She hadn't really done a whole lot lately. So fr she wasn't really a member of the crew, not because she was actively putting off joining, it was just that she hadn't really gotten around to actively trying to make it happen either. Eventually she'd have to spend some time with Art, work on joining the crew, and figure out what to do with herself. But all that sounded like a heck of a lot of work right now, so she opted to go on a little walk. Marching through the snow, she had to lift her legs comically high to get through the deep banks of white fluffy cold stuff. Laughing, the red starry girl bounded and hopped high to make her travel both easier and more entertaining.

Still giggling at her own silly game, Iskra slid to a halt, kicking up a wave of frosty powder when the came to the edge of a lake. It was frozen over, practically asking her to go skidding across it. Shaking out her winter-thick coat, she dropped into a crouch, butt wiggling, and sprang forward, leaping out of the snow and flopping onto the ice, sailing across the frozen waters a bit too fast. Raucous laughter ripping from her dark lips as she flew on her belly towards the opposite shore.

MAY THE ROOF ABOVE NEVER FALL IN OOC Warning; Mature Language ahead Ruthgar had spent the better half of the morning “Hunting” or rather clumsily chasing after small animals until they ran into trees or into burrows. He had adjusted from squirrels to rabbits and had no luck catching either, which meant his only other option was finding something less fast and agile. Like the badger he currently had his sights on. The animal only looked like what he thought of as a badger in the vaguest sense. It had a black head with a white blaze but was considerably fluffier than the mushroom eating burrowers he had grown up seeing. Apart from that while most badgers were jet black, this one was mostly gray and had a shorter snout. Clearly the extra large wolves weren’t the only thing strange about this place. What was important however was that the badger was slow and easy to catch, which of course was why the older male charged at it head first, jaws parted and ready to strike…Until the damn thing turned and snarled in his face, bearing its large teeth. Ruthgar froze and drew back, caught off guard, while the badger charged forward and snapped at his wrists. “Bloody-“ Ruthar cursed, jumping back further only to have the badger quickly close the gap between them. With a frightened yelp Ruthgar turned tail and ran, crashing through the woods surrounding the lake and looking over his shoulder only to see the raging badger slowly closing in on him. “Fookin’ cunt!” Ruthgar yelled, before tripping over a fallen tree and landing jaw first on the lake’s frozen surface, his back legs hanging in the air above his head.   At least no one saw him make a complete ass of himself right? This is talking MAY WE BELOW NEVER FALL OUT

Iskra could admit that maaybe it was a little bit of a not-so-good idea to go rocketing so quickly across this lake. The reality of this truth was hammered home as she found herself speeding ever closer to the opposite shore, faster and faster with no hope of slowing down. Squeezing her eyes shut, she braced herself before hitting the shore, being thrown up in the air a bit and crashing into the snow bank with a surprisingly gentle 'poof''. Scrambling to an upright position, the red woman looked around as though to ensure she really had survived, unaware that a lump of snow now sat atop her head like a small hat.

Her attention was soon redirected at the sound of someone shouting and carrying on nearby. She didn't have to look for the speaker for long, he came right to her thundering along and falling face-first onto the frozen lake in the most comical of fashions. Iskra sat in stunned silence for a moment, wondering if that just happened. Whens he realized it did indeed, bubbling laughter began to trickle out from her, starting soft and rising to the point where her shoulders were shaking and her sides started to hurt. She'd have asked if he was okay if that landing wasn't so darn hilarious! It was almost impossible to stop, and really she felt bad, but honestly, what an entrance. She snow-topped girl eventually flopped onto her side, wiping away the tears that pricked at her sapphire blue eyes, "Well, hi there!"

