Kintla Flatlands For just as Every Seed holds the Power

It was cold. While it wasn't snowing heavily or blowing any wind, the very low temperature made it so Everest didn't want to go very far at all. Paws stepped through the snow as lightly as they could, ultimately looking for a place to stop and rest for a bit. Ever since leaving her homeland, it was one nearly regretful step after another. She preferred the warmer climate she was from where winters were a bit milder. This was just a whole new level of crazy.

Finding some cover under a nearby tree, Everest took a look at the surrounding landscape. It was mostly white with stark contrasts of dark colored trees bending to the will of the snow that covered them. A steaming cloud of a sigh escaped her lips as she sat, pondering what sort of mess she got herself into by leaving home. Even though she knew being here was better than the home she came from, there were still things she missed. 

Now, it was just determining who or what could live out in these new lands she found herself in. Sure, there were other wolves in the area. She could smell as much. This was the first time Everest was truly alone. The woman didn't like the idea of it. Oh, how she hated herself for being the odd thing no one liked to have around.

Coming down from the mountains, the blackbear felt refreshed and energetic. The bitter cold disappeared on the valley floor, although it was cold enough still to see snow on the ground. Easy still felt warm.

She howled periodically for Sumac — not summoning him, but letting him know that she was back. There gathering had ended, and she was not sure where Sumac might have gone. Moonglow, perhaps, so she set off in that direction at persistent clip. Valiant and Minnow would be there, too; her tail swung high in the air as she contemplated this. Sumac had options now, she thought, but she wouldn't push him to make any choices if he wasn't ready.

And she wasn't quite ready to part from him, either. She missed him, she realized, and her tail wagged harder as she added another helping of anticipation to the coming reunion. But it wasn't Sumac she first caught sight of. Instead, a young woman cloak in silver and gray drew her eye. Still with a spring in her step, she trotted closer. Was she part of the recent gathering?

"Hey there," she called out, not wanting to catch the woman unaware as she drew nearer to her tree. "It's shaping up to be quite the winter, isn't it?"

Everest let out a shake of her coat as if wanting to shake the cold out of it. Of course, she had her winter coat already grown in so it wasn't as if she would freeze. The places she did feel the cold like her nose, or even the insides of her ears, made it so she felt the cold almost everywhere else. Everest was glad there wasn't a storm out to make it worse. Still, a concerned thought billowed in the back of her mind about an eventual storm coming if she didn't keep moving. Anxious thoughts like this happened whenever there was any downtime to her day, both in lack of mental stimuli or even a pause in doing something. 

A rather stormy looking wolf with orange eyes soon called out to Everest and made its way toward her. Upon coming closer, Everest could smell that it was a female who was considerably older than herself, and a scent of the rain or a thunderstorm was present. Secretly, the smell of thunderstorms was one of her favorite things so already Everest was a little more comfortable and curious than she would have normally been. Still, a nervous paw lifted itself from the ground as the woman approached. 

"Oh, hello there.." Everest said nervously. "I.. uh.. yes, hehe.. Bad winter, very cold." Everest finished her statement with an awkward smile, ears pinned back a little out of shyness. So much for setting a good first impression. 

The sense of kinship she'd felt so immediately with Sumac was not quite as present here, but the blackbear was charmed all the same by similarly timid but friendly dispositions. She drew nearer, likewise sniffing to find out what she could about this young stranger, and the most striking thing she found was that the woman was alone.

Beneath the same tree, Easy sat to survey the flatlands from the same vantage point. She'd grown up in this area, and had often surveyed it from Blacktail Deer Plateau as a girl. From below, and now covered in snow, it seemed so much larger.

"In my family, they call this time of year breathe deep," she said, her tone contemplative. She pulled in a long breath of frigid air and let it out with a quiet, ah! "It's a time of rest and communion, after working hard and fattening up all through the autumn."

She turned her orange gaze back on the stranger, her expression warm and curious.

"But you are far from home, aren't you?" she said softly.

