The woods were dense, air thick with perpetual fog radiating around the area like a veil, it's own
personal cloud. The colours that peaked through were deep earthy greens and brown and the
powdery whites that came with the chill. If Sybil was a spirit, this would be the place she'd haunt.

The girl padded through the snow and greenery, thinking back to her time at firefly lake. It was
hard not to, the honey-brown fisherwoman had given her a lot to think about. It's ok not to know.
One step at a time. Those words didn't sit right anyway she placed them, certainly not with what
she expected of herself. A lot of the pressure had been self made, child-like wonder shifting into
her steadfast dedication to her teachings and refusal to hear anything else. She was far, far
away from home, but she still manage to carry old pressures on her back. It was beginning
to get difficult to lift them.

She had come back to the south, further than the crypt but not far. She trotted, think about
the wolf she had met there days, maybe a week before. Ricin was his name, A yearling of
shocking blue. She remembered the scent he carried, scent of a pack. Maybe she'd join one,
cozy up to someone in charge much like her ancestors, tell them of magic and prophecy with
silvered tongue and lead them to greatness. Or more accurately, her greatness. She liked to
think the benefit would be mutual.

The snow thickened, crawling up her legs as she traveled deeper. It began to get harder to lift
her paws, the cold powder weighing them down, as if the forest was asking her to stay. Maybe
travelling further south was a bad idea. She began idly moving the snow around, forming a
little orb of compressed ice with her paws. Maybe she'd throw it at someone, or maybe she'd
make something with it.

[wc: 326/1500]

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

A blizzard had blown through the twisting trees that make up the soulless forest, causing huge drifts of snow to pile up in odd places. As the lead navigator of the Elysium pack, Ricin has taken it upon himself to learn every dip and valley, every raise and cliff in the lands surrounding their pack. The soft powder sparkles at him as the boy leaps through the huge packs of snow, a happy laugh accompany him everywhere he goes. Yes, he is the lead navigator and yes, he does take his job seriously but the blue boy is still just a yearling and prone to dropping everything to have a little fun. Which… is exactly what is he is doing now. As he pounces around, a huge snow-bank, taller than even the boy himself, catches his eye and suddenly Ricin launches his pale blue form into it.  

Tail makes circles in the air as the front half of the boy is firmly lodged inside the snow while his hindquarters still scramble against the snow outside. Digging his way further in, Ricin completely disappears underneath the snow-pile as his make-shift entrance collapses behind him. The boy isn’t worried, his thick, prized elk pelt is wrapped firmly around his shoulders as he plays in the snow and he knows he can dig himself out quickly. A sound tickles his ears and he stops wiggling inside the snow to listen intently to the sound of paws crunching through the tall drifts of snow. Slowly, carefully, Ricin works to make a small hole to peek out at the world with. The crunching sound stops near him as a tiny hole is finally made and a single ruby eye peeks out at the stranger.

Only, it isn’t stranger at all! Ricin burst out of the snow bank, white powder clinging to every inch of him as he happily shouts, “Sybil! I didn’t think I’d see you again! What are you up to?” Bits of frozen ice cause his blue fur to stick out at odd angles as he beams a smile at the pale wolf-dog he had met before.


WC: 354
Total WC: 680 / 1500

"Ricin Dauner"

The shifting of snow caught her ears, but the girl didn’t look away from the snowball between her
paws, letting it accumulate mass, watching this process with idle interest. She assumed that it was
snow knocked from one of the towering trees above, just enough to create noise but not enough to
create that signature thump. She was positioned far enough from the trees to not worry about
any of the powder falling on her. As thick as her coat might be, she didn’t want to get buried by snow
anytime soon.

What she didn’t notice however, was the single red eye peering at her from one of the snow banks.
She carried on with her pointless work. Until the snow bank exploded.

A sudden flurry of action, snow sent flying. Sybil jumped out of her skin, letting out an undignified
”eep!” As she shoots backward, preparing for her attacker to follow. She grimly thought about
how little of a chance she’d have against a predator, especially one of that size.

The snow settled quickly, and the girl blinked at the cheerful face that had emerged. A cheerful
blue face. “Ricin?” She said, still in shock. She stood in silence for a moment, big blue
eyes staring at the boy, before the indignant anger set in. “You scared the hell out of me!”
She grumbled, moving back to her original spot. “Why are you here?” She then asked,
tone and posture quickly shifting to curiosity.

