Ouroboros Spine Black as Soot, Cold as Ice

For the naturalist trade![

She visited the Spine many times, exploring a different place each time she did so, silently cataloguing the charred remains of the once proud forest. What it looked like before did not matter to her at all, she was here to see the effects of fire on life.

And what devastating effects it had. The Spine must have been completely engulfed by the flames. A pity she never got to see the show. Though some of the former residents of the Spine would not be too happy if someone was simply watching as their home burned to the ground. Not that she really cared, anyhow.

Potema treaded lightly over the charcoal and ash-stained ground, knowing her paws would be black when she was finished here. The young girl headed towards the lake that made up the largest part of the Spine, to see if there were any signs of life around it's healing center.

And to her delight, there was. The fringes of the lake still beared greenery in the form of water plants, but grass was slowly growing from the shore. But not only that, there was an island in the center of the lake. How she hadn't seen this before, she didn't know, but she wanted to go there. To see what kind of plants were harbored by the waters.

Trouble was, she hadn't been practicing her swimming skills as much as she should have. That lake looked deep, and the swim was far. Frustrated, Potema glowered at the island, as if willing it to come closer and end her plight.

Charon had decided, after returning home to the Bay, to explore the nearest real mountain first. There were some other elevated areas around the Bay, but Ouroboros Spine was actually a mountain. Charon realised as he started his exploration that he'd never been here before. This was emphasised by the fact that he found the charred remains of what had once been a forest there. The young Naturalist was amazed, and even though he got the information he wanted -- Ouroboros Spine was not somewhere he and Amekaze could start their pack together -- Charon couldn't help but continue his exploration, driven by curiosity.

When Charon reached the frays of a large lake, he noticed a dot of white in the distance. What was more interesting than the unidentified dot of white, though, was an island in the middle of the lake that had been rescued from the merciless flames. Charon decided to follow the lake's edge until he reached the wolf in the distance, to make sure that he or she wasn't a threat, and then he'd check out that island to see what still grew there.

Upon his approach, the yearling immediately noticed the glazed eye and the scars around it, identifying her as Potema. His nose confirmed his suspicions, and so Charon approached neutrally yet cheerfully -- eager to see how she was doing, but even more eager to share his own news. His movements were still stiff as he approached her; on the outside, large wounds on his right shoulder and back were still visible, as well as littler scratches across his body. "Hey Potema," Charon said with a cheery smile that echoed his mood. "Were you gonna explore that island over there too?" The island still fascinated him and he also wondered how Potema's swimming had come along since he'd helped her take some of her first steps by Totoka River. He'd find a way to wedge his cool news into the conversation at some point.

Potema was indecisive about swimming. She had only walked in paw deep and paced as she thought, contemplating whether or not she would take the risk. She stopped midway, turning towards the familiar voice that spoke her name. She smiled, her tail wagging gently as her friend stood before her.

He had changed, obviously. He got a little bigger, naturally, but it wasn't just that. Despite the ever-present smile on his face, his back and shoulders told a different story. They were covered in deep, long scars, the kind that were permanent. It made the usually jovial wolf look tougher, but wasn't that what he wanted? Scars looked cool, after all. "Hey, Charon." She said, stepping out of the water and up the shore. "I was. I heard there was a fire here during the storm. I wanted to see what it looked like." She wondered if he was here for the same thing, but it might be something different. However, the burning of a forest and the displacement of a pack was a pretty big deal, even with the storm. "How'd you get the scars this time?"

Charon was a little ashamed that Potema had heard about the fire that had raged through Ouroboros Spine, and he hadn't when it was so close to his own home. It hadn't even occurred to him to check this place out before, really. Then again, he'd never really been much of a mountain man before setting foot on the Sunspire and realising its greatness and potential, anyway. "I was exploring to find a place for my new pack," he said, pride shining through in his voice. "Then when I saw the burnt forest, my inner Naturalist got curious so I decided to check out the scope of destruction. I've never seen a burnt area this big. I wonder what's still on the island. It has a certain something to it, y'know, one island bustling with health in the middle of all this destruction."

