Shall My Heart Freeze Over

@Finley

Roe listened to the sounds that plagued his mind. His gold eyes shifting to the sky as he thought about his old family, seeing his father being slaughtered by a large bear that happened to wander into his den. Being alone with his mother and having to fight in order to survive. The stench of his father's blood still lingering in his nostrils to this day. His ears were erect as the sound of a twig breaking broke him from his thoughts. He looked down, eyes seeing that it was his paws that caused the twig to break. With a sigh, he lied down and placed his head on his paws as sleep soon took over him. Though it was not a pleasant dream, seeing the bear that wandered in the den and his father dying to protect him and his mother who he no longer saw anymore.

He woke up with a start and panted, beads of sweat trickling down his face and landing onto the floor. With a sigh he places his cranium to the ground and listened to the sounds around him, a single tear falling to the ground and landing upon a red colored leaf that was beside him.

Finley was gallivanting. Not an unusual activity for the ever restless young wolf by any means, but perhaps unusual given the thoughts that had recently begun to trouble her mind. After thinking it through over and over again, she had decided that her head simply was not going to let the issue rest until she knew for certain--it was time to find Adair. Their meeting had been brief, but the kindly older gentleman had left an impression on the Blackthorn. Perhaps it was his likeness to Sun Spark that inspired her need to see that he was alright, especially since she had already lost one of them and didn't want to feel that same sad helplessness again.

So, Fin searched. It was a rather non-Finley like thing to do, considering she was often too self-centered to see beyond her own needs (though it could be argued that this whole endeavor was driven by selfishness in some respects). But the very least that could be said was that she was going about it in Finley fashion, which is to say... Really not so smart. Finley had met Adair in a meadow to the East. So there she was, searching a forest to the West.

It made sense somewhere in her head, though not even I could tell you where.

When the girl happened to stumble upon the sleeping stranger, she thought fleetingly that she had succeeded already. It wasn't until she nearly pranced up to him that Fin realized that she was not even close. She stopped a good distance away from him just as he was waking up with a jolt. Her eyes slipped across his unrecognized face to land on the tear that slipped down his tawny cheek, and in that instant she knew something was troubling him and he probably needed a kind heart to bring him some consolation.

It was really a shame that he had been found by Fin, whose only thought was aw crap as she attempted to quietly sneak away without him noticing. The plan was foiled only seconds later when her paw pressed down onto a particularly crunchy smattering of autumn leaves, and a twig somewhere beneath added a loud snap to the song. Fin froze, only her eyes turning to give a sidelong glance to the male who was no doubt about to be looking her way.

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He was more focused on his family whom he had lost a couple years ago. Even though his mother was alive, he still missed her for it seemed as if she were deceased just like how his father was. His thoughts would be interrupted as a loud snap echoed through his ears, turning his head to meet a woman's gaze. She was definitely beautiful in his eyes as his cheeks became hot when he thought about her. Shaking the thought away, he gave a friendly smile in her direction before turning his attention to the landscape. Trees and many different plants surrounded where the brute lay, and he couldn't help but wonder how life like this was created. How the world had been created, he was not so sure.

He sighed and began to hum a soft melody that his mother used to hum to him when he was a pup. The song really put his mind at ease and helped ease his troubled mind. Ears erect as the sound of fish plopping in the small stream caused him to lick his chops, placing his snout inside the frigid liquid, opening his mouth, nose out of the water so he could breathe. When a fish managed to weave itself into his mouth, he snapped down onto the struggling prey, breaking the bones as it lay limp in his jaws. A smile spread across the brute's face, placing it down on the grass and going to catch another, managing to do so within a couple minutes and he began to eat his meal, leaving the other fish for the dame that had appeared before him not even ten minutes ago.

Finley felt relieved as all she got was a wordless smile from the stranger. She took that as a sign that she was welcome to continue on her way, which was a relief. There was still a great deal of land for her to search, and she couldn't waste time chatting with some strange male when she had a friend out there to...

Wait a minute. This was a male, right? Fin gave him an appraising look as he turned and wandered over to the nearby stream. Yes, definitely male. Well. Then why was he just letting her walk away? She glanced around at herself to make sure her coat was still in pristine condition, which it was. She hadn't grown any extra limbs or disgusting tumors on her face or her body that she could feel, so what was his deal? Did he not think she was pretty? No, no. Absurd. It couldn't be...

