Zosime Drakos She was in an extremely foul mood, traipsing through so many snow drifts and frankly freezing her ass off had not been on her agenda. Where ever the fuck Odyssia and Rhaegath had run off to she had no fucking clue, but tracking them down had yielded a big pile of shit. Here she was finding herself not only without two of the Spartans she was to follow, but now also with a wet ass and cold to boot. What the fuck those idiots who spoke of this gods forsaken land were thinking she had no fucking clue. Here it was spring and yet the fucking desert had a layer of snow. Whenever she found those two she had half a mind to bite their ears off for just up and leaving her behind, but that would get her ears cuffed and she really wasn't in the mood for her ears to hurt any more than the cold weather had them hurting. She pinned her ears as she bounded from the snowdrift she had tumbled down into. Snow clung to her downy fur and clumped up in places. This was gonna be a pain in her ass, not that her tail already wasn't. Her toes and ears had gone numb a while back. This was worse than worse. Relief was in sight though as she bounced through the snow with determination on her face, it was the determination she put into her lessons and training. There was a cave up ahead and she was sure she could get in there and get a fire going maybe. In her mouth clutched tight was a somewhat large tree branch she had ripped from a tree. She figured there3 had to be rocks in there so there was no need to find a flint to light it with out there where everything was wet and frozen. She bounded into the cave with a final jump, landing squarely and shaking her pelt out. this was at least going to block the draft and winds from the sides, and if she went deep enough it had to be warmer if she couldn't get a fire started close to the entrance. She was sure her nose was never going to smell again from how numb it was. She padded in, shaking her feet with every step, looking like someone had shoved socks on her with the caked on snow. If those two hadn't of taken off she wouldn't have this fucking problem. She dropped her branch and started her search for a good pair of stones. If there was one thing she had been good at it was learning, so hey at least she had that going for her. After about five minutes of searching and coming up with dick shit she huffed and sat near her branch. "Fucking bullshit...." She gave a good kick to the branch taking out her irritation at the world cursing her on it. Her hair was fluffed up and she was sure it was stuck in that way. Strut my stuff "Hear me roar"

He was over the amount of snow these lands yielded. He found he had developed an even deeper hatred for the cold white fluff that seemed to coat quite literally everything. What the fuck was wrong with this place? The fact he still hadn't found Odyssia yet either had him more that pissed off and to top it off her had no idea where Zosime was either. He would tell himself he didn't care about her welfare at all, but she'd grown on him a tiny bit since the Spartans had taken her in. To have her die when she was supposed to be traveling with them would be an offense to his own pride. She was still under a yearling, even if he knew better than anybody that she could be tough as nails and match his own anger when she was riled up. Which happened to be most of the time. He had yet to meet another soul like himself who just radiated waves of "fuck off". Tracking her down was proving to be easier than Odyssia though. Where the older woman was who knows where he had a roundabout idea as to where Zo could be. She hadn't been too far away when they'd gotten separated he temporarily ditched her. He found himself still in the western region of these lands when he came across her scent. It was faint and quickly fading with the snow covering her scent, but her tracks had been relatively fresh. It didn't take him long to find to snow drift which she'd fallen in. He took note of the deepened hole and a glimmer of amusement flashed in his eyes. Boy was she going to be pissed. He tracked her a little farther until the mouth of a cave caught his attention with. Her paw prints led right inside and that's exactly where he went. He came to the mouth of the cavern and peered inside to let his eyes adjust. Golden eyes zeroed in on the pup's angry form as she kicked a stick. A sneer plastered itself to his face as he traipsed into the cave like he owned the place. "Now what did that poor stick do to you, Squirt?" He said in a teasing tone. Walk, "Talk" Think

As if on cue one of her irritations entered the scene. Her face said it all as she glared at him, she was not amused at the nickname or the quip from the yearling. His teasing if he had been attempting to quell her mood did anything but. She pressed her ears back a moment debating whether he even deserved an answer from her. In the end what he got back was an irritable bite of words, "Well if it ain't Frost ass... I'd ask where you were but I don't give two shits." She gave a sort as if to punctuate the words and her own smirk at the nickname.

The wind whipped into the cave and she glanced out past him. Looked like the snow was about to get worse. Just fucking great. "Fuck us...." It was under her breath and she stood giving a small look at Rhaegath before turning her back to him and stalking further in. They were going to have to stick it out here she guessed.

