Alpine Lake Heavy into everything

He's traveling with @Aria but this is open to others, as well! :)

A week ago, when Floki had pictured his trip with Aria, he had imagined it as an opportunity to get to know her better. They would travel through familiar territories to reach a place that neither of them had explored before; it would be a fun and light-hearted journey.

But as they moved around Moonspear's base and trekked across Silverlight Terrace, it was anything but carefree. Everywhere they looked there was devastation and evidence of the locusts' destruction. The insects had consumed nearly every blade of grass and had stripped the trees bare. And even more worrisome was the lack of prey they encountered. Floki realized that he was lucky to have eaten not long before leaving Moonspear, but he began to fret about what he and Aria would consume while on the road. Hunting would not be easy.

They soon found themselves at the slope of an unclaimed mountain, and the sound of running water drew Floki's attention. He pricked his ears, casting a sidelong glance at Aria, then began to trot more quickly. As he circled the southern edge of the rocky structure, his gaze fell on a waterfall tumbling from its summit. It pooled into a river that led south, and beyond stretched a land which Floki had only laid eyes on from Moonspear's highest reaches. His heart sank when he noted the leafless trees, though he forced himself to focus on the waterfall. "There was a waterfall in Stavanger Bay, where I grew up. Shield Maiden's Sorrow," he commented absently as he looked up at the cascading water.

The scenery was beautiful-- at least it should have been. The water was lovely and there were trees and what could have been plants growing in abundance... but they were bare. Brown and gray covered the land and there was little to look at besides the water. She chose to focus on that, following Floki carefully.

"I've seen very few," she replies, studying the falls with interest. Her white gaze falls to the land around them, staring at the brown before glancing back to Floki. "You think anyone's been here before? It doesn't smell like many wolves pass through," she comments, her nose gliding over the dirt covered ground. Maybe the scent is gone-- taken by the locusts along with the plants. She doesn't know.

Floki hummed thoughtfully, tearing his gaze away from the waterfall to sweep their surroundings. He started to amble alongside the creekbed, glancing across it as his nostrils flared. They would need to cross the river to keep going west, but he was in no hurry just yet. Ahead stood the craggy cliff face of the mountain range to which Moonspear belonged, though from here he could not make out its individual peak.

After inhaling a few times, drawing the warm spring air into his lungs, he looked to Aria and shook his head. Not only was this area bereft of greenery, but it seemed that very few wolves had passed this way. "You're right, it doesn't smell like it," he agreed. He paused, lowering his muzzle to drink deeply from the stream. The water was cool and refreshing, lifting his spirits despite their grim surroundings.

When he raised his head, droplets clung to his whiskers. "Should we cross the river?" he proposed, glad that he wouldn't have to ford the water alone.

The girl follows his lead, taking gulps from the clean water herself. It was refreshing-- lifting her own spirits as well. She looks to her partner, her head tilting as he asks if they want to cross the river. "Well-- that's the only way to move forward," she says, a little uneasy. She disliked crossing rivers, she was small and thin and was always afraid the waters would pull her under. Perhaps with Floki here it will feel less scary, but she is still not fully convinced everything will be fine. She licked the remaining water from her muzzle, staring across. Delaying the process slightly, she asks. "What do you think is out there?"

Aria had a point. The only way to continue their journey was to cross the river. Their exploration on this side of its banks was limited, but who knew what they would find once they ventured further. Floki gave a shrug. "I dunno. Let's find out," he said, glancing at his traveling companion with a small grin. Despite the barren landscape, it was still exciting to map out new territories.

He stepped forward into the water, letting it lap around his ankles as he adjusted to the temperature. It was still a bit chilly, but wasn't unbearable. He waded a bit deeper, feeling his way across the silty bottom with his paws until it reached his elbows. Turning back towards Aria, he reached up to skim a forepaw across the rippled surface, sending a spray of water towards her with a mischievous expression.

"Come on in, the water's fine," he teased. The sun sat high in the sky overhead, promising to dry their fur once they reached the other side.