Everest shifted lightly as Easy came to sit nearby her. However, she tried to remain cordial and kind, even though her shyness made things probably fairly awkward. Still, Everest listened to the words Easy spoke and contemplated on them herself. A time of rest and communion? This was a new concept because where she came from knew no sense of that statement. It made the gears in her head rotate a little as she thought on the concept.

"Well, I certainly have done no fattening up over the fall." Everest said, looking at her body. "I think most of the fall I've just been running away from home." A flick of her ears showed the discomfort Everest felt from the idea of abandoning the family she left behind, regardless of how toxic they were. Perhaps simply discounting it for the time being would help her feel better about the whole situation. 

"Ahh well.. I suppose I'm very far from home." she said, looking out on the landscape. "All I remember is one day I began to run and never stopped until I found myself here. I lost count of how many suns set. Though, I doubt anyone would venture out this far to find me anyway. Not like they would care anyhow. I'm just a burden to everyone, anyway." Her family saw her as nothing more than something that produced heirs or was a bartering chip for future relations with neighboring packs. That was the plan for her originally when she turned two. Too scared to give up what remaining freedom she had, Everest ran, not looking back once. However, floods of guilt visited her often since she loved her family, regardless of how they treated her. She had hoped that one day, they would return the love she gave them frequently, but Everest had a feeling that regardless of anything, they would never return the love.

OOC: Changing font color now that I turned off dark mode I didn't realize I had on xD

The blackbear could well see that the female did not have many pounds to lose, though she chose not to comment on it directly. She was pleased when information came pouring forth without much prompting on her part. Not enough to put together a whole story, but enough to make her frown.

"You are not a burden," she said. She spoke with the certainty of a woman who was accustomed to her word being law. Who told you that? she wondered, but again did not ask. "It sounds to me that you're well short of whosoever you left behind," she said instead. "And now, look: you have found yourself in a beautiful land, on a beautiful night, standing here as a free woman. You cannot possibly be a burden. You brought yourself here on your own four paws."

The women's circle was still fresh in her memory, as were the promises she'd made to herself. Here was a young woman as lost as Easy had been at a similar age, and she hadn't even tried to seek her out.

"I'm Ishara," she said, turning another brief, twinkling smile on the young woman. "What's your name?"

The sudden frown on the womans lips made her head dip a little more, but it perked back up when she told Everest that she wasn't a burden. A half smile formed in reply. "Oh of course I am. I'm the weird one into weird things." she thought to herself. Everest didn't comment on it further. The woman continued, complimenting Everest on how she, all by herself, brought herself way out here far from home during a beautiful night. and how she couldn't possibly be a burden for it. While the woman spoke true, a flick of guilt still remained.

"Well, yeah, I brought myself out here, but that's because I wasn't strong enough to stay. Tossed around because you couldn't walk, talk, or act like a noble queen who was confident and full of beauty, or fulfill her duties as an alpha's daughter. Instead, be interested in the weird things of the world that no one understands." she said softly, trying not to discount the nice things the woman said. She still didn't feel a shred of confidence in leaving being the right thing she had ever done. Especially since this would be the first rough winter she'd ever experienced. "Aahh! Oh, jeez I've said too much already! I'm sorry! Ugh, now you'll think I'm just fragile..." her voice carried off into a whine, depressed that she couldn't keep her mouth shut... again. 

As the woman introduced herself as Ishara, which was a strange name to Everest, she remained silent for a moment before speaking up. "Ahh the name is Everest. Like the mountain. Though I'm not as grand as one." her voice was soft like a breeze in the wind, but still audible in the least. Everest remained slightly lowered, but her gaze was directed to Easy now, compared to earlier where she wouldn't make eye contact.

OOC: xxx

She actually introduced herself as Ishara! Easy is a nickname.

The blackbear's head tilted to the side in concern as more words came tumbling out of the young woman's mouth. Talk of noble queens and duty did not mean much to her. It sounded stifling, and indeed, it seemed that the young woman was quite stifled.

