Duskfire Glacier But she'll bring out the best and the worst you can be

dying over here at how much this song suits her!
set for tomorrow, Jan 26
@Quennell

Lilia didn't often dwell upon her humble beginnings, now that she had both a home and a family that suited her attitude, but she did often adventure to Duskfire Glacier, finding the cool, dry air palatable. Her first gasp of breath had been of air similar to this- crisp and cold- and while she did not revel in the drop in temperatures as she neared the ever-white patch of snow and ice snuggled between the mountain's rugged peaks, she found it worth the chill for the feeling of stillness it gave her. 

The air thinned, and made her feel slightly dizzy. There were clouds around the mountain peaks, obscuring her view of the sky but at the same time, sparing her from snow-blindness. She grunted softly, graceless as she climbed through the snow, whenever one of her feet broke through the crust. The last time she'd been here, she could've sworn that she'd stayed on top- perhaps she'd put on enough muscle from all the travelling that she weighed more. 

She continued to rove the glacier even when the wind began to pick up. It whistled in her ears, which she left half-pinned, so she could hear the windsong as it drowned out her thoughts.

he was cold. freezing. at some point he had convinced himself that it was nice. that the cold soothed the nub of his tail and lessened the ache in his back.

he had fallen asleep for a long while.

when his eyes finally opened again, he could not tell if it was night or day. only that the wind and snow made the world seem endless here.

"stan' up, if you can."

he heard his mother, somewhere near, he thought. the voice that tried to put the strength back in him. so he stood. on wobbled legs — and realized just how tired he truly was.

yet he thought he saw something ahead. a dark form blurred through the wind and the snow.

a low growl vibrated through his chest.

The glacier seemed to have snow all year, which likely came from just how much snow it accumulated in the winter. It was deeper than she remembered, and less stone showed through the snow than it had in the summertime. She'd never seen an avalanche before, but she could see the path of destruction that had been caused by avalanches in the past. Long pathways of snow that stemmed down from the glacier, cut the forest into spikes. Everything in an avalanche's path was flattened, leaving behind a wasteland of white. 

She was wondering exactly how fast the snow might go when she heard a sound that spooked her. Given her current train of thought, she immediately feared the deep, dark rumble might be the snow beginning to shift beneath her feet- until its ululations became familiar. Canine. She peered through the snow-speckled wind to see a dark shape. In a gap in the breeze, she saw familiar, cinnamon fur. 

"Quennell? What'awe you doing here?" She asked. She cracked half a smile and took a few steps in his direction. "Y'know I hunted with a packmate of youwath- did he bring you-" Another gust of wind cleared the snow that blurred her view of him. His stark expression caused her to halt in her tracks and stiffen.

in those lingering moments of her voice, he looked through her.

as if she was the spirit of the bear come to haunt him. in that radiant brown and gold fur — and in those icy eyes the frigid sea had come to swallow him. he felt as if he looked at the embodiment of everything he had not been strong enough to defeat, or come to terms with.

his voice was held back, choked in his tight vocal chords.

when he looked at her it was with an eerily hollow gaze.

The way he looked at her, it was as if he was staring straight through her like she was no more than a patch of mist. She remembered, then- those wolves who had been looking for him...She'd not intended to help them, for selfish reasons, but when she saw him now, she reconsidered. Quennell looked like he needed help. 

"Quennell," She said, softly, and took a step forward, and then another; willing for recognition to break the spell he was under. 

She looked over her shoulder. This high into the glacier, she could see for miles; open expanse of snow, stretching out, feathered by the jagged treeline. Nobody was coming after them. It was just the two of them, staring wide-eyed at one another. "Ith me, Lilia," She offered.

lilia.

of course. yeah? maybe — maybe it was the spirit of the bear. yet he knew the bear would have lunged for him now. made his front match his back, so to speak.

whatcha doin' out 'ere?

he blinked, shuffled back a step or two. a bit more defensive than he would have liked to be.

his tail would have tucked if it had been able to.

There- she saw the switch, even though it was subtle. Finally, he seemed to recognize her, though the toothy grin of his was gone. The light, jovial tone of his voice had gone with it too, and while she could not see the extent of his injuries, she could see the strain of pain in his features, and in the tiredness of his wild eyes. He moved away from her, and she wanted to frown- but she figured that might discourage him more. Maybe what he needed was a bit ofd normal.

