Alpine Lake Deep Freeze

Tzila turned north east, moving through the Hinterlands at an unhurried clip. The whole time, she had met few wolves. Those that she had, such as the brute @Tusk, were loners. And it was just as well. She was in no hurry to be taken in by some pack or be recruited. Winter or not, the dark female cherished her freedom. No rules, no restrictions and no sharing.

But she was faced with a dilemma. Finding food. A resourceful wolf such as herself, would know where to look, even now. Before her sprawled a great body of water. The lake was long since frozen over in a shiny layer of ice. On almost all sides, it was cradled in the arms of mountains. Standing at it's bank, to her far right, she could hear the roar of waterfalls, still very much alive even at this time of year.

She knew that there were likely to be fish below the frozen waters, or even oysters. She had to find out. But first, she lowered her dark muzzle to the ice, sniffing carefully. Her pink tongue followed to lick along the chilled floor. A jolt went through her mouth, into her teeth. Unphased, the lone female gingerly placed one paw onto the ice. She did not bear down with her full weight. Not yet. She waited with baited breath, cautiously, watching for any signs of cracks.

"Guess I should go visit mom," Bat mused to @Tegan over breakfast, "see how things are going over there." Naturally, he offered to go with her. Normally she would accept in a heartbeat. But she chewed on the inside of her cheek before shaking her head. "Nah, I need to give her some quality mother/daughter time. I just hope she has the time..."

And she'd gone to the copse, like she'd said, and even caught Wildfire out patrolling. She should've known the woman would make time for her, despite how busy she must be. Bat insisted on joining her on her rounds. They made a full circle around the copse before Bat bade her mother goodbye, asking her to say hello to @Sequoia and even @Kiwi.

Instead of heading straight home afterward, Bat decided to do some exploring. The day was still young, after all. She followed the stream that flowed into the copse, walking in the opposite direction of the current, which was stilled by winter's frosty breath. When she came upon a mountain with several small, frozen waterfalls tumbling down its flank, Bat stared in wonder. It made her think of the glacier where Tegan had found her. Just like that day, she decided to climb.

When she reached the top and found herself at the edge of a sunken lake, Bat sucked in a breath. Her attention was swiftly drawn to a dark shape venturing out onto the ice. She stood there and watched, wondering what the hell she would do if the stranger fell through into the frigid water.

So far, so good. No spiderwebbing cracks yet. With three paws on land and one on the ice, Tzila was the image of a wolf playing it safe in this situation. The knotted muscles in her back, between her shoulder blades tensed. She applied the full weight of her lone paw upon the ice, bracing herself.

Nothing.

Drawing in a breath through tightly clenched teeth, she extended her other forepaw and set it down. Her back legs bent at the knee joints, to ensure her purchase upon safe, solid ground remained as it was. If she fell in now, then she should at least have a decent chance of scrabbling away in time. Her silver eyes strained, peering down through the ice. Trying to assess the depths. They should be shallow, as was common with most bodies of water, she reasoned. But, she didn't know the nature of this particular lake.

A single, icy gust of wind disrupted the otherwise peaceful atmosphere. With it a scent was carried. One of her own kind. Were it not for the gust, the dark she wolf would not have noticed the other, standing some distance away. The roar of the falls made hearing difficult at best so close to the lake. Her head swivled, turning to seek out the stranger. A dark blot, she pinned the wolf easily, who was staring at her. Dark ears lowered to pin against the blood like hairs of her ruff, silver eyes narrowing. "What?" She quipped shortly. "I know what I'm doing."

Bat didn't realize she was holding her breath until her chest began to burn. She let it out in a low whoosh, her entire body gone tense as she bore witness. Fortunately, the ice seemed to hold the stranger's weight without protest, first with one paw, then two.

Before a third could join the others, a toothy wind blasted across Alpine Lake and the dark she-wolf turned, spotting Bat. The youth held up her paws in the universal sign for, I come in peace! She then shrugged her shoulders at the stranger's words.

"I believe you!" she called, then began to make her way toward the other wolf. "You look like you've done this before. Have you?"

For the moment at least, the dark loners attention had shifted. Away from what might possibly lie beneath the ice and towards the wolf, who was now coming her way. Her inky black ears lifted, but remained pivoted back. From her scrutinizing gaze, she gave them a quick once over. Their coat was paler...more slate in color, though their eyes were like her own. A quick sniff from her wet nose confirmed that this was a female. Younger than she.

Then there was that tint. The signature smell of a pack. Unless she her nose had failed her, then there shouldn't be any packs in the immediate area. Unless the youngster was out on her own, away for the day. Typical kids. A loner through and through, the night mistress wasn't so sure if she actually wanted to socialize with a pack wolf again. But before she recklessly jumped the gun, her logic kicked in. She can be useful. I know nothing about any of these packs. Best to start somewhere...

The tension in her shoulders visibly eased some as Bat neared, offering what might be a compliment. "Yeah...once or twice. Only when I needed to." She splayed out her left paw and raked her nails across the ice, glass like beneath her. "Are you familiar with this lake? I can't tell how deep it is here or not."

"Uh-uh," Bat said with an accompanying shake of her head, coming to a stop a few feet from the unfamiliar she-wolf. "I figured it must be shallow though," the added, "There's a lake back home and it's frozen through and covered in snow in a lot of places now. I walk across it all the time without really thinking about it. But the way you were testing it here, I figured..." She trailed off rather than repeat herself. She couldn't help but wonder: who'd tested it first over at the plateau? She assumed it must have been Towhee, the chief patron of The Roost.