"I don't think that at all," she replied. Insecure was the word she would've used, but she did not say this aloud. It was frustrating to talk to someone who refused to see sense, and Easy was of the opinion that every word she spoke should be considered the best sort of sense. She tried to find a new angle of attack, but perhaps tonight was not the night to try and convince her of anything.

"I am pleased to meet you, Everest," Easy told her. "Now, you haven't convinced me you're as weird or inept as all that. You may certainly keep trying, if it pleases you. But please understand that it does not please me." And the blackbear was a creature quite used to being pleased. "But I would like to hear more about these weird things you're so interested in."

It was comforting to know that Everest wasn't considered fragile by Ishara. A sigh of relief came followed by a soft nod on the sentiment. Well, so far it seemed like things were off to a good start. Deciding to perhaps keep moving in this positive direction, Everest tried to shift her focus on the present moment and told her brain to shoosh on the negative things. As Ishara continued, Everest shook her head quickly about wanting to convince her further that Everest was weird and inept. A smile began to form with the invitation to talk more about the weird things she was interested in. Slowly, this woman was beginning to remind her of someone from her old pack who had a similar fascination in the weird things. 

"Well -- where do I begin?" she asked herself, looking down at her paws to think on something she may be able to easily pick up on. "Did you know that if a snail loses an eye, it grows another one? So, they can never truly go blind! Oh! Or did you know that hummingbirds are the only birds that can fly backwards!?" Everest chuckled at the idea and picturing the way the bodies of the hummingbirds moved. It was if they wiggled whenever they came to a sudden stop. 

"Or even more crazy, the flies fish feed on, the Mayfly, only live for one day! Could you imagine how stressful that would be?" Everest had seemingly brighter energy until she reeled it back in. "That's not too weird, is it?"

OOC: xxx

Well — Everest had been right about one thing, at least: these were very weird things. Easy listened attentively, not showing her confusion. While some of these facts were interesting, she didn't understand why one might want to learn them, nor where Everest had learned them in the first place. But not all things were meant for her to be understood. She could accept and respect that these things excited the young woman.

"I didn't know any of those weird things," Easy readily admitted, her tail wagging in encouragement. "Where did you learn all that? You can't have seen every bird yourself yet, have you?"

And, although Easy couldn't see herself ever need to know these things, it was pleasant enough conversation. And if Everest was a collector of facts and knowledge, this was something that ought to be encouraged. Not all knowledge was as... unconnected as whether a bird flew backwards or forwards. Easy though that plants, for instance, might become this young woman's forte. Easy had always found them terribly fiddly, and she could never quite remember what was meant to hurt and what was meant to heal — and how those things ought to be used!

Everest watched to see if Ishara would develop an expression she was used to seeing. An expression of dislike, confusion, or a slight frown, but the woman never developed any of these. Instead, there was some similar interest in what she shared followed by a tail wag. Everest continued to smile, happy to have a positive interaction for once. "Snails tend to be fragile anyway. If you accidentally step on one, they squish in your toes and it's hard to clean it off. I tried licking my paw clean once and it tasted awful! Rubbing it on the ground seems to work as long as stuff doesn't stick to you." she said. "I figured out about the snail when I saw a bigger snail eating it. I watched its eye get eaten, so I saved it. I felt so bad that I kind of kept it in a secret place and watched it for a while. I had to keep it secret for a long time, and feed it, but it eventually grew back. After that, I let it free again. Never saw it again after that though.." 

The young woman stopped to think if she had seen every bird at all. She had seen lots of birds, but perhaps not all of them! Were there other places that had birds she had never seen before? Everest had climbed high and low in her adventures when escaping normal duties and counted many different species, but perhaps there were more somewhere! This was a new land and region after all. Maybe there were lots of new things besides just birds. Some of her favorites were the ones that sang the songs though, and perhaps that's where most of her bird counting was. While she knew owls existed, Everest never made it a point to go out and count how many there were, or were they liked to live. The same went for other creatures she was fascinated by. 

