pre-game // PACK OF WINTER-RIVER. That is where Icefur was born and raised, in the ice-capped hills of the tundra, overlooking a frozen lake that would thaw once a year during Warmsun and freeze solid enough for elk to migrate across it during Coldsun. The nippy breeze in her homeland gave her a thick pelt tinted in crystalline hues and a heart for adventure that she'd had since her pup days. She made an excellent scout under her mentor and together the two made quick work of the wintery landscape, every nook and cranny of it, being an epic duo that would often bring toys back for the pups that came after her, the likes of which were never seen in Winter-river and have not been seen since her departure. She loved her pack dearly, but winter is often a harsh season for all that weather through it. The elk grew smart to winter's chill, and migrated below the frozen lake and onto much greener pastures, and with them, came the arctic wolves, Icefur and her mentor tailing them and reporting to the pack at each opportunity.
Winter-river's nomadic lifestyle had to find their way south, but few could tolerate the heat and eventually wandered their way to the frozen plains they knew. Icefur wandered a bit too far, and remained lost to her northern pack. South, she kept trailing the elk south, with no end in sight. Her cold-hardened paw pads did not subject themselves to ache or pain and her legs long and stride wide, keeping pace with the elk through the winter season and the few wolves that still found themselves trailing behind the herd.
She found herself alone, though, as travel was not something all wolves of Winter-river was used to. Icefur's pale pelt, perfect for snowy terrain, held little for the ability to hunt in woodland in the heat of warmsun, of which she found herself having to dabble in the arts of hunting to survive... something she wasn't all that skilled in.
10.22.24 // She traversed the landscape, familiar cold breeze coursing through her pelt as a long stride loped grassy terrain. It was terribly wet, but this forest was more river than dirt. Water rippled with the wind, moonlight dappling its ssurface and outlining the stocky build of an arctic wolf misplaced and far from home. A black nose twitched and head tilted skyward. Stomach rumbled with hungry delight as a preyscent filled her thoughts. There were more than one preytrack she'd found when Sun glided down her pelt, two, in fact, but no chase she'd taken thus far had succeeded. With her belly gnawing on empty and nothing better to do, Icefur set about to follow the trail with hope it'd bring greater chances of prey.
None like she'd ever smelled, and none like she'd ever seen. A creature of grayish hues and a black-banded tail, a mask across its face. Chattering away with rapid glee, happily digging pointed teeth into whatever it had found. Mouse? Too small for wolf. But the larger creature, that may work. It was full of meat, heavy in its movements. She bent herself low, white against green, careful pawstep after careful pawstep she inched closer. Distracted by its meal, unaware of danger lurking in the shadow of trees. Until one swift movement was the end for it.
Dangling in her jaws, she trod back the way she came, happy to finally have a meal to soothe her belly.
+1 stalking, total: 3
10.23.24 // The next day proved better hunting, with the addition of a small, fat grey creature that had pretended to be quite unable to leave Icefur's sight, and was made quick work of as a result. Another of the grey banded-tails also fell to her jaws shortly thereafter, proving a well-deserved meal for a hungry wolf. She felt herself getting stronger with each morsel, but nowhere near enough to catch the noses or eyes of neighboring wolf packs. Markscent on the wind, no room for Icefur within their ranks, surely. And why would she accept such a thing? She was proving to be a huntress capable of keeping herself fed, and she shouldn't need to rely on the kindness of others to survive! She was Icefur! Scout of the Winter-River pack! Anything less was unspoken of.
Level Up! 1 > 2 // +2 SMR, +1 SPD, +1 AGI
There was trouble in paradise, she discovered whilst lounging about on a log that had thankfully had adequate time to dry out in the warmsun heat, gnawing on a bone of the banded-tail creature. Trouble in the form of a snarling wolfess of muddied brown and white flecks and orange eyes that seems to dig into Icefur's soul. "What in the woodland are you doing in my territory?" her aged voice seemed to hiss with accusation.
The white wolf's head shot up like a rabbit's, ears perked and alert for the danger close by. "I - I did't know t'is land be tak'n? Hoonist."
"Pf, as if" the older wolfess' growl was unmistakable. "That's my food, my bone, and this is my forest. Get out or I'll give you a reason to get out."
Icefur got up to leave, but then a thought overtook her that she had to at least try to reason with this wolf. She didn't smell like there was a pack around. "Didn't smell pack-scent, didn't knoo anywolf claimed this forest."
"I don't need a pack!" the wolfess responded, offense clear in her tone. So, Icefur thought, eyes careful not to land on the other's. There was no pack around, just a thin, raggedy she-wolf that, despite the lines aging her face and attitude of an independent adolescent, looked fit enough to be a problem to a newcomer with little experience in the world on her own. Was that drool from her mouth?
"Oh? Um, it okay, Iaesfir can shaere, yes yes," an exaggerated nod, getting off the log that was warm to her belly. "We no need be enemies." she gathered the remains of the raccoon and dropped it not far from the old wolf.