"Thcoutin'" She said, her tone light, and slightly boastful, as it always was. "I've been travellin' around the areath noath of my packlandth, gettin' real good at it." She said. "Look- I think you should know, but...There'th wolveth lookin' for you. One of 'em'th that Njord guy, an' a couple otherth." She watched his face carefully for a reaction, but before he could bolt- if he was indeed running from them, she continued. "I thent them off down the wavine."

his heart felt as if it slowed to a stop.

he appreciated her deeply in those moments, even if he could not properly show it. that she told him that njord (and others, who he could only assume was more of that family or sapphique) had been looking for him.

had sword caught up with them?

would quen be welcomed to show his face if he ever caught up with them again?

t'anks. his features drooped softly, a slight flick of his freezing ears. if he was aware of the dangers of frostbite, he likely would not have laid in the snow so long. dey tell ya 'bout shardik? bear?

he thickly swallowed the lump in his throat, quivering on his legs without realizing it yet.

He seemed to soften, so she took that as an indication she could come toward him, if only step by step. She didn't want to spook him. If he was running from Njord...Then she was lucky he wasn't trying to run from her yet. His voice was thick, whether it was with shame, sadness or fear she could not tell. It angered her that something had done this to him. 

A name was given- not one she knew, and not one she had been told, but she assumed that he was referring to the bear. Wolfkiller had stuck in her mind. She nodded quietly. "He thaid theah wath a bear that attacked Thapphique. He thaid you weuh injured..." She said. "Quennell, awe you okay?"

he had hid his backside to face her, of course she did not see the most obvious injury he carried!

he did his best, on wobbled legs, to turn around. to expose the nub that he now called a tail! 'e took it. den 'e came for sapphique.

he turned his head to look over his shoulder.

what did she make of it all? what did she make of him?

Quennell turned, and she could see the ache in his steps, and the tension that roamed up through his spine. But when she saw no more than a stump for his tail, she gasped. She was horrified- not because of the way he looked now, but that the bear had had the audacity to take a wolf's tail. They used their tails to communicate, to balance while running, and even to flirt and the bear had robbed him of his. 

"Oh Quennell!! It took your tail! my gosh that mutht hurt tho much!" She fawned. She has his pity, and also her resentment for the creature that had done that to him. She thought him no less of a wolf for having been attacked by a bear, and survived. "I hate that bear, I hate it!" She growled. She reached for him, hoping he might let her touch her nose to his shoulder. "Quennell," She cooed, her voice much different when she addressed him, rather than the bear.

he heard her, let her near.

even as his legs felt the need to sit him back down already. even as that dull ache in his back felt like it persisted, no matter how long he had rested.

i messed up, leelee.

he admitted in the soft gold of her shoulder.

She would let him lean on her, if he needed to. She gave him gentle support, as she combed through some of the tangles of his always so messy fur with her teeth. With care, she picked free a few sticks and brambles, and tried to smoothe his fur once she had each small patch clean, though it insisted that it curl slightly. She liked that. 

"Methed up?" She repeated, flicking one ear back. "Quennell, you didn't meth up. It'th a bear; they'uh wild animalth. Thith? Thith ith not your fault, ok?"

it felt like speaking to njord all over again.

the way he carried a blame he had placed upon himself. it was selfish, he knew. especially when he had not yet noticed all the ways leelee had changed too. the markings upon herself or the continued muscle building upon her athletic body.

how he had not asked anything of her.

ok.

his voice felt tight and he finally allowed himself to sit. too tired to continue standing.

i gotta...fix it. me.

Finally he sat, which to her showed trust, and a certain amount of mercy that he seemed to have been denying himself. She sat with him, and calmly continued to preen his fur, gently teasing free the knots in his locks, and pulling unwanted bits of dirt and rubble from his fur. She could smell old medicines, and sought to free him of that smell as well, but worked mostly on the areas she felt would be the most comfortable. 

"I'll help you, if you want," She offered. "Thtawtin' with thith fur of yourth," She said with a light chuckle, reaching up to kiss his cheek so he would know that she still thought him cute- even if he was a mess.

she loosened tangles, dirt, old herbs.

he appreciated it, even if he was tempted to lull into sleep. the comfort she brought him in those moments was the first he had felt since leaving sapphique.

did she know? of course not, but he liked to think maybe she did. especially when she offered humor. even if he did not have it in him to laugh, there was a soft lipping of the edge of his lips.

yeah?

he dared to ask as the exhaustion began to feel like a comfortable coat, snug around his mind. he had meant to kiss her back, to show some form of appreciation and siphon more comfort from her.

instead his eyes closed as he listened for her distinct voice.