Potema asked about his scars. While his every movement reminded him of the healing wounds on his body, Charon tended to forget that they were still so visible to everyone else. "Well, yeah... I got into a fight with this dick who couldn't take me stating the facts of his incompetence to him." Charon didn't really feel like the full description, but this near enough described things. He hoped that Potema'd picked up on the important facts in all that he'd just said: that he was starting a new pack and was going to be an Alpha.

New pack? An odd coincidence, since she herself was looking to create her own pack with her brothers. She hoped Charon would establish his own pack first, so that she would know where not to establish when the time came to scout. She wouldn't want her brothers, especially Damien, picking fights with those she considered an acquaintance, or even a possible ally. "What's the reason for the move?" Knowing what she knew about Charon, he would never abandon his family, even to raise his own pack. He must be moving them somewhere else.

Potema half ignored Charon's explanation; he hadn't gone into detail about the attack anyway, something about an idiot. Typical. She, however, was more interested in his wounds. The way they were healing. Rather well she must say, but there was room for improvement. "Did anyone heal your wounds or did you just let nature do it?"

"Stavanger Bay's pretty small, and I met this girl -- or well, woman -- who's got her own pack that's pretty small too. We're putting the two packs together so we can band together to survive winter." Charon was glad that he could talk about his new pack, because he was excited about it and he'd grab any opportunity to chatter about the pack. "So yeah, we're thinking of going for a mountain, 'cause Ame loves mountains." He decided to to talk about Thistle Cloud, because he was tired of explaining that to everyone and just wanted to be done with it.

Potema asked about the wounds, and Charon explained: "I cleaned them with water. The pack I was resting up at didn't have a healer, unfortunately." He wasn't sure there was anything that could be done now -- they were still scabby, but didn't healing need to be done when the wounds were fresh anyway? -- but it looked like Potema knew more about this stuff. Maybe she could help?

Potema busied herself over Charon's back, observing the scarring and the scab itself for any signs of infection or improper healing. It looked well, but it could have been handled better. All the while, she listened to Charon speak of some woman, "Ame" he called her, who wanted to merge with his own pack before winter. Potema hid it as best as she could, but there was a pit of anger and jealousy in her chest at the mention of this woman. She didn't know who she was, how old she was, but Potema decided right then and there that she didn't like this "Ame". "Did you find any good places yet?" She asked, her diagnosis complete. She sat in front of Charon on her haunches, curling her tail around her paws. "Are you two going to share leadership as well?" She hoped that it was just that, and nothing more. She couldn't handle anything more. Poor girl. A voice crooned in the back of her mind, smug yet wise as it always was. Living out her first crush. Her first bout of jealousy. Potema wanted to snap her jaws at the voice, but she knew that it would make her look insane.

"It looks fine," She shrugged goodnaturedly. "It could have been better with some herbs, but it looks ok." With the scars aside, Potema set her eye on the island, intent on clamoring onto its shores. "Do you feel good enough to swim to the island?"

"We're thinking maybe one of the mountains to the south," Charon said, although he had not explored any of them yet. But Dhole had seemed very excited, and so Charon hoped they'd be as great as Dhole had mentioned. Oblivious to any notion of jealousy, Charon proudly nodded and said: "Yep! We're both going to be Alphas." There was excitement in his voice as he shared this fact, although the excitement was mostly in the fact that Charon was going to be an Alpha himself, not specifically that he'd be so alongside Ame.

Charon figured there was little that could be improved on his wounds now, but at least they hadn't gotten infected even though no herbs had been used. He wasn't a healer himself and the wounds seemed to be doing fine so he didn't really understand what their benefits were. When she asked if he was good enough to swim to the island, Charon nodded. "Yep! Let's go." He smiled and then slunk into the water. It was disappointing how the swim was actually not as smooth or painfree as he had imagined due to his injuries, but Charon bit through the pain, not wanting to look like a weakling in front of Potema.

Potema splashed in the shallows, looking out from the shore to the island, gauging it's distance. It looked reasonably far; she could travel there with a bit of an effort, but she worried for Charon. He was still healing. Such rigorous exercise might be dangerous for him.

