Even the best laid plans

Deimos forged the trail ahead of Ikigai as they set out on their trek to visit her family in Ashen, following the thin and winding path through the mountains to get over the mountain range to the smoother land on the other side. They certainly could have taken the longer route along the coast, but he already didn't like the idea of traveling with his mate when she was pregnant so they had opted instead to take the faster route even if it wasn't as pleasant. "This should be the worst part of the trip," he commented as he glanced back at her over his shoulder, giving her a small smile before looking ahead of him again into the cold wind. "After this it will be smooth sailing." He stayed ahead of her to make sure he was picking the easiest path and so she could follow in his large paw prints through the snow, but even then it wasn't going to be the easiest trip. All he could really hope for was the snow to hold off long enough for them to get to the other side and for them to cross through the Maw before sundown.

"Tell me if you need to stop and I'll find us a spot to take shelter in," he added after a moment when he paused to peer ahead down the path as it began to branch off in two different directions. Of course all of this just so happened to take place in winter so the mountains were even less hospitable than usual, but there was nothing to be done about that. All he could do was be careful and just be grateful that he had a reason to make this trip with her at all. As always with the wild swings of fate his life tended to take he was swept from the lowest low to the highest high and he was certainly planning on doing everything in his power to keep himself on that high for as long as possible. For the first time in his life he felt like he actually had something worth celebrating and shouting to the world so that was what he planned to do with his beautiful mate.

"Deimos Medacium"