Neverwinter Forest chalk and dust sister

@Esperanza B)

The light was waning as Aesop finally began his trek home. His fur was still damp from his impromptu dip in the hot springs, but dry enough that he wasn't worried about hypothermia. Aesop was loathe to travel under the conifers in the failing light, on his way into the flatlands he had noticed how thick they were, the canopy blocking out much of the light. Still, he was less inclined to spend the night so far from home, at least not when the land was so foreign to him. So into the deep forest he went, where the air seemed thicker. Though it was unpleasant, he imagined that, if one knew the paths and was more inclined to adventure (he was done with that for the day, thank you very much,) it would be a pleasant place.

With the thick smell of conifers in his nose, Aesop started North and West, towards home.

Esperanza's emerald optics eyes focused on the different scenery before her. The smell of pine and faint burning of the cold air that ran through her nose caused her to feel at home. Her ebony pelt stood out amongst the white sheet, but she didn't mind as she walked through the area and happened to come upon a frozen lake. Her stomach growled for fish was her usual diet when she did not find a hare or a carcass nearby. Her bones were beginning to show, for she was desperate to find something to eat. She stamped upon the frozen water and happened to have some ice crush below, but, she thought she was safe when all of a sudden the ice broke free and she fell inside the water, howling and calling for help in a desperate attempt to get free and not freeze to death.

Aesop thought that he was well on track to get home. He was not heading due North, but Northeast, following his nose towards the smell of salt. It was tough, since the heady scent of conifers was so strong around him, but breezes would bring him just enough of a trace to guide him home. So long as he kept following it, he was confident he'd get home while the night was young.

That was, until someone not too far off began raising a racket. At first he couldn't make out the sounds, and was inclined to ignore it. Then he deciphered that it was a call for help, something he couldn't ignore in good conscience. So he made his way to the source of the sounds with haste.

He broke the treeline to a small lake. There was the dark shape of a wolf struggling in a break in the ice, some poor fool who had tried to go ice fishing. She was close enough to the shore, though, that Aesop thought there may still be some saving her. So he approached the nearest bank and called out, "hey! I got you, can you swim? Head toward me, try n' grab the ice." He thought that if she could grab the ice, she may be able to pull herself up. Even if it broke in the attempt, she would be nearer to him, and they may be able to work with that. He wasn't going to dart out onto the ice and endanger himself, though, not for a stranger.

Esperanza's plead was somewhat answered as a wolf before her happened to be calling to her, to swim over to him. She was moving through the water and swam to him, some of the water turning pink as ice had formed in between her paws as she winced from the pain that happened to be going through her paws. Her emerald eyes met his own as she was soon able to be closer to the bank, but, she couldn't reach up and go onto shore, the ice would not let her since it was thicker.

slight powerplay, do forgive me!

He saw the blood in the water and winced, though that was oft a result of experiences such as this. He continued encouraging her, giving him a sound to follow in case she could not see him in the confusion. At last the ice stopped giving way beneath her paws, and she could go no further as she had been. He presumed she was too tired to try and draw herself up now, the cold having sapped much of her strength. Now, he had to take a risk, or let her die as she was. After a moment of panicked indecision, he strode carefully onto the ice, coming to where she was and plunging his head into the water to grasp her scruff. Summoning his strength, he heaved, pulling her bodily onto the ice. "C'mon, think you can move? Wanna get t'solid land before anything else." He made sure to back a foot or so away from her, trying to distribute their weight as best he could. If both of them fell through again, his efforts so far would have been useless.

Esperanza could feel the pain as she could sense that he was trying to get her to soft ground as she weakly managed to get herself upright. Some ice had formed around her paws and blood trickled down to the ground from her paw pads, but she still managed to collapse on solid ground when they were there and she shook from the cold, emerald eyes focused on the brute's eyes. "T-thank...y-you.." she would say through closed teeth as she was shaking tremendously.

The next few moments were tense, as the pair made their way slowly back to the solid ground at the shore. Once they were safe, Aesop allowed himself to relax marginally, though the stranger wasn't out of danger yet. "Good job, well done, but don't go thankin' me yet. Let's get you warmed up, then we can have that chat." He decided they were far enough from the water itself that she need not move much more.

A few feet away, the bank rose sharply upward, forming a short, three foot wall of frozen earth. Aesop cleared much of the snow from that spot, then began urging her to move again. "C'mon, got a nice spot picked out for you to warm up. Should get you outta the wind."

