every mile is two in winter

Raijin had been quick to offer his help when his cousin had mentioned his and Venom’s scouting mission to look for pelts, deciding that even if the Empress and the Shogun could take care of themselves, he wanted to be there for an extra layer of protection. Especially since their goal was to look for polar bear pelts. He knew from his lessons that polar bears were the largest bears in existence, a male could weigh as much as 1500 pounds and be over 9 feet tall on their hind legs. It was assumed that they would be searching for females, but with 3 extra large wolves they stood a decent chance of success. He wouldn’t stand by when his only family left put themselves in danger.

But, god damn did he regret it a little when it came down to it. The cold was embedded in his bones, he was convinced of it. It ate away at everything in him until it was all he felt, sometimes he wasn’t even sure he was still moving because his body had grown numb. However, he knew they were too far gone by now to turn back. They’d have to keep going and wait out the weather a bit. He was so busy squinting against the cold that he actually ran into Hattori’s hocks, bouncing back with a grun. He looked at him, slightly annoyed until he looked past to see a large expanse of snow that seemed to go on forever in a line like a bridge. “What the hell is that?” he called over the wind.