The boy was still very young, he was just a free spirit who wanted to adventure and find new things. He wasn't thinking of any grown up stuff and felt like he never would. How life would feel so satisfactory if we could all get away with our feet propped and a drink in our hand. But this was not the natural order. Everyone had to earn their survival one day, even in the hands of a pack. The boy would be sitting at the edge of the lake, looking down at the thin ice. He really liked this lake and he definitely couldn't wait until it was summer again and he could jump in. He may have drowned if he tried now since it was warm enough for it to break  under his own small weight. He put one paw on the edge of the soil, getting as close as possible to water and then started to tap at the surface watching it split in between the layers. It was sad to him, it looked like no fun today. Walk "Talk"

Crucible had intended on getting to know Creed's children long before now, but the winter had been hard on him. The moment he felt well again and tried to get out and about he wound up sick again. He probably should have gone to see a healer by now, and he probably would have, if he knew who to go to. He thought that Creed's mate was a healer, but he hadn't seen her around recently. Not that he had really been looking for her.

Today was one of his better days though and he padded through Celestial's lands determined to make something of it. He was starting to question how many more of these colds or whatever they were he could take so he didn't want to waste any more time. Luckily enough he spotted one of the pups sitting on the bank of the lake, pawing at the thin ice. He couldn't believe how big they were getting already. Would the boy even know him? He sort of doubted it unless Creed had spoken of him. That made him a little sad, but he tried to brush it off as he padded over to the pup with a small smile. "Isn't tha' a bit cold on ya paw there?" he asked with a soft chuckle while he settled down onto his haunches with a sigh.

"SPEAK"

The young boy would swing his head around, practically looking at the man upside down. His tail wagged so hard that his rump wiggled with it and a large grin stretched across his maw. He didn't know this man, but after taking a look at him he could tell that he should. He was happy to meet anyone anyway. He was a pup; there wasn't a care in the world. He was untouchable by any wrong-doing forces. "Ooo! Hi! Hello!" He shouted excitedly. "It is but I... I's want to go swimming." He looked back at the iced water, looking a bit sad now. But his expressions would change quickly once again to his happy, waggy self, looking back to the brute, "But I can't. I've got to wait until Summa time!" Eyeing the man for a little bit while he was speaking, his eyes narrowed. "I's don't know who you are but you mus know me. I'm Exodus, What's your name?" He was also implying that he wanted to know how he was related but his mind was a little too underdeveloped at this age. He still needed to learn more words and stuff, but he would probably never forget meeting his uncle today. Walk "Talk"

Crucible couldn't help but grin at the immediate excitement the pup had the moment his head flipped around to look at him. Children in general were so excited about life and so innocent still. It warmed his heart to see that he hadn't missed seeing his nephew like this. It almost made him wish he had gotten the chance to have a family of his own. He supposed there was still enough life left to live to have children if he was able to find someone that could love an old man like himself, but he doubted that he would be able to see them grow up and have children of their own and that saddened him.

He chuckled softly and nodded in agreement when Exodus elaborated on the fact that he had to wait till summer to go swimming. That was certainly true. Winter was no time to be getting in the water. Crucible gave Exodus another smile when the boy introduced himself, nodding again in agreement that he did indeed know who he was. Well, by proxy anyway. "And I'm Crucible. I happen ta be ya uncle. Ya father's brother," he explained, unsure if Exodus would know what being his uncle meant. He glanced back at the land behind them, seeing the covering of snow that had covered everything. "Ya might not be able to swim, but ya could play in the snow," he offered, bringing his sage green eyes back to Exodus. "It's cold water, but tis still water." He chuckled softly with a small grin at the idea.

"SPEAK"

He was a brother of his father? "Like Fable and Knight? And Valor?" He tried to understand what an uncle was, but there was no real importance to it for him. He would know one day what it was like to be an uncle. "Wowww, I's have a BIG family." Ears perked to the idea of playing in the snow, it being just like swimming in the water. "Really?" he spoke excitedly. He then spun around and started to jump around in the small drifts of snow like they were puddles of water. Stopping after some time, he would look up at the older man with a confused expression, "How do I swim in this stuff?" It was somewhat fun, but he was more of a summer child. He liked the warm, sunny days with a cool dip in the lake at the hottest part of the day. Of course, he didn't know a hundred percent how to swim properly, but he knew generally how and he loved it. Walk "Talk"

Crucible nodded to confirm that he and Creed had the same relation that Exodus had to his siblings and grinned when he mentioned that he has a big family. "That ya do, and we used ta be even bigger." For a moment he thought of all of the relatives that weren't with them any more and he grew a little sad. It was part of growing old to see others that were older than you pass and it was inevitable that some would simply leave your life for one reason or another, but it didn't make it any harder to accept. He tried not to think about it too much. It wasn't good to dwell on things he couldn't change.

