Hideaway Strath Do you love the rain, does it make you dance?

@Dorea plz?

As snow fell from the pale sky above, Sundance watched its peaceful descent. It came softly, flurrying gently all around him, crisp and cold and beautiful. He was mesmerized, yet his thoughts turned to the wonder of whether his family might be observing this same snowfall.

Although each day trapped within the Strath pained him, it was the possibility of reuniting with his mothers, with @Reif and @Atwood, that Sundance clung to what hope he had left. Having a friend helped too, and he was so thankful to have found Dorea despite the enormous loss he'd suffered to discover her.

The boy lowered his muzzle with a sigh and turned away, moving toward the territory's blocked entrance to see if there had been any further development in finding a way out.

phone post, apologies

Usually, there was a parent to explain the first winter to their child. Explain why the earth was dusted with the white and cold powder. But she simply enjoyed the excitement of it all. It was a welcomed distraction from the fact that they had been closed into the Grove.

In all of her rolling through the snowflakes and trying to figure out what she could do with it, she spotted a familiar figure. Sundance! Her voice called out with an unusual lightness as she aimed to barrel right into him.

All my posts are phone posts these days.  xD

The announcement of his name, bright and cheerful on a voice that could only resemble music, made him turn toward the source. He lifted his tall ears and blinked snowflakes from his lashes before fixing Dorea's dark figure with a fond gaze.

In that moment of recognition, she injected so much joy into his life that all of his woes were promptly cast aside. White-tipped tail wagging behind him, Sundance welcomed her to him by rearing onto his hind limbs to make attempt at gripping her neck and shoulders with his willowy fores as their bodies collided.

Down into the fresh snowfall they went, laughter spilling easily from his lips as he maneuvered to try and pin her beneath his weight.

For once, she did not want to wrestle back in return or fight against the weight that was put against her. She welcomed his wrap around her neck and when he aimed to pin her she let him. Beneath him she would stay. Although she did reach to attempt to bury her face into his plush platinum fur. Missed ya. She mumbled softly as her tail thumped against the snowy earth. She had underestimated how nice it was to have a familiar face from her past. As much as she had worked to move on and be made new, she would always welcome Sundance.

Throughout all the trials of his young life, Sundance never once let them harden who he was. Even when Ariel was torn apart by a larger predator before his brothers' eyes, when his uncle Cortez chose to disperse from them, when the strange warrior wolves stripped Sunny of his title, he maintained the softness that defined him. He was a boy void of his family now, as lost to them as they were to him, but he made no martyr of himself by vowing to never love again.

And despite his tender age, he knew right at the heart of him that he loved Dorea. She was special to him, and Sundance wished for nothing more than to shield her from the horrors of their world. She lit his up in every way - what could that mean, if not love?

She went down willingly, and Sundance's alabaster-tipped tail swayed merrily through the snow as powder blue eyes saught his companion's gaze. He didn't need words to communicate how he'd pined for her in her absence, how he wished he could've prevented all her losses as to keep her close to him. So he simply looked down with her with a fond little smile before, triumphantly, leaning down to pepper her face with kisses.

If she had known his thoughts, perhaps she would have been deeply moved by the feeling. Instead she received a look and a sudden series of kisses covering her face. She would protest this only slightly. Ivory paws aimed to push against his shoulders in a gentle way. Not to shove him away entirely but to perhaps halt the onslaught of tongue-on-face.

It was messy. Not to mention she'd rather not be caught in the act of being so overtly affectionate. It would completely ruin her image!

(Probably not.)

She resisted his affection, but Sundance did not take this to heart. He simply let his companion take charge, released his hold of her and stepped aside to slump down onto the ground alongside her.

Silence lingered, calm and quiet and content. Sundance soaked up the peace it offered and exhaled softly into Dorea's dark ruff as he shifted to muzzle closer. He was happy to stay there in that moment, willed it to last as long as possible, where words were unnessecary.