Tyrian bent and snuffed at the shoreline leading up to the ice bridge. This had not been here the last time he'd ventured north, he was sure of it. According to his father something similar had happened once on the southernmost part of Boreas; the land bridge leading to Auster had risen from the deep. Perhaps something similar had happened here, a delayed reaction to the volcano's eruption, maybe? The explosion had thrown debris far and wide, and the flows had reshaped the land for miles. There was some distance between the mountain at his back and the one that had erupted, but who was to say they weren't connected and that some underground pressure had found release in the icy waters of the north? Stranger things had happened. Speaking of, he'd heard rumor of a nasty spell casting witch... The wind beat against Tyrian with enough force to smother his breathing if he turned his head towards it and for many long moments he stood braced against it, forgetting his musing as he focused on standing firm. Finally it died down to a dull, pushy roar and he was able to turn back to the bridge ahead. Now more than ever he was grateful for his polar bear cape. Without it even the thickest of fur wouldn't have protected him from the elements. He licked his lips and regretted it immediately, his displeasure at the instant freeze manifesting as a deep frown. That was a good reminder about the peril ahead as he weighed his options. But, he'd come this far, hadn't he? It would be a long, cold trek home regardless of whether or not he poked around a bit first. It would have been wise to save the exploration for summer, but if he did that who was to say he wouldn't miss out on something happening now? Tyrian took a step forward and paused to get a feel for the slickness of the bridge. Feeling as though he had a sense of what was in store, he continued forward, intent on reaching the other side. If there was a new land at the end of it he was naming it Tyr for his troubles. ""

It was into the frightful cold that her journey took her. The fridget wind that tore through her thick coat was terrible. So much so, that she feared for the state of her wonderful tosh. And what a terrible loss it would be for the world if it no longer wiggled its way free and unharmed through it. She was beginning to think she followed the voices of madman, that had whispered of a stunning new sight at the edge of the world. Surely nothing was worth the sensation of her nostrils sticking together, or her claws... so cold they hid, shivering in their sheaths. Her coat was thicker then most. Its texture as luxurious as its colors, plush and deep enough to sink a muzzle into it. Yet, still she felt the bite of the cold and liked it not at all.

Her Kit, Spice, hid herself in as much of the wolfs beck fur as she could manage. Just her little head with its rack of antlers poking out between her ears. Her star-toned face looked about in awe at the white landscape, and the shape of the bridge that slowly began to manifest itself in front of them.

As they approached, a rise in the wind swept through them. Spice ducked her head down so fast her real antlers clattered against Keeties faux ones. The wolf froze in her tracks, tucking her tail around herself as she shivered against the biting brush of elements. When it calmed, she realized a white blob in front of her was no snow-covered bush. It moved. At first, she thought it a polar bear, and contemplated taking it on and stealing its coat (which would likely take so much time her toes would freeze off. If the bear. hadnt chewed then off at that point) a moment later, and she realized it moved with the stride of a wolf.

Huzzah! She perked up immediately. Forcing her froEn ears to rise and her tail to swish. Her frosty rump gave a proud wiggle. No matter how cold she was feeling, she would give and wolf a right snd proper showing. She began to move again, much more quickly this time. Racing haphazardly across the snowy terrain and towards the start of thr Bridge. When her paws touched it, she lost her grip and went skidding. Letting out a breathless (but very cute) noise of surprise as she slid right into the bear-coated wolf. "Oh!" She gasped, about to utter an apology, when his eyes found her. The light blue tone set in a gorgeous deep blue face wiped away all memory of what she had intended to say. Instead, she said once more "oh." But this time the tone was more sultry, almost throaty, if the cold hadn't stolen half its bluster.