"Hm," was all Aria says before following him to the river. Floki goes straight into the water, turning and splashing her. The pale princess flinches, stepping back and sticking out a tongue. "Hey!" she exclaims, her tail wagging as she falls into a play bow. The man stands and calls to her, so she raises and steps daintily into the water.

It isn't cold, but certainly isn't warm. She gives Floki a crude look, her nose crinkling and her ears flattening before her expression loosens back up and she follows him into the water, shouldering him playfully. "I wouldn't call it fine," she mutters teasingly in response.

If you want to go ahead and start the thread in our next location soon, you can! :D Just to keep the timeline moving; I don't mean to rush this thread at all!

She hesitated and protested, but waded into the water nonetheless. His splash earned a smile from her; seeing her face light up, if only for a moment, warmed him from the inside out. He moved his tail gently in what would have been a wag had it not been half-submerged in the river. It gently floated with the current as he watched Aria wrinkle her nose.

"Okay, well, it's wet," he teased, slowly moving across the river's width. His legs felt heavy and light at the same time, pulled by the weight of the flowing water. Floki glanced down to see a handful of bright fish skimming past, avoiding the wolves' paws as they went on their way. "Do you know how to fish?" he asked, suddenly struck with an idea. The lack of plantlife meant that it would be difficult to find land-dwelling prey, but the locusts' impact hadn't affected the fish -- at least, not yet.

okay!! (:

The girl stuck her tongue out at him briefly, then looked into the water. "Yeah," she replies simply, dipping her nose into the cold liquid. "Never in a river though, only in the ocean..." she tells him, her white head tilting to the side as she watches him curiously. She had not seen the bright pink fish as she was more focused on the temperature of the water, but after he mentions fishing she looks to the bottom curiously. A handful more flit by, and her waterlogged tail mimics his in the water, wagging to the best of it's ability. "How different is it?" she asks, a smile now on her face.

Floki had been too young to attempt any fishing in the sea when he lived in Stavanger Bay; by the time he was old enough, they had decided to move to Moonspear. So his experience was limited, as well, although he had made a pasttime of fishing at Lake Rodney recently. Still, even that would be different than doing it in a moving current like this one.

"I guess we'll find out," he replied, continuing his forward motion towards the opposite bank. The water grew shallower around him and he turned back, holding his nose inches from the surface as he examined the aquatic life swimming along the riverbed. The fish did seem to be moving faster here, although it was probably because of the force of the water pushing them downstream. "Might be tricky..." he murmured as he raised a paw.

He then plunged it quickly into the stream, making a small splash that bounced off his cheeks. He hadn't been successful, and he frowned up at Aria. "You try," he insisted. Maybe since she was used to fishing in the waves, she would be better at this.

Floki had been unsuccessful, but the young alpha watched with interest as he tried. She was used to fishing in the waves, but the fish moved faster than she'd ever seen. They were brighter though-- a lovely pink color-- so they were easier to see. As her partner missed, she gave a gentle shrug and a nudge to the shoulder. 

The pale girl stood still in the water, staring through it at the bottom. There was a brief period where nothing swam by, scarred off by Floki's previous attempt, so she waited patiently for more to come. Eventually they did, and she forced her head under, snapping at the creatures quickly. Unfortunately, she was unsuccessful as well, catching nothing but a faceful of icy water. "Damn it," she muttered under her breath, water dripping from her white face.

Rolling! Even is success: 2

Neither wolf was victorious after their first attempt; Floki watched as Aria employed her teeth, plunging her face straight into the water with a splash. He bit back a grin, surprised that she had been so willing to submerge her head after complaining about the temperature of the liquid only a moment before. But he was disappointed when she resurfaced and there was no fish clasped between her teeth.

His dismay lasted only a moment, though. This was too important to give up on quickly; with no land-dwelling mammals to be seen for miles, this could be their first and last meal for quite some time. They couldn't be sure how far the river went, or if they would have a chance to do more fishing along the way. "Good try," he encouraged, then waded a few feet away from her.

