His pain issues were definitely beginning to ease off. But after they’d eased, he was beginning to realize his center of balance was… off. Different. So now, he was learning to balance himself again. The pain still occasionally speared through his legs or back, but the experiences were further and fewer between. Thank heavens. He was out on his own again, shoved out once more by Aurielle to explore and have some fun instead of training, and he was beginning to realize that it was a good thing. All the walking and climbing of terrain and hills was helping him re-center himself. He had found that he was taller. It was so very odd. He should have hit his peak height already, but here he was, having a growing spurt. He’d figured out the change in his height the moment he’d clonked his head on the ceiling of the den his mother had built, when he’d made the same movement, he’d been doing for seasons on his way out. Sitting up. He shook his head. First Aurielle had begun glowing and gotten a new mark over her eye, and now he was growing again. But hey, maybe he’d manage to hit Artur’s height. He’d ventured east again. Aside from one experience, his ventures this direction had been pretty happy occurrences. First Ulric, and then Malalia. He was half hoping he’d bump into either one of them again. But for the time being, he was wading through a rather nasty snow storm at the base of a volcano that had disrupted a hell of a lot of lives last winter. It would have been bleak even without the snow. Last time he’d seen it the place had been a grey-scale image, desolate and dead, and depressing as hell. [Word Count: 297, just in case anyone wants to practice fighting in nasty snowy weather for the Fighting Seasonal. Could also turn it into a predator fight instead :P] Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Hear" ---- Think

[Just gonna snag this reallllllllll quick before someone else does lol, but we can finish willows first if you want ^^]

The volcano was daunting. The mount itself was enormous, to be sure, as was the absolute stillness that encased it. Her ears strained, swiveling this way and that to capture  the slightest sound, and came up short. Only the crunch of her pads as they broke through the layer of snow, and came up muddied and blackened from the volcanic debris that lay underneath; only the sound of her breath filled the unnatural silence. She let her gaze drift here and there, and she only saw the volcano. There were no living trees in sight, no underbrush, nothing to house prey or predator. Everything had been burned away, long before she came to Boreas, and only ice-encrusted heaps remained.

She'd only come this way following the path of the rivers that fed into the hot springs. The woods had grown progressively quieter, the grass dying away until, at last, she'd come to the foot of the mountain. Though Ashen had moved their territory since the eruption, Mal had yet to meet anyone personally affected by the eruption. The event was largely unknown to her... Still. The absolute desolation here could not help but tug at her senses, dull her spirits. A sense of wrongness prickled beneath her pelt, causing her hackles to rise despite no indication of danger.

She picked her way through the ruins. She blinked, the wind stirring, drifting across her nose, and suddenly she was alert for a very different reason. The girl lifted her head and turned slightly to the east of where she was now, seeing a figure much farther ahead of her. Her voice called out against the stillness -- "Cai?" She took a few steps forward, one paw lifted above the earth. "Is that you?"

(289)
Total Word Count: 586

"Speech"

[Oh I'm more than happy to see where the Willows thread leads. I'm going to laugh if they somehow hit 100 posts with just the two of them. That thread is my all-time record for most posts between two characters in one thread xD But if you're wanting to bring it to a close that's okay, too ^^]

The wind was picking up, especially as he delved higher and higher. He found himself on a wide ledge, high enough in the mountain that the snow had gotten as deep as his hocks in places, especially where the wind had pushed it into drifts. He was contemplating turning back when a voice made him turn a lot quicker, complete with a slight stumble as he caught himself and rebalanced. He peered out and down to find a familiar figure. His tail, wind-buffeted and whipped, forced against the breeze as it wagged, his usual grin taking over as he called out to the girl. “Lia! How’ve you been?” It was good to see her, distant as she was down the trail. Grinning, he waited for her to catch up. After the bleak lifelessness of the surroundings, it was a relief to see another living thing. It was a pity he’d forgotten to bring what he’d been working on along. Then again, it wasn’t finished. Another light jolt of pain brought a soft hiss through his teeth, but he rode it out as he looked around at the desolate world the mountain had made for itself. He wasn’t sure how Ashen and the Armada could stand to live so close to that which had wrought such devastation, and could very well do so again. “It’s good to see you.” And he meant it. Word Count: 234 Total: 820 Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Hear" ---- Think

[ Nahhhhhh I wanna see how far it goes XD and Mal's definitely down to hang with Cai for as long as she can >.> ]

Mal smiled up at the man's familiar grin, and she lifted up a bit on her hindlegs, one paw tucked close to her chest while the other waved to him. She would've answered him, but the wind had strengthened in the seconds that they'd found each other. She cocked her head towards the path before her -- I'll come up to you! -- and threw her paws down as she loped towards the trail, the black tip of her tail stark against an otherwise pristine snowscape.