"Speech"

Each step across the bridge was an exercise in maintaining balance. Every time he lifted or set down a foot Tyrian ran the risk of one or more feet getting away from him suddenly. The only time he felt safe was when all four paws were on the ground, because he could clench literally everything and stay upright that way. But alas, travel was mighty slow that way so careful stepping was all he could do. Tyrian had just placed a foot down when everything went sideways. The newly planted foot shot out from under him like a soaped duck and Tyrian suddenly found himself fighting for ground. His paws went this way and that, and try as he might his claws couldn't save him. He windmilled his tail and bucked around for several seconds as he battled the ice. If at all possible he wanted to avoid busting his ass and/or his chin on the ground, and he'd almost made up his mind to sacrifice his elbows when somehow he managed to get all four paws squarely under him again. His paws slid a little more and then blessedly he was still. He breathed a victorious sigh...and then boom he went down in a tangle of limbs as something blindsided him. Confused as to what had happened, Tyrian looked down and was surprised to see a very blue leg mixed among his. Clearly that didn't belong to him. He followed it up to its source and was surprised to find a a lovely pair of mismatched eyes looking back at him. The woman seemed just as surprised by the turn of events as he. Tyrian didn't miss the change in her tone as she realized who she was tangled with. Even though he was stinging in places from ice burn he couldn't help but smirk back at her. "Oh I'm sorry," he said, even though they both had to know it was her fault. "Didn't mean to trip you up." ""

Well she liked tangling her limbs with a hot stranger as much as the next person, too much of her was touching the icy bridge. She felt as through if she stayed there for more then a few moments, someone would have to ply her off with her antler rack. One of her forpaws had gotten caught around his, elegant star-blue against alluring slate. Between the two of them, they had a lot of leg. Shivering, cold and a little bruised from her fall, she grinned at him. Oh, what a gentleman. "Love, you can trip me up any time." Being the forward and open wolf she was, she leaned forward. Planting a kiss on his lovely, soft, and frosty cheeks. The lips that landed on his fur happened to have a touch of moisture against them. When she moved to pull away, the sudden resistance snapped her back. Holy hell, this freezing hell hole was a weird place to be in.

As she stared at him with wide eyes over the top of her frozen muzzle, her kit began to move. The little star cat creeped forward, letting out a chirpy 'mrrow' as she unapologetically placed a little paw above the bear-wolfs eye. Pushing against him to leverage herself, she lowered an antler. After a moment and a few kitty growls, she managed to ply the two wolves apart. All up it took only a few awkward minutes, and Keetie was free. She was sure that gorgeous bastard cat was laughing at her.

She liked eye candy and contact as much as the next person, but this was just getting ridiculous. She careful began the process of untangling herself. Well she did so, her dainty little kitten jumped from woman to man, and griped the edge of his bear coat with her teeth, lifting it up at the nape of its neck. With a bit of wiggling she slipped under head first. Moving until every bit of her from whisker to tail, had vanished beneath the thick, warm hide. She eyed the space Spice had vanished enviously as she finally disentangled herself. It was well past time she got her paws under her again.


"Speech"

Oh, oh so this was how it was going to be, huh? The woman was saucy right out of the gate and Tyrian, the budding narcissist he was, was all to happy to soak up the attention. He was, however, caught off guard by the frozen kiss. It started off nice and momentarily made him forget their frigid surroundings, but all too quickly lost its charm and beat him over the head - or rather, the cheek - with reality. It was so fucking cold the woman's lips froze to his face. The sudden, unexpected predicament was both hilarious and sobering. Being the sort to take things in stride he had no other recourse than to laugh at the absurdity and downplay the seriousness the instant freeze implied. "Any time, you say?" he asked, his breath momentarily hiding her gaze from his as he strode to make light of their predicament. "What if I'd rather capture you with a kiss?" It was a ridiculous thing to say, but this was a ridiculous situation. From over her head came a cat he hadn't seen until now. The creature was colored similarly and there possibly lay the reason he'd missed it. It stepped down over her face and boldly stuck a paw on his. He watched, getting slightly dizzy at looking down his nose at her, as the cat used an antler - he'd given up on marveling at weird already so Tyrian made no mind to that - to unstick the woman's lips. The cat apparently didn't work for free as it quickly slipped over his head and disappeared under his cape. Guess he had a cat now, which was fine, he'd add it to his menagerie. It was sure to make Righty jealous. He remained still as the woman wordlessly moved to break free of him. Tyrian hummed. "Going so soon? Here I was thinking we were hitting it off. How often can you say you've been frozen to someone? Surely that's a sign of something..." ""

He took it well, being frozen to a stranger by her muzzle. His line was pure gold, but her response could not come until she was pulled free. She took a moment first to daintily stretch her muzzle to release the tension of the freeze, and then she grinned, slowly at first. Testing the boundaries in this frigid temperature, and then she laughed softly. The huff of her breath clouding the space between them as much as his speech had.