"Mmm, no, don't think so. I know I've seen a lot though! Ones that peck the wood, others that sing all the time, and some that even crash into the water to fly with a fish!" she smiled. The ones that caught fish were always very large. As much as Everest wanted to get close to one, they always flew off before she could see them better. "What about you? Have you seen all of the birds?"

OOC: xxx

Alright, so the girl was very weird, but Easy didn't find it off-putting. Rather, she was pleased to see Everest coming out of her shell! Get it? Shells?

"Oh, certainly not!" Easy replied with a little laugh. "There's more out there than any one wolf can see for herself. Fortunately or unfortunately — I can never decide. But that's why wolves like you are important. We need to share knowledge with each other. So here's another kind of bird for you: they are black and white, and almost as tall as you or I. They don't fly at all, but swim like fish beneath the water."

Easy stood, gesturing for Everest to come along. If she had noplace to be getting back to, then they might as well go in the direction Easy needed to head.

"My father rescued a chipmunk when I was very young," she told Everest, for the girl had reminded her of Grayday in caring for the snail. "He was nearly blind, my father. When it grew, the chipmunk helped him find his way a little easier."

She did not think that a snail would be as useful a companion as a chipmunk, but Easy did not think that her father had considered that a chipmunk might be useful, either. He'd merely seen it and decided to save it from a crueler fate.

"You are very strange, Everest," Easy said sincerely. "In the best sort of way."

The conversation seemed to be getting better and better, so much so that the girl hardly felt nervous anymore. The conversation was light and engaging, something she had missed from her old home while on secret escapades. The sudden thought of a black and white bird almost as tall as both of them that doesn't fly, but swims like fish beneath the water. "Ooh! What kind of bird is that??" Everest asked excitedly, following the gesture Ishara made to follow. 

While it was still cold outside, it felt much warmer now being with Ishara. As if the day was not as dark or gloomy as it could have been should she continue to be alone. A slightly more bounce was present in her step, and her head was being carried just a little higher now. Everest, though young and fully grown, was much shorter than Ishara. Being so large, Everest wondered if she was more of a fighter or hunter rather than a runner. Everest was neither, but perhaps that could change overtime.

"I wonder what it would be like to have a chipmunk.. They're so small and furry. And hyperactive." she chuckled softly. "They like to bark whenever a wolf or something else that eats them come by. If you're ever in a forest and you hear a chipmunk barking nearby, you're not alone." Another fun fact probably not needed to share, but it happened to be on the brain and so therefore attention deficit had to take over the conversation. The compliment of being strange in the best sort of way was so opposite of what she received at home. At first, she wasn't sure about it, but the smile gave it away. The best sort of strange! That was a new phrase Everest liked the most.

OOC: Off to bed for me - it's now midnight and my husband is giving me the glare, lol.

"They're called penguins," Easy replied, pleased to be able to share something the girl did not already know. "Good eating. Very fatty."

Easy hadn't thought of the chipmunk in a very long time. To be honest, I kept forgetting about it even when Grayday was meant to be walking around with it on his shoulder, so how can we expect Easy to remember? Either way, it had been so long ago now, and she had been so young! that she, too, had to wonder what it had been like.

"I will surely keep that in mind," said Easy, thinking that this was the most useful tidbit she'd shared thus far. It might help in a hunt, one day — could a chipmunk be trained to dart through the trees and scout ahead of a hunting party? "Look."

She crouched in the snow-crusted grass and pointed ahead with her muzzle. There was a small group of pronghorn up ahead, most of the lying at rest. One seemed to stand as sentinel, while another grazed nearby.

"Are you hungry?" Easy asked, shooting a grin at Everest. She hadn't eaten since before running into Warsbane, and she'd been quite active, by then.

When Ishara named the bird, Everest tried to pronounce it in turn, failing of course. "Pen-gah-ween.. uhh.. don't think I'm saying it right. It's definitely not a name I've heard before." she said with a chuckle. "Where do these birds live?" The two continued walking forward as Ishara noted the chipmunk advice for later. Before too long, the woman shrunk down, and Everest followed in suit, unsure of why the sudden crouching. It was made clear shortly after. 