WC:263 [sorry for the short one!!!]
Total WC:943/1500

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

One blood red eye peeks out from the white pile of snow and, to the outside observer, it may look like a scene from a bad horror film. Luckily, the blue boy hidden within the powder has no ill intent and, when Ricin bursts out of his hiding spot to greet Sybil, he even feels ashamed for startling her. The pale wolf-dog jumps and lets out a startled sound which has the boy quickly ducking his head and giving the pale wolf a lopsided grin. Once everything settles and she speaks his name, Ricin sheepishly nods in acknowledgement. Sybil speaks of him scaring her and a remorseful look appears on the blue boy’s features as he diverts his ruby eyes away.

Words tumble out at a quick clip as Ricin mumbles, “Oh, so-sorry about that. I was just enjoying that pile of snow and saw you and wanted to say hi.” The white wolf moves and Ricin lifts his gaze slightly to follow her and spies a rolled-up ball of snow on the ground nearby. At her question, the boy smiles and meets her gaze, tail wagging happily as he says, “I’m playing in the snow! Needed a little break from exploring. Want to join me?” Ricin is awkward at the best of times and, right now, he feels really out of his element. Diverting his eyes back down the snowball, he gestures a dark dipped paw at it and says, “I… I can help you build a snow-wolf! Have you ever made one?” He glances to Sybil before quickly looking away, weight shifting uncertainly from one side to the other.


WC:271
Total WC: 1214 / 1500

"Ricin Dauner"

The girl eased, her knee-jerk response fading as quickly as it struck. Now she felt guilty, as the boy
apologised sheepishly. She was unwilling to let go of her anger completely though, or admit that she
might’ve overreacted in some way. “It’s fine.” She huffed, the only reassurance Ricin would get.
Good thing that the yearling recovers quickly then, as he smiled and his tail began to wag.

A break from exploring. That was a new concept, it was hard not to explore when everything seemed
so new. It seemed impossible to pause when so much unknown surrounded her, it implied a settling that
Sybil couldn’t quite grasp. But it was just a play in the snow, a breath taken in midst of her journey.
“Sure.”  She replied, casual but not unenthusiastic.

The boy used a word unfamiliar to her, and she let her brow furrow. “A snow-wolf?” She
looks to the snow ball he gestured at, though it brought little explanation. She shook her head,
honest about her lack of knowledge for once. “Can’t say I have.” She assumed the boy
would be willing to teach, if not they could always do something else with the snow. It wasn’t
like it was in scarcity these months.

WC:207 ^^;
Total WC:1421

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

Crimson eyes watch Sybil as he apologizes and Ricin takes the huffed reply as the pale girl’s way of accepting it. Tail wags and he smiles, inviting her to play… which she accepts! Eyes brighten with happiness as he asks about making a snow-wolf and, when she admits she hasn’t, the blue boy’s face lights up even more. Eagerly he moves toward her while beginning to explain, “Okay so we are going to make two huge round balls of snow, one a little smaller than the other. You already have one started! So, we take this ball and push it around in the snow.” Blue paws gently take the snowball and roll it through the powder, continually patting it to force the loose powder to stick together.

Pink tongue lolls out of the side of his mouth as he works and after a few moments, he looks to Sybil and says, “See how it is getting bigger? We want to make this one the big ball or the ‘body’ of the wolf. Here why don’t you continue rolling and packing this one and I will start on the head.” Passing off the growing ball, Ricin watches her a moment to help guide her along if needed. Once satisfied, the blue boy gathers some more snow together to start forming his own ball, paws deftly packing it down as he goes. The work is fun but chilly and he pauses to look at Sybil, saying, “You are doing a great job! Hey, why don’t you wear my coat for a bit, I’m getting warm.”

Reaching up, Ricin undoes the clasp at his neck that holds the large pelt in place and swiftly tugs it off. If Sybil allows it, the boy will drape the large cloak over her shorter frame and buckle the clasp for her before returning to his work. The snowballs grow until the body one is big enough to hold up the head. Sitting back, the boy inspects their work, huffing from the exertion it took. Finally, he says, “Okay, now we just have to roll the head up onto the body. Once that is done we can make a snout and ears to add on.” Red eyes move to the pale girl and he smiles warmly, saying, “Ready whenever you are ready!” and waits for her to signal that she is ready to carry on.