Potema waded forward until the water reached past her stomach. She paused there and looked back at Charon, monitoring his progress. "Are you sure you're up for this?" She asked, looking at his walk and stride in the water. He looked fine, but some people were very talented at hiding pain, physical or mental. 

As Charon dipped himself into the water and started to paddle, however painful, Potema stayed in the shallows and asked him if he was sure he'd be alright. He wanted to laugh confidently, but since he was already out in the water paddling this showed in little more than an amused gurgling. "I'm fine, c'mon!" he shouted out above the water.

The island looked pretty far away, but Charon wasn't about to give up. He squinted his eyes and just kept pushing forth through the water, going into his zone until he reached the island. Once there he flopped over onto the shore, his muscles tired and body stiff and throbbing with pain. Maybe it hadn't been such a very good idea, but he'd made it, and for now he didn't want to think about the swim back. He lay down on his side and panted heavily while he looked to see if Potema was nearly there yet.

Her concern was for naught as the young man splashed into the water, his laughter muffled by the liquid as he paddled towards the island. Realizing that she had given him a head start, the princess dove headfirst into the water, swimming with all of her novice might towards the shore of the small island, kept pristine from the fires that destroyed the land surrounding it.

She reached the shore, exhilarated, her chest rising and falling as she looked about rapidly, her eye taking in the preserved island. The few trees that dominated the island were pines, large and brooding as pines often were. She looked up at them, marveling at their size. This forest must have been old if pines this tall could grow isolated on an island. Like grew like when it came to plants. The surrounding lands must have been covered in pines as well.

Her naturalist tendencies had distracted her from the young man who had plopped onto the shore. Realizing her negligence, Potema trotted over the Charon, her head tilted in a bird-like manner. "Are you alright?"

Charon had little eye for his surroundings of yet, though he noticed Potema had reached the shore and was staring about at her surroundings. Slowly his breath started to calm down, as did his rapid heartbeat, and he smiled when Potema asked if he was alright. Maybe it'd been a little ambitious, this swim, but he didn't regret it. "Yeah, I'll be fine," Charon said. He sat down, his body still heaving with each breath, while he looked around.

"Pretty cool, isn't it?" He looked around at the small remnant of nature that the storm had left behind. "A bit of life... Among all of this death." He took time to breath between the short sentences while he glanced about. Once his breathing had calmed down a little, Charon got to his feet and shook his fur, sending water flying everywhere; now ready to explore.

"It makes me wonder what this forest must have looked like before it was burned," She said, looking back at the copse of trees that made it's home here on the island. The Princess gazed into it's depths, wondering how big the island was, exactly. She had not been on many and could not say for sure if this was relatively large or small. But it was still a marvel to her. "Let's go and explore some more, hm?" Potema walked off into the bushes, looking around at what was left of the once proud forest that must have been here prior to the black blanket that was laid over it by the fires.

Potema wondered if the pack that once made it's home here before being pushed out lived on this island. Why not? Sure, you would get wet, but a comfy place like this could make an excellent den, protected on all sides by water. But alas, those wolves did not have the intelligence to do so, and they were ousted. Sithis' will. Potema kept walking through the island until she reached the other shore. It was not a far walk, but it was of a decent size, she thought. Potema looked back at Charon to see if he had kept up. He really should not be walking around like this with such an injury.

Once his fur was rid of the excessive water, Charon nodded at Potema and followed her past the trees on the island. He found it miraculous how a clump of earth on water could sustain itself like islands did; it was fascinating, to say the least. Intrigued, the Naturalist followed Potema while he looked about. "I wonder if there's animals living here," Charon shared, and he looked at Potema to see if she wondered the same. And he wondered consecutively if they'd visit the shore every now and then, too. Maybe some animals had even fled here during the fire.

"I wonder if any wolves died in the huge fire," he wondered aloud, and then he found himself wondering if any of the wolves that lived here would've found refuge on this island to hide from the flames.

Potema sniffed the air for any signs of life other than plants and themselves. She could only imagine that small animals, rats, rabbits, squirrels and the like would live here; it was much too small for anything larger. Unless a raccoon frequented here. As of yet she found nothing but gave her hypothesis to Charon. "Something small. Birds and rodents maybe."


