She hobbled forward, form entering the structure as she sought shelter from the raging storm outside. Her howls today had gone unanswered and she was beginning to fear the loss of her children were permanent. Her pelt had snow clumping on it and icicles had started to form on her dead paw. She had been calling for two days now and trying to wait out the snow storm outside. She moved to the now bone chillingly cold deer hide in the old confession booth. This place was cold and she hated it, but she dared not leave without proof of her children's deaths. They were only barely weaned and she had let them wander before the storm kicked up. They had been birthed here in this place before the winter cold had come. She shook her pelt out before she carefully sat, the action award looking but she managed well enough. Her ruby red eyes kept on the door a hope for signs that her little ones would enter at any moment. The scent of birth in this place was stale at best so no intruder would likely enter on the fact that a mother might be inside with pups. It made her less edgy knowing that small fact. She had been the curse her whole life and normal wolves didn't seem to always be respectful enough not to gawk at the curse of a leg she had. There was a glance of her own eyes to it as she thought about chewing the thing off, but pushed the thought away before returning her eyes to the door of the chapel.

He was still so cold. Aten didn't know how long now he had been wandering around; too long, it seemed. Weariness pulled at him, and he shivered, hard enough that his entire body shook. Not to mention, how hungry he was. It clawed at him, almost making him sick. He just wanted to curl up next to his mother and find his siblings and make sure they were all safe. He didn't want to be out in the cold anymore.

Paws pulling him ahead, his ears perked as he heard the faint sound of a howl. It sounded familiar; it was the howl that he had answered at first, the first day. Was it his mother? Yanking his paws out of the snow, he headef towards the sound, squinting against the snowflakes that seemed as if they would fly into his eyes and the chill. Given everything, he was moving as fast as he could towards the sound when it ended, leaving him lost. Hopefully, if he kept heading in the direction that he was, he would find the source.

After what seemed like forever of wandering, Aten grew in eyesight of his den. Tail wagging slightly, he moved forwards, as quick as he could with the snow clinging to his legs and constricting his movement. He wanted to get there as fast as he could. Maybe his siblings had already made it. Maybe he was the last one to make it back. As much as part of him disliked that idea, Aten still preferred it over being the first one back. Being the last one would mean that everyone was safe and warm and he could cuddle against them and wait out the storm.

Finally, he made it close to the entrance of the den. Peering inside, he saw the form of his mother and stumbled the last few steps, weariness overtaking him all of a sudden. Moving to her side, he attempted to lay down and lean slightly against her, staring up as he struggled to find what to say. Instead of speaking, he would give up on his search and allow his mother to say whatever she wanted to first.

Surprise, he hadn't really left the north.

He'd barely made it past the wall when his conscience had gotten the better of him. He'd saved Ray from ultimate freezing death in icy cold water surrounded by pine trees also submerged in icy cold water. He still didn't want to be around her, but it was obvious she was in bad shape. Starving, alone, previous broken bones, her tail was messed up too - of course the minute he thought he could be selfish, just this once, he always found himself going back to her. He wouldn't stay, he refused, he couldn't just up an abandon Delaney like that when he'd promised to stick around to help her out, but he found he couldn't abandon Ray either. As mad as he was at her he couldn't just leave her to die in the north.

So he'd turned around to head back to see if he could track her down, but halfway there a storm had rolled in. It'd been manageable at first, but eventually it got so bad he could barely see a few feet in front of him. Food eventually became impossible to find and he was pretty convinced he was lost. Figures - the minute he decided to be nice and ignore himself, again, he got screwed over.

By the time he reached the cathedral he was half frozen, starving, and obviously off course. He was close to the door when the scent of a pup reached him. His body trembled from the cold as he took a hesitant step towards the door as the scent of stale birth and the more recent scent of the mother reached him. Someone was living here. He glanced around him seeing nothing but snow, snow, and more snow. This was the only shelter for miles ... so death by angry mother or death by freezing. Great choices. Dealing an angry mother sounded like a much better chance then risking freezing to death.

He took in a deep breath, holding it in his lungs for a moment, before he let it out in a deep sigh. Damn, the things he got himself in to some times. He shook his head softly before heading cautiously past the door. His muscles were stiff and if his fur wasn't frozen in clumps he was sure it would be standing on end too. To put it short? He was nervous.

"Sorry for intruding." He called out as he slowly inched outside further while looking around to locate where the female was. "It's just really cold and storming outside."

"SPEAK"

Her heart clenched as she waited. Her eyes never left the door from inside the confessional. It wasn't but a few minutes and Aten was coming through the door. A part of her was overcome with joy and another part worry for her child's needs. She let out a relieved breath to see at least one of her children had made it. As he came closer she lowered her head and gave him a good check over for any injuries and his health. Upon finding nothing unusual she let her body fall to it's side so he could get to her stomach where he could warm up. She had no milk to give but that would be okay so long as she found him prey soon. "Warm yourself Aten, and sleep. I will hunt for us after the storm dies down." she was quiet with her words and leaned up to lay in a better position to watch over him as he slept. She was relieved that at least one of her children had made it home. She still held out hope that the other two would as well.

