Redhawk Caldera snakehips

*makes 49,938,202 assumptions* I was hoping someone on the inside would want to play a game of telephone!?

They had been trying to dig through the snow for days on end now. Ignoring the darkness that fell upon her head and the deep exhaustion sinking into her bones, Raven took a shift at attempting to excavate a passageway through the deep drift blocking the cave's mouth. The sweeping pressure of the avalanche had packed the snow so tightly that it was like scraping through blocks of solid ice. As a matter of fact, one of the Gamma's toenails snagged and ripped off cleanly, causing her to hiss under her breath as she froze and jammed the bleeding digit into her mouth.

She peered at her handiwork as the rusty flavor of her own blood smeared across her tongue. Although she had made some progress, she feared a collapse. What if she wedged herself in there, only for the snow to fall in and smother her? The mere thought made her shiver. Her yellow eyes drifted around aimlessly as she continued sucking on her torn toe, then finally let it slip from her lips. She jammed it into the snow to numb the stinging as well as slow the bleeding.

While she sat there, feeling the low-grade panic of this entire situation slowly engulf her, Raven suddenly went very still and cocked her head toward the snowy dugout, sure she had just heard a noise coming from the other side of the white wall.

Not on the inside, but hope it's okay if I join!

Normally, Elwood was able to set his own emotions aside and regard every situation with a logical mindset. He had a much harder time taking this perspective after the cave in, however. When it became apparent that he and a few others -- his daughter and niece included -- had been blocked from reentering the cavern, he had gone into a state of panic that was not typical of the newly-crowned Alpha male. He worried for those trapped inside the network of tunnels, particularly the five puppies that were now without their milk source.

His mind was weary and his joints ached. No matter how hard they tried, the Redhawks on the outside couldn't break through the barrier of snow. Yet, despite their insufficiency, Elwood couldn't stop trying. He was churning up the snow with his forepaws, digging despite his exhaustion a few yards away from Raven. He didn't notice the sharp smell of blood that permeated the air briefly, but when she froze in place, he looked at her with wide eyes. Her ears were tilted towards the wall of snow, as though she had heard something, and he, too, stopped his fruitless excavating to stare at her.

Ugh no please leave ugh. :P

Taking her cue, Elwood ceased his own digging nearby, leaving the two of them in a breathless silence. Raven kept her head tilted, ears straining, even as her yellow eyes drifted to her godfather's face. "Did you hear anything?" she mouthed, unwilling to actually break the silence. But whether there had been a noise, there was nothing but quiet now. Raven felt frustration and despair flash through her like brush fire. Their pack mates were, at best, buried alive. At worst... well, she didn't even want to contemplate it.

"It's been three days," she said out of nowhere, her voice thin with worry. The punchline went unspoken: the pups hadn't had any milk in three whole days. Raven's insides felt pinched as she dropped her gaze to their handiwork. It seemed like they'd barely made a dent in the enormous heap of snow.

There was a breathless moment while Raven and Elwood both fell silent, ears straining. But whatever Raven had heard was gone, and Elwood's lips turned down in a frown. He shook his head, taking a step back from the wall of snow to assess their progress. Despite their almost relentless digging, the shifting snow had kept them from breaking through, and even the ever-positive Elwood was starting to feel doubtful.

He blinked and then looked at Raven. Three days. The implication behind her words was clear: the puppies had been separated from their source of nutrition for three days. "We'll get through soon," he said, but he didn't really believe his own words. He knew that the snow would melt eventually, but time was a luxury that they didn't have.

"Can anyone hear us?" he suddenly bellowed, hoping that somehow his voice would carry through the thick layers of powder.

Raven knew how snow could seemingly swallow sound. It made sense that this much of it would muffle communications between the "insiders" and "outsiders." But when no reply came to Elwood's shout, she felt a prick of deep despair. It felt like they were on totally different planets, unable to make contact of any kind. Heck, they might as well have been on the moon. That's what it felt like out here: dark, white and isolated.

"I hate this," the Gamma muttered disconsolately, turning her face away from Elwood so he wouldn't have to deal with the tears suddenly wobbling on her lower eyelids.

He pressed his ear against the snow, flinching at the coldness. He remained that way for almost a minute, straining to hear anything on the other side. But he was only rewarded with silence, and he kicked at the icy ground with a forepaw as he withdrew, cursing under his breath.

He turned slowly towards Raven and found that she had averted her gaze. Even so, he was able to see that she was distraught. "I hate this," she mumbled, and Elwood found that the only thing he could say in reply was, "Me, too."

With a sigh, he drew himself up slightly. "But it'll melt sooner or later. Hopefully sooner. And at least they're safe from the elements in there, and they hopefully have some food," he said. He honestly couldn't remember how much meat had been stored inside when the cave-in happened; he had taken for granted the freedom of leaving the shelter at will to replenish their supplies. Although Raven was clearly disheartened, he suggested, "Why don't we look for some food ourselves? It'll at least keep our mind off of things."

