Icewalker

"Be silent like deep water."

--

The she-wolf's frosted coat always seemed to shimmer, but even more so in the wintertime. Even as a young, vulnerable pup, she was intrigued with the most dangerous time of year for the pack. Young enough to not begin any sort of training for several months, but old enough to be allowed outside of camp, provided she stayed within the general area, Icewalker took every chance she had to explore. The wintertime had more restrictions for those activities, but that never stopped the wolf.

It was midday, but was incredibly cold out and snowing when the pup decided to step out of camp to snuffle in the snow. The territory the pack resided on was a short distance from a large lake that got easily frozen in the winter. The young pup scrunched through the snow, making her way to the glistening lake. It was as frozen as it could get!

Her fur seemed to sparkle with the snow, quickly freezing into heavier ice crystals ingrained in her pelt. The distortion of her face in the reflection of the ice disturbed her, but it was something she quickly shook off. She had more important things to do, after all. A shaky little paw was placed forward, quickly sliding outwards on the ice. She pulled back and wobbled on three feet before placing it down once more, digging her little claws into the ice to try to get a grip, The ice scrunched under her, small chips coming up as she carefully balanced. It seemed to hold.

Eventually, she moved forward, planting the rest of her paws on the ice as she gripped as tightly as she could. Each paw was carefully placed as she moved onwards, face turned towards the ice to determinedly watch where she stepped. Her single-minded focus caused her to take a while before she noticed how far out she was, a little bit away from the center of the lake. Oh.

Her ears flattened as she scrabbled on her paws, trying to change directions quickly so she could get back home. She didn't want to be out here anymore! Her franticness caused her to lose her grip, sliding and then slamming face-first into the ice with a yelp. A crunch sounded under her, causing a large wail to erupt from her lips. The ice was cracking right under her small paws.

Fear overriding common sense, she tried to scramble towards the shore, even as the creaking grew louder under her feet. The poor pup didn't make much, if any progress due to her lack of grip on the ice. Another large crunch sounded, causing her to look down. Little spiderwebs of cracking beneath her, spreading out and growing wider and wider as she watched. She was going to die here.

A howl caused her to look up, and she could see several flashes of dark fur before the ice completely collapsed under her, sending her into the unrelenting depths below. It was so cold.

She tried to swim for a moment, but the icy water felt like it was freezing her limbs, dragging her small body further into the deep. Her paws curled, her hind legs drawing up close to her while her tail floated limply as she sunk further.

"I'm sorry! I don't want to go!" She thought, choking on the cold water as it filled her lungs and nose. Her eyes burned before they slowly slipped closed.

If her eyes had stayed open a moment longer, she would have seen the black blur crashing into the water, diving into the depths towards she. She didn't see them, but she sure felt the teeth wrap around her neck and desperately tug her towards the surface. She felt the trembling of the other wolf, and the bump-bump of her body as she was clumsily carried and slid across the ice over towards what she assumed was the shore. Her body was passed to another, this one more stable as muffled yelling tried to break fast her ears, but she was just too foggy to care.

Eventually, she was placed on something softer than the ice. Paws starting instantly rubbing at her fur as another body curled around her trembling one. The heat was a shock to her system, causing her to jolt.

'Come on, little pup." A deep voice, not from the wolf curled around her or the one rubbing at her fur. A growl was aimed at the male, but it didn't feel like it was done in a malicious way. Slowly, her eyes peeled open, though she had to blink several times to clear the blurriness from them.

The wolf wrapped around her was the aging pelt of her mother, and the paws rubbing at her fur was the Herbalist. The pitch black pelt of the new alpha, Raven, was curled up, shivering in another nest, though no one seemed to be tending to him.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know this would happen..." She spoke, voice rough from the water.

"You, never, ever do something like that again!" Scolded Amarasu worriedly, placing her head on top of her body.

The aged Herbalist, Lovata, let out a long sigh but didn't speak. Not out of irritation, but as she worked to think what she needed to provide for the young pup. Not to mention she had to move onto Raven, who's stubbornness insisted that he was not to be worried about until the pup was taken care of.

Speaking of him, she turned her head towards the pitch black fur of the shivering wolf. "You saved my life." She said, her voice in awe, filled with wonder. "I thought I was going to drown, but you saved me..."

"I was just doing my job, little pup. Taking care of my pack." He huffed, ears flicking. "I do ask you don't do something like this again."

Before she could even speak, her mother snorted at the male. "I think the rest of the pack will ask you to not pull a stunt like that ever again either!"

Raven looked a little sheepish at those words before his gaze hardened. "I don't regret a second of it. Anything to keep my pack safe."

"But not at the expensive of your life." Lovota finally spoke, eyes narrowed. Silence followed for a while before the alpha moved the conversation on, turning towards the she-pup.

"I do have something that might interest you, pup. A fitting name, perhaps? I've been hearing you need one." He said slyly, wet tail slowly wagging. She looked on in anticipation, eyes wide and alert, despite her brush with death.

'How do you feel about the name Icewalker?"

--

"Even the cold is no match for the love of family."