A group of Pronghorn stood fast ahead of them, and Everest took note of the sentinel. This would be the first real mean she had in a while, should they be successful. Like a giddy kid, Everest nodded her head quickly indicating her extreme approval for a quick hunt. "I.. uh.. never really hunted before. Not stuff like this." she whispered. "I might need a pointer or two." Everest was eager, but she also didn't want to muck it up either. Small taps of her front paws as she was crouching further continued to display her interest in having some fresh food.

OOC: xxx

Procuring a meal soon took up all her focus; it was hard not to salivate once they got close enough to smell their prey. Thankfully, the wind was in their favor, and the pronghorns were still none the wiser to their presence.

"Well," said Easy, fighting the narrowing of her focus so that she could instruct the young woman, "Keep away from the back legs as much as you can. Their hooves are strong and sharp. We'll pick off the slowest or the weakest — or sometimes just the most unlucky — and do our best to slow it down. Wounds that will make it bleed, and injuries that might hobble it."

She tore her gaze away from the pronghorns to smile and Everest.

"Here: I want you to go around them. Swing wide, and come at them from behind. If we can confuse them for a moment, that might be all we need."

After sending Everest on her way, Easy moved into a better position. It was hard to see where the other female was once they got a certain distance away, so she watched the sentinel instead. It was obvious when the pronghorn noticed her company — her body stilled and her ears pinned, and suddenly, the whole herd was up and moving. Easy was too, though, aiming for one of the females that'd stumbled just a little as she stood. She was a step behind the rest of them, and suffered a vicious bite to her hamstring for the delay.

"Keep up with her!" Easy called, already scrambling after their escaping meal.

Everest tried to absorb as much as she could from Ishara as she gave a quick instruction. Everest was smart enough to pick up the gist of it and wen to ask where she should try and bite, but Ishara was off like a bullet, and understandably so. Well, here goes nothing! She had seen some of the older hunters in her old pack hunt before, so maybe Everest could hunt like they did. The young girl went off to her left a bit, slightly down like Ishara was so as not to spook the herd. Once Everest could no longer see Ishara, a spike of nervousness jumped to her throat, but a quick hard swallow kept it down. Everest was behind the majority of the herd now, trying to spot a weaker Pronghorn like Ishara had mentioned. However, it wasn't long before the herd was up and moving, and a shouted command from Ishara was issued. 

Instinct took over and Everest was also off. The stumbling of the one Pronghorn didn't go without notice. Everest put the punch on speed to try and catch up, snow making it just a touch difficult. With bounding leaps, Everest moved to the left side of the Pronghorn, hovering in the area near the hindquarter, but still out of kicking distance. A pink tongue lolled out of the side of her mouth as eyes examined the motion on the body, seeing every muscle flex and move, looking for any sign of weakness or injury. A flash of movement took her by surprise. "Woah! That was close!" A leg flew over her head before returning to the snow. Everest had thankfully dodged it and lowered her head. When a second kick came up, Everest waited for the right moment before grabbing it with her teeth as the foot came back down. Perhaps if she could just slow it down enough, that would be plenty.

OOC: xxx

Easy flinched when she saw the hoof fly out, her stomach dropping. If she had led this young woman straight from newfound freedom into death, she didn't know how she would live with herself. But Everest moved swiftly, and Easy gave a joyous shout as the wolf clamped down on the pronghorn's leg.

The blackbear flew then into action, powerful legs tearing across the snow-packed plains and then launching her into the air. She hit the pronghorn in its side like a torpedo, and the both went sprawling.

It was a wrestling match, after that. The two women had to work together to keep the pronghorn from finding its legs, and to keep those legs from finding their flesh and bone! Eventually, it was wounded enough that the life bled out of it, and Easy sat back with her tongue lolling. "Good work," she panted, her heart racing. She waved a paw at the felled pronghorn, whose open wounds steamed in the freezing weather.

