Walk | Talk | Think   Anais sighed heavily, feeling exhausted and spent. She had been with her mother again, attempting to get the woman to pull from her stupor, but nothing seemed to be working, not her pleas, not her coaxing, not even the pitiful cries of her young baby brother. It was heartbreaking and left her feeling helpless, hopeless, and entirely confused. Was there anything that could be done? Was there no way to bring her mother back from whatever depression-induced, unresponsive state she had fallen into? The young wolf's graceful paws moved slowly and sluggishly, her head even drooping below her shoulders as she willed herself to stay strong. It was all weighing on her too heavily. She needed a distraction.  "Lebrah!" she called out, her tone falsely sing-song while inside she felt desperate. "Lebrah, where are you?" Of all her family, he seemed to be the one who could lift her mood the swiftest, could bring her back around to feeling more like herself in a quicker time than anyone. And he always managed to greet her with a smile, very rarely poking his nose into the goings on revolving her mother. She figured it all had something to do with his condition and welcomed it wholly, grateful not to have to think about all the sadness and loss and distress that she felt otherwise. He probably failed to realize how much of an important part of her life he was becoming; she was beginning to lean on him more than he knew.  The grey-gold girl altered her course, her quickening steps bringing her closer to the den they shared. Maybe he was still here like she had asked him to be. She knew he hated being away from her, preferring more often than not to be stuck to her side like a burr, but she had also become knowledgeable of the fact he sometimes made solo trips as well. Where he went she had no idea and she supposed she would continue to remain clueless until she managed to follow him, but that was neither here nor there as of yet. Anais intended to scope out their den and the forests around it before determining whether she ought to think he might have gone on an adventure without her.

The boy giggled, hearing Anais call out for him. He had waited at the den like she asked him too, but when she was gone for too long he went outside to have a little fun. Since the snow was mean and covered up all of his mud, Lebrah had to improvise. He went and began to roll in the snow, rolling around and around until it started to stick to his fur. Soon enough all of his markings were covered up and he was one big snowball. So when he heard Anais call, he crawled closer to the mouth of the den. There he curled up, looking like a rather big pile of snow. But wait! Snow piles didn't have tails, and Lebrah's tail was slowly wagging as his plan hatched. Golden eyes closed, his nose enough to tell him that she was close. Laughing softly, Lebrah waited for her to find him. Tucked away in his little hiding spot, the boy couldn't help but open a single eye to peek at her. She was looking around, she obviously hadn't seen him just yet. He tried to still his wagging tail, but couldn't help it. How could she not see him? He was a tail-wagging pile a snow in a very suspicious wolf shape. He snapped his eye shut again, laying very, very still. Lebrah was starting to get cold though, the snow was settling into his skin, chilling him down to the bone. Shivering, he bit it lip to get him to stop moving. He could warm up once he was found! Yes, that sounded like a grand idea. So he forced himself to still once more, grinning and waiting for his momma to find him.

Walk | Talk | Think   No answering call back, no stumbling sound of scrambling paws in the snow, nothing to hint to her that Lebrah was around. Anais's brow furrowed gently as she continued to pad along toward their den, her yellow-gold eyes ever watchful and yet finding nothing telling or hinting at where the red and blue marked wolf was currently. Had he really maybe gone off without her again? Her steps became higher as she hurried through the snow, carefully maneuvering through it with the grace of a hunter. He would not be sleeping - she was sure her call would have woken him up - but...what else could be keeping him?    The grey-gold wolf drew closer to the shared den and the closer she came the more strongly she caught his scent. He must have been here recently. And if he had been here recently, that meant he was not so far away for her not to find him. That was a relief. He might have been a fully grown wolf, possessing the size and physical maturity to wander freely in the world, but Anais knew better than to think he was capable of fending for himself. In every other way, he was nothing more than a child, and being confronted by dangers out in the wilds was something she wanted to protect him from. She hated the thought of seeing him potentially scarred as she had become.    The den drew closer and closer and eventually she could see the scuffled indents within the snow of her son's pawprints. Nearby was a larger, less defined one, and as a smile crept upon her face she easily guessed what he had been up to. But where was he now? Her bright golden eyes immediately went toward their den, half expecting him to be peeking out at her with a grin and an excitedly wagging tail, but it was the odd lump of snow beside it that caught her attention. She was sure that had not been there before, and it certainly had not snowed enough to explain it since she had wandered off to check on her mother. What could it--   Oh! A piece of it moved - a tail? - and instantly it all made sense. Lebrah had not gone somewhere where he could not hear her call. He was waiting for her to get back. To hide the recognition and understanding that had surely popped up in her expressive eyes, Anais turned to either side with a thoughtful, "Hmm." If he was going to play games, then she wanted in. "I wonder where he's gone to," she speculated aloud, letting her slow gait draw her closer to the den and subsequently the snowy pile that she was growing more and more confident was indeed the wolf she sought. Her sunny gaze looked everywhere but at him, leaving herself open to surprises but also bringing herself closer to surprise if her close proximity was not acted on.