As she said that, she wondered what happened to the animals on the mainland during the fire, only to have the question be posed by Charon himself. "I've met a wolf from the pack who lived here before; they called this place Ouroboros Spine." She did not particularly enjoy their interaction, this Spine wolf and her, but it gave valuable information. "It sounded like everyone survived and they moved somewhere else. What I want to know is what happened to all the deer or whatever that lived here." She thought for a moment, not sure if the object would be burned by fire. "Do you think we would find bones? Do they get burned?"

Charon was eager to hear Potema's information about this place. He had known of its name, though had never met any wolves that came from here. "They were lucky," Charon said when he heard all of the wolves that had made this place their home had survived the fire.

Then Potema moved on to the subject of the deer herds, wondering if they had survived. It was a bit of a morbid topic which caught Charon off-guard, and he quickly find himself thinking aloud: "I hope not. Would be a shame to see our food burned down." He then found himself wondering, also slightly morbidly: "I wonder if the bones actually survive the fire or if it's so hot it would just burn everything down. I mean, if you look at what it did to the trees..." Charon didn't know how hot exactly fire was, but he was pretty sure it was hot enough to devastate about anything in its way. Except for the Sequoia trees, of course, as well as the earth (luckily!).

She, unbeknownst to him, secretly wished that a certain member of the Spine, the one who relayed this information to her, had burned in the fire and died. Seriously, even her mother wouldn't let that kind of man in the Woods. But, he didn't need to know at all. He didn't need to know her darkness. "Deer are smart in their own way. I'm sure most of them got else." She shrugged, though this was months ago. Who could tell for sure any more?

"I don't know." She said, shrugging, though what he said was pretty plausible. Trees were much stronger than bone, weren't they? She could test that if she wanted. "I don't know much about fire, but as much as I want to know..." She looked around, seeing the blackened forest. "I don't want to either."

Charon wondered what Potema was thinking about just when she said that most deer probably escaped. She was right; they weren't exactly smart, but they were survivalists. Whatever controversy came their way, deer would cope with it and make sure they survived. If they wouldn't be, hunting wouldn't be much of a sport, either. "You're right," he said, and then the subject turned to the matter of the fire. Charon didn't agree with Potema on that matter, because he felt that it was always better to know a lot about the things that hurt you, but for some reason he decided against saying that.

Instead, he said: "Do you know the huge sequoia trees in the forests near the coastline? They're fire-resistant. So if you are ever in a forest fire down that area, just hide in the trees." Charon figured it'd at least make Potema feel a little safer and better to know there were more places that could protect her.

The thought of fire by the water sounded strange to her. Didn't water smother fire? Wouldn't the spray from the ocean, or the dampness of the soil, stop a fire from spreading? The questions danced in her head, but she decided that she never wanted to know the answer to those question. At all. "I'll keep that in mind, but what makes the trees fire resistant? I thought trees burned easily." She had no real answers to these questions, for her, they were merely speculation. Hopefully Charon would answer well.

She stepped into the water of island's shore, her paws submerged. They were facing a different spot of the island now, but she could easily make her way back from here. It was Charon she was concerned about. "Where are you headed now? Back to the shore? Or are you going to explore some other spots?"

since you're leaving, i'll just fade this <3

Charon shrugged when Potema insisted to know why the sequoia trees were fire-resistant. He did suppose it was kinda weird, but he'd never thought much of it. "Magic," Charon said with a grin on his face, and he continued to look around the island as though the matter of the fire-resistant sequoia trees was now done and over with.

Now that the island was pretty much explored, it was time to return. "I think I'll look at some other places in the area," Charon said when Potema asked what he'd do and where he'd go. He didn't feel like returning to the Bay right now, since Thistle was still a little miffed at him and all that.

The pair swam back to the shore, which took a lot from Charon, but he managed and before he departed to explore other regions, he nosed Potema's cheek. "I had fun," he said with a warm smile, and after a short moment of eye contact he squinted his eyes briefly before turning around and taking off.