Against the snow and the wind

[kasmira]

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[atrb=background,http://i.imm.io/5klG.jpeg] Kasmira treaded heavily through the white mess, snow halfway up her legs and accumulating on her bright purple back. The Lupus shook herself and the snowflakes glided to the ground. This is incredible, she thought to herself, I've never seen so much snow! Luckily, her thick fur protected her from most of the cold and wind. She spotted a stream of fresh water, and lapped at the cool, clear water. She stood up and glanced around, seeing nothing except snow and trees, no wolves in sight. She sighed, and kept moving. Some company would be nice, since it looked like she was in for a long day of walking. Well Kasmira, she berated herself, you were the one who decided to come here. She snorted, shaking her head: What she had been looking for was some inspiration, and a little bit of magic. Instead she found snow, wind and cold. Since she was a storyteller, she had pictured the mountains as picturesque and quiet, the perfect place for thinking. But she hadn't counted on feeling so alone, and wished for some company. Maybe I'll find a cave to rest in, she thought to herself, her stomach rumbling. And some food...

[magispar]

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[atrb=background,http://i.imm.io/56Mq.jpeg] Magispar hated the cold. To her, it was like death itself. It sucked the life from you, made your pawsteps heavy and mind sluggish. It slowed her body's responses when she ordered it to walk, to talk, to fight and defend herself. Sighing, she kept walking. Of course, the mountains had their good parts, and that was what she was here for. She'd been through a lot of frustration and tension lately. She needed to relax. The mountains, with their constantly blasting snow, low visibility and the chaos of snowstorms- not to mention the ever-hated cold- were not exactly relaxing. But there was something about the whiteness, the pureness and freshness- and, yes, the simple cold- that wiped the slate clean. Maybe her body could not relax; if she had been seeking physical relaxation, she could have stayed in the meadow and curled up in the soft earth close to the river. But her mind felt clear, for the first time in months. Suddenly, she almost stumbled into a purple wolf. What with the snow flurrying around her, she hadn't seen her until the last minute. She lifted one eyebrow and raised her voice against the howl of snow, "Greetings, stranger! And what might bring you here on this really rather cold day?"

[Keinvarii]

ooc: If I may...if not just let me know

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[atrb=background,http://i.imm.io/5pev.png] Cold, there was no other word for it, blasted cold and it was stabbing at her fur defense, frosting the tips to a crisp. The allure of being around so much rock had brought Stone to venture out into the mountain. It was a thought that she had considered to be founded into logic, a fun day practicing her powers in a secluded area was nothing if but a reasonable thing to do. Idiotic, that was what the idea was, thinking that spring might have brought some warmth to the frigid area was about the most ridiculous idea she'd ever had. She shivered as the ruthless wind mercilessly howled in her frozen ears, cackling at her misfortune. However, Stone was not about to submit to the conditions, and so she persevered. Summoning the rock to create steps devoid of snow she leap from platform to platform, releasing the rock into its original state after stepping away. This prevented other wolves from following her and was a physically taxing exercise forcing her to depend on her own abilities to save her neck from falling down the mountain side. She decided that a break was in order and created a sheltered groove into the side of the immense rock formation. Suddenly, she heard the sound of voices over the wind, the sound echoing through the stone. She crept into her crevice to watch for the other wolves. Go out into the middle of no where and still there are signs of life, she thought. Wolf Stock

[kasmira]

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[atrb=background,http://i.imm.io/5klG.jpeg] Kasmira jumped, startled by the sudden appearance of the wolf. However, the young wolf sensed no malice, and smiled at the newcomer. " Hello! My name is Kasmira, but most call me Kas. I'm here for the magic that is said to live within this frigid territory, although I have to admit that I've only found snow." she answered, smiling ruefully. The wind buffeted them with strong gusts, the snow blurring her vision. We have to find shelter, and soon! she thought, shaking herself, her tail giving a friendly wag. "And who are you, traveler? What convinced you to come out on a day like this?" It was snowy, true, and bitterly cold, but company always brightened Kasmira's mood, and she eagerly awaited the new wolf's answer.