The snow only deepened as she moved higher. Her belly brushed against a sudden drift, catching ice crystals here and there. Later, she would need to pick out the frozen clumps that clung to her tangled, matted fur. A tedious job, perhaps, but she wasn't thinking about that now. Malalia bundled as fast as she could through the deepening layers of snow, kicking up flurries as she made her way up to the chocolate man. "I'm gonna get youuuuuuuuu," she hummed.

It was a decent while before she actually reached the ledge, however. When she got there, she went to bump her cold nose against his shoulder to say hello, her tail sweeping rapidly behind her. "I've been great! It's great to see you, too!" She would've dove into the details, but something was just a bit off about her angle when she bumped into him, expecting to be higher.

Malalia stepped back and took a very long look at her companion. "Ummmmm." She circled the man, sniffing suspiciously before raising a brow point in his direction. "Last time I checked you were older than me. You didn't... grow, did you?" Just a season away from her second year, Mal had reached her full height a while ago. She assumed all wolves did.... then again, maybe that was another strange thing about this land. Glowing wolves, and adult growth spurts -- just the usual.

(321)
Total Word Count: 1141

"Speech"

He had to grin a bit as he watched Malalia, with her shorter frame, barrel her way through the snow after her wave of greeting, a soft chuckle puffing free of his jaws and quickly stolen by the wind. He dropped into a half play bow at that hum, tail swaying over his hips before he straightened. He welcomed her nose bump to the shoulder was a casual, friendly drape of the paw over her shoulders in an easy hug before she pulled away and circled him curiously. Ahhh, that was it. He had to laugh a bit. He wasn’t sure even his own littermates had noticed the subtle shift in his height. Hell, he hadn’t realized it until the morning he’d clonked his head in the dead when he shouldn’t have. Before, sitting straight up, his head had barely brushed the ceiling of his little nook in the den, and his ears would have been pressed down to the sides. Now he had to lower his head. It was a change, definitely, but he’d get used to it. Now, he grinned down at her and nodded. “Apparently, I have grown. It started this winter. Woke up with the most awful pains. Like bone deep. It’s like growing spurt pain but quadrupled pain level. I’ve gotten used to ignoring it and pushing through, but I think it’s easing now.” He chuckled to himself, adding, “Strange times. Maybe the volcano’s to blame, eh? Maybe when it blew it sent something other than ash into the air.” His head cocked and he gave her a toothy grin. “Have you ever fought in deep snow?” Word Count: 272 Total: 1413 Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Hear" ---- Think

"Yikes." Mala winced apologetically for his plight. She knew how uncomfortable growth spurts were. Something four times worse than the norm was bound to be teeth-grinding, and the man was already huge. "Well, nothing you can do but smile," she grinned, recalling their conversation from last season. "And hey, at least you'll get the extra height out of it." Mal couldn't say the same. Puberty had smoothed the chubby toddler into something taller and more nimble, when she was younger, though her own growth spurt had come after her siblings and had been hell on her back. And after all of it, she was left as the shortest of the trio.

"In all serious, though, that sucks. I can't imagine it's very fun going through a second puberty." If only she'd gotten a satchel like she'd wanted, she might've had something to offer the man for his pain. As it was, training for Reaper was vigorous and never ending, and she hadn't had the time or mental energy to seek one out or make her own.

Mal chuckled gently at the mention of magical ash. "Who knows? With everything I've seen around here, I wouldn't doubt it." Her following grin was a twin to his own. "No. You're not asking for a spar, are you?" She wiggled her brows.

(219)
Total Word Count: 1632/1500

"Speech"

He chuckled at her reminder of their past conversation, tail wagging easily. “There was plenty of cursing. I even dragged myself all the way to the hot springs. It did help a bit.” He smiled gratefully at her sympathy, the grin returning in force as he bounced into a slight play stance, though it was definitely a defensive one as he drawled, accent playing through his words, “I miiight be.” He launched himself at her, playfully flicking a front paw topped with snow, aiming to send the ball into her face as a distraction. His bulk was short after it, forelimbs aiming to snag around her neck in a bearhug and twist to the side, seeking to topple the smaller wolf in the hug if he captured her. It was definitely different in the deep snow. He had to bound to run, rather than sprint flat out. Not only that, he was getting the full force of the growing snow-storm in the face, and aimed to shift them so she was getting it instead. His tail waved gaily behind him, visible enjoyment on his face, though if she called it off, he’d stop at once. Word Count: 195 Total: 1827 Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Hear" ---- Think

[ As to your OOC from Willows -- definitely didn't forget! I've been bouncing around threads for a little while, sorry lol ]

She smiled widely at his admission of cursing. "Attaboy." She wasn't one to curse for the sake of cursing herself, but damn if it didn't feel nice every now and again.