“I like my kisses with a little heat….” she looked at him wrly, twisting her muzzle into a half smile as she shook out her stiff paws. “Sweetie, I wasn’t going anywhere. You're the only piece of warmth for miles, and being easy on the eyes only helps your case.” she promised him. Then, as through to make her point, she leaned lightly against him. Careful, because her footing still didn’t feel terribly sure, and she doubted his was much better. No doubt if she leaned too hard, they both find themselves stuck to the icy bridge in no time. She shuddered.

“I’m Keetie, and that lump under your coat is Spice.” she introduced them. Not bothering to give him her full name, just the parts she liked best. “I don’t suppose you have any more room under that tasty polar bear coat, and some information on this strange bridge, did you?” turns out she had a tall order, and wasn’t asking easy questions. She wanted warmth, she wanted answers, and she wanted to cozy up to Tall Dark and Handsome.

"Speech"

“I like my kisses with a little heat….” This statement pulled a throaty hum from him. Welp, that was it. He didn't care if he froze to death out here. He needed to get to know this woman. After a beat Tyrian too got to his paws. While it was safer on the ground as his chances of busting his ass or his chin on the ice were minimized, if he stayed down he was liable to freeze those parts instead. It was a lose/lose situation made better only by the presence of a beautiful and saucy woman. And, he supposed, by her cat companion whose chilly feet were like little icicles on his nape. She leaned against him lightly and he had to fight to both not slide and to appear as though he wasn't struggling to stay upright. It was a tough order, but he was determined and for the moment able to hold his ground. Time was a merciless bitch though and every second that ticked by was one closer, most likely, to him face planting. Which meant he needed to make them all count. Keetie and Spice. How delicious. In truth the woman could have introduced herself as anything and he'd have thought it a lovely name simply because she herself was so easy on the eyes. Tyrian was willing to bet she made everything brighter and more sexy with her presence alone. "Yeah? I'm Tyrian and uh," he smirked, "If this," he gestured broadly, indicating the whole situation thus far. "Passes as a greeting for you I can't wait to get to know you better." As for his cape... "For you my dear, of course. The catch, however, is that you have to explore the bridge with me." His eyes went up in thought for a second before darting back to her impishly. "Which I suppose you would have to do anyway since I have your cat." ""

They weren’t walking yet, but the both of them seemed to be successfully completing the art of standing without falling on their rumps (again). Side by side, she was pleased to see that Tyrian was of equal height to the star-wolf. She liked the little pocket sized wolves of this world just fine, but sometimes she wanted to lean against some broad shoulders without needing to crouch first.

Taking a moment to study him, she would see the cute little incisors sticking from his maw, and a light flecking of dots beneath his eyes. She had seen him before, in passing, but even a hint of his striking face had stuck in her memory. She frowned for a moment, and then it dawned on her. ”Jupiters bachelor party! You were there, right?”

She flicked her tail at him, her grin sultry and warm. “Just wait until I can lean against you without playing ‘knock over the wolf’ “ she warned him, she lifted one brow at him in suggestion, and her tail flicked lightly against his rump. She couldn’t help it, he was far too cute not to tease.

At his suggestion, her brows climbed a little more. “I suppose I can take you up on that offer. “ His impish smile was worth the cold. Damn, but he was fine to look at.
“I suppose I’ll want Spice back, eventually.” she wiggled her butt against him. It was an order, telling him to cover her shivering body beneath the warmth of his polar bear hide. Her feline-like claws dug into the ice as best they could, giving herself some stability, even if her toes were freezing. She was ready to adventure.

