he wondered. Either way, it was temporary, as Theseus reminded him. He also included a personal anecdote about a first date gone awry.

"Fox has had farts that smell worse than this," he informed the party of three, "so fat chance she'll leave me over this. All the same, I don't wanna reek up our place or cause her eyes and nose to burn every time she comes near me. I could really use some of those toe-ma-toes," he said, enunciating the word rather oddly.

Prima found herself rolling her eyes slightly at the two remarks Perry and Theseus made before speaking once more. She shrugged as she did so before turning to reply to Perry. ”Most say that when they meet me, though there could be some exceptions. No, I'm not from the Caldera, but I've met Theseus.”

She wasn't exactly expecting anyone to be nice to her, so the blonde, seemingly hipster wolf surprised her when he spoke to her. The silver fae returned his smile and said, ”Thanks, dude. Great to meet you too, but I'm not from the Caldera.”

Prima then returned to listen to the group of three, unsure of what to do, while they spoke of tomatoes and how their juices would probably help rid Perry of the scent. Temporary, though, but hey, it was probably better than nothing. The girl took a mental note of that, if she was to ever to be sprayed by a skunk. Tough chance, but hey, it could happen! She shrugged, listening as he spoke of somebody named Fox. His mate.

She was already beginning to withdraw from the group of three, so with a shrug, she said, "Well, if they grow in winter...?" She was probably to gonna stay to hear the last of what they said and leave the scene, for there was no use for her being there, anyway.

A confused look threatened to splash his face at the mention of her not being of the Dera, but the hippie kept it in tight check. Question though,..te hell is she doin here then?
No matter. The issue was helpin the Alpha not burn the nare hair off of da bae. It was a shame he couldn't snag the toms for the dude, but every good herbologist knew plants grew in the spring, hell, if lucky, in the summer. But not in te coldest time of Mother Nature, bro. This was like,..her time off of doin stuff. Takin a chill pill.
Chill. Pill.

"My bad, sweets. Didn't have a clue about you. " the swift referential to the gal, and then to turn the spotlight back to the main man, Black Hawk of Smelling Good Justice.

"As much as it burns to blam the bubble, the Toms don't grow in Mom Natures off time. When she chills out, all the green does, too. Only addy I can toss ya is to come by my den for a good scent-bath. I mean, ya don't gotta come in or anything, because we got a trip to the hot springs. I just got herbs and spices I could use to nice ya up for a while. The mask lasts about a few days, then it's back ta skunky stunky square one."

Theseus suppressed a smirk at the idea of Fox's farts, he hadn't officially met the co Alpha yet but from Peregrine's info when he was first accepted, she was the swarthy male's mate. "The Caldera itself is going to smell," he added, after all if Perry was going to go back to the Caldera which he was obviously going to do, it was going to stink for some time. And it might also cause some of their packmates to sneeze or something like that, because that smell though.

The Chinese nodded his agreement when Ashton said the tomatoes did not grow at this time of the year, truthfully he only knew it could help the skunk spray stink but not the part about not growing. But seriously, what vegetables and fruit grew in this snowy, icy, wintery weather anyways. Wouldn't they all just shrivel and die? Wolves did, even with their pelts, so did any plant even survive winter?

Psst, @Ashton... this is set at Big Salmon Lake. ;)

I was gonna use this as an opportunity to recruit Prima IC but I don't think it would work with your timeline, right?

Peregrine squinted at Ashton when he spoke, trying to discern the moral of the story. As the pack's Healer, he trusted the towheaded hippie to know better than anyone. "Wait, so there's no chance of finding any? Could you guys still look?" He included Theseus with a glance. "Maybe we can find some left over from the summer. I don't care if they're rotten and mushy. Please? It's for your benefit as much as mine," he reminded them, thinking on Theseus's remark.

"You don't have to help," he said to Prima, "unless you want to, for some reason... like, if you're bored or secretly want to impress me for some unknown reason."

nah i'm pretty sure it'd work for my timeline since prima joined ooc after this:D
also sorry for the delay

Prima shook her head once Ashton spoke, before saying, ”No, it's okay. Shouldn't have interfered.” Confirming her suspicions, he then turned to Perry to tell him that tomatoes most definitely did not grow during the winter, though the swarthy male did advance to request for a search.

”I wouldn't mind helping,” She said, blue eyes twinkling as Perry turned to her, ”Though the my reason is unlikely to be the latter of the two. I'd love some company, and a tomato search party would count for that.”

This is really outdated and Ashton was removed, so I'm just going to wrap it up for us. :)

None of them seemed opposed to searching, least of all Prima. In days to come, she would find a place among them and Peregrine would welcome such an altruistic wolf into their group. For now, he motioned for the party of three to follow, then set off away from the lake. He angled toward the nearest forest, figuring they might find some old tomato plants there. They could split up once they got there; divide and conquer; and then regroup, his musky odor acting like a beacon in the night for their little search party.