Seeing his playful, yet defensive stance, her tail swung easily as she narrowed her eyes at him. But he was already coming for her. A snowball was summarily launched into her face, and Malalia spluttered uselessly as she tried to launch away from the coming freight train that was Cairo.

Not quick enough -- he successfully tackled her in a bearhug with his forepaws, and they twisted as they fell in a heap of snow. She was already twisting out of Cairo's grip. It was hard to get a grip on the snow, and she ended up vigorously shaking herself out of the man's hold and tumbling further into the face of the strengthening flurries. Her paws sunk into the layer of snow beneath them, and she had to put her full weight down so as not to slide around.

Pressing her forepaws into the snow, she turned to face him, the flurries at her back and hopefully facing him, now. Instead of sprinting like she usually did, she gave a war cry and dove, her chest colliding with the white earth, attempting to slide across the freshly fallen snow to take a swipe at his back ankles.

(229)
Total Word Count: 2056

"Speech"

[Quite alright lol]

Cairo gave the most un-manly giggle possible as his snowball smacked home. As they twisted into the snow, he released her and let himself flop back into the snow, only poking his head above it at her war cry and reacting swiftly. He rolled out of reach of her swipe and bounced back to his paws with a leap that sent him twisting to face her, his next leap very much like a fox after a lemming beneath the snow as he pounced, tail whipping… and yes, tongue lolling with a grin. Granted if it got any colder his spit would probably freeze before it hit the snow, but he was having fun. The snow hitting his face was still a stinging nuisance, but he could ignore it in the name of a playful brawl as he aimed to send her rolling with a shove of his shoulder into her hip, though he was careful to do so in such a way that if he succeeded, she’d roll toward the mountainside instead of over the edge of the mountain ledge they were playing on. Word Count: 184 Total: 2240 Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Hear" ---- Think

Ohhh ho ho, no you don't. She might have missed the swipe, but as he bounced back onto his paws, she swore she was going to land the next one. Landing neatly after her dive, she whirled around, ready to launch her second attack. She tried not to burst out in a fit of giggles as Cairo came towards her in the silly way he did, tongue lolling and all -- this was a serious fight! But her lips couldn't help but curl in a smile at his antics, her tail curling high behind her.

She swept forward, digging her forepaws inwards and coming back up to fling a wall of snow and ice up in the air. The sudden flurry, coupled with the snowstorm, would ideally conceal her path. Her hope was that he would think the move to be a diversion as she moved elsewhere -- to the left, the right, perhaps even trying to get behind him. But no, Malalia would barrel straight through, keeping the path she had been taking and sticking low, sidestepping his shoulder roll. Her aim was to barrel her weight through his hindlegs and knock him off balance.

(196)
Total Word Count: 2436

"Speech"

[ might be my last post before crashing ]

[... I love this big dork xD But he hasn't considered whether he's ticklish.]

Oho, he saw that little smile. That just added to his determination to make the girl burst out laughing. A memory clicked into place and that big grin caught a toothy glint to it. As she sidestepped, he slammed on his brakes, skidding slightly on a patch of ice hidden in the snow as he wheeled, catching himself and diving low to nip just behind her left foreleg, not aiming to hurt, but definitely after the objective as his tail flagged cheerily over his hips and he wheeled away regardless of any success of “attack”. Then he bolted, just in case he had landed the nip and gotten the expected response, a laugh escaping over his shoulder as he bounced in great leaps through the deep snow, up the trail to another wide mountain ledge where he spun to face back down the trail, rump in the air – mind, into the wind, so that was damn cold – and front legs spraddled out in front in a big boy , eyes glinting in challenge. Word Count: 173 Total: 2609 Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Hear" ---- Think

Cairo was as quick as he'd always been, and Mal cursed under her breath at the missed move -- before a tickling sensation made her yelp in laughter and surprise as the man went to nip lightly at her left foreleg. She jerked up the limb, having about half a second to land her eyes on him before he bolted, crashing away from her through the snow. Her ears pinned straight to her head as she immediately gave chase. "Hey! Fight fair!" She tried to imbue some sternness into her tone, furrowing her brow at the dirty trick he'd just played, but the girl hardly had any anger in her.