WC: 398
Total WC: 1819 / 1500

"Ricin Dauner"

As soon as the words left her mouth, Ricin was on his paws, wasting no time to teach her this
strange new craft. She watches, eager to absorb this novel concept for herself. The boy rolls
the little orb through the powder, and both of the yearlings are fixated on the process, one
with dedicated observation and the other with playful enthusiasm. Maybe Sybil was missing
the point of the activity [to have fun], but her strange approach to it could be interpreted
as her own brand of enjoyment.

He gives instructions, and passed the now heftier snowball to her, one dainty paw stopping the
ball from rolling past her. She nods, and resumes his work. Worry begins to form as she rolls it
about, unsure of her own strength was adequate. Luckily, it didn’t take much muscle to
compress the material, though she couldn’t do it nearly as efficiently as Ricin due to the
differing surface area of their paws.

The blue wolf offers his coat, and the girl only spares him a glance in response, too wrapped up
in her work to accept verbally. She wouldn’t need the extra fur, her hide would do her just fine,
but she didn’t want the boy to roast in his skin. That would slow down the process immensely.

Luckily, it was soft enough not to draw complaint from the spirit, slowing her pace only to allow
the cloak to drape around her, enveloping her smaller form almost completely. “Careful, I might
decide to keep it.” She said wryly, but the statement was only in jest. It was too big for her, and
if she tried running with it she’d surely trip. Besides, she wasn’t a big fan of wearing clothes that
smelt of someone else.

Like a royal, pelt trailing behind her, as the boy looks to her for the final step. Proud of her work,
she bent her head to roll the smaller ball onto the bigger one. The uphill climb was difficult, and
she strained to get the head to its rightful place. She’d make it eventually though, with or without
Ricin’s assistance. Of course, she wouldn’t complained if he’d offer it. As soon as it reached its
apex she’d steady it with her front limbs, only letting go when she was certain of its stability.
Sitting back, she observed that their work was more snow than wolf so far. Not that she wasn’t
proud of what had been achieved already, just hoping that she’d be able to meet the
expectations she had set internally. “So, what’s next?”

[WC complete]

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

They work to make the base of their snow wolf, paws patting and pressing until they have what somewhat resembles round snowballs. When Ricin places his coat over the pale wolf, she teases him about keeping it which makes the blue boy chuckle as he teases, “Oh you can try! But I don’t think I would have to chase you down to get it back. It would probably trip you up before I could.” He winks to the ghostly wolf before helping Sybil to get the smaller ball on top of his bigger one, the pair carefully maneuvering it uphill. Once done, she asks what the next step is and he offers her a bright grin while saying, “Now we make it look like a wolf! Why don’t you find us four sticks for the legs and I will start making the snowball for its muzzle?”

Once she agrees, Ricin begins making a much smaller ball, pressing it together while gently rolling it around. By the time Sybil returns with the requested items, the blue boy is smooshing the small ball into the middle of their head and smoothing the sides toward the ball. He works to make a rough muzzle shape while looking to the white lady and saying, “We will also need rocks for the ears, eyes, and nostrils. I think I saw some over there…” A white-dipped paw moves to point out the direction before returning to finish the work he had started. When he is satisfied, Ricin steps back to give their work a once over before directing Sybil on where to put the rocks and sticks.

Once it is done, Ricin sits back with a big, happy smile on his lips. Looking to Sybil, he asks, “Well… whatca think?” Blue tail lightly thumps the snow behind him.


WC: Done!

"Ricin Dauner"

New instructions recieved, Sybil nodded and trotted off in search of sticks, cloak trailing behind her like a beaver's tail. They tripped over it once or twice, but she made sure to fumble out of sight of Ricin. She'd keep her poise around others, regardless of circumstance. The items weren't difficult to find, despite the heavy snowfall that buried most plant matter, even the discarded. The recently dislodged sticks stood out from the white around them, and in no time she held four in her mouth. They were bitter and earthy on her tongue. As soon as she returned, she was given another charge, to find rocks for the other features. Ever dutiful, she trotted off in search. The process was much the same, but the girl quickly realised it was hard to fit six rocks in your mouth. Instead, she used the excess cloak trailing behind her, placing the rocks in the middle, and then grabbing the end with her teeth, creating a makeshift pouch as she returned to the snow wolf in progress. When she returned once more, she released her hold on the end, rocks spilling out. With Ricin's guidance, she nestled the pebbles and sticks in their place, before moving back to the blue yearling to sit by him, and to marvel at their collective labour. He asked her opinion, and she had to think on it for a moment. "Well..." It could be better. Wisely, she held her tongue, more dreading the work that'd go into improving it than Ricin's reaction. "It's... Perfect." For the moment. ⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