She followed the stranger, despite the pain and the cold her paws were feeling, she walked alongside him and soon, they came upon a wall of frozen earth as she walked inside and lied down upon the ground, her emerald eyes perplexed on the brute's dark green eyes. She looked to her paws and began to lick and nip at the frozen ice, giving a small wince of pain when she had either bit on a part of her paw pad or nail, but she soon looked to him.

"I appreciate your help...may I ask your name?" Esperanza asked, "Oh, by the way, my name is Esperanza, or others just call me Esper."

Aesop pushed much of the snow to form a crude wall, attempting to block some of the biting wind from the North. The bank would protect his patient (as he now thought of her, because of the blood on her paws and the impending hypothermia) from any Easterly winds. It was mostly unprotected from the South and the West, and any wind from the lake was unblocked, but he was planning on laying beside her anyway to lend some body heat. Once he felt his work was done, he did just that, curling up beside her. He watched over her shoulder as she licked at her paws, only pausing to ask his name and offer hers in return. "Esperanza," he tried, enjoying the way it felt to say her name, "lovely. The name's Aesop."

"Aesop," she smiled and nodded, "I like your name," she closed her eyes and gave a small smile as she soon warmed up as her ebony coat mixed in with his own. The sound of the wind continued to reverberate throughout her ears as she gave a small smile.

" 's kind of you," he murmured, deflecting the compliment. Slowly, he felt the mass of wet fur beside him warm up. Soon he would ask to look at her paws, but for now he thought it best to speak of easy things and let her recover. "Esperanza, where d'ya live? If your pack ain't far, I can walk y'home once you're good and warmed up."

"I used to live in a pack, but now, I am a loner and currently looking for a second chance to make my worth in a pack," her emerald eyes looking over to him as she looked to her paw and licked it, trying to get the rest of the ice off of her paws. The sound of some birds that were late going south echoed in her ears, but she paid no heed as she gave a small sigh. She never really had someone who would like her, or at least be her friend. Every time she talked to someone, they told her to get lost, sometimes she even wished that she wouldn't wake up. "I had been alone for almost all my life, so I guess I am kind of used to it. My old pack, before I came to this land, kicked me out for speaking my mind, and every time I spoke to another wolf, they did not even speak to me. I sometimes even thought that I would never even have a friend or someone who even cared about me. I sometimes even wished that I would be dead, guess someone had a reason for keeping me on this earth."

"Loner, huh? In the winter, even," he mused, "there're plenty of packs round here, I think. Shouldn't be too hard to find somewhere with some room." Aesop nodded, chin bumping against her shoulder blades with the action. She continued, then, offering him more of her back story. At this, he felt uncomfortable. There was some... heavy stuff there, and he wasn't sure why she was telling him all of this. And how was he supposed to respond? He lay there and listen until she was done, and then he made a low, sympathetic noise in his throat. "Well, things change. Got hells of doors open for some new opportunities, don'tcha? Just gotta take 'em."

"I agree with you there, Aesop, but most of the packs probably wont take someone like me," she explained, giving a small huff as she closed her eyes, tail flicking slightly as some more blood dripped from her paw, but Esperanza paid no heed. It was a small wound and wouldn't do much harm to her at least.

Wrap this up soon?

Aesop hummed, a place holder to keep the silence at bay until he decided on what to say. Then he spoke, "well, it's always worth a shot. If ever you change your mind, I know we've got room where I'm at. Up along the coast, a place called Stavanger's Bay. You can call for Thistle Cloud, and my name don't carry much weight, but it may help." He knew the Bay had room in its ranks, and filling them would prove useful in the end. Aesop also pitied her, and knew that her life would improve if she had a home.

Esperanza smiled, turning her head to him as she gave him a small, friendly nudge, "Thank you, Aesop, I will think about what you have said about joining Stavengers Bay," she spoke in a calm and kind voice as she gave a small sigh and placed her head upon her paws, a smile still upon her face as she thought about joining the pack.

Esperanza bumped against him, an affectionate little something that he returned gladly. There was some comfort, he thought, in knowing that he had made a mark here, now. A wolf in one's debt is a powerful thing, and it somehow made him feel more established. Beyond that, she was good company. "Think on it good," he told her, "I'll stay the night with you, make sure you're good and healthy before I leave you to your wanderin'." And with that he shifted, laying his head against her neck, atop his paws. "Sleep well."