Always had a vision
Snowflake
For once he'd hoisted himself up the mountain instead of staying deep inside the safety of the caves, and gone all the way to the top of the ridge where he could look down on the surrounding lands. Heliodor perched safely upon his left shoulder, shaking out his wings with a somewhat disgruntled chirp. "It sure is cold up here!" Bismuth turned to the bird with a grin, "shall I take us further north then?" The bird narrowed his eyes at the wolf, but simply wrapped his wings more tightly around him in response. Bismuth gazed around the mountain ridge, knowing that Snowflake would be somewhere nearby like they always were. It gave him comfort knowing he had a friend to fall back on when things got a little tough, but today he was feeling a little more excitable than normal. With a low-noted howl, he called out to his friend, wherever they may be, his onyx black eyes looking down at where he had climbed up in case the other wolf had been down in the caves. "You up for a bit of a race today?" It would be more fun to explore along the top of the ridge with a friend than to do it alone, and doing it as a race would give him a much-needed boost of energy. WC: 222 (222/1500) |
Busy as they were with their craft, whenever someone called the monochrome giant would gladly abandon their work to meet their summons. So, off they went. Carefully setting their half finished stone bowl aside, they laid the well worn leather mat atop the debitage so they wouldn't step on the shards when they returned. Broad, well travelled paws carried their bulk over the craggy path up towards the summit of their mountain home. As they neared the ridge where the peak flattened out enough to traverse, a brightly hued form stood out in stark contrast to the snow laden stone that surrounded him. A jovial grin made its way onto his face, and the giant wolf trotted the rest of the way up the slope to greet Bismuth. As they approached, the smaller male's voice rang out with a friendly challenge. Intrigue and excitement had them quirking a kohl painted brow, and they drew up alongside their friend. "I'd never turn that down," they retorted with a broad grin, the dark tip of their tail swishing to the side to give the small male's thigh a friendly swat. "I'll let you call it, since it was your idea." they added, already dropping their weight across all four paws and loosening their joints in preparation to take off down the dangerous ridgeline of the vast mountain peak. Gunmetal eyes flicked over to Bismuth, waiting for him to call the start of the race. ((WC: 242) TOTAL: 464 / 1500) |
It didn't take long for Snowflake to arrive, and their enthusiasm at the prospect for a race was infectious, to the point where he felt a grin of his own appear on his face. It was so much easier to be around his friend instead of others, and he felt like he could really be his true self around them. He was glad they were friends. Using his own tail, Bismuth returned the friendly tap with the tip of his own tail. A race would do both of them some good, and this seemed like a good a place as any to challenge their mountain climbing abilities. Bismuth looked out along the mountain, eyes scanning along the black cove to the west, before falling up a point where the mountain took a sharp turn to the side. There. That'd be a good finish line. "First one to reach the point where the ridge curves to the left wins," he said with a motion of his muzzle. Up here there ere very few landmarks other than some larger boulders and sharper ridge points, so it was the best identifiable point for a definite finish line they could use. "When Heliodor says 'go', we start." He drew a line in the gravelly ground to act as a starting line for them and positioned himself behind it. His forelegs bent slightly as he moved most of his weight back to his hind legs, ready to push off into a sprint at the birds discretion. Heliodor flapped his wings and jumped into the air, hovering above the two wolves as he loudly chirped out the countdown to them. "Three, two, one... go!" Bismuth leaped forward at the word 'go', pushing himself into a sprint, watching the scenery begin to blur around him. He glanced to the side from the corner of his eye to see if Snowflake was keeping up with him. Bismuth vs Snowflake for Race Round 1/? Age: Over 1 year Size: Medium Build: Medium Skills: Beginner Navigator & Beginner Intellectual |
Their pale gaze followed the direction of Bismuth's attention, and traced the landscape of the mountain's summit at roughly the same time. When their colourful friend announced that they would be racing to the point where the ridge hit a sharp leftwards curve, they bobbed their head and grunted wordlessly in acknowledgement. And then, it was up to the smaller male's companion to call the start of their race. Mercury eyes tracked the movement of a pale paw scratching a rough starting line in the rubble and snow in front of the pair, and the titan made a point of taking a few half steps backwards to ensure they were behind that line. Even half crouched to coil the thick chords of muscle in their hindquarters, they dwarfed Bismuth. Would the little wolf be off like a bullet, halfway to the finish by the time Snowflake had even stepped off the starting line? Hard to say, in this rough terrain there was a certain advantage to being sturdily built. Citronelle wings fluttered somewhere just above their head, and they had to remind themself not to distract themself staring at the bird. There was the countdown.. and the start! Shoving off with their powerful hind limbs, those long strides began to eat up the ground underfoot with practiced ease. Bismuth was off like a shot, sure enough. The scenery around the pair turned to a steady blur of grey, blue, black, white. A smaller wolf would have needed to leap up over the boulder that blocked Snowflake's path, but the mountain giant merely kicked off a little harder on the step right before, and sailed clean over it. Raucous laughter boomed from their barrel chest, a brilliant grin etched upon their features as they ran hard over the ridgeline of the Col. Already, the bend in the ridge was looming closer and closer. Snowflake vs Bismuth for Race Round 1/2 Age: 1+ Years Size: Extra large Build: Heavy Skills: Beginner Navigator & Beginner Intellectual |