MAY THE ROOF ABOVE NEVER FALL IN He heard the laughter behind him, and slowly closed his eyes slowly, his thoughts condensed into a single, defeated; “No.” his backside slowly dropped onto the ice, his legs splitting as they struggled for purchase on the slippery surface. He managed to rise just slightly off the ground, his legs shaking, as he slowly turned and gave a short “Hull-“ before his paws gave out from under him and he slid back down onto the ice. His mind had become a constant stream of “No no no no.” as he tried and failed to save face again, and again. After his fourth attempt he simply accepted his fate, and slowly crawled on his stomach toward the oddly colored woman, his eyes downcast with shame. The closer he got the more he recognized her scent, although how he recognized it didn’t strike him at first. It wasn’t until he had made it to the other end of the lake that he realized…She smelled like Art. “NOOO.” This is talking MAY WE BELOW NEVER FALL OUT

Slowly but surely the comedy of the situation wore off, letting Isk have some much needed relief from the pain that was starting in her sides and lungs. It'd almost been too much, sending her into a small coughing fit that was finished off with a loud sneeze before she'd greeted the man. It was only after her friendly greeting that she noticed how downcast the poor brute looked. "oh, hell" she could already feel her stomach dropping. She was a bit much to handle at times, sure, but she wasn't an asshole. From the looks of things she'd just made herself one though.

Trying desperately to bring some lightheartedness back to the situation, she remained on her side and kicked and flailed her way towards the man, now covered in clumps of snow that stuck to her fur in odd places and made her look like some kind of strange spotted animal having a real bad hair day. "Hey, hey man, does my hair look okay?" she asked in a gentle, joking tone. Yeesh, did she screw up? This was awkward, seriousness was just uncomfortable.

He looked up at her and felt a small tug of laughter escape him as she flailed toward him like a dying fish. “Aye.” He said “Ye look awlright.” He said with an easy smile. Maybe the girl wasn’t fully aware of it but her and Artemis, who she had assumed was her sister, seemed incapable of looking anything other than flawless. He looked to the cliff he had just gone flying off of and sighed. “Bloody badgers eh?” He said with a soft chuckle, attempting to laugh at himself for once. Wounded pride aside, it was pretty funny. “Whar am from they at least hev the decency tae jus die, no be som hell on a man whats jus trying to grab a damn snack.” He proclaimed, his eyes fixed on the ledge as if the ball of anger and hair he had just escaped from could hear him and might somehow give a shit. He looked at her again and gave her a small smile. “Name’s Ruthgar.” He said, still laying on the ice chest down. This is talking

A rush of relief flooded through her at his response accompanied by a toothy grin. Success! Take that, crushing embarrassment. She couldn't really be sure if he was right about her looking okay - she did feel a good amount of snow clinging to her pelt - but that was okay, Iskra might have enjoyed positive attention related to her looks but she wasn't terribly concerned with looking good all the time. Having a good time ranked a good deal above perfect appearance, no contest. "If you say so, I'll have to take your word for it."

Ears swung back towards the man in an instant, his comment grabbing her attention fully, "Is that what you were after?" she asked incredulously, eyes wide. Iskra had never had the balls to tangle with one of those nasty critters; there were plenty of less feisty prey animals she'd rather go after before considering such a thing. Shaking her head she gave him a lopsided grin "I dunno where you're from, but as far as I know those things will rip your tail off for even looking at 'em. You're surely braver than me," she complimented. There was no way she'd mess with one of those beasts unless she had to, that was for sure. Tail tapping the ice at a steady rhythm, she quickly replied, "I'm Iskra! You're from the Crew, right? I know my sister lives there, but I've only met your alpha and one other pack member so far. Really gotta get around to seeing about joining..."

“Migh no even be th’ same animal honestly.” He muttered, looking away as if she could somehow see the blush steadily forming underneath his fur. He had never been called brave before, strong maybe by Isis but he had never even thought of himself as brave. Stupid was closer to the word he would use for his actions and if she had said that instead he would have agreed. His attention returned to her once she introduced herself and he found himself smiling again. “Aye, A am.” He said with just a touch of pride. His smile widened when she mentioned joining The Crew and he began to flick his tail. “ Wha’s stopping ye?” He asked, cocking his head to the side as he asked. At the moment Crew couldn’t offer the protection or security most packs had, they were still very small, but hopefully with Winter slowly turning Boreas more and more treacherous they would be able to reel in more members looking for a safe place to stay. He supposed also that the culture The Crew bred might not have been as agreeable to other wolves as it had been for himself, more wolves valued their hides than he did. "Talk" "You" Think

She reached out a paw to pat at his cheek, still flopped on her side, "Shhh, it was a ferocious beast and if anyone asks, you kicked it's butt," she asserted, eyes twinkling with mischief. When it came to storytelling one could count on Iskra and her kin to exaggerate just a tad. For dramatic effect, of course.