The older boy was probably lucky she wasn't a tattle-tale else he would probably have someone's wrath to deal with. Likely Odyssia's. She stalked towards the back of the cave or where there should be an end to it, but what her eye found was a dim glow emanating from deeper inside the cave. Her paws stopped her and she stared in wonder at it, all previous irritation dropped for the moment. "Rhaegath, get your frozen ass back here...." She padded forwards cautiously. Her spinal fur was on end as she moved forward. She could hear the wind outside but it was utterly silent inside this cavern otherwise. She hadn't delved to deep before but with an impending winter storm she figured they might as well go in pretty deep or at least figure out if something else had this cavern occupied.

Strut my stuff"Hear me roar"

His eyes lit ablaze with amusement as she scowled at him. Getting under her skin was just about one of his favorite games to play with her. Of course, with the mouth on her she always managed to get under his too. It was definitely a hate/hate relationship with the two of them. A game to see who could say the most hurtful thing to one another. For a pup, she certainly impressed him above most when it came to how big of an angry little shit she could be. Her foul mouth just about equaled his own. In fact, he was sure the aging child could surpass him. It probably wasn't a crowning achievement for some, but he supposed it was why he tolerated her presence more than most. She wasn't normal. His ears twitched as she called him Frost ass and he scowled deeply, the mirth vanishing quickly from his eyes. "That's the last time I tell you anything, fucking carrion face." He shot back with a snarl. He'd made the mistake of telling her how he'd lost the entirety of his tail and she obviously wasn't going to let him live it down any time soon. He wasn't even sure his death threats to silence her to secrecy would work, but if she ever told a soul he might very well just try to impale her with his horns. Just as he was about to remind her of that fact, the wind whipped through the opening of the cave and the large male involuntarily shuddered as the cold pierced completely through his thin coat. A growl escaped from him and he barely registered as Zosime said anything. It seemed like mother nature was out for blood. They couldn't even seem to escape the weather from here. He trailed slowly behind her as she got up to go further to the back of the cave. It wasn't until she told him to get his ass up there that his pace quickened. It did beat getting beaten and battered by the wind near the entrance. His own fur was on end as he trotted to catch up with her. A growl caught in his throat as he was ready to fight whatever had startled her, but in the end he realized it wasn't a who that had done so. Golden eyes glanced around at the blue glow that stemmed from further in the cave. He spared Zo a glance before looking forward again. "I suppose we're gonna go find out what that is?" Walk, "Talk" Think

Honestly Rhaegath was very lucky he was basically like family to the young woman. As for his lessons in manners, well she supposed not all could be as smart and studious as she was. Gods above he was irritating, like seriously. She honestly wanted to show him just what her overgrown teeth were for sometimes. Rhae's comment at her face wasn't exactly an insult though, she had been called worse. She knew he could do better, and she also knew the underlying threat he would likely make at her favorite pet name for his tailless ass. It really wouldn't bother her either.

As they made their way further into the odd and surprisingly creepy glowing cave his question came, earning him a snort of indignation. "Obviously, or did your kudu father give you his fear too? Gonna stand there and stare like a deer?" She smirked at her challenging yet insulting questions. Damn she was good at playing his game. Gods help anyone though who tried to get under his skin like she did, they would have to probably answer to those kudu horns and then to her own fangs. She may not have received much fight training yet but damn did she know how to use those fangs of hers.

She gave a slight bump of her shoulder to Rhae. As irritating as he was he was probably the closest thing to a friend she honestly had. "Fucking deer brain...." It was half hearted as she took in the cavern in front of them, it was covered with glowing mushrooms. She bet she could get Rhae to try one if she told him she bet he wouldn't. Though honestly the same worked for her. She wouldn't let him outdo her.