"Speech"

Taken aback suddenly by her revelation Tyrian blinked in surprise. Elements of that night were a bit hazy for him, but come to think of it he did remember catching sight of - and making note of - a beautiful blue woman. Tyrian's smirk returned in an instance. "More than that, I helped put it together." That was only a little bit of a lie. He'd supervised Jupiter's antics and walked with him to the party grounds. That had to count for something, right? “Just wait until I can lean against you without playing ‘knock over the wolf’.“ She was quite forward and Tyrian couldn't get enough of it. His smirk deepened. "Is that a promise?" If they managed to reach the end of this bridge without freezing to death or getting swept off it would be a miracle, so surely some celebrating would be in order. It was only right. Keetie pushed her butt up against him, clearly trying to get him to cover her up, but the temptation to cover her another way prickled the back of his mind. Tyrian had to remind himself they were on a slick bridge out in the sort of temperatures that froze a simple kiss. The last thing he wanted was to have to have that cat pry other parts of him off the ice. Dutifully he lifted the edge of the cape and threw it over Keetie's shoulder. It covered both of their backs well enough, but now his opposing side was exposed and cooling quickly. To make up for it he leaned against Keetie, ensuring the blanketed side stayed toasty. "Shall we? I'd like to see what's on the other side of this thing." ""

Well Tall Dark and Handsome kept getting more and more interesting. Turned out, he knew how to throw a party. She had gotten more than a few kisses that night. The party had been well put together, giving off the right kind of atmosphere to encourage lovers. It had been Keetie’s kind of thing. Perhaps it was worth sticking around Tyrian for more than just a day or two. Perhaps even three.

“Tell you what, love. Escort me across this bridge and keep me nice and toasty, and I'll heat you up later.” She promised him, the look he was giving her made her wonder if she needed to fend him off with her faux antlers. She was not going to become a frosty statue on this bridge because some hot guy couldn’t keep it in his coat.

He flicked the coat over her, and there was a disgruntled “grr” from beneath his coat as a certain cat felt the cold wind with the movement. She fought the urge to stick her tongue out at Spice, and instead sidled up to Ty. He pressed against her, and she let out a soft contented sound like a ‘purr’ “I never thought I’d feel warmth again.” she admitted, and his side felt rather nice against her. Keeping her claws out, and leaning against her handsome stranger, she knew it would take a bit of a balancing act to make this trip. “Lets” she agreed, and displayed an intimate knowledge of rhythms. Keeping her stride equal to his as they found their balance together well moving.

"Speech"

Fuck him sideways this woman was something else! She knew exactly how to toy with him. Was he so easy? Okay that was a terrible question. Of course he was, but did she have to make it so obvious? More importantly...did he really care? Nah, the chance of cozying up somewhere and getting warm in an ice storm with this beautiful woman was far too tempting. "No?" he asked, as she mentioned fearing never being warm again directly on the heels of promising to warm him up later. "If it wasn't so warm on my back I might be tempted to be offended," he teased. "Losing to a dead bear and all would be hard on the male psyche. But I am far too grateful for its warmth to care at the moment." As one they began to move across the bridge. The wind was ferocious as ever, and leaning against someone was both a help and a hindrance at times. If he stumbled she was there to (probably unwillingly) catch him and vice versa. Tyrian half wondered if he should keep an eye on her antlers lest she catch him unawares and accidentally skewer him. "What do you think is out there?" ""

She snorted at him, and felt the tickle of Spice’s antlers as she leaned over Ty’s back. At least she got to be fully enclosed and fully snug against a broad-back wolf. “Love, you're far more pleasant on the eyes then a dead skin. It’s your warmth under here that I'm enjoying, after all.” She pointed out to him. Besides, this wasn’t the same kind of heat she had been referring to. She glanced across at him and up through her lashes, teasing, inviting. It was probably going to be a long journey before they got that promised snuggle. She was going to tease him relentlessly until they got there.

They shuffled along across the bridge together, into the biting cold of the North. Her toes were still shivering, and a lot of her wasn’t fully covered by the coat, but she had some heat to press against. It was an unexpected luxury in the wintery north. “Honestly? This probably just leads to a big ‘ol iceberg or something. What do you think?” her thoughts weren’t terribly exciting, but they were only heading further into chillier territory. This wasn’t like the land bridge down in the South. This was an ice bridge to ice places. That meant icebergs, right? She hoped he had some more interesting theories. “And well you're at it, Tyrian - she rolled his name about her tongue for a moment, before continuing on- “Tell me more about yourself. Give me an idea behind Tall Dark and Handsome other than as someone that throws a killer party.”

