Silvertip Mountain Light of a clear blue morning

Adeline emerged from the den, her eyes squinting against the bright sun light. Her jaws opened into a wide yawn as the upper half of her body bowed into a long stretch, her injured shoulder only slightly complaining. Coming to stand, she shook out her pelt and gazed at her surroundings. She hadn't done much roaming since her injury, but her restlessness was simply too much to bare today. She needed to get and explore, and that's just what she was going to do.

Starting off at an easy trot, she made her way towards Verde Falls, remembering that she enjoyed the splashing of the waterfall. It was quiet a sight, especially under a full moon. When she reached the water's edge, she dipped her head to drink her fill of the water, and then sat back on her haunches. As she took in her surroundings, her brain went over her options on what she could do today. She wasn't sure her shoulder was up for hunting, but stalking might be okay.

But, instead of hurrying off to go do that, she hung out by the falls, waiting to see if one of her family members would happen by. She could stalk well enough of on her own, but doing it with someone else would be a lot more fun.

Can we bump this up to when he gets back?

After a small snack and a fitful nap, Day blinked his eyes open to sunlight that was almost agonizingly bright. A quiet grumble made its way past his teeth, but he was in good spirits despite his talk with Steady and all that had happened on his journey. Thoughts of Amber still stole his attention more often than he would've allowed, had it been his choice, but all things considered, there were a lot of worse things that could be going on. A little crush wasn't so bad, in the grand scheme of things.

And if the Cat and Calf looked on him with favor, maybe she would become more than a crush in a few weeks time - he still fully intended to go and find her at Silver Creek. Maybe she would graduate to Mother of his Children before too long.

His thoughts wandered thusly as he made his way down to the falls for a drink. He was so absorbed in happy daydreams that he didn't see Adeline until he was almost upon her, and only then did other memories of his trip come back to him.

"Hey, Addie," he said, happy to see her but those eyes - he couldn't look right at her, for fear of seeing that hatred again. "What are you up to?" he wondered, determined not to mention the other girl.

Sure! :-)

Her head turned in time to see Grayday coming towards her. She almost called out, but he looked... distracted. So much so that he almost walked right past her. Her head tilted to the side, wondering what was up when he finally saw her. Her tail thumped the ground, but then stopped as she realized he wouldn't look directly at her. Her ears swiveled in confusion. Had she done something wrong? She hadn't seen him since the hedgehog, so what could she have possibly done? Her expression showed her confusion as she tried to figure it out.

I was thinking about going exploring, she admitted. Then, because she wasn't one to beat around the bush, she asked. Is everything okay? She still couldn't figure out why he was being weird with her. Then, she realized one of the reasons she hadn't seen him was the same reason she hadn't smelled him- he hadn't been around. Where did you go? she asked curiously.

Day's smile grew a bit strained when she seemed to immediately sense that something was up. She was getting too perceptive, now - hardly the cute little pip she'd been when they met. But she was still smaller than Grayday, and still inspired those feelings he'd decided to label as 'fatherly'.

Well. First things first. "I went to visit Eden's old pack to ask what kind of wolf she was," he told her, glad that he had a truth that he could tell her instead of lying about the whole thing. It still made him uncomfortable, but she didn't need to hear the whole story, did she? Then again - wasn't it common knowledge now that they'd made the Fen their enemies? Would she know why? "Steady could tell you more about it than me," he said eventually, deciding that he'd better not get into it with her. "Nothing's wrong but..." He wondered if he could tell her about Amber. Not the whole story, but that he'd met her, that she was beautiful... But he'd probably better not. "Well, it was a long trip. A good one, but long."

He made an effort to look down at her, now, and an easy smile crossed his face when none of the hatred that'd been in Odette's eyes were present in hers. She was still the same Addie, and seeing her really made him feel like he'd finally come home.

"What about you, greeneyes? Get up to any trouble while I was away?" His eyes swept over her and noted that her fox wound was healing nicely. "How's that shoulder? Think a trip to the glacier would be too much?" Maybe something cold to rest it against would do her good.

Grayday explained he had gone to "Eden's" old pack. Adeline's head tilted. Who's Eden? she asked, not knowing they had gotten yet another new member. He admitted that her Dad could tell her more, which was confusing to Adeline. Why couldn't Grayday tell her? Her eyes narrowed as he trailed off, wondering just what was up. You're being weird, she told him outright. Adeline was much like her Dad in that she didn't pull her punches, and she called people out on their crap. She didn't know what was up with Grayday, or this "Eden" wolf, or the trip. 

She shook her head side to side. No, and it's been boring, she confessed with a grin. It's getting better. It seems to feel better when I stretch it, so I try to a couple times a day. She wanted to be up and really running as soon as she could, but she could also tell when she was pushing it too much. Her eyes widened when he mentioned the glacier. She had been close to the borders, had smelled the cool air coming off the glacier, but had never ventured onto it. Yeah! Let's go! she said, quickly turning to head in that direction before Grayday could think to change his mind. She had no clue on whether or not it would help her shoulder, but if it was something to do to, she was going to do it.