Once he was satisfied with his location, he stopped. His paws became perfectly still as the water flowed gently around his lower legs. The seconds slipped past, slowly turning into minutes as he stared into the depths. A small congregation of fish gathered within his reach, and he began to salivate in anticipation. His heartrate accelerated with excitement just before he lunged, imitating Aria. The water splashed around his cheeks and flooded his mouth, but he was elated when he felt flesh and scales between his teeth. Giving a muffled yelp around the fish's plump body, he stood and looked to Aria, his eyes wide with disbelief and delight.

[ooc=center]-has completely forgotten about rolling- same! 7[/ooc]

She watches the other as he moves to try again. This time, he's altered his form a little-- it seems anyway. Floki lunges for another, this time proving more successful. He raises his head with a slippery fish in her jaws, and Aria lets out a loud yip of excitement. Her pale gaze turns to the water, droplets falling from her muzzle and mixing into the rushing water. Another group of fish swim by, and she attacks once again. Nothing but water enters her mouth, and she spits it out when she raises her head back up. She looks to her friend with a frown, tail lashing behind her angrily. "I think you cheated," she finally says, sticking her nose up.

I forgot about it at first too!

He was quick to splash towards the opposite bank, where he deposited his prize. It flopped to and fro, its gills flapping as it struggled to breathe, but Floki planted a paw heavily on its side. The weight of his foot was enough to stop its wiggling, and within a few seconds it had ceased moving. Still grinning, he turned back just in time to see Aria surface without anything in her mouth except for a playful accusation that he had cheated.

"Nuh uh!" he protested, leaping back into the water with abandon. He winced when he realized that he had likely scared away a bunch of fish, but shook his head nonchalantly and waded out towards Aria. "Try once more, and if you don't catch one, you can have mine," he offered, his gaze already scouring the murky depths.

evens - 1 -damn it lol

Her nose scrunched up, her tongue grazing over it gently. "I'm not taking your food," she tells him stubbornly. Her head dipped back towards the water-- Floki had indeed scared off the fish-- to wait for more to swim by. She waits patiently for more to come, almost afraid that they won't. Soon enough however, the pink bodies begins to flicker by, and she takes another lunge for a creature. This time, her teeth make contact, but with sand and mud at the bottom of the water. She'd overshot it this time-- by a lot-- and her mouth and nose now tasted absolutely horrendous. She came up coughing and spitting into the water, letting out an angry growl. 

"That was not a fish," she muttered loudly, her tail stiff with disgust behind her.

He gave a shrug of his shoulders when she refused his offer. "Your loss," he teased, though he soon grew quiet when it was apparent Aria was going to give it another try. He pressed his teeth into his lower lip in anticipation, hardly daring to breathe for fear that he would stir the water and unsettle the fish once more.

She waited until the moment was right, then struck. Floki felt sure that she would come up with a mouthful of scales -- and his shoulders slumped when she didn't. Unceremoniously, she spit sand out of her mouth, and the crease of her brows coupled with her angry growl was enough to tell Floki that she was getting irritated.

"Okay, well, maybe that's not your strong suit," he said lightly. "No big! We can split this one." He was already moving to step back up onto dry land, gesturing towards the fish he had deposited there previously. "We should probably keep moving, anyway," he added, bracing his feet and giving himself a vigorous shake that sent water droplets flying in every direction.

Water fell from her face, and she licked her muzzle in an attempt to remove the gritty sand from her tongue. It didn't really work, so she lapped at the river water as Floki spoke. Her tail flicks behind her, sending some water to the side. "Fine," she mutters, but is truthfully extremely thankful. 

She straightens up, moving towards Floki and out onto dry land. She waits for him to finish shaking out his fur before she moves beside him and shakes out her own. She smirks at him, damp tail wagging. "Sounds good," she says.

Fading this one out! :)

Although it was clear that Aria was disappointed, Floki gave her an encouraging nudge on the cheek once she reached dry land. "Let's follow the river for a little while and then have this as a snack," he suggested. He collected the fish in his mouth and then fell into step with his companion.

Now on the western side of the stream, they continued further into unfamiliar territory, stopping after an hour or so to share the fish before moving on.