"How do we find out for sure though?" was her next question, looking down at the frozen patch of water the stranger had already tested, forgetting to give a name or ask for one in return. "Just walk across it and hope we don't plunge to our deaths?" Because this was a team effort now.

"Most lakes should be shallow at their banks." This kid wasn't so bad, she decided. Cold silver eyes turned back towards the frozen lake. "Though some might take you by surprise." She had come across such a lake once. When she was young, in her days with the pack. Tzila and her age mates had learned a lesson that day; never be deceived and always favor caution over bravery.

"Back home huh?" Her dark brows lifted, head tipping so she could look the girl out of the corner of her eye. "And where is that...if it isn't too much to ask?" She wouldn't press for information of which she wasn't entitled to. Tzila may not be the most amicable of wolves at times, but she was no monster out to get the innocent or weak. She cleared her throat. "I visited the Wilds briefly, months ago. I only just returned, and I've yet to familiarize myself."

The pack wolf seemed to think that she and the dark yearling were a team, in solving the mystery of whether the ice was safe to walk out on or not. Inside, Tzila smirked. What was the harm in a little extra help? If the ice gave way, then at least the odds were more in her favor of making it out safely, with another body on hand. She shook her head. "Nah. There's a method I use first." She fixed Bat with a steady look, a cue for her to watch. "I keep my rear paws on the bank...for safety. And then..." With a arch of her spine, the inky female reared up on her back legs. On plunge down, she stiffened her forelegs, letting her paws thud against the ice. It groaned and squeaked from the impact, but held. "If it's shallow, even if it does break, I wouldn't worry. If anything is in there, it'll be easy to reach."

Bat shook her head to indicate she didn't mind the inquiry. "Heron Lake Plateau," she replied, "it's southwest of here. We're called the Redhawks." She didn't volunteer any further information, mostly because she thought that covered it but also because she was a lot more interested in the task at hand.

The youth watched raptly as the she-wolf demonstrated. She didn't say anything until she'd finished, though she cringed through the testing phase. When it was over, she asked, "What do you mean by 'if anything is in there'?" Her head cocked and she suddenly realized they hadn't exchanged names. "What's your name, by the way? I'm Flopsy." How smoothly Finley's nickname rolled off her tongue.

Once she was finished here...whenever that was, Tzila could prod further about this pack. She was only after the most basic of details. It would do her well to have at least some knowledge of what this bunch was like, should she ever bump into one of them again. Though it wasn't like she was going to come knocking on their doorstep, up to no good. If anything, she wanted to avoid those territories which were already claimed.

Snapping her dark head up, she looked the younger wolf in the eye. Had she not been educated about the countless opportunities that might await in a frozen lake such as this? She inhaled and released the breath in a soft sigh. She supposed she might as well explain. "Sometimes, if you are lucky, there will be food. A stray fish...maybe even the leftovers of a carcass." Idly she raked her nails against the ice, where a fine layer sheered off to cover her paw in light dusting. "From time to time, closer to shore, you can find crayfish, oysters and mussels." She tipped her head ever so slightly to the side. Flopsy. Interesting name. "Tzila."

Huh, Bat thought, peering curiously at the sheaf of ice below them, intrigued by the various treasures that might lie below in suspended animation. Her gaze flicked back to the she-wolf as she offered a name: Tzila. That was a pretty cool one. Bat might have to borrow it sometime.

"So what do you do in the worst case scenario?" the youth found herself wondering out loud. "Like, I mean, what if you do fall through?"

Slowly, step by step, she scooted backwards until her front paws were no longer touching ice, but muddy earth. Though eager to try and search for a snack, Tzila wasn't about to go all the way out onto the ice to get it. She smirked humorlessly. "That all depends how deep the water is." She looked farther out onto the lake, closer to the center. Frozen over like this, she couldn't gauge it's depths. In the spring or summer, she might have a better shot.

"If you are far out, stay calm. Above all else, keep your head above the water. The ice cracks and crumbles easily, but you need to try and get to something solid quickly." Her expression darkened. "And if there isn't anything such as a strong branch in reach you can grab onto...then well." Any wolf who fell through ice, alone and with nothing to assist in their escape was pretty much a goner. If drowning didn't get them, then hypothermia from the cold would. "Though, I make it a point not to go far out onto the ice at this time of year." Lowering her head down, dark jaws parted to clamp against a weak point of the ice at the edge of the lake. She strained for a moment before it cracked, splitting open to flood icy water around her paws. Now she could begin her search.

"Stay calm. Keep head above water. Grab onto something solid," Bat summarized. "If there's nothing to hold onto, you're fucked." She smirked faintly. "Got it."

She watched Tzila for a few moments longer, then announced, "Well... I gotta get on with my day. But thanks for the crash course. See ya, Tzila."

She'd had her fill of exploration for the day and began to bound in the direction of home. She did stop after a few steps to glance back and say, "Don't fall through." With a wave of her tail, Bat then disappeared.

Peering up to regard the young wolf with the tip of her muzzle dripping, her eyes glinted. The smirk didn't work it's way to her features, but it could easily be felt through her gaze. She huffed shortly, the tip of her dark tail flicking. "Yup. Ya got the jist of it."

She caught on quick. But it was a basic lesson that required plain common sense. Tzila didn't have time for individuals who did not take the effort to use their brains. "Hopefully you won't have to use it." Their meeting had come to an end, as Bat declared that she had best be on her way. With a short dip of her head, Tzila began to proceed along the length of the shoreline, sending the young female one last look. "I won't. Maybe I'll see ya around Bat." She said before turning away. Not a bad way to end the day, she supposed.