The wolf took the gift, but it was clear Icefur would not be getting any assistance, and she'd probably best keep her distance from this individual for a while.
Mudpelt located, -7 relationship
Daylight wore on, a tired Icefur once again without food to keep her belly full. Silly wolf, she thought with a bit of a snark, a wolf like that surely isn't all the forest has to offer.
The day did not, however, prove any more fruitful for prey, both of the critters she'd trailed since her encounter proving too slippery for her. Critters of the woodland, it seemed, were far too advanced for arctic huntresses. She'd... have to find another source of food, no? Twas only the way of things.
10.24.24 // Day dawned bright and early, and Icefur was awoken by the sound of her own sneezes in a patch of pollen-laiden flowers ruffling with a particularly sharp breeze. She stood, shook, sneezed some more, and felt the gnaw of hunger in her belly. Yesterday had given her terrible luck, but the sunrise looked gentle today. Stepping out of the patch of flowers she'd slept in, the winter wolf padded onward.
Soon enough, a trail kept her busy. Fresh but fading, nothing fancy. Her stomach urging her forward. Food. Food! her strides longer until she was trotting and soon enough lunging at the trail, tail in the air.
A stout sort of critter, brown in fur with large teeth that looked like a hare. Forest had very odd creatures indeed, but this looked plump and that it'd feed her well enough if caught. She lowered herself, making sure to line it up with her snout and began the slow creep and—
It spotted her. Two pairs of black eyes met each other and they both took off on a dead run toward the riverbank. The wolf, however, was just a tiny bit faster, a tiny bit more agile. She wrestled her prey to the ground and quickly ate her fill.
level up 2 > 3 // +3 SMR, +2 SPD, +1 AGI
Only then did she realize that the packscent was there. This wasn't her creature, and it wasn't her land. And if Icefur knew anything about anything, she'd better figure this out before any wolf got too close.
The northerner stooped low, creature (a muskrat, but she didn't know that) still dangling in her jaws. Would this be a repeat of her previous encounter with another wolf in these lands? Where even was she? So many questions, too little time. Black eyes scanned the horizon, ears aflutter as the sounds of voices approached.
Wolf.
Which was not surprising, given that there were wolf packs in the area, but so close to her? And they smelled infinitely stronger. The winterer was nowhere near strong enough to follow her bark with a bite.
She scuttled into a bush to hide her meal, curling herself around it, as if her scent were enough to protect it.
Heart pounding, Icefur decided the best course of action was to watch the wolves as they patrolled, making sure to carefully - and quickly - move her meal closer to the other side of the territory line.
But would she be fast enough?!
A soul-crushing yelp soon echoed through the hillside, followed by the frantic cry of a concerned she-wolf. "Slate! Where are you?! Call out!"
Now, Icefur had no idea who Slate was, and found that far too plain of a name, but her heart stirred. A wolf was in trouble!
A yap of alarm sent the white wolf flying from her spot halfway to the border marking, her meal abandoned as a lonely fly started its descent toward the unfinished carcass. Her fur shone in the light for just a moment, pale and stark against the dark forest that had shielded her from view. "Aye?!" was her first instinct to shout, eyes frantic and head swiveling from one patch of grass to another. She didn't know who had just squealed out and who was calling after the youngling, but she had to help, that was more important than food at the moment.
"Aye! Pup?! 'oose yer big wolf baerk!" she had younger siblings back in Winter-River, and was often tasked with pupsitting them after she'd come back from scouting. But, as the northerner had zero idea who she was supposed to be finding, she trod up to the nearest wolf.
And proceeded to rapidly bark at her. "Yew there! Pup? Danger? Yours?! Where?! Ieasfir help find!?" and she most certainly hoped the forest wolf would overlook the red staining her muzzle, and focus on the worry ringing in her voice.
Luckily for her, the wolf seemed to one- understand her words, and two- be more focused on finding her nephew than to worry about the northerner. A cry for help was a cry for help nonetheless, and packmates stick together. Even if the two wolfesses were not kin.
"Please! Would you help?"
"Aye," she nodded, feeling that no pup should be left to their own devices - especially when they had a chance at being hurt, as the grey youngster could've been. Her nose pointed in the direction of the way the wolves came, coal eyes analyzing the slippery slope they'd taken.
" 'e caan't 'ave goone faer, ya t'ink?" her head tilted, padding up to see if she could catch the scent. "No blood-smell, t'at be good," she muttered, before grumbling to herself, "Aye, me nose be too usedta snew," but nonetheless from her vantage point, she could see the misplaced grass, oddly... wolf=shaped.
" 'ere! T'ink ya caan see t'a path 'e took?" It wasn't clear for her. Icefur would be so much better in the snow. It was also infinitely easier to see where a wolf had gone... if there were deep tracks to follow. But anything could've made that track, but the fresh odor it stirred up was unmistakenly similar to the other wolf's?
Smarts was not always Icefur's thing.
The wolf came up to the slipped grass and followed it down to a disturbed bush, where the youngster was swiftly located, unharmed, but clearly shaken. A thank-you for her help.
