ray of sunshine

The sound of the ice cracking rang off the surrounding mountains and carried across the frigid air right to the ghoul's sensitive ears. He had been heading to the shore in hopes of preying across the spotted seals that seemed to flock here, picking off of the fish that had made a home in the pines below the ice's surface. It was the most promising hunting grounds that he had found up here in the North, but that crack stopped him in his tracks. Thick neck veered to his left as he peered back over his shoulder, singular bright ruby wide and observant as he watched the mountains around the submerged forest. He feared an avalanche right now... though when only silence seemed to follow the crack he let his fears subside in favor of curiosity.

The rugged brute turned away from his route to the shore, as cautious and slow as ever as he followed the thickest portions of the ice back the way he had come. Some of the denser parts of the forest made for thinner ice that surrounded them, so he rarely ever made his way through them. It was dangerous the further he went into the pines, he knew that.. but.. he also knew the sound of that crack didn't just happen out of nowhere. Perhaps a seal had breached through, or perhaps someone less fortunate than he discovered first hand how thin the ice could be between the trees. He held his breath as he walked for a few seconds, his ears listening acutely for any sound that followed in case there were cries for help.

No such sound met his seeking ears, but the sight of another obsidian wolf in the distance with her legs spread out over the ice gave him the answer he was looking for just the same. He lifted his marred skull and flagged out his tail as his stocky limbs started to move with a bit more haste. He was a heavy wolf who needed to be especially careful out on the ice, but he had been out here already a few times and it was still early into the season. He would not allow himself to rush.. but.. the growing sense of urgency was getting to him the closer he became and could witness her trembling.

"You need to keep moving, you can't stay there! It won't hold you!" He let his voice carry out to her, though he tried not to yell any louder than necessary and risk disturbing anything else.

"Turn back around, the way you came.. hurry!" He tried to find her tracks in the snow as he spoke, assessing which route he needed to take to get to her as quickly as possible without risking falling through himself. It was hard to tell, as.. none of the routes would be something he was normally comfortable with taking but.. he did his best.

He found an area where the trees seemed spread far apart enough to get toward her tracks and went for it, though he could feel in his paws the tension his weight was causing on the ice. He kept his eye on her closely and hoped she was able to snap out of initial shock and terror for what was happening, cause if not.. they were both about to get very cold. Kane could manage swimming to save her, of course, but that didn't mean he wanted to deal with the twelve-hour long journey of trying to warm up again once they got out of the water. His muscles shuddered as they remembered how long it took him to dry last time, but that didn't stop him from venturing out further onto the ice in an attempt to close the distance between them. Something told him she wouldn't make it... and he needed to be able to catch her before she was lost to the currents beneath if she did fall through.