Gold Medal Ribbons

Ryan was a summer baby. As such, he was used to and much rather preferred the warmer areas of the world, away from blizzards and hailstorms and all those other unforgiving winter phenomenons. But he was a traveler. What kind of traveler would he be, if he locked himself out of whole areas just because they were too cold? Not a traveler at all, I say!

Unfortunately, it seemed, this winter was a particularly strong one. He mostly stayed in the west, but even then he could sometimes feel the cold winds from other territories as they attempted to bring winter to the west. The west was his safe haven from winters like this, but regardless, winter only came once a year, and a lot could happen in one year. He had to make the most of this season.

Taking extra precautions, Ryan first went west, to the sand river, in search of a leaf strong enough to carry boneset. It didn't take long for him to spot one. H found not only a leaf, but tinder and fuel for a fire to be made in the near future. Next was the boneset. Having already explored a good bit of it, he easily found it in the Dancefloor of the Gods. Enough boneset would be placed on the leaf, would he would then wrap it around the herb, before traveling north. On his way north, he went hunting for some deer. At this time of the year, and this area of the world, the deer weren't very numerous in numbers. But he did manage to find a small herd at the 'border' between the dancefloor and the gorge. Only one would be needed; he only needed their sinew and didn't want to waste too much meat. After catching a moderately small doe, Ryan got to work peeling the sinew from the freshkill, drying all of the pieces as he grabbed one of the strong, short bones--the humerus bone, below the shoulder blade. The bone would be grinded against a flint stone he'd acquired, keeping its rough texture but sharpening one end to be fitted into the ground.

The drying process of the sinew would take a while, which is why he took this time to cook. Equipped with tinder, fuel, and a fire starter, the traveler would make a small campfire, getting twigs tall enough to avoid the flames of the fire, using those twigs to prop up other twigs thick enough to hold a few pounds of meat at a time.

As an appetizer, he just ate some of the meat raw, but for the most part it was eaten cooked. All this commotion and smells inevitably brought on scavengers. A few coyotes, but mostly vultures and carrion crows. He let them stare and watch, but any who got too close would be shown a set of teeth and growled at. If it wasn't enough, he'd do a jumpscare, running at them until he got close enough that they'd run away, before returning back to his catch.

Eventually, he'd eaten. The dried sinew would be tightened via the clutching of his toes and grip of his teeth, until they formed rope long enough to reach a good handful or two of feet. During this process, he moved far away from the kill, allowing the rest of it to be consumed by the scavengers. When he finished, his set was finally complete: a full belly, boneset, rope, and a bone.

Eventually he arrived at the waterfalls. Its bleak and desolate, grey cliffs were an intimidating and sore sight compared to the more lively trees and frozen over lake below. He tied one end of the rope to the bone, then forced the bone into solid ground, near the lake but not over it. Then he tied the other end of the rope around his chest. This was his safety precaution. If the lake gave out, he could use the rope to pull himself back to safety, then dry off and start a fire, eating the boneset in case he caught a cold.

v Where ice skating is finally mentioned lol v
The strength of the ice would be tested first. He treaded lightly on it, testing it with one or two paws at a time. The ice remained firm. Good so far. Further testing yielded the same results. It was study enough to carry his weight. Now, the fun could begin.

Ice skating! Something he'd only done once in his life, back when he was younger and his pack taught him. He was no expert at the subject, of course. Ryan moved slow on the ice often, only doing short slides that didn't let momentum get carried away. It was fun, even if over time the ice started to make his pads numb. He looked at the ground for the most part, refraining from trying any elaborate moves. Getting good footing and keeping it was his goal, but he still did the occasional (albiet slow) spin and slide.