10.31.2024 // Quiet became good friends with the northerner, and as she gained a bit of a footing in the river-flooded forest she'd found herself in, the moon grew louder and the song of her people still rang in her ears as coldsun approached fast. Icefur felt it in the air, in the wind - the way the leaves spun when rushed past by leaves and the way they crunched under her paws as she carried another striped tail back to the ramshackle den she'd made, wedged between a large tree's roots and a hollow below it that had been carved out of the hillside; using dexterous paws and clever teeth to weave a few vines together to block out the majority of the wind and rain. Inside was a dirt floor, nothing like the complex dens that her homeland would've constructed - but those had been over the generations, and not a hastily built shallow to wade off the worst of winter's chill. It was rough living, a dainty little wolf that had to learn to fend for herself first and foremost, but it wasn't the worst of things, she supposed. She ate quickly. Icefur had been surviving off small critters and the like, but it wasn't elk. The migrations of elk that she'd followed made for better feasting, but pulling off such a stunt in her state was impossible.
There were much worse fates than this. The small gaps between the vines shone stars and a moon ripe for mysteries. Where am I, really? she wondered. This land feels cursed, like it has seen battle and evils, but nothing says that there's any real threat, especially from other wolves. What happened, O land? What are your secrets?
Level up 3 > 4! +4 SMR, +2 SPD, +1 WIS, +1 STR
11.03.2024 // A voice rang out in the darkness. Icefur was awoken from her silent slumber with a jolt and in a cold sweat. She couldn't quite make out the dialect in full, but he sounded distressed. Her heart spurring into sympathy, she sprang to her paws and whisked her body off to find the source of the call, barking up her own in turn. Where are you? Are you okay? her own howl sounded worried, shifting in tone and marked clearly as concern and question, not territorial. It was the northerner's intention to not have her presence known by more wolf packs than just the one, not until she felt strong enough to stand to scrutiny.
A loner's mind was fascinating, the worry and protectiveness over their own body and soul that a packwolf had no need to think. But it was also freeing in its own right, she'd noticed. There was no "how would Fa react? Would I get in trouble?" that crossed her mind anymore - it was busy trying to survive on one's own. Though a part of her missed the warmth of a pack.
Long legs began to stride along the tall, grass full of midnight dew. The air seemed to buzz with an energy that Icefur had never before felt upon her pelt. Moon held itself high in the sky, round and full, casting its cold embrace on the forest and the many rivers. She hadn't taken to exploring as much as she usually did. It wasn't in the schedule, more often than not. And then she saw it - or rather, him.
A wolf of brown and dappled red sat in a circle of wilted plants, a rhythmic chant uttered, low. The air ebbed and flowed around him - even Icefur could feel it, but she didn't understand what his purpose was. It was then he opened his eyes and they trailed in grey before he lifted his head to the sky and let out another short, distressed howl. It was the wolf who howled earlier!
The male hadn't seemed to have noticed her yet, but the tinges of the wolf's vision crackled and looked purposeful. But those grey eyes looked sad, desperate; just like his call. He smelled of herb and a healer's den, but he, too, must be lost, as the packscent that clung to a wolf's fur was fading from his own. Wherever his home was, it was clear he wasn't there, and perhaps, not welcomed back. But she couldn't assume.
The pale wolf and the red wolf sat in awkward silence, before a bark of disappointment erupted from him.
"Why isn't it working!?" he grumbled. "That was just like she said! What? Why?! The herbs, the rabbit, the moon, the water - mom should be here..." a whine followed. "Mom..."
She had to speak up to that, however hesitant Icefur was to not make a noise. He seemed as young and as lost as the northerner was, after all. With a low voice, painfully stark against the chorus of crickets and rustling leaves, "I don't t'ink y'r mum's gonna come back..."
That startled him back to reality more than it didn't, shining eyes full of sadness staring back at her own black ones. Silence fell, but it was quickly diminished by an awkward "You heard that, didn't you?"
"It okay," her voice was soft, a flutter in the breeze, one paw held aloft in question of coming closer. Head down, eyes locked on his throat instead of level with his eyes. Ears laying on either side loosely, tail tucked between slender legs. A sad woof of approval. "Me own mum's not comin' back, neither. Nor me fa," both her parents had followed Moon into the golden glade, where all the good wolves went when their borrowed bodies returned to the shadows.
"But she said I could talk to her tonight..." he whimpered, ears drooping and tail tucked around his sad pile of herbs. Icefur's heart broke for the yearling, and it broke for her own. Neither of them were as they should be, really. "I spent all day practicing and made sure to double and triple check that it was the right spot and the right night and- she's not... here - a-all I did was wither the ingredients-"
Her head soon rested under his chin. "T'is seems like a night 'ou shouldn't be alone."
MOURNINGDUSK gen 1 - alfa lone wolf - herbalist hunter STR 41 - SPD 48 - AGI 38 - WIS 40 - SMR 42