"Phew," she said, sitting back in the snow. "You've got some legs on you, huh? I don't think I was ever that fast."

The whoop from Ishara only fueled the girl on more as the hunt continued, until finally a dark colored shadow launched itself into the Pronghorn, knocking them sideways. The wrestling match was on, and Everest did her best to prevent the creature from getting back up. Mostly, the girl kept fangs on the creature's legs, and interrupting any attempts on standing back up. Eventually, fangs moved from legs to hip, and Everest used her bodyweight to help hold the creature down, even as it cried out it's pleas for freedom. Freedom wouldn't come, however.

Once the Pronghorn stilled and Ishara complimented Everest on her efforts, the girl could sit back and catch her breath. "Whew! Well, I suppose it's from all the running I've been doing from home." she said in between panting breaths. "Maybe I gained some stamina or something." Ears were relaxed and a pleased expression with lolled out tongue enveloped her face. Everest thought back to the areas she had traveled from and the different terrain. While she didn't necessarily sprint, unless she was running from danger, perhaps the changing environments helped challenged her body enough so that speed came naturally after. "You're not too bad yourself! I've never seen anyone tackle food like that before."

OOC: xxx

Easy winced just a little at the casual reminder. It was a topic that clearly weighed heavy on Everest's mind. She wished she could peel it off and toss it away like a leech, but such things were frustratingly beyond her grasp. For once, she could think of nothing to say to this, so she was glad when the conversation moved on.

"Well, you know what they say," she said with another laugh, "I've you've got it, use it! And I have more than many."

Her size and build had made her feel awkward when she was Everest's age. These days, she thought it was something like an accomplishment.

When she'd caught her breath, the blackbear began to eat, tearing into the abdomen to secure the liver. She did not offer any of this cut to Everest, but the rest of it was shared as equally as the young woman wished. Of course, two wolves could not eat a whole pronghorn in one sitting! Easy made plans to double back with Sumac when she found him — they could have another meal if there was anything left by then.

"Well, Everest," she said, her face bloody and her belly round. "I must track down my friend before he worries too much. You are welcome to come along if you wish — but either way, I hope that we will cross paths again."

Everest was far past the point of being upset that she had left home now so far away. She met this great person Sage, they talked about her weird stuff, and they took down a full-size Pronghorn! How could her day not be any better? It was the near perfect day already! Remembering the golden rule about the liver, Everest let Ishara have it all as she was the most senior ranked out of this temporary coupling. Everest ate what she wanted, mostly the back and thigh meat, a little more heartily so since she was hungry. Perhaps she would gorge a bit so that she could put on some fat. It might be a good idea anyway compared to the scraps of scavenged meat she was consuming before now. The feeling of fresh food settling down into her stomach left a feeling of contentment, that things were going to be just fine, and that she could forward to more fun adventures.

As soon as the hunger began to subside, Everest let out a brief sigh before tuning in to Ishara's musings. Everest agreed with the sentiment to keep using what she had best, which was her interest in understanding how the world worked, but also to keep running and to remain fast, faster than most if she could help it. Ishara invited Everest to join her in finding the friend she wanted to see, and Everest thought about it for a moment. Why be alone when it's more fun with friends! "I'd love to join you, if you'd have me! I think I've been alone for long enough anyway." she said with a smile, feeling much more satiated now that her belly was fuller than the last little while.

OOC: xxx

The blackbear was pleased, as the idea of leaving Everest here on her own didn't sit well with her. Wolves in general, she believed, were not meant to be alone — but especially not wolves who had been through as much as Everest had, lately.

Easy stood, and stretched, and began leading the way northeast. While they walked, she told Everest about the kind, good-hearted young man named Sumac that she was traveling with, and about how she had two other sons in the area as well. A few times, she pointed out a landmark from her childhood or stopped to sniff at waypoints where other wolves had left their mark.

And she was happy to listen to more Fun Facts, probing deeper every now and then as she settled into quiet wonder. Everest seemed to know quite a lot!

Shall we fade this?