"Speech"

Ah, she had a point and was taking him more serious than he'd anticipated, which meant he had no other choice but to fold. Tyrian rolled his eyes as though fighting his agreement and then nodded. "Mmm, that is true, it is all me under here." You're welcome and all that. Tyrian groaned when she mentioned the bridge leading to an iceberg. "Oooh lord, bite your tongue. Don't say such a terrible thing! If there is only an iceberg at the end of this I will pitch the biggest bitch fit Boreas has ever seen." He shook his head, aghast at the thought. The promise to tantrum was only just exaggerated. He'd have a bone to pick with whatever god had plopped this new shiny toy in front of them and let their imagination run wild. "And possesses a killer bear cape, don't forget that," he corrected her airily. "Let's see...I am alpha of Fireside, possessor of sheep and connoisseur of," he made a point of side-eying her appreciatively. "Exquisite things. You?" ""

“Every last inch of warm tasty good looking you, yes” She agreed, a velvety laugh following the statement. She dearly wished she could have taken him away and found a little cave and curled up in his warm rich fur. After some exercise, and many, many kisses, of course. Instead, she had a promise to keep, and a bridge to explore.

She had to laugh at his dramatic reaction to what she thought was at the end of this ‘rainbow’ “Please, no, not a fit, anything but that. Babies don't get kisses.” of course, watching him break down would have some amusing factors. Like watching the tears stick to his face, and then his paws to the ice. The big baby.

“Killer party, and killer cape. Being an alpha and sheep-watcher sounds like a different sort of wolf all together.” she teased him. “But I wouldn’t mind meeting your sheep some day, are they accustomed to you and friendly? Do you collect their wool. Ohhh… make me a wool coat, won’t you Mr Alpha?” she was teasing but, she meant no insult. Her eyes were warm. She thought he was terribly cute. With his bad ass image, and little baby sheep.

She purred at his last statement. “I do like fine things, Ty. Like tasting the kisses of handsome alphas.” she wondered if he had anything in his possession worth giving her a look at. She loved things that pleased the eye, she was a terribly vain beast.

"Speech"

He frowned as though put out by her words and groused back, "Not even big beautiful babies?" It was all an act, of course. A little self depreciation never hurt anyone, right? As long as she understood he wasn't to be taken seriously they would continue to get along like fire and pine. And it seemed, based on their exchange so far, that he wasn't in any danger of being misunderstood. "You are not the first person to say that," he groused some more. He was going to have to stop introducing himself as an alpha if this was going to be the reaction. He couldn't be fun and and alpha? Were alphas normally stuffy? He wouldn't know. His older brother was the only other alpha he had any real experience with and Chaos was...well he could never be described as stuffy, that was for sure. "And all I can as a defense is that clearly you don't know any good alphas. Or herders." As for the rest of her questions... "Some of them are friendly. Others the best I can say about them is that they are approachable. Yes to the wool and," he shot her a look, "I'll make you a coat but you have to come get it." He hummed in response to her final quip. "If I wasn't so afraid of needing the cat's help again I'd oblige ya. But I'm betting she's only willing to help out so many times before she leaves us to our fate, hm?" ""

“I haven’t been convinced yet, but i’m always open to a change of mind.” definitely a big baby. She bumped lightly against him, careful to dig her claws into the ice in case he decided to take a tumble from a little wee push.

“Actually, I don’t know any alphas. Maybe that's the problem, all stern figures in the distance. Don’t worry, you look like you know how to have fun.” her family was big, but had never been the settle down and have a home sort of people. They all liked to explore, adventure, seek out fun, and love. Lots, and lots of love. “ Well I know one now, Mr Charming Alpha-herder.” click, click, click as her claws touched daintily down on ice. Warmth, from Ty, as she leaned against him. The soft purring from Spice as she slept snug as a bug in Ty’s coat. She could almost forget the freezing cold, and the strange land bridge. She was here for the company now, not this haphazard highway to nowhere.

She huffed a put-upon sigh at one of his statements. “Fine, but don’t expect me to stick around too long. I don’t know much about Alphas, but i’m pretty sure they like to collect wolves and keep them. I have far too much to see, and kisses to rate.” She warned him. “We’ll call this a kiss owed. I’m counting, and I warn you, I’ll be collecting.” he looked like his kisses would be passionate, heaty things. Full of throaty laughs, and good times. Not a wolf that took himself too seriously.

