nature sucks

The female was on her way back to the den when the weather finally broke. Philomena groaned aloud -- go figure she’d be out and about when the rain came. The female shook out her coat, yet still the water fell from the heavens above. It was too cool for her liking… the last thing she wanted was to catch a cold and get sick. Her little ones didn’t need to worry about their mother not being able to play or hunt. Sure she might be able to ask No Face to help with the latter, or even her brother, but it wasn’t really Ulric’s job to provide for his nieces and nephews. She didn’t want to stress him by adding things to his plate that he shouldn’t have to worry about. If anything she just wanted him to enjoy time with them… that was all she could really ask for.

The fiery colors of autumn seemed to be dulled by the overcast day. The vibrant reds, oranges, and golds that washed over the lands were now grayer, shifting under the different droplets that fell from above. The female loved the look of everything in the rain though, even if she worried about potential sickness. The downside too were that the fattened prey animals would be rushing to their dens as well. Squirrels, rabbits, and different types of fowl would be looking for cover… though they could make quite the tasty meal if caught before they managed to get to cover.

Philomena briefly considered going after something -- her children would need to eat as much as they could to continue to grow into fine adults. This was the season for all creatures, both prey animals and predators alike to build up stores for winter. They’d all need to be prepared for the dying season…

Herbs too, Philomena thought, would need to be gathered while it was still warm enough to do so. The young woman knew little of the leafy things but she knew they had medical properties that could be necessary for the health of her family. Evan liked flowers, she noticed, though mainly for their beauty rather than the medicinal parts of them. The bright, vibrant colors they offered in this season pleased her son. But as she had tried to explain to her children the land would soon begin to die, going into a sleepy season that would be hard on the land and its inhabitants. It’d grow even colder… the wind would become even more biting than it was now.

Philomena felt the mud squealsh underpaw as she kept her way around the lake. She wanted to make it home before her little ones and No Face began to worry… yet something nagged at her. She kept an eye peeled for any chance at easy prey, but she knew it was something else that was pulling at her. But what was it?

“Gods above…” Phily whispered. The last time she’d been dealing with this season she’d been with her uncle, right? She remembered shivering sometimes at night, coming to curl up beside the male to share warmth. To think that the next season was even harder made her want to groan again. The scents of the land would begin to change as well… and the smells of wet bark or leaf litter would fade away to the cold, crisp scent of snow.

Philly managed to catch herself as she slipped on some leaves underpaw, barely avoiding the lake as she did so. But then, just as she gave a sigh of relief, the young woman heard laughter. An almost hysterical laughter… Gods, who was out in the storm?

But her thought of the stranger turned to worry after a moment. Her blue eyes scanned the dreary landscape and she furrowed her brow. Fallen branches from the occasional tree here and there, tons of leaves… but no sign of another wolf. She perked her ears, hoping to zone in on him over the storm…

...and so she did. Philomena finally located the stranger a bit further up and… in the lake? The female slowly began to approach him, mindful not to slip on the leaves again as she did so. She forgot about the rain, well, sort of… at least the thought she should hurry to the den so she didn’t catch a cold or something.

Her attention was focused solely on the stranger now. The female paused once she was a couple feet from the man… he might have noticed her approach, or perhaps not, but either way Philomena supposed it didn’t matter. There was something strikingly familiar about the coloration of his coat she noted too. She didn’t say anything about that yet though… maybe it would all become clear after they interacted with each other.

“Are you alright?” She asked tentatively. She wasn’t sure she wanted to hear the answer… yet curiosity prompted her to ask away anway.