[magispar]

(OOC: Keinvarii, Magi hasn't seen or heard or smelt you yet, so I've no response to your post, only Kasmira's. But she's heading for your crevice. )

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[atrb=background,http://i.imm.io/56Mq.jpeg] Magispar shivered, knowing it was probably best to get somewhere warm, and fast. She could hardly see a thing, and tried to light up the area; with a stretch of her mind, she exerted her power and a small orb of light shivered into being above the two wolves' heads. This made it marginally easier to see, but not much. The other wolf asked who she was. "I'm Magispar," she replied proudly. "And I'm here for... well, most people wouldn't understand much, but I'm here to relax." And it was true; while her body shivered and battled the cold, her mind was freer and calmer than it had been for a while. Life was full of stresses, and Magi was enjoying this small respite. "We should find somewhere to get warm," Magi murmured, then sent her light out, searching the darkness. But within moments it disappeared from view. Shaking her head, she brought it back, and chose a direction at random. "Let's go this way," she suggested, and took a few steps."

[Keinvarii]

ooc: Sorry for the long post, I will be cutting them shorter for now on.

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[atrb=background,http://i.imm.io/5pev.png] In her little alcove the pale green and grey wolf crouched, partially obscured from the cold wind's bitter bite. Stone tried to focus her now icy blue eyes, attempting to pierce through the dense snow cover. Sighing to herself she realize that there was no point in trying this technique further. Instead, she lay her ears flat against the cavern's wall, listening attentively to the echoes vibrating through. To others these sounds may seem at best meaningless coded messages, but her elemental power allowed her to understand this foreign language, older then time itself. However, even with this style of observation very few distinguishable words returned for her to hear. At best she could make out the words Magispar, shelter and another wolf's voice. Perhaps Magi was in trouble! It would be nothing for another wolf to wait in this frozen mountain side for an unsuspecting traveler. Tension built in her muscles, turning them to taunt steel cables, ready to snap at the smallest of provocations. Bounding out of her crevices she sliced through the snow, determined to get to her new friend before it was too late. The cold she used to feel became unimportant, and her frozen toes were now of little concern. Her front paw throbbed from the effort of running in the snow, but she had no choice but to ignore its complaints. There was no time to summon any rock missiles, she would have to hope that her swift attack would be enough to deter her opponent. Up ahead she saw Magispar's outline and noticed a second form beside her. By the other wolf's size it appeared that they were a lupus as well. Hopefully they had no control over the snow or ice, because she was sure to be at a disadvantage geographically, having no experience manipulating stone on a mountain. With a tremendous roar she leap onto the scene, teeth bared in a rather horrible grimace, hackles and fur raised, bunched muscles and her tail held high. She growled deep from her chest as she flattened her ears against her skull, the menacing sound echoing off the mountain side. Disadvantage or not, Magi may be in trouble, and nothing was going to deter her from protecting her friend, she was a fighter and it was her responsibility. Wolf Stock

[kasmira]

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[atrb=background,http://i.imm.io/5klG.jpeg] Kasmira slowly backed away from the unknown wolf that had leapt out at her, obviously in full attack mode. Her own ears flattened, and she let out a loud snarl, her gleaming white teeth showing. Her fur raised, her tail straight, she surprised herself by growling at her opponent, the sound low and cautious, a warning: Kasmira was an unusually friendly wolf, but she didn't like the way this new wolf had snuck up on them and showed such hostility with nothing to base it on. Calm down! she thought to herself, yet she was still quite angry, almost infuriated. She could pick up a faint pack smell on both wolves through the snow and wind, and realized they were with the same pack. Her eyes widened and she darted a glance at Magispar, wondering if this was a trap: But why? Her earth abilities couldn't work until this snow was decently melted, and that would take a while, possibly a couple hours: Therefore, she couldn't use that. She could run in this snow, but with her attacker so close, they'd easily catch up. This means I either have to fight, or reason with this hothead, she thought to herself. If she was up against two wolves, her chances of survival were very minimal, especially with the cold and snow. She stood up straight and let her tail down, her ears back to their normal position: However, she kept her posture rigid, her muscles still ready and her fur still decently spiked up. "My name is Kasmira, and why do you interrupt our conversation? I don't know what you want, but I have no intention of fighting," she glanced at Magispar, unsure if they were working together, "with either of you." she meaningfully pointed out. She relied on her storytelling talent, trying to picture a voice that used authority and calmness at once. "If this is a misunderstanding, I'd be happy to leave you two alone. However, if not, I'd like to know your reasons before you attempt to kill me, since I don't remember meeting you before, or giving you offense." Her back was rigid, her tail pointed like an arrow downwards, her mouth still in a slight snarl: If this was where she was going to die, she'd put up a fight.size]

