|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Sun Feb 16, 2020 6:27 pm
 |
|
|
 |
Winter wind dipped below the treeline, rustling the tangle of pine needles and kicking bitter snow in Scavenge’s eyes. He snorted and shook his snout, pawing at the jagged bites of cold. Without the wind the day would have been a balmy one. Sun glistened between the tree branches and sparkled off the snow’s luster, warming Scavenge’s back. A pleasant contrast to the snow drowning his hocks.
He’d been loping down the crest of a wooded hill for most of the morning, nose to the air and tail swishing merrily behind him. His belly was full of field mice, and he’d found a nice shelter under some fallen spruce branches for a restful sleep. The only thing he had left to satiate was his curiosity. There were always treasures to find, even in the dead cold of winter. Scavenge had no bearing, no proper direction to cast himself into, but he had a wanderlust and a desire to search, so off he’d set down the easiest trail.
The smell of wolves was constant here. The rich, earthy power of a pack. Scavenge must be close to someone’s territory, and that made his steps fumble. Some wolves were not friendly about little loners like him. Some of them snapped and snarled and chased him off until his legs ached and his belly screamed for water. But others were friendly enough and Scavenge wouldn’t know until he ran across one of them.
He wasn’t a large male, by any means, scrawny from his life of mice and squirrels when he could catch them. Barely a threat to a young pup, and not at all if Scavenge was asked his opinion on the matter. Hopefully, whatever territory he was skirting around would see him as what he was: small, friendly, and willing to keep to himself.
The wolf-scent overshot with something. Scavenge halted quickly, hind legs scrambling across his front legs. He sniffed noisily and smacked his lips with a long, wet tongue.
Something smelled old and divine underneath the snow.
Scavenge began to dig. |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Feb 21, 2020 12:57 pm
|
|
|
|
Ashen Snow sighed to himself as he trudged along in the snow. His brother had gotten in trouble again trying to pull a prank, and the caretakers had decided he needed to be grounded for the day in the hope of making him see reason. Or consequences. One of the two. It left Ashen alone for the afternoon, and after some training had ate into the daylight, he now had some free time to himself...and absolutely nothing to do.
So he did what he always did when he was bored: he struck out to try his paw at hunting.
Ashen Snow was a large pup, and his strength was consequently higher than most. But his large paws and general self-consciousness made him an awful stalker as he accidentally snapped twigs trying to avoid other things, trip over himself, and overshot turns by going too fast or overcorrecting. This time, though, Ashen was lucky. He saw a chipmunk trying to locate its winter stash and began to creep up...creep up...maybe...
It twitched its head and looked him dead in the eye before suddenly bolting.
"Hey, wait!" the pup yelped, breaking into a sprint after it. He wasn't aware of where they went, only of the obstacles immediately in front of him...until a sharp turn made his limbs twist with the effort to change course. Ashen Snow came tumbling to a halt and whined as he laid there in the snow and his prey darted away. He didn't yet know that someone was there.
"Owwww..." |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Feb 23, 2020 2:22 pm
|
|
|
|
”Hey, wait!”
Scavenge snapped upright, ears perked. That had been a child’s voice, and close too, or carried really well by the breeze. He scented the air, tail swishing nervously between his hocks. Before he’d even caught his bearings a chipmunk dashed out between some bushes and up a nearby tree, chittering angrily.
And, right on its heels, a young pup, tumbling and twisting all over himself in a heap of paws and the gangly limbs of the young.
Scavenge tiptoed closer, temporarily leaving his treasure hunt behind.
“I think you almost got him,” Scavenge barked, planting his haunches in the snow. He followed the path of the chipmunk up the tree, where it continued to glare daggers down at them with shiny oil spot eyes. “You scared him real good, anyway. Are you alright?”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