Naturally the question wasn't one she needed an answer to but she felt excitement at his confirmation all the same. Cocking her head she considered the question and mumbled, "Uhm, well, nothing really, I guess. Myself? Not on purpose really. At first I wanted to see if I could annoy Artemis by dragging it out a while but I haven't really talked to her in a while so that didn't exactly pan out as intended." wriggling to lay on her back, paws stretched skyward, Iskra added, "I really should do it, though. Between your alpha, my sister, and anyone crazy enough to be in a pack with those two I bet my starry hide it's be a wild ride!"

Glancing back at Ruthgar, Iskra was beaming with excitement at the very thought of it. "What made you join Crew, if you don't mind my asking? Any wild and and exciting tales you have to share?"

He smiled shyly as she asserted that he had beaten the ferocious animal and flicked his tail lightly. His ears perked as she explained her reasoning not to join, and he certainly understood them. Ruthgar was many things and among the most prevalent was a procrastinator. He understood how things tended to slip away after being put on the back burner although it was a habit Orsus had patiently tried to train out of him. "What made you join Crew, if you don't mind my asking? Any wild and and exciting tales you have to share?" He felt his cheeks flush again and looked away shyly. “Honest, it were only cuz they dinny chase me off immediately.” He muttered. “The parties were whut made me stay. That ‘n they dinny seem tae bothered by me.” He explained. The festival that had just passed had absolutely made him feel welcome in the pack although he didn’t remember much of what happened other than waking up with a splitting headache and with his arms wrapped around a very frightened and very confused raccoon. "Talk" "You" Think

This guy was kind of endearing in a way. Isk smirked playfully, continuing to roll and wiggle on the ice, sliding a bit away from the shore though she'd failed to notice just yet. It'd been a bit since her last nice chat with someone, it awakened a restlessness, a craving for further excitement. It really was time for her to join that crazy pack.

"I suppose that's as good a reason as any," she laughed softly. There were plenty of reasons to join a pack, though depending on their customs one might not do so well in certain groups. Her family for example, didn't do so well with too much restriction. Eyeing Ruthgar she assessed him a moment. So far he was pretty easy to get along with, certainly more enjoyable than some wolves could be, "I can't imagine anyone being bothered by ya." sitting up a bit the nebulous girl added, "unless under that unassuming facade you're some kinda troublemaker?" a knowing wink and a smile accompanied the words.

"unless under that unassuming facade you're some kinda troublemaker?" He couldn’t help but give a mischievous grin at that. “A s’pose ye could put it tha’ way, aye.” Now that he thought about it, what would Orsus or Isis have to say if they saw him now, drinking until he passed out, trespassing in other pack lands, harassing smaller animals…Orsus would have been ashamed, for sure, but that old man had killed himself, his opinion no longer mattered. “Ye could sey Crew breeds a certain…mentality.” He said, looking considerably more relaxed than he had in the past few minutes. “Eet’s mare fer th’ rogues, the ne’er-do-wells.” He continued. “Mysel included o’carse.” While Ruthgar was usually amicable, in the land he had been raised in he was nothing but trouble; a prankster in his adolescence and nothing short of a shit-stirrer when he reached maturity. It was only when his similarly unlikeable packmates had started to mock him for his scars that he began to close in on himself. Crew on the other hand didn’t seem to mind how he looked, and he suspected some might have even respected him for it, a suspicion that made his heart swell whenever it crossed his mind. Then again, the wolves where he was raied knew the reason for his scarring, and there, protecting another man’s pups and wife wasn’t so dissimilar to being cuckolded. While The Crew didn't necessarily hold the same beliefs they had done well to encourage the misbehavior he had before his fight with the puma, which suited the older male just fine. "Talk" "You" Think

Beaming, she slapped a paw down on the ice, declaring, "Called it!" there was no way anyone in the crew wasn't some troublemaker. At least not as far as she could tell so far. Might not have been the most impressive guess ever, she felt pride nevertheless. 