[magispar]

(Apologies for taking so long! Thanks for being patient!)

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[atrb=background,http://i.imm.io/56Mq.jpeg] Magispar cursed inwardly, but kept calm. She furiously drew herself upright, tail snapping into the air. Then she reminded herself, and forced her body to relax and her mind to calm. You are a lake, she told herself. You are a lake, cold and calm and deep, and all the fire and hurt and trouble in the world can do nothing but reflect off your surface. She fully relaxed and gave a genuine smile, trying to push her talent at leadership into defusing this situation. "Kasmira, Stone, there's nothing to be scared about. Kasmira, I'd like you to meet Keinvarii, a Fighter of the Philia Alliance and," she put emphasis onto her next words intended for both wolves, "my friend. Stone, this is Kasmira. She seems friendly enough," Magispar finished. Then, having second thoughts, she added, "While you're both perfectly within your rights to knock the stuffing out of each other if you want to, I don't believe this is entirely smart." Then she said more quietly to Stone, so that Kasmira wouldn't be able to hear over the snowstorm, "Of course, as always, Stone, I can't order you to do anything, but I can try and guide you, and Kasmira isn't an enemy. Or at least, she isn't being one right now. If she decides to attack either of us, you will have my full support." She coughed meaningfully and looked into both of their eyes. She felt a little awkward; sometimes all she wanted was to yell at people for being idiots and order them to behave how she wanted, and she had to remind herself that all wolves were equal. She wasn't sure if she had handled it how a Guide of the Alliance was supposed to handle it; she had set standards for herself now and she would hate to disappoint them. She sighed, the tiny sound lost among the snow, and extinguished her light, instead pushing globes of light out along the ground in the line Keinvarii's footsteps had followed. Feeling around with her power unseen, she pushed beams of light out and felt with her mind for their reflections, swiftly receiving a headache for her troubles and a very vague picture of the cliff-face. "I do believe there's some shelter this way. Shall we go?" she politely asked her new companions. Sigh. Some relaxing day this turned out to be.

[Keinvarii]

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[atrb=background,http://i.imm.io/5pev.png] Upon seeing the purple wolf growling back at her Stone let out another snarl, ready to rush at the wolf's throat. However, it was at this moment that Magi's word penetrated her foggy brain and it registered that she was telling her that Kasmira, as the other wolf was called, was in fact friendly. Snapping back to reality she jerked out of her fighting stance, only vaguely disappointed that her fighting services would not be needed. She looked the other wolf up and down, ever her social self, and grumbled, "Huh, well your lucky this time then, but don't go pulling any stunts." She trotted over to sit on Magi's left side, slightly behind her as to put as much space between her and the new wolf. She thought over her words and realized they may have sounded a little brutish and so replied to correct herself, "Sorry, I did not mean to cause such a disturbance." With that she fell silent again, inadvertently glancing over at Kas to keep an eye on her. It finally dawned on her that Magi was proposing they find shelter, which sounded like a darn good idea especially as she was loosing feeling in her paws. "Good idea Magi, lead the way, I'll follow." She made to follow Magi, but waited for Kas to go first. It was nothing personal, but Stone simply did not like to be followed. Wolf Stock