Fin was just about to convince herself that he'd maybe spotted a grey hair (which is silly, cause she's already grey, get it?) and fall apart over the fact that she was getting old when she heard the fish land softly on the ground near her, set there by the male. A wave of relief washed over her. She was pretty. Men were feeding her without being asked to. Things were back to normal.

"Why thank you," Fin said with a smile, leaning down to pull the fish closer to her and begin eating, "Aren't you a nice fella."

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He would look to the female and smile. She was gorgeous. A small blush appeared underneath his cheek as heat had risen to his cheeks, feeling as if they were on fire. His white teeth shown slightly as he smiled and wrapped his tail around himself. His ears stayed erect as his body stood tall and his chest extended out slightly. His golden eyes shimmered like the sunlight when light had hit them, making them seem as if they were gold plucked from a clear stream. "Thank you, ma'am, in my old pack, women were treated with respect and were always treated fairly, and I could not just walk away when a gorgeous wolf such as yourself came by," he kept his smile as he spoke to her.

It didn't take her long to consume the kind wolf's gift. Fish weren't all that large after all, and Fin was not all that concerned with etiquette when it came to eating, not even in front of strangers who were talking to her about how women should be treated with respect and how she was very gorgeous. Fin licked some fish innards off of the side of her muzzle and gave the wolf a smile.

"Sounds like your pack had some heads on their shoulders," Fin replied. "I didn't get your name?"

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He smiled and sat down in front of her, eyes showing kindness as he spoke in a calm and soothing tone. He had a huge crush on her. She was gorgeous, and the way she spoke to him was something he couldn't get out of his head. "My name's Roen, but you can call me Roe," he spoke, his paws extending slightly as he stretched, showing off muscle that was upon his legs and chest. His tail went out slightly as he stretched, he couldn't help but show off.

"May I ask your name, ma'am?" He did have very bad memory sometimes, so if someone said their name, they would have to repeat it twice in order for him to know the wolf's name.

Fin was completely oblivious to any budding affections he was so quickly growing for her. Even so, she wouldn't have been terribly surprised to discover such anyway. She was beautiful, young, bold and hilarious. What man could resist?

"You may," she replied with a wag of her tail. "I'm Finley--call me Fin." Aaaaaaand... now what? Fin was inclined to give a quick thanks and continue on her way, but before she did so, her brain caught up to her. This wolf may not have been the one she was looking for, but that didn't mean he didn't also know of him.

"Hey... you ever met a wolf named Adair? Dark fur, ....eyes that were some color.... Know him?" Fin asked, furrowing her brows as she tried to remember exactly what color his eyes had been.

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Roen thought for a moment and shook his head. He was new to the lands, and the name Adair did not really ring a bell to him. He wished he could have been more help to her, ashamed that he couldn't help more as he sighed and lied down upon the land. He assumed she had already found a mate or found love when she asked a male name. He did really like her, but he doubted she felt the same way about him. He looked to her and gave a gentle smile.

"Sorry I could not help you, Fin. If you ever need anything, don't be afraid to ask me," he closed his eyes and sighed, soon looking back toward the clouds that were beginning to form in the sky.

Last post for me! Thanks for the thread :) Feel free to post once more of have it archived!

"Damn," Fin mumbled as the wolf admitted that he could be of no help to her. It had been a long shot, so she didn't blame him at all for not knowing. Besides, it wasn't as though she had provided a stellar description of him. She gave him another smile before pulling herself up onto all fours, "You're sweet." And the fiesty young Blackthorn knew very well to be wary of sweet men.

"Well, if you ever come across him, I'd very much appreciate you heading over to Blacktail Deer Plateau to let me know," Fin said as she turned to leave, "It's to the East of here, about a day's journey I'd say. You can't miss it, it's a great location. I'm sure you'd be welcome to stay there too if you were so inclined to join our ranks."

With a friendly nudge to the man's cheek, Finley returned to her quest, disappearing into the trees with a pleasantly full belly and renewed determination.

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