"Speech"

It was time for him to feign offense again. He was doing that a lot lately. "No need to call me out like that, ouch." He waited a beat, just long enough for her to think that was the end of that, and then he teased, "So you can't be tempted to join my collection? Not even for the promise of endless wool coats and unfrozen kisses?" The wind picked up just then to the point that it took Tyrian's breath away. He paused and braced against it, but quickly realized it was a losing battle. There was only one solution. Tyrian bumped Keetie and motioned for her to lay down. The ice would be miserable on their bellies but it beat getting smothered by the wind. Once she did as he directed Tyrian would pull the top of the cape down over their heads. ""

It was too easy to laugh with Ty, normally things would have reached the kissing part long before now. A lot less talk happened after that, then the getting funky under bear coats, and then going separate ways. It was strangely nice to chat with the man, and tease him relentlessly.

“I’m a prize, but I'm no one's possession. Sorry hot stuff, your collection will always be without this masterpiece” she lifted a paw and waved it up and down to indicate herself. Almost slipping on the ice in the doing, and knocking against Ty with a soft snort of laughter.

By the time she had steadied herself, they had both fallen silent. The wind that raced across the ice bridge was very unwelcoming. Like the voice of the North, warning them away. She shivered, her teeth chattering at the fresh bout of coldness that came with it. It was a good thing Ty bumped her, she was so busy being cold she had almost forgotten he was there. She glanced at him, and then followed his direction, laying on the ice increased her chattering teeth, until he pulled the bear coat over both their heads.

She blinked a few times to get used to the gloom created by the cover, and enforced by the wind. She looked into the cool blue of his eyes, and took in a deep breath. It was nice to breath, even if her rump felt like it was going to fall off, it was so cold. She crept closer to Ty, then closer, until she was leaning so much against him, she was half on top of him. shit that wind was cold. “W-w-who’s idea was this again?” damn teeth needed to stop trying to jump out of her jums. “o-h-h-h-h righ-t-t-t. Five more kisses owed.” she managed to get out, then buried her muzzle in the fur of his neck. Almost knocking into an antler - she had all but forgotten that Spice was there.

"Speech"

Balls, this was cold. Including, now that he thought about it, his actual balls. Maybe he shouldn't have put his head under the cape after all. Ah priorities. The one good thing about this fresh layer of hell was that he was stuck face to face with Keetie. Never mind that their asses were freezing; they could make eyes at each other and that's what really mattered. Keetie pushed at him like she was trying to crawl into his skin; something that might have been uncomfortable had he not be equally desperate for warmth. If she wanted to climb inside she was welcome; the more hot bodies the merrier. Soon he too was shivering, his saber teeth  bobbing up and down as his teeth chattered. Determined to still be funny, he held up a correcting paw. "Whoa, whoa, w-whoa." He paused to shiver violently. "How did we get to f-five? N-Not that I'm complaining..." Tyrian had to jerk his to the side as one of Keetie's antlers suddenly loomed near one of his eyes. He appreciated her wrapping around his neck and all, but he rather liked his eyes unpoked. ""

The warmth of their breath was slowly steaming up the air under the bear cover, so at least her teeth were slowing their chattering. She started to take smaller breaths, wondering how long the wind was going to keep blowing. At least she was sharing body warmth, she had as much of herself as she physically could touching Ty now. She wondered if he would object if she tried to climb on top of him. She would rather be touching fur then ice right now. She glanced towards him speculative for a moment, and her maw twitched with a grin.

She came away from his neck, and nipped at the offending paw he waved at her. “This trip was your idea, every time my teeth shiver, I'm adding another kiss.” she explained to him. Realising the antlers were hindering and not helping, she fiddled with the clip, and brushed them back so they faced down her spine. It allowed her to get closer yet to him. Her face was, at this point, very close to his. Breathing in the space around his lips, feeling the brush of warm air every time he exhaled. Mmm, warmth. Now she wasn’t sure if he was the hottest thing she had ever seen to date, or the cold was messing with her head. Her duo-toned eyes danced at him, smouldering. It was a very strange experience, her head was toasty, her back was warm, and her butt was colder than a witches britches.

"Speech"