[kasmira]

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[atrb=background,http://i.imm.io/5klG.jpeg] Oops, thought Kasmira. Even if she hadn't been the instigator of the fight, she still felt guilty. She immediately pulled back, letting her head droop a little: A sure sign she was feeling bad. She noticed Magispar whisper something to the new wolf, Stone, but didn't catch it. She knew now that Stone might have felt she was threatening her friend, and respected her for her loyalty. She heard Magispar suggest they head for shelter, and her ears perked up: A great idea! Kas noticed Stone let her go first, and she wasn't sure if she was being polite or not, However, she smiled shyly at her: "I'm very sorry for arguing with you, Stone. I mean you, or your friend, no harm." she said to Stone, quickly trotting after Magispar, the snow already accumulating on her back. She feared she might have ruined an otherwise good oppotunity for some new friends, and decided it best to show them both she really was a friendly wolf. After all, she thought to herself, I have a reputation...size]

[magispar]

(Again, apologies on being so slow)

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[atrb=background,http://i.imm.io/56Mq.jpeg] Nodding, Magispar led the way. Flicking the snow off her footsteps with every step, she tried every way of keeping warm; she shivered hard, fluffed up her fur and dug her nose deep into her chest, filtering her air past her fur so that the breaths she took were warm. None worked overly well, though she welcomed the fact that every time she took in air she no longer felt like she'd been stabbed down the throat with a really long icicle. Pushing out lights again, she carefully navigated her way to the small cave she had sensed. "Here," she said, gratefully slumping onto the floor about three feet in the cave. It was marginally warmer here, and she felt it much easier to summon up light; flexing her mind, an orb of light sprang into existence and hovered at the top of the cave. She sent another deeper into the darkness, but the shelter seemed relatively shallow. She sighed happily. "Anyway. Anybody here have any powers to keep us warm?" she asked hopefully. She wished her friend Phoenix was here, but she supposed that was cruel of herself; Phoenix would be off somewhere tending to Hoshi and Harnin, she guessed. Not that she'd seen Phoenix for a few days, but that didn't matter. She herself had a habit of wandering off or finding new places, returning after a week or a month. "Failing that, maybe we could block up the entrance. The coldest thing is the wind- stop that blowing and we'll be much warmer much more quickly." She grinned. "And we don't have to worry about being in the dark," she gestured to her lights, "and if we block it up with stone, being trapped isn't a worry either," she smiled at Keinvarii. "While we're waiting in here, then.... anybody know any good stories? They're an excellent way to pass the time, at least for a while until this snowstorm ends."

[Keinvarii]

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[atrb=background,http://i.imm.io/5pev.png] Through the snow they trotted on, Stone using the rock echoes to guide her through the blaze of white. It felt like her nose was dripping icicles, and the sensation was an especially unpleasant one. Her fur was used to the piercing cold of winter by the ocean, but this was entirely different. Shivering slightly she pushed on. It was a direct comfort to finally lay her paws on a surface devoid of snow, the familiar hardness of rock actually a soothing feeling. Shaking her self off she turned to contemplate the opening, it was a small gap and would not necessitate much skills. Summoning some elemental energy she coerced the rock to form over the gap, layer after layer rapidly solidifying and blocking out the cold wind. Better, she thought to her self, but not enough. This would provide the perfect opportunity to practice some kinetic energy manipulation. Evelyn had arisen the lupus' curiosity on the matter, another thing she owed her thanks on. This would not be an easy task though, but away she went pulling at the energy of the stone and tapping into her own strength. Opening the gateway to communication she focused in on the movement in the surface of the rock. Slowly, she began to force the movements to go faster, increasing the energy and raising the heat level bit by bit. She knew she had reached her limit when the annoying headache split through her brain, temporarily blinding her. She let go of her hold on the rock, and layed down panting. The air of the room had certainly rose a couple of degrees, and although not hot it removed the worst of the chill. Sighing with satisfaction she closed her eyes to ride out the pain, the result well worth the effort. Wolf Stock