A Blizzard of Tales

It was a whiteout that hid her perfectly in its embrace, but when the young leader had been caught in the storm, her usual appreciation for snowy weather was sorely challenged. This wasn’t the blizzard conditions of last year’s winter. This was dangerous.

She found herself regretting attempting to head up to visit with Ignatius. Dutiful alpha tendencies be damned, she wasn’t going to be able to get home, let alone make it to Fyri’s border, in this weather.

In truth, she’d wandered a bit too far west, and as she spotted a shrouded shape of darkness ahead, she ducked into the cave gratefully, shuddering as she shook out her coat, sending the wind-plastered snow flying in all directions from her fur.

It wasn’t an immediately impressive sight that met her eyes as she blinked to adjust them to the dimness of the interior. Dirt and stone made the majority of this spot, but the cave continued onward into darkness—she was pretty sure she heard dripping water somewhere back there. She huffed out a sigh and let her haunches drop to the ground. Right this moment, after slogging through the blizzard outside, she wasn’t really interested in delving into the cave to explore.

Outside, the wind howled and raged, and the snow whipped by in a solid wall of white and flashes of slate—instances of empty space swiftly filled by the next swirling deluge of flakes. It was beautifully vexing. She was well away from home and the pack, and only Ayodele had come with her on her outing. The lemur was in a short tempered frame of mind. As a creature that was native to warm regions of the world, she was seriously annoyed by the weather they’d found themselves in.

Aelloshir had remained home after a rock had smashed his paw—it hadn’t broken any toes, but Paladin had suggested the mountain cat rest for a few days. He was not pleased to see Aurielle head out with only a lemur at her side, effectively leaving her vulnerable without his claws, to his mind.

Aurielle half wondered of the cat would track Amos down and send the man after her if she didn’t show up by nightfall. From the looks of the storm outside, there was no chance of getting back before tomorrow morning at this rate.

“And not a single flame to warm this hole up.” She mused with a rueful chuckle, to which the lemur responded with an irritated snort of agreement.

Aurielle settled to curl around the grouchy lemur, appreciating the warm coat that warded off the cold outside. With her paws tucked against her belly, she was sure to warm up, and hopefully she’d be marginally comfortable until the storm ran out of energy.

As ever, her mind shifted to plans. They never stopped forming, changing, or gaining clarity. Like her father, she was innovative and wanted to improve the way of living for the pack. Unfortunately, Brandr was no longer with the pack, so they would need a hunter to take his place. More than likely, it would be Laisren.

While he patrolled, as they all did, he wasn’t attending to the rest of his duties as a Legionary—he wasn’t sparring often, nor had he come to her to speak of an apprentice to teach in the way of fighting. If there was one main impression she gained from her youngest uncle, it was a want and not a need to be a fighter and answer the call of ambition. If anything, he was hunting instead. She gave a faint huff of slight amusement. He seemed to have a thing for pigs, and she wasn’t very sure where he kept finding them. But almost every time the pack was called together, he seemed to have one when he arrived.

She decided then, that she’d make the man an offer. Shift his rank to that of a hunter, and with it a promotion that might finally truly spark his activity to something that wasn’t just ‘there’ but stood out like a dove in the night. She didn’t want to occasionally glimpse him doing something he was supposed to do. She wanted to see him everywhere, standing out, working for a long overdue rise in rank that he just wasn’t earning yet.

She did wonder how the current ranked members would fit into the new ranking systems she had planned for the working tier of the pack. She just hoped the pack liked what she would be doing.

Her ears perked abruptly as sounds came from outside in the blizzard, and her head lifted warily, legs shifting subtly to bring her to her belly. If this was a bear, she was pretty sure she would have to slip into the cave. If it was a black bear, late to its bed, she might be able to startle it into running away from the cave, but… She didn’t think even a late-bedding bear would still be out this far into winter. They’d be long asleep by now. If not a bear, than who or what was coming toward the cave?

Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Hear" ---- Think