He'd managed to take off faster than his friend, but the thudding of heavy steps told him Snowflake was manging to keep up, even surpassing him with the ease at which the larger sized wolf could simply take a larher step over the boulders blocking their paths. Bismuth had no such luck, and had to calculate the best points at which to step with his paws to try and keep as much forward momentum as he could, but being able to then push off the boulders allowed him to keep up fairly well. Everything in the distance to the sides blurred out of focus, even the wonderful image of the cove. His gaze was locked on the bend that was steadily growing closer as the two pushed themselves further and faster. His lungs began to burn with the effort of keeping up the sprinting pace, and each breath felt harder and harder to suck in, but he continued pushing himself forward, making sure to not stumble on any of the loose snow or rocks. A tumble at this speed, and this high up, was dangerous, but the two were hardy mountain wolves, surefooted and at ease being this high up. Bismuth stole another sideways glance at his friend, and upon seeing they were still keeping up he snapped his gaze forward again. The bend in the ridge was so close now, just a few... more... strides. Bismuth vs Snowflake for Race Round 2/2 Age: Over 1 year Size: Medium Build: Medium Skills: Beginner Navigator & Beginner Intellectual |
As they gained in strides, pushing themself in line with Bismuth, the focus became less on hitting the finish line, and more on getting themself ahead of their competitor. Like any of their clan, the smaller wolf was sure footed as a goat on the crags of the ridge. They could only just make out the male's ragged breathing over the sound of their own panting, and the rush of blood in their ears. The snow hadn't melted this high up, and so they were making sure to only put their feet down in areas where the ground that might lay beneath was likely to be covered in gravel and dirt. Stepping onto smooth slate, or exposed rock, might lead to s slip. The sunlight tended to melt the surface layers of ice and frost that accumulated on everything overnight, so any exposed stone became a skating rink by midday. Soil and gravel was churned up into the air by the flight of heavy paws as they thundered towards the end of the race. Tongue lolling from their thick jaws, the giant felt the tears streaming down their cheeks as the cold air swept over their features at high speeds. There was only a handful of metres between the racing wolves and their predetermined end point. Up ahead, the dark stone of the ridge stretched upwards in rough, broken spires that swept suddenly towards the sea instead of straight ahead. That was the end, and it was neck in neck! The swift snap of a dark muzzle towards them, and then away again, was met with another bout of delighted laughter. Bismuth was trying to see if they'd given up yet! Snowflake drew from the last reserves of their strength, and took a few more bounding leaps towards the exposed stone up ahead. One final leap, and the mountain wolf aimed to collide with the thickest part of their monolithic finish line. Aiming to turn the steep incline of the exposed stone into a runaway ramp, their forepaws stretched for the cold rock face with the hind paws already splaying to catch the rest of their weight for the last few strides that it would take to slow down on that slope. Snowflake vs Bismuth for Race Round 2/2 Age: 1+ years Size: Extra large Build: Heavy Skills: Beginner Navigator & Beginner Intellectual ((WC: 374) TOTAL: 1704 / 1500 -- GOAL MET!) |
SNOWFLAKE | BISMUTH must give up by submitting, fleeing or passing out. Totals: Bismuth: Speed Roll: 31 Stamina Roll: 56 Balance Roll: 71 Total: 158 Speed[31] + 0% Bonus[0.00]: 31.00 Stamina[56] + 0% Bonus[0.00]: 56.00 Balance[71] + 10% Bonus[7.10]: 78.10 Total[165.10] + 0% Bonus[0.00]: 165.10 Snowflake: Speed Roll: 3 Stamina Roll: 80 Balance Roll: 94 Total: 177 Speed[3] + 0% Bonus[0.00]: 3.00 Stamina[80] + 15% Bonus[12.00]: 92.00 Balance[94] + 0% Bonus[0.00]: 94.00 Total[189.00] + 0% Bonus[0.00]: 189.00 |
Right before the finish he mis-stepped on a rock surface, and in course-correcting to make sure he didn't stumble or fall he had to slow down just a fraction, and that was enough for his friend to touch the ridged rock first. He reached it just few seconds later, bouncing off the lower portion as he came to a skidding stop in the snow, sides heaving as he panted heavily. But there was a grin on his face nonetheless. The race hadn't been about who won and who lost, it was just a way to get the blood flowing as for once he explored the top of the mountain. Looking down to the west at the cove, he gazed over the black sandy beach, slowly getting his breath back as a soft chuckle escaped him. That had been fun. "A good race," Bismuth said to his friend as he looked back at them. Heliodor flapped his wings as he flew over, coming to rest on Bismuth's shoulder again with a soft chirp, fluffing his feathers against the cold. For the wolves it wasn't too bad, but his feathers weren't there to protect him against the icy bite of the wind this high up on the mountain. "I nearly had you there at the end," Bismuth continued with a small grin. |