Redhawk Caldera Snow Squalls

Tempest lay on her back, paws in the air, stareing at the moon. She couldn't sleep, something was keeping her from it. She growled, then began rolling around in the puffy snow aimlessly. However, unfortunatly for her, she came across a hill and began to pick up speed. Snow was everywhere, snow-sky-snow-sky-snow-sky-thump.

Tempest yipped as she hit a tree, one more big bruise to add to her many small ones. She clawed the tree in rage, then fastened it in a tree death-hold. Her teeth sunk only halfway into the ancient bark before coming to a stop. "If you wer a wolf, you would be so dead now." she growled at it between her teeth, so it really sounded like"irr urr wer a wholt urr oulg degh nou."

She tried to release the tree from her grip, but failed. Her teeth were frozen in the bark. Growling, she tugged again, but to no avail. She was stuck in a tree death grip. Groaning miserably, she staed at the tree with loathing.[/font]

The pack's Alpha male woke and rose from his cozy bed, stepping out of doors to take a leak. He hiked his leg against the nearest tree, half-lidded eyes staring off into the distance. He only meant to empty his bladder, then return to Fox's side. He wasn't even really awake, though he blinked himself into a higher level of awareness when he thought he saw one of his wolves struggling against a tree further down the caldera's steep, snowy slope.

Momentarily pulling against the strong magnetic field between himself and Fox, Peregrine began picking his way downhill to help... whoever it was. He couldn't see from here and his sleepy brain still wasn't working at capacity. He began to stumble, so he sat down hard and instead began to slide, à la this image:



He slid to a stop a few feet from his pack's Kappa. Tempest, he thought dully. She looked a lot like nearly every other wolf in his ranks. Peregrine hadn't even realized how many gray wolves lived at the caldera until this very moment. He chuckled quietly to himself, then cleared his throat and remembered himself.

"Tempest? That's... a very big stick you've got there."

Tempest stood rigid as something black and fluffy slid down the hill towards her. Her first thought was that the secret clan of carnivorous bunnies had emerged from the center of the earth, and were coming for revenge. She rolled her eyes as she made out the shape of Peregrine.

Tempest peered at the alpha out of the corner of her eye. Oh, god no. What a great first impression to make on an alpha, she thought sarcastically. He stared at her for a moment before starting to chuckle. She groaned when he spoke.

"Tempest? That's... a very big stick you've got there."

"Wanna play tug of war?" she asked, only half kidding. She chuckled through her stretched jaws, wondering how the alpha would respond. An unbidden image of both her and Peregrine's skeletons flashed into her mind, jaws still fastened to the tree in an eternal tug of war battle.

"No thank-you," was Peregrine's sleepy reply. He didn't feel up to playing any games, at least none that didn't involve his wife's posterior end. "Let go of the tree, Tempest," he added before a great big yawn overtook him, splitting his jaws apart. Once it passed, he shook his head and blinked, feeling slightly more awake. His jade eyes were wider and clearer as he stared at the she-wolf, waiting.

Tempest looked slightly uncomfortable as she answered. "You see, that's the problem. I can't, ummm, let go."

Her jaws were stretched to the extreme, opening them any further would result in her whole face splitting in two. She wiggled her jaws slightly, there was only a tiny bit of give.

Peregrine blinked in response to that. "Oh. Um..." He shifted a bit closer, eyeballing the situation. He wasn't sure what he could do, if anything. He didn't want to break her jaw. But if he didn't help her, would she be stuck here until she died of starvation or exposure? Although this situation was rather silly, he felt a little bit of genuine fear and concern race through his blood.

"Why were you trying to eat the tree in the first place?" he scolded her, albeit without any real malice in his voice. "Are you a fucking beaver?" As he spoke, he padded around the tree, assessing her position from every possible angle. Indeed, her jaws appeared to be embedded in the tree's trunk.

"I think..." he said after a while, "that all you can really do is sort of saw your teeth back and forth a little bit until you widen the indentations. Then you should be able to wiggle loose. I think," he repeated, his breath curling from his mouth in a silver cloud that hung like a wisp in the dark air.

Tempest chose to ignore Perry calling her a beaver, and instead worked her teeth back and forth as he had suggested. Minutes past, and a groove became deeper and deeper. With a final tug, her jaws were free. She bit up and down, trying to loosen her painful and stiffened maw.

She finally sat and muttered an embarrassed "Thanks" to Peregrine.

Note on Jan. 27: I'm going to conclude and archive this.

His plan seemed to work, as Tempest soon backed away from the tree, working her stiffened jaw. My job here is done, Peregrine thought smugly, though he didn't up and leave just yet, even with his randy mate sleeping nearby.

"Welcome. Are your teeth okay? I know a couple good dentists but they're not in our insurance network," he joked. "I can take a look," he offered. He could check to see if Tempest had any broken teeth, then maybe Ashton or someone would be able to help if there were any.

Fortunately, Tempest's choppers were intact. With a yawn and a mumble of, "'s all good. I'ma go back to bed now..." Peregrine made a sleepy gesture, then slumped back uphill to rejoin his foxy mate.