In him, the vulnerability did not come across as weakness. Any wolf, no matter how strong, had every right to be this weak after having their tail chomped off by a bear. If he was self-aware about it, she didn't know, nor did she want to make him feel that way. She could feel him calming, and though he didn't respond much to her words, or reach for her as well, she could sense that this was a good thing. He was finally getting a bit of rest. He looked comfortable- and she'd allow that. 

"Mmhmm. Heuh. Lay down bethide me, he-ah. You have a nithe retht; get thome of yowa thrength back. I'll take care of your fur," She said.

can timeskip or PP however as needed <3

it felt too good to be true. to have her hear with him as a soft hand. caring and kind to the way his failing body seemed to operate.

there was a relief to her words. that he could rest alongside her.

he wasted no time in awkwardly lowering himself, to find a comfortable warm spot alongside her. admittedly he did not know if she would still be there whenever he woke. maybe she had not been real at all! just as mysterious as the voice that had called out to him with its grief.

but if it was just a phantom of leelee, then he welcomed it just as much as the real thing.

soon he was snoring, as dead to the world as he could be with a heartbeat still.

She worked carefully on him, and as soon as his breaths began to slow, she abandoned his tangles altogether, and simply caressed the top of his head with her tongue, the way a mother might. She didn't hum, or speak to him, then, not wanting to disturb him as he settled into what seemed like a very deep sleep. It didn't take long for him to begin snoring. Then, she went back to work. 

She was still gentle, and with a watchful eye she minded his breathing so she could stop as soon as there was a hitch in his breath. Some tangles were difficult, and were best chewed free from his fur with her molars. Pulling it out would surely wake him up. He would have some rough patches in his fur from where she'd removed matts and stubborn knots, but he'd shed out in the spring and look as good as new. 

She tended to his injuries gently, furtively. She did not want to betray his trust by awakening him with pain, but she could tell that his wounds needed to be cleaned. She detested every minute of it; and was nearly overcome with the urge to vomit when she lapped up some old, musty herbs that had been slathered on him, days ago. 

She wasn't a medic, but she'd tended to her own wounds, and had kept them clean enough to heal. She'd done what she could for him, and eventually lay down beside him so that she could rest as well. 

A bit of snow had drifted against her side when she awoke, but it meant that she'd shielded him from the wind, and that she hadn't lost heat from her coat, either. The afternoon had passed and the sun would set soon- and when it did, the temperature would drop. Gently, she nudged Quennell. 

"Hey," She said softly. "Hey hey, time to wake up," She urged in as gentle of a voice as she could manage. "Thun'th goin' down, we better get off the glacier for the night."

in his dreams was shardik.

it was nothing new. the bear had plagued his mind, waking and sleeping, ever since taking his tail. but these dreams were harder to swallow now with the absence of family and friends. the climax of the nightmare had been creeping to a violent end when —

"hey."

his toes flexed.

"hey hey, time to wake up,"

the bear in his mind was replaced with something else. smaller, softer. a voice that urged him to wake, to see the world beyond the bear again.

when he woke, it was with a bewildered look. leelee still at his side, even as snow had softly mounted around them. he had been shielded by her body from most of it and the harshest of winds.

huh? where?

He was confused, but she took it in stride. Sometimes she was, when she woke up, as well. Sometimes, she expected to find herself waking up in a den, where the brisk mountain air filtered in- only to find herself in the Rise, where the air was close and hinted with evergreen and the fading scent of ashes. 

"We'll go down to the Moraine. There'th evergreenth, they'll sheltuh uth from the wind for the night. It'th clothe." She said. She gave him another nudge; she was reluctant to spend the night out in the open on the Glacier, where they were. The Moraine would be easy travel- a flat path left behind by glacier melt over the years, bordered by tall pines that would protect them from the biting wind.

happy to creep to a fade or keep going <33

he felt no option, but to stumble wherever she said in his exhausted stupor.

he stood and it was good that the exhaustion hung so heavy to him still. otherwise that ache of bones and muscles might have convinced him to not move at all!

and it was likely he'd wish to sleep more when they reached the moraine, but for now?

aye.

his going would be slow, but go he would.

new thread? :3

He consented, and she knew that their movement would need to be slow and careful, but she'd begun to learn patience, since the pack had gone on a month-long manhunt. The way down was snowy, but better that than being slippery. Quennell's movements were stiff, and she could tell that his injury pained him. Would losing his tail effect his spine, she wondered? She might have to ask someone, to see- but if he could stumble down the firm snowpack of the glacier, he had a chance.

yes pls!

slow, slow, slow.

it would be true that he wished to sleep longer when they found the clearing of the moraine. that his sleep would be fitful with the pain that plagued him.

ah, but at least leelee was there.