She might have been faster than him on land (jury was still out on that), but she certainly wasn't in the snow. While his height gave him an edge as he bounded through the drifts, she had to jump-crawl-push herself through the fluffy stuff that was further and further reaching up her legs. But with a burst of determination, she went straight for the kill, leaping up in an attempt to tackle the boy head on and wipe that infuriating grin off his face. The move was all feeling, though, and no strategy.

(203)
Total Word Count: 2812

"Speech"

[ i guess i'm still here XD]

His tail wagged harder as she barreled toward him with all the determination a smaller form could hold. He wasn’t done yet, but braced as she leapt into her tackle. He let her land, and found his head somewhere around her sternum, her forelegs straddling his shoulders and, in that moment, he sought to enact his quickly formed plan. He sought to rear, aiming to scoop the smaller wolf into the air with a flip of his head as he went vertical on his back legs. He was quick to drop back to his fours and twist to pounce at the girl, indomitable grin panting a playful laugh into the air in cloudy puffs of air. Word Count: 116 Total: 2928 Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Hear" ---- Think

If she were really thinking it through, Mal wouldn't have expected to land. When she did, however, her ears lifted, tail whipping from disbelief and a sudden wave of triumph that flooded through her. "HA!" She’d made the hit!

That feeling was short-lived, of course, because she didn’t pack nearly enough weight to give the man any trouble, especially when he was braced for her attack. All at once, she was weightless. Cairo had swept her into the air, her legs kicking freely underneath her while he reared into a two-legged stance. She landed with a thump, and no time to spare as Cairo pounced for her.

Jeez, it seemed like she’d never get the upper hand on this guy…

Thinking up a plan, she let him crash into her, letting her body go limp as she tumbled to the ground. She shuddered a little more than was necessary, her face buried in the snow, tail curled underneath her and ears pinned back on her skull. A pitiful sounding whimper escaped her, which she tried to make sound as genuine as possible.

If he fell for it, and came to see if she was okay, she would wait until he was close enough to spring upwards and bop him in the nose with both forepaws, before dashing out of range.

(217)
Total Word Count: 3145

"Speech"

He was utterly successful in tossing his friend into the snow, and in pouncing her. And she was utterly successful in her tactic. The play went out of him at the first keening noise, ears perking forward as he caught it, then dropping back as he dropped his head low enough to take a good sniff out of the – Womp! Paws whopped into his nose and startled him enough to emit a yip of surprise, tail bushing out before she dashed away. He tugged his face from the snow and stared after her in surprise that morphed into a relieved amusement as his rump plopped into the snow and he pointed at her. “For that, you win!” The surrender came with a laugh as he used that paw to wipe the snow from his face and grinned, tail sweeping a tail-angel in the snow. “By the way, I might have something for you back home. It’s almost finished.” Word Count: 158 Total: 3303 Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Hear" ---- Think

Her paws landed satisfyingly on his nose, and his yip was the sweet, sweet sound of success in her ears. Mal laughed as she sailed by, turning on her paws as she landed to stare at him from a distance, her breath clouding the air in front of her.

A win was a win, and hearing Cairo’s surrender drew a sharp grin and a happy little chuff as she bounded back his way, tail curled high. “Damn skippy I do!” She flopped down beside him, tail sweeping up the snow behind her as she smiled up at him, the gloating all too apparent in her expression.

When he said he had something for her, she was drawn to attention, ears flicking upwards as she regarded him with curiosity, and a hair of excitement. “You didn’t tell me you were gonna making me something! Honestly, I wasn’t even... sure I’d see you again so soon,” she laughed, her ears leveling with faint embarrassment. He lived all the way on the far west side of the continent, after all. As fondly as she remembered the Valhallan, she’d assumed their meeting was a one-off.

Gratefully, that wasn’t the case. “Soooo, what is it?” She poked his foreleg. “And when can I see it?”