He let out a hushed giggle as she looked around, not seeing his form hiding in the snow. He was oblivious to her act, to the fact that she was playing right into his paws. He wiggled his rump and then sprang out towards the woman, a wild giggle leaving his mouth. He launched himself up and over Anais, scattering snow along her back before landing on her other side. He then spun and tried to collide with her left shoulder, trying to knock her over into the snow -- gently of course. "I got you Momma, I got you!" Lebrah squealed, curling himself closer to her form.

Looking up at the woman as his wild giggles calmed, he blinked his golden marked eyes at her, head tilting to the side. He knew that she had been different, more quiet than usual. But she seemed to be rather happy around him, but sometimes her sadness shone through. He could feel it in his heart, that something wasn't quite right with her. It hurt his head to try and focus on it, so he shook the thought away. Maybe she just needed to play more! Surly that was it! "Can we go on an adventurer?" he asked, tail pounding on the snow below him. Maybe they could go hunt for ducks, or try to climb a tree. Or even chase the sun! Lebrah looked up at the big gaseous ball now, squinting at its bright light. It was pretty far away, but he bet that they could catch up to it somehow!

{OOC: Sorry its so crappy, not in the best posting mood but thought a little Lebrah action would help.}

table by argent/neffs

Walk | Talk | Think   She should have known better than to think he might give her a chance to jump and surprise him for a change. Lebrah was the master of surprises, of unexpected play and fun, and this whole scenario was right up his alley. The second she saw his body within the snow wiggle preceding his leap, Anais stopped and tensed, half expecting him to come leaping right into her, and flinched a little when he sprang. She felt the fall of snow against her, heard the wolf's paws touch ground again on her other side, and laughed both in amusement and relief as she turned her head to regard him.  Her own tail was already wagging as he made another, less exaggerated jump aimed at her shoulder, and though she tried to catch herself from falling she ended up toppling over onto her side into the snow anyway. The snow that he had been under was still soft enough to cushion her fall so there was no harm done, and she giggled just as silly as Lebrah did as he claimed his victory over her. "You really did," she agreed through a laugh, shaking a bit of snow from her fur as she pushed back up onto her feet. Lebrah was already right there beside her, and she bumped back against him, much more gently than he had her, and was grateful in that moment that he did not stand taller than she did. Had he, she doubted he would have known his own strength and could only imagine how much more careful she would have had to be around him for it.  As always, his mind was narrowed in and focused on having fun, and unsurprisingly his suggestion for their next activity was an adventure. "An adventure, huh?" she repeated contemplatively, tilting her own head a little as she considered it. That did sound fun, actually. She used to go off all the time and see new places meet new wolves. Of course, meeting Pyrros had changed that considerably not only for herself but for the rest of her family as well. Maybe parading off into an unexplored territory was not the best idea, but perhaps they could have just as much fun here along the Fjord? "Yeah, I think we should go on an adventure," she agreed with a quick, decisive nod, "We haven't gone adventuring together yet."  But what should they do? She knew the woods here that housed their dens were rather boring in the sense that they were already well explored and familiar, and since it had been some time since she had gone adventuring she wanted something special and fun for this adventure. Even if she had to make it up. "Maybe we can go on a hunt - a treasure hunt," she quickly amended, wanting the fun that she was creating to be something outside of the usual. "For the rare Snow Flower. I bet Lior doesn't have any of those in her plant collection yet." And she most certainly would not since Anais doubted the flower she had made up would even exist. But, as she smiled with a confident, playful spark in her bright golden eyes, she knew it would make for a fun adventure. So long as Lebrah played along, anyway.