"Eden is a new memeber of the pack," he explained, though he had nothing to say to her accusation. I'm always weird around you, he thought, but decided not to voice the opinion. Maybe he was being weirder than usual, but he was sure that this was something that she'd be better off asking Steady about. He didn't even know the whole story, after all. Maybe they could ask him together. Maybe not.

A hearty laugh escaped him as she immediately took hold of the idea, leading the way off on her own. Day hurried to catch up with her and shot her a serious look. "Just go slow, and stay close to me, okay? Steady would kill me if I let you slip and fall and get your tail paralyzed or something," he warned, though he followed docily after the youngster. They would have to stay at the top, where it was just flat enough that he wouldn't have a heart attack if she slipped a little - though he'd be ready to grab her, either way. Hopefully, this wasn't too terrible of an idea.

"Just for a little bit, and then let's do something else," he said when they got to the glacier. Day made sure his paws had a good, steady grip before he looked up to tell Adeline it was okay to get on.

He explained that Eden was a new member of the pack. Adeline had been busy healing, and wasn't up to date on the going ons of the pack. Adeline had never thought Grayday was weird, she thought he was... him. And she liked him. Even more so now that he was taking her to the glacier!

She bounded off, wanting to get their quickly, but slowed as he cautioned her. But, she would not be contained. She pranced around him, at least as much as her shoulder would allow. She even attempted to nudge his back end to get him moving a little quicker, since she figured she could go as fast as he could. She wasn't so blind to realize that he could have slowed to get her own pace down. 

She stopped when they reached the edge of the glacier, her tail wagging as her eyes took it all in. She glanced to him when he gave permission, not that she needed it, and gingerly stepped onto the cold ground. Oh man, that's so cold! she exclaimed with a giggle. She walked out into the glacier, and picked a spot before laying down, her injured shoulder down. Oh my gosh, Graaaaay. This feels so goooood, she exclaimed with a sigh, her body relaxing with the coolness.

Honestly, Day did feel a little weird being the Teacher on this fieldtrip. He didn't really know how old Addie was, but he figured she was old enough by now to know how to stay on her paws. Though excitable at times, she mostly just seemed like a small adult to the older wolf, and for the moment, Day decided to shrug off responsibility and just let things be. She could be the leader, if she wanted. It wasn't like arguing with her would change her mind.

"Well, it's made out of ice," he laughed, pleased by how happy she seemed about all of it. He'd grown up between two glaciers, and they didn't seem so special to him anymore. Seeing her experiencing it, though, gave him a bit of a pause. "I wonder how it got here," he said after a moment, looking around them as he laid down near the smaller wolf.

Adeline was pretty good at staying on her paws, but then again, she had never been on ice before. But, she took her steps carefully, and successfully laid down to enjoy the coolness on her injured shoulder. She giggled at his obvious response. Thanks, I didn't know that, she replied sarcastically. 

When he questioned where it came from, she righted herself, her gaze scanning over the area until it landed on the top of Silvertip Mountain. Maybe it was at the top of our mountain at one point, and then slid down. She turned her eyes to Grayday to see if he might agree, or offer up another theory.

Day smiled wryly at her good humor, and then listened attentively to her thoughts.

Her explanation made sense - actually, he'd gathered that much. Still, he gave a hum of agreement and looked out over the meadows that surrounded them. Everything seemed very healthy and green, and though Day had never gone through a winter in the area, he couldn't imagine one cold enough to freeze this giant hunk of ice to the top of a mountain.

"Must've been a cold, wet winter," he replied, bending his head to push his nose against the ice. How long has it been here, anyway? he thought. "But I guess it would happen over time, right?"

Her guess was as good as his, at this point. Day's wisdom only went so far.

Grayday mentioned it must have been a cold, wet winter, and Adeline cranked her head to see him. What are winters like? she asked. Being born this past March, she had never experienced one. She didn't know what real cold was, or what snow was, or what lakes were like when they froze over. This glacier was pretty similar to a frozen lake, though she didn't realize that.

She shrugged with her right shoulder, the good one that was currently not enjoying the coolness of the frozen earth beneath her. I dunno, she replied. I wonder how come it doesn't melt, she added. The surrounding earth had been hot during the summer, but as far as she knew, this had remained frozen.

Grayday stared hard at his friend for a moment before deciding that she wouldn't be moving very soon, and that he would probably hear her move better than he'd be able to see it either way. Contented, he closed his eyes and laid his head down on his paws, only to perk up once more as she asked about winter. Grayday had been through three by now, and had experienced only two kinds.

"It depends on whether or not you have a pack," he replied, thinking of the stark contrast between the two. He missed entirely the rest of her musings, too caught up in his own memories. "Which do you wanna hear about?"

Deciding one shoulder had enough of the cold, Adeline tried to roll over onto her other side. However, her body heat had melted a little of the ice, and she slid a few feet before coming to a stop. She laughed with excitement at the new sensation of sliding across the ice. That was fun! she exclaimed. She wondered if she could do it again, on purpose, but then wondered if Grayday might try to stop her. 