Luckily Exodus eagerly went to test out his suggestion of playing in the snow as a replacement for swimming and he watched as the pup, grinning as he bounced through the snow drifts. It didn't last long though and Exodus soon looked back to ask how he could swim in it. Crucible chuckled with a small shake of his head. "No no, ya can't swim in it like water. But ya can do other things." he pulled himself off of his haunches with a little effort and walked over to one of the larger snow piles that Exodus hadn't jumped through and scattered. "Ya dad and I used ta live in the north when we were kids like ya. There's a lot a snow up there all the time so we played in tha snow way more than tha water," he told his nephew while he started gathering some some snow up with his large paw, making a small pile of it and packing it together.

"So we could do stuff like havin snowball fights... like this!" He scooped up up the ball of snow he had formed with his paw and tossed it so that it could make an arc through the air and land on Exodus' back. He grinned at his little nephew as his tail wagged behind him. He couldn't remember the last time he had just played around like this.

"SPEAK"

Exodus' nose scrunched with a "Bleh," as his tongue stuck partially out off his mouth to the thought of it being winter all the time. Obviously he was into swimming and would hate to have ice over the lake every, day. But it was cool to think that his father was young one day like himself. Playing in the snow or just playing in general. He would be interrupted by his thoughts when a pile of snow hit his back and he would shoot a look at his uncle, "Heyy!" he whined, but he wasn't upset or anything. So the boy would run a little closer to the man until he would slide to a stop and spray what little amount of snow his body could push up at the old fellow. He probably wouldn't understand how to make a snowball as his uncle just had, but he would get it one day. It would sure be funny to see him try. Walk "Talk"

A grin spread across his lips at his nephew's whine, his tail wagging slowly behind him. For as long as he could remember now his life had been so full of seriousness. He hoped that Exodus and all of his siblings got to hold on to this playfulness for a long time. He wanted the pup's biggest problem to always be that he couldn't swim in the frozen lake. He knew that wasn't possible and eventually he'd have to grow up and face reality and morality, but for now he could play in the snow and worry about when he could swim again.

He chuckled as Exodus skidded to a halt in front of him, turning his head to avoid the spray of snow hitting him in the face. Crucible dipped his head and flicked some of the snow pile in front of his paws up with his muzzle to fling a little of the snow back at him. "Want me to show ya how to make a snow ball? Then you can surprise your siblings and parents with them," he said with a mischievous grin. What were uncles for if not to help their nephews get in a little trouble?

"SPEAK"

The pup lifted a paw and raised his body to the small counter splash his uncle made back at him. But he would settle down and narrow his eyes at the man when he offered to teach him how to make snowballs. "I can do it!" He shouted excitedly, looking down at the pile of snow in front of the two. Tilting his head he would then pounce his front paws right into the middle of the pile, snow flying up in his face but he wouldn't even flinch to it. Plopping down to his stomach, he would start to move his paws back and forth much like a cat playing with a ball. But all he was doing was swishing the snow around his paws and between his toes. Looking back up at Crucible with an agitated expression and a frown he would admit to him, "I can'nt do it." He was happy to spend this time with his uncle as well. He hated being cooped up in the den and took any chance he had to escape. He loved his family of course but he seemed more adventurous than the rest of them. Or maybe he was just getting up too early to see what his other siblings were doing. It would have been great if Creed had a chance to show him how to make snowballs, but his uncle was just as good. They didn't have much more time left with their families. And the boy was oblivious to that fact. Walk "Talk" Think

Crucible watched with amusement as Exodus flew into the snow, batting it around like crazy in his attempt to make a snow ball. The elusive flakes simply flew out of his paws and scattered around them though and Crucible chuckled softly at the pup's antics. He gave the boy a smile when he finally admitted that he couldn't do it. His leaf-green gaze glanced across the snow to find a clump of snow that was already a bit stuck together. "Everythin' in life takes patience and practice. You have to be a bit more careful to make the snow stick to itself."

He reached over and gently scooped up a clump of snow with his forepaw so that he could sit the beginnings of a snowball in front of him. "Ya see? Watch," he instructed as he used his large paw to start pushing together a small pile of snow together around the starting clump. Then he used his forepaw to press it together on each of the sides till it was pressed together enough for him to start rolling it back and forth across the ground in front of him for a moment. He nudged the snow ball toward Exodus with a little smile. "There ya go."

"SPEAK"

Patience? The boy tilted his head to the thought. Exodus was a pup and he had none. At least in this time of his youth. Shaking his head, he intently watched as his uncle showed him how to make the snowball. Though, when it was pushed over to him he looked at it a second before rearing up and smashing down on it with his paws. Immediately after though, he ran over to a pile and carefully scooped up a ball and then plopped it down, doing just as Crucible and scooting it around gently with his paws. He had some trouble and would come out with a small snowball but wouldn't hesitate to throw it up at the man with a giggle. "See! I tol' ya I could do it!" He would always remember his uncle Crucible now. He would be leaving with his parents soon too... Walk "Talk" Think