All Around Me
06-26-2013, 03:50 PM
Caesar wasn?t the biggest fan of the cold. He loved the bedazzling and inexplicably wonderful substance that was snow for how it felt and how puzzling it was, and the other winter phenomena too. But he did not like being cold. It was an odd blip in his tolerance for discomfort, but fairly understandable. His patchy fur wasn?t very thick, and it was easily infiltrated by the chill of the north. The biting air sank into his pelt like some wicked spirit, and clung to his flesh relentlessly. It made his malnourished flesh ache more than it usually did, and no matter what he did he could not run or hide from it. Curling into a little ball, tail over nose, didn?t even help. So he sought to flee back southward.
With little sense of direction or familiarity with the land though, the fiend?s progress was scant. Narrow paws stabbed straight through ankle-deep snow as he bounded onward, leaping up and down as to not be hindered by the packed flakes at his feet. It was a faintly amusing, deer-like motion, and his charcoal body stood out in stark contrast to the pale blue and white color scheme of the terrain. He clearly did not belong here. The little beast?s tongue rolled out as his body began to feel the effects of exertion, and heavy clouds of pale vapor puffed from his jaws like smoke from a train. With unexpected endurance though, he pressed on ceaselessly.
There seemed to be naught but snow for miles. He?d been moving for what felt like forever, and it was beginning to appear as though he?d gotten himself stuck in some endless dimension filled with cold and frost. The imp could not stand the thought, and was right about to scream in frustration when he caught sight of the change up ahead. Perhaps a few hundred feet ahead was some sort of large formation, not snow, but still probably cold. At least it was something different though. Slowing to an amble, the little wolf curiously approached.
He lifted a foot to warily poke the edge of the iced lake with a toe. The moment flesh made contact with ice, he yanked it back, staring with wide eyes. It was cold, smooth and slippery. Caesar had seen ice before, but never a whole frozen lake. He was slightly afraid, but the thing instilled more excitement in him than fear, and the former soon overpowered the latter. Still cautiously, he placed his whole right forefoot upon it and pressed. It held sturdily. The silent decision was made, and his other front foot was settled slowly upon it. The gremlin?s slight weight was not balanced evenly enough though, and his front legs began to slide forward. A soft, high cry left his lips as he clunked down to the ground, his front half now on the ice. Fear rose again momentarily before a most ingenious idea planted in his skull. A messy grin stretched across scarred lips, and the tiny creature pushed off with his hind legs, lifting his forepaws slightly. He went gliding smoothly across the ice on his belly, and a giggle of joy bubbled from open jaws.
He soon lost momentum though, and slid to a stop a few yards from the lake?s edge, a bit to the right side of it now. A pouting frown tugged lips, and he scrabbled against the ice with his back feet again. It was a fruitless effort though, for he could gain no purchase. Laying on the frozen surface, the imp glanced around for a moment, spotting another up ahead near the edge of the lake, far around the bend of where he?d approached the lake from. Tattered ears perked, and with interest he would try to scoot and wiggle towards the other creature, who must?ve been some fifty feet away. Scooting made little progress, so he would grunt and attempt to push himself up onto all fours. After falling once and trying again he managed to achieve an awkwardly bent stand, and with claws gripping the ice furiously, he began to pad forward, a bit more accustomed. Impatience pushed the slow stride a bit faster, and just as he began to approach what he could now see to be a female wolf, he slipped again. A high-pitched yowl twirled from his lips as he spun to the ground, shooting forward across the ice on his stomach towards the stranger.