She listened as Elwood tried to comfort and reassure her, though Raven could not stop the onslaught of tears. Her shoulders shook, though she cried in silence. The tears that streamed from her bright yellow eyes quickly froze against her cheeks and she felt like a hot cold mess.

When he suggested they do something productive with themselves, Raven sniffled and nodded, quickly climbing to her feet. She was still having a hard time looking in her uncle's direction but she was all too glad to try doing something useful rather than sit here crying like a baby.

Elwood felt bad as Raven quickly obliged him despite the tears continuing to flow down her cheeks. He reached out to nudge her shoulder as they both moved away from the impassable pile of snow, knowing that the distraction would be good for both of them, and that it would hopefully prove to be productive, too.

It was still hard to wade through some of the deeper patches of snow, but Elwood floundered along, churning up the powder with his snout. There were no fresh scent trails to be found, but he hadn't expected that to be the case, anyway. They were much more likely to find prey that had already passed away, either from being buried by snow or by freezing to death.

"Let's head this way," he said, glancing at Raven as he moved towards the distant borders. "We won't go too far, though," he added. Just in case, he thought, but he didn't voice those words aloud.

Although she was eager to do something productive, something to get her mind off this terrible predicament, Raven cast a forlorn look over her shoulder as they moved away, a hollow feeling of reluctance rising up within her. They're not going anywhere, she thought grimly, swallowing a sob and trying to blink the tears out of her yellow eyes. She was going to be useless at helping find food if her eyes and nose were streaming and stuffed up, respectively.

"Are we looking for fresh game?" she wondered after a stretch of sad but companionable silence. She scanned their surroundings as they neared the borders, wondering if there was anything alive out here. Raven didn't see any movement and she didn't spy any serendipitous carcasses either. She fought the urge to sigh.

He was happy to get his mind off their predicament, if only briefly. And even then, it was there in the back of his brain. He knew they would have to address it sooner rather than later, and figure out what to do if they weren't able to reenter the shelter -- which seemed like it would be the case.

Raven's questions startled him out of his own thoughts -- because, admittedly, while he was trying not to think about Finley and the others trapped inside, that was the only thing he was contemplating -- and he paused, then blinked. "I don't know," he replied truthfully, letting his gaze sweep the landscape. It was all white and still. "I doubt it, but we can keep an eye out just in case." He glanced back over his shoulder at the snowy barrier at the base of the mountain, then sighed and forged ahead again.

After a few strides, he noticed something dark against the snow and headed towards it. A half-buried rabbit protruded from the snow, its body stiff and its fur crusted with frost. "We're in luck," Elwood said as he pawed at the powder. "I wonder if there's more," he said, looking around and thinking of the huge frozen moose carcass he, Raven, and Aaron had found near the borders.

Although she was happy for the distraction, Raven was ironically still distracted from said distraction, just like Elwood. Their minds understandably lingered with their pack mates trapped in the cave, even though they really needed something else to capture their attention before they went crazy.

Fortunately, it didn't seem like they would be seeking live prey; the Gamma wasn't sure she would be an effective hunter with her focus so totally shot. She watched a little absently as the Alpha male began to dig a frozen rabbit out of the snow, though something held her back from offering assistance. Raven looked down at her sore, weary feet. Was she going to develop post-traumatic stress disorder over digging?

With a quiet huff, the she-wolf closed in and began pawing at the snow alongside him. There was a grim satisfaction when it came free after relatively little effort. Biting back a sigh, Raven turned her yellow eyes back to their surroundings. She saw nothing but a flat expanse of white glowing dully in the moonlight. Swallowing, she faced Elwood again, waiting for him to split the hare*.

* I may or may not have stolen this joke from an episode of Goosebumps. XD

We can wrap up soon, if you want! :)

The sound of their claws scratching against the hardened snow sent an unpleasant shiver down Elwood's spine. How often had that noise rang in their ears over the past few days? Of course, this only reminded him of the situation back at the shelter, and he gritted his teeth in frustration. He reached down to pull the rabbit from the ice, doing so a bit harsher than he intended to.

He dropped it at Raven's feet, his gaze meeting hers. "You hungry?" he asked; he wasn't, and the meal would be meager, but they needed to eat what they could to keep their strength up. Without waiting for a reply, he made quick work of the carcass, divvying it up so that he and his niece could share it.

As he bit into the cold meat, he thought again of his family, trapped in the bowels of the caldera. So much for a distraction.

Sure thing!

She drew in a breath and practically sighed her answer. "No, but I know I need to eat. You do too," the caregiver said, trying and failing to inject sternness into her tone. Raven just sounded very weary. "We need to keep up our strength," she murmured but, of course, Elwood knew that. She lapsed into silence as he divided the carcass and then pushed her ration toward her.

The she-wolf bolted down the cold, tough meat in silence. When they were finished, they looked at one another. Without even having to exchange a word, they both started moving back toward the cave. They hadn't really found the distraction they needed but at least they'd eaten. Their plight was impossible to truly escape; they were just as trapped as their brethren. The only solution was to get back and keep digging.