(213)
Total Word Count: 3358

"Speech"

He grinned at her gloating, a soft chuckle puffing free of his jaws, whipped away by the irritable snow storm that now lashed the flanks of Volkan. He’d still won in a way, even by conceding, because he’d gotten the girl laughing, and that was something he liked—making others happy and laughing. Still, the wind and ice were stinging through the fur on his ears, and as she prodded him, alight with curiosity, he grinned, eyes rolling to the sky as he rose to his paws, shaking the snow off his rump and tail as he moved and examined the mountainside, digging into the snow until he’d formed a large blockade that diverted the wind around it. There he flopped, a paw patting the ground as he smirked at him. “I think you’ll just have to visit and find out. We’ll call it a surprise. But I think – I hope – that you’ll like it and be able to get years of use out of it, wherever your life leads you.” He smiled lightly adding, “And once I make a friend, I try to meet them more than once.” Word Count: 189 Total: 3547 Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Hear" ---- Think

[ ooc: poor, poor Mal.... I know Cairo sees her as a friend but she's smitten lmao ]

Well, she certainly wasn't going to let him make the blockade all by himself, and Malalia dove in after him to pitch in. The barrage of ice tampered off as the structure grew, and she had to admit that the snow and wind stinging her face would not be missed. When they finished, Malalia curled tightly against the side of the wall, tail laying over her nose as she exhaled warmly onto her tucked paws.

Her eyes remained on Cairo, narrowing when he wouldn't reveal what he'd made. She flicked her tail away and put on her trademark puppy eyes: extra wide, extra sparkly edition. "Come onnnnnnnnnnnn," she pleaded. "Not even a hint?" She was really trying her best here. Though, the intrigue of a surprise was enticing, too, as well as the journey to Valhalla, and she soon relented, puppy eyes replaced with a toothy grin. "Ahh... fair enough. But thank you, in advance."

If it were possible, her tail was waving even harder, thumping audibly against the snow. Already, it sounded as if the man had put a lot of thought into this gift. She hadn't expected it, much less that he would remember her fondly enough to do something so kind.

"I'll keep that in mind," she responded, "Although you do realize you've just given me a pass to come knocking on your door all the time," she joked. She would plan to visit him, gifts or no, but her own training was keeping her busy enough, Between that and the distance, she figured see wouldn't see him again for a little while yet. "What brings you up here, anyway?"

(274)
Total Word Count: 3821

"Speech"

Cairo smirked as she tried those puppy-eyes on him again. It was tempting to cave, but who didn’t love a good surprise? “Nope! Not even one hint.” His tongue poked out at her as he snickered, tail tapping the ground, though the expression softened into that gentle smile as she accepted that she’d just have to see it when she saw it and thanked him in advance. At her remark, he grinned, chuckling as he retorted, “Oh I don’t mind one bit. I can let Aurielle know you might drop in from time to time.” At her question, his head cocked, half smiling, “Well, part of it is Aurielle threw me out to go exploring again, and then I put the travel to good use, getting used to my new center of gravity. And I was hoping you’d be around. And here ya are. Plus… it’s always good to see how the land’s repairing itself. Can’t say that it looks like it’s ready to do so here at the mountain itself yet.” His head swiveled, eyes scanning out toward the lower areas, though the storm really made it impossible to see more than thirty feet, at most. He could still remember the night this volcano erupted. The sullen fire in the night sky, visible even from the west. Word Count: 218 Total: 4039 Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Hear" ---- Think

Green eyes narrowed at his evil little snicker, but she only huffed, laughing as she accepted her fate. A visit to Valhalla it was then. She wondered when she could make the trip.

She really had been joking, but smiled when he freely opened his door to her. "Oh! I actually met Aurielle. She was on her way to talk to Sirius about this festival she was planning...." Sheepishly, she chuckled, remembering her own shock at the woman. "I kid you not, the first time I saw her, I actually thought she was about to escort me to the heavens or something," she admitted. And could you really blame her? The woman was literally glowing, Beautiful and terrifying and absolutely out of this world. Thankfully, she turned out to be a person just like the rest of them, and a very kind one at that.

"She knew my name and everything! But that was before she told me she was the Spirit Valhalla. Verrrry apt name, don't you think?" Mal threw an accusatory glance at the brute, who had ill-prepared her for the meeting. Probably another "surprise" of his, she guessed, because who didn't mention that their Alpha glowed like the moon?

Of course, Cairo had to go ahead and say that he was hoping she'd be around, and that just about did it for the girl. It was a wonder that she didn't explode into a ball of joy right there. Instead, for once, she softened, almost melting. She covered her nose with her tail again to hide her face.

Still, she didn't miss the way he stared out at the mountain below their little shelter. She remembered him saying that Ashen had moved.... the eruption must have been devastating to the life that surrounded it, and in worse ways, too. "I've never seen the mountain before," she hummed. "I wasn't even here when it erupted. But the further north I went, the... quieter it got." From forests that had yet to return to fully regrow, from the exodus of wildlife. "Eventually I ended up here."


(349)
Total Word Count: 4388

"Speech"