The sound of nails on the floor then reached her and her ruby red eyes turned to the door. Her hair was wet and if it wasn't wet with melting snow it would be standing on end. There was a caution to her gaze and her tail sought to cover Aten from the male's sight. She'd heard some males were cruel enough to kill pups that weren't theirs and she would not risk it. Her ears pressed back and she let out a warning growl. It was soft like her and she was okay with him being inside but not close to Aten. She gave a wordless command to Aten by turning her her to him and pressing her nose into his fur. She was quick yo take a small rabbit hide and pull it over him, before she rose up. She exited the confessional and took only a few hobbled steps from the entrance to it. "I don't own this place so you may come in, just stay out of the smaller place?" she tried her best to make herself sound louder than she truly was but at twenty-three inches tall and as a softer spoken woman, who herself wasn't the most confident of wolves though she tried to be, it came out as more of a soft tone. On top of that it almost sounded more like she was asking the male to stay out of her den.

She had almost forgot the feeling of being small, and of being near those that weren't used to seeing a deformity like hers. With careful effort she sat, making herself the smallest blockade ever to the confessional. It was almost laughable. Her body she could feel shaking from nerves and the cold that came to her through her wet pelt. Her ears were held back now more out of nerves than anger. The protective instinct ingrained in her still had her viewing him with a skeptical and cautious gaze.

The warning growl had him taking a few steps back and his nails clicked against the hard stone floor as it echoed away until it was silent once more. Ears flattened fully against his skull as he debated leaving. Okay so far not a good start. It was still preferable to freezing to death, but bleeding didn't sound like much fun either. He'd been hoping she'd be more receptive to helping him out, but he was already aware of the cruelties the world offered. She also had babies to look after, he could smell it, so he understood the desire of wanting to keep strangers away from her brood.

And then she surprised him.

Ears flicked forward hesitantly as she offered to let him stay in till the storm blew over. Surprise laced through his features as he wondered if he'd heard her right. Maybe he had ice in his ears? if he didn't know any better he'd almost think she sounded as nervous as he felt, but surely that couldn't be the case. She came out of where she'd been resting and his eyes fell upon probably the most colorful creature that he'd ever laid eyes on. Sure he'd seen a myriad of colors, but typically those in Donostrea sported only one strange color whereas this female had multiples.

It wasn't displeasing though and he found himself distracted for the moment. He hadn't even noticed her odd limb until his eyes made it to her legs. Before he could be got staring though he quickly averted his gaze to look around them. This place at least offered shelter from the wind and snow for a little while and she was letting him stay which was more than generous considering she didn't know him.

"Thank you, I won't bother your pup." He said as his eyes came back to look at her own. "I'm Mortar by the way." He said before slinking along the wall away from her (and the entrance to the cathedral) to give her more space so they both felt more comfortable.

"SPEAK"

She didn't miss how his eyes proved over her pelt and she shifted uncomfortably with the feeling that he was gawking at the alien woman that sat before him. She also didn't miss how quickly he looked away when he saw her leg. Did it look too horrid to him? Was she disgusting? Or perhaps he thought if he stared she would curse him. If she could curse those around that did think it was a curse though she would in a heartbeat. They had caused her so much pain over her life that she just wanted them all to know how it felt.

Her ears pinned as she watched this giant of a man move. Of course all were usually giants compared to her. Even Aten might dwarf her one day.

The man's words of not bothering Aten were in her opinion, empty promises. Normal wolves just couldn't really be trusted. But she gave a stiff nod anyway. And to his introduction she gave her own. "Desdemona and my child is Aten." she was quiet still and she looked away from him then, to the floor next to her, turning her head to make it easier. She was uncomfortable with not knowing what he saw her leg as, and even with not knowing him enough to know what was truth and what was a lie. She tried not to show it but was certain it must show on her somehow.

Well this wasn't awkward at all. Being trapped in a place with a strange and nervous female wasn't his idea of a good time and it was making him anxious. An involuntary shudder left him as a cold chill went up his spine. He really wasn't fond of the north and its temperatures and coming up here in the dead of winter hadn't been a bright idea on his part. He was just lucky he'd found this place, awkwardness or not, or else he hated to think what he'd look like now. Probably stuck, buried in layers and layers of snow, freezing to death. Spring would eventually roll around and he'd thaw out from being a living icicle and Delaney would never see him again.

He stopped walking and ears flicked towards the woman as she introduced herself and her kid. If it'd been under normal circumstances he was sure that he would have enjoyed meeting them both, but his life was hardly normal anymore.

For the most part Mortar occupied his eyes by looking around him by pretending to be interested in his surroundings. Really only one question burned into his mind. What had happened to her leg? Had someone or something bit it off? The thought made him sick to his stomach. Who would do that? He understood a fight for survival, but it seemed like biting her leg off would have been nothing but malicious. She hadn't been hostile to him yet, not really, and she was tiny and as nervous as him. He couldn't see her getting into any kind of fight.

"Um..." He started off, inwardly cringing as he turned to look at her again. "Can I ask what happened to your leg?" He couldn't stop the curiosity.

"SPEAK"