Strut my stuff"Hear me roar"

His ear flicked as she snorted in indignation at his question. "Obviously, or did your kudu father give you his fear too? Gonna stand there and stare like a deer?" A threatening growl rumbled in his chest at her comment. He didn't particularly appreciate his old family being brought up in conversation. His father was quite the sore spot with him and, while he had yet to explain to anyone why, he'd quickly remind her that it wasn't a subject that he wanted breached any time soon. "I swear to whatever gods there are, if you imply that I'm half kudu ever again I'm going to turn you into a wolf shish kebab with these horns." He threatened with a sour tone as he tried to resurface from the swarm of memories of Mortar that threatened to over come him. His gaze fell on the mushroom covered cavern as she bumped him with his shoulder. While deer brain would have sounded insulting to most, it was probably about as close to a term of endearment as she could get. "Fucking hairball..." he spat back with much less venom than the moments before as he bumped her back. As annoying as they could get to one another, it was nice to feel like he had some family that was normal. Deep somewhere buried under the layers of his twisted and blackened heart, he appreciated her and the Spartans for replacing his own fucked up family. Zosime, while abso-fucking-lutely annoying at times, had shown enough of herself to prove that she was worth his friendship. Even if that friendship was fucked up, didn't make a lick of sense, and was most likely quite abusive. Okay it was absolutely abusive. It was a wonder they weren't each layered in scars from how much they picked and bickered with one another. "I'd dare you to eat one, but even I don't think it's a good idea." He said as if reading her thoughts. "I wonder why they glow like this." He said mostly to himself as he padded over to the closest shroom covered wall. They were intriguing and probably pretty deadly if they were able to illuminate such a dark space. Hence why he wasn't stupid enough to try eating one, even if his pride and ego were at stake. He could do some pretty stupid shit while trying to compete with Zo, but he wasn't that stupid. Walk, "Talk" Think

She watched him as he threatened her, her face blank of emotion except the slight hint of satisfaction at getting under his skin. She filed away that insult for later use, knowing too well that a brawl between the two of them could very well end in one of them extremely maimed. She wasn't one to dance around a battlefield and avoid anything and she had seen him fight, they were two sides of the coin and basically the same side. Kudu brain, kudu face, the insults she could make with that were a long list.

Her eye went back to the mushrooms though as he insulted her back. His was more on the tooth than hers, pun intended. She understood but didn't care. At least cats were evolved to kill, deer though, they just weren't exactly fighting machines. So being part cat was better than being part deer. Plus they ate deer so there was that too.

As he basically read her mind her stomach growled to punctuate both their thoughts and the words of possibly eating a mushroom. She let out a nervous laugh at that, "I bet its poisonous. And I bet I could get you to eat it too. But fuck if I'm dying like that. I'm gonna die in a blaze of glory not to some dumbass dare." She moved towards the mushrooms and kicked one over examining its underside and testing it silently if it glowed after it was decapitated. "Got no fucking clue goat fucker, but bet the local predator population loves this fucking place." She shook the remnants of the mushroom off her toes and looked back at him a smirk on her face. Bear pelt sounded fucking marvelous. "Bet a bear skin coat would keep your icicle ass warm, not to mention i bet it would look marvelous as a coat and bring out my gorgeous eye." There was a dare under it but also a flicker of suggestion under her tones. She bet if her ass was freezing out in this disgusting place his ass was just as unhappy.

She was after all, the brains where he was the brawn in their duo. For now anyway.

Strut my stuff"Hear me roar"

Well she agreed that they both could probably get each other to eat a mushroom. He could already picture it in his mind - the dare would consist of them challenging each other to see who could eat more before they keeled over. He had body mass on his side so in his imagination it was a no brainer who would win. Not to mention she was a kid with an undeveloped body. There was no way she would beat him: but, the vision involved a lot of painful dying so he certainly wasn't keen on proving his theory. He agreed with her sentiment. If he was going to die it was going to be fighting a worthy opponent. Not a fucking plant. "If you die it'll probably be because I've murdered your little annoying ass." He rumbled in a half-hearted jest s she flipped one over and, in the process, threw another insult at him. His nose wrinkled in annoyance, but he let this one slide. They could go back and forth all day, but he was far more interested in this "local predator population." Dark cave? Check. Interesting plants? Check. Warmer than outside? Check. It didn't take much consideration to easily agree with her. This place seemed like a great hub for any large carnivore to get out of the hell that was supposed to be spring. "If I left you on your own I'm sure a bear would wear you as a coat instead." He said, making sure to not let her forget that she was still a kid and shorter than him. "Kid, there's nothing that could pretty up that face." He said, gesturing with his paw to all of her. "You're ten shades of fucked up." He chuckled mercilessly. "As it stands, you don't have to ask me twice. I am always ready to skewer something." He said while shifting his weight between his paws as he loosened up his muscles. "I'm sure if we go a little deeper in this place we'll find a good sized bear." Walk, "Talk" Think