Heron Lake Plateau snow (hey oh)

Snow descended from the low-hanging clouds overhead, dancing on the wind as it fell. Clover watched the spectacle overhead with a scowl—she hated the snow. Especially when it came to hunting. Despite this being her second Winter, Clover still hadn't mastered using the snowfall to her advantage—especially when it came to pursuing her prey. Clover had experienced far too many missed opportunities due to slipping, and she was tired of coming home empty-pawed. "Fuckin' shithead weather," she grumbled to herself, as she sat hunched next to the plateau's edge. Clover was delaying her next hunt. She was tired of failing. 

"Fuck this!" she announced to no-one in particular. With an irritated sigh, Clover pushed herself onto her paws and began to meander towards the lake—her favorite area to hunt. "Guess I better fuckin' get back to work," she complained and flashed the sky a stank-eye, "Fuck you, snow."

Sequoia wasn't sure when they were planning on leaving, but after hearing Wildfire get so excited about this new pack (Firebirds!), she was equally pumped about the idea. It was so different from Drageda, where splitting off seemed impossible. She could only imagine what would have happened if Wildfire (or anybody, really) had wanted to do that there. Something told her the conversation would not have gone over nearly as well as Wifi made it out to be with Finley and Elwood.

A series of curse words brought Sequoia wandering toward the source, and she spotted... Clover, was it? She was pretty sure they'd met in passing at least once. Momma Portia had always taught her not to swear, to be ladylike, and Sequoia's eyes went big when Clover continued on her tirade. Are you okay? she asked, wide-eyed.

"Are you okay?" asked a voice. 

Without missing a beat, Clover turned to face Sequoia. "I'm fine, pup," she replied stiffly. "Just annoyed with the weather."

"Watch your mouth," Elwood cautioned Clover as he approached, but there was a twinkle in his eye that indicated that he wasn't being totally serious. He wasn't much of a swearer himself, but that apparently hadn't stopped his kids from picking up the trait (*cough*Tegan*cough*), and if he was being honest with himself, they had probably learned it from Finley. His family was one big imperfect mess, but he wouldn't have it any other way.

"The weather's not so bad," he said, bumping Clover's shoulder with his snout as he came to stand alongside her. He looked to Sequoia, whose eyes were still wide in response to Clover's trash talking. "Do you like the snow?" he asked.

She sure hadn't sounded fine, and Sequoia squinted at her before she realized somebody else had shown up. The Drakru tried to conjure up a name for him, but she was drawing a blank. She wasn't sure if he was asking her or Clover, so she glanced at the other girl for a hot second before replying. It's alright. Makes traveling hard when it's so deep, though. Sequoia longed for the days when she would wander off without a care in the world. With the threat of Artaax, she constantly had to remind herself that she shouldn't be doing that.

What's your name again? I can't remember, she said, sheepishly looking at Elwood.

Elwood's warning was taken lightly—Clover's mouth was never watched. In lieu of a verbal reply, she turned to him and kissed his chin. Despite his efforts to lighten the mood, and assure them both that the weather was not that bad, Clover rolled her eyes. She didn't like it when he played devil's advocate—that was her job.  

"MmHMM," Clover thrummed in response to Sequoia's opinion. "I think you're the only one fine with this weather, Daddy. To the rest of us, this white shit sucks." She shot her father a smug smile kicked at the ground to emphasize her point. 

Clover quickly interjected when Sequoia asked Elwood for this name; the question had presented her an opportunity to have a little fun. "His name is Clover and I'm Elwood," she replied with the sweetest smile that she could muster, "I know we've seen each other before but, I don't think we've been introduced." she said.

Neither girl seemed to be overly pleased with the snow. Sequoia cited a pretty logical reason for not preferring it, which Elwood couldn't argue with. He nodded his understanding, but in his head, he was thinking: "Youth is wasted on the young! You're supposed to make snow angels, and have a snowball fight, and go ice skating..."

Clover gave him a quick kiss and then continued to harp on the suckiness of the "white shit," which drew another pointed but teasing look from her father. He was about to try to convince them to have a little fun in the snow, when Sequoia posed a question about his identity and Clover -- smartass that she was -- quickly answered before he could even draw breath. He joined in her play scheme without a moment's hesitation, though; he shifted subtly to try to block the birthmark on Clover's hip from Sequoia's line of sight as he replied, "That's right."

Ah, she'd gotten their names mixed up! Sequoia took the name correction at face-value. She'd been duped, but thankfully it wouldn't be a life-threatening dupe... right? So Clover was Elwood's dad, according to the banter that went back and forth between the two of them. I'm Sequoia! I came here with Wildfire and Kiwi from Drageda, but you probably already knew that. She knew that Clover knew, since he'd been there when they had arrived, so the latter part was directed at Elwood.

You think it's gonna snow all day? she asked the other two.

Oh, this was good; Clover hadn't expected Elwood to play along. "Mhmn," she hummed in agreement, "Absolutely." She then turned towards Elwood briefly, and signed, "-You're the best, Daddy.-"

Sequoia went on to introduce herself and the others that had come from Drageda, and Clover nodded in reply. "Yeah, it's good to have you guys," she said. There was always room for family at the plateau, as far as Clover was concerned. "We'll keep you safe," she added, recalling what she had heard of the incident with Aartaax.

When asked about the weather, Clover glanced overhead. "Yeah, I think so," she said as she returned her gaze to the Juvenile. "They look waaay too dark, and I don't see an end to 'em. It even might snow into tomorrow," Clover reported.

Elwood acknowledged Clover's quick ptero message by quirking a brow playfully, but didn't want to respond in case that would tip Sequoia off that something was up. There was also the chance that she had started to pick up some sign language since joining the Redhawks, so it was better to continue on with the shared topic of snow.

Clover briefly reassured Sequoia of her safety, and Elwood nodded his agreement; if Artaax showed up looking for Wildfire and her companions, he would be one of the first to confront him. As for the snow, she anticipated that it would continue falling for quite some time. He squinted up into the sky; predicting the weather was not one of his strengths, but he trusted Clover's judgment. In order to make the best of it, he offered, "Want to play a game? We could practice tracking or play some hide and seek. Snow is good for honing your skills."

"Elwood" did something strange then, which looked sort of like a dance or miming, but unlike anything Sequoia had ever seen. It seemed more refined in some way, but Seq couldn't quite figure out what it meant. Figuring she could always ask later, especially now that "Clover" suggested they play some games. Hide and seek is one of my favorites! Seq said, wagging her tail with a smile. I don't think I've ever referenced her playing hide and seek, but hey, it doesn't mess with continuity so I'm goin' with it.

Should we wrap this one up?

 
Clover nodded enthusiastically at Elwood's suggestion. "Yeah, hide 'n seek is the best!" she agreed. Without giving either wolf much warning, she then announced abruptly, "And you're it, Daddy!" 

With mischief gleaming in her eyes, Clover rushed past Sequoia; the game had begun.

I'll archive! :)

Both girls seemed to cheer up quickly at the mention of a game, and before Elwood could say anything else, Clover had taken charge. She proclaimed that he was "it" and then sprinted away, with Sequoia presumably following her.

"Okay, I'll count!" Elwood called, and then loudly began: "One, two, three..."