She considered his question for a moment about whether she wanted to hear about winters with a pack or winters without. With first, she said. That made the most sense since she would be experiencing one soon with the pack. But, then without, too, she added, simply because she was curious.

His heart just about burst when she started sliding down the ice, and Day fixed her with a steely glare that lasted about a second before a reluctant smile split his maw. Still, he picked himself off the ice and moved a little closer, putting himself between Adeline and the downward slope. She could pout all she wanted, too, but he wasn't going to be playing 'slide of the mountain' with her until she had all four of her legs back underneath her.

"Winter with a pack is... well, the weather gets cold, see - I'm sure you knew that. Snow falls and don't stop for days sometimes. My old pack used to dig right into the snowdrifts and sleep together in a big den of ice. The outside is cold, but on the inside, we were all warm and happy.

"Food gets harder to come by, but there's usually something to eat. The littler prey goes underground, but big animals like elk and bison are always around. Sometimes they come to you, and sometimes you follow them - but whatever you hunt, you hunt as a pack. Eat as a pack."

A misty, nostalgic look came into the gray wolf's eyes. "I was born in the winter, you know - me and my brother and sister. We used to play in the snow all day long, and then at night we would go back to the ice den to hear my uncle Canyon tell stories. It was a good time - I never felt closer to my family than in that winter," he sighed, the words happier now than they might've been before Addie, before Amber. "But the next winter, I spent alone," he went on, shooting Addie a quick, surveying look. "Are you sure you want to hear about that? It's not a nice story."

He answered her unasked question by positioning himself so that she would run into him if she slid more. For a moment, she considered it, but getting tangled up with him might injure her shoulder more, and that isn't what she wanted. So, she wagged her tail silently, and gave him a knowing smile.

She listened as he told her about winter and what it entailed—mostly a lot of cold everything. What's snow like? she asked. The very tip of Silvertip Mountain had some on it, but she had never been up that high. She noticed in her exploring that the higher up she went, the more difficult it got to breath. 

He seemed hesitant to want to explain the winters for a lone wolf, and she considered it for a moment. Adeline was curious by nature, and though experiencing the hard stuff in life was, well, hard, she would have to do it one day. Yeah, I want to know, she said. Hopefully, she would never have to experience this particular hardship, but if she ever did, maybe this would help prepare her. 

Day chuckled at her question - she thought of the strangest things that, often, just never crossed his mind. "It's cold," he said simply, dipping his head to bump his nose against the ice. "Beyond that - I think it'd something you have to experience for yourself."

His grin faded, but his spirits remained high as he remembered his lonelier winters. "A winter alone is something I hope you'll never experience," he told her, meaning every word. Wolves weren't meant for that sort of life. "It's the same, at first. Cold and exciting. Snow falls and everything's pretty - but it's an empty sort of pretty. Everything's empty, soon enough. All the small food has gone underground to sleep, leaving you with only scraps of old bones to eat. If you do manage to catch something, chances are something else will come along to try to take it, and you'll waste just as much energy trying to defend it as you would just moving on without it."

He'd lost a lot of weight that first winter, and had come out the other end a different wolf.

"And the cold... it gets to you, after a while," he went on, voice quiet in the slight chill all around them. "With no one to curl up next to, it starts to seep right through your fur, until you can feel it in your bones. It's the kind of cold that never really leaves you until spring comes again, but that isn't for months... And sometimes you shiver so much your muscles ache, and sometimes it's too cold to shiver at all.

"But the worst part is just being alone. No one to talk to, no one to hunt with, no one to wake you up if you have a bad dream..." he explained, a little shiver going down his spine against his will.

Mind if we wrap this up and go for a recent one? <3

She listened intently as he described winters. He said it was mostly something she would have to experience for herself, but he went on with his story. She tried to picture it in her head as he spoke. It wasn't exactly the awesome experience she had wanted it to be. Prey was scarce, and wolves fought for the meals they did get. She frowned, not liking the image of him shivering all alone in a cold den in the middle of winter. 

Not able to help herself, she rose from her spot and went to him, nudging his shoulder. We'll stay together for winter. You won't have to worry about being alone, she said. Little did she know, their pack would be growing soon, with pups accepted into the pack, and Grayday's own family growing. 

Trying to pick up the mood, Adeline tried to nudge him again. Come on, lets go sun ourselves on some big rocks, she said, hoping it would warm away the cold images she had in her mind. 

Sure!

It was a good feeling to have Adeline's undivided attention. Day always felt like a different wolf when she looked at him like he was cool or something. Day had never been cool before. Wasn't used to being heard and listened to the way Adeline always did. Really, he hadn't had so constant a friend as Addie since leaving his birth pack. Maybe it was okay, maybe it was natural that he should be so fond of her.

Maybe it was alright.

Day let himself believe it as she bumped her nose to his shoulder and the warm, familiar swooping sensation assulted his chest once more. He felt it all the way to the tips of his ears and the pads of his paws, even with the ice against them.

"Yeah, let's to that," he agreed, having not really heard her suggestion.

He would follow her off a cliff if she let him.