A certain mentality indeed. Chaos wasn't kidding about a gang of hooligans. Troublesome lot they'd be. Isk wanted in on it more and more as she thought about it, she needed to join these ruffians. Hang out with her sister, get to know the rest like Ruthgar here and Valdis. "Naturally. I'd expect no less. Hey, you wanna get some food or somethin'? I'm feeling peckish" belly-crawling with her claws scraping the surface of the lake she wriggled her way towards shore, glancing back to see if Ruthgar was coming or not.

Ruthgar managed to push his way across the ice with his back legs, his arms stroking like they were oars on a rowboat as he made his way to the snowy shore. “Slong as eets no badger.” He chimed from behind her, his tone surprisingly light for a wolf that was usually so serious. “Jus kep in mind am no yer sister.” He added, mentally recalling his catastrophic failure with the ewe Chaos had chased onto The Maw. Ruthgar had been trained as a “Peace keeper” in his youth; one of several wolves trained to break up fights between other members. Training that in a small pack like The Crew was all but useless. He had never needed to hunt, and had always lived off of other, more talented wolves. His fighting experience also left a lot to be desired, his training being more defensive and intended to be used as little as possible, and additionally had been largely successful when he had been one of the largest wolves in his pack. "Talk" "You" Think

"Oh, I can promise you I won't be messing with any, no worries about that," she giggled, shaking her head a bit at the thought. Once she'd scooted her way to ground with better traction she stood up, shook out her rosey fur, and trotted off through the deep banks of snow, taking big bouncing strides to get her paws up and make movement a bit easier.

Ears perked forward, and looks left, then right, sniffed the air, and pressed on. Her tail swung to and fro', body showing alertness as she focused on finding the trail of any potential meals in the area. Any time she stopped it was only to pick a new direction, or reassess what what scents were strongest. There was no uncertainty, only determination, total confidence. Picking her way down a small hill, the woman froze, swishing her tail to invite Ruthgar closer so she could converse with him without raising her voice above a whisper, body crouched low against the ivory powder covering the ground, "Ya wanna come with, or watch me be the sneakiest star wolf you ever did see?" Iskra couldn't help but grin a bit, her attention flicking back to the turkey that strutted around down below, still failing to notice the predators lurking nearby. It looked pretty juicy, she could almost taste it...

Ruthgar ran after her, happy to find now that she was on all fours that she as noticeably smaller than him. Ruthgar hopped into the snow in between bursts of charging headlong into the white ith his head craned almost painfully high. He let her track in silence, silently pretending his half blind trail of vision wasn’t frequently drifting to her feminine hips. He needed to keep reminding himself at times that he was free to be himself again, that he wasn’t noble Orsus’s second in command and that his ex wife had abandoned him. Not only was he free from his honorable façade, he was expected to be a houndish rouge again now that he as in The Crew. Still, he didn’t want to be obvious. His head snapped upwards as she changed direction then looked back down at her as she pursued her prey. "Ya wanna come with, or watch me be the sneakiest star wolf you ever did see?" “A’ll jus watch.” He whispered, tucking his body into the snow as he settled in to watch yet another Aeris in action. In his experience most birds were more feather than substance but the turkey had to have been the biggest damn bird he had ever seen. "Talk" "You" Think

Shrugging with a glance that said 'suit yourself' and a sly smirk, she nestled down further into the snow, taking a moment to let her thick winter coat become further covered in the bits of frozen powder for added camouflage of her conspicuously bright coat. Once she was satisfied, and had a bit of a new hat forming on her head, she'd sneak off, taking long, careful strides on paws that just barely made a whisper of a sound while she glided forward. Forward ten paces, then she'd drop down into the natural cover of the snow. Then forward again, careful to pay attention to the wind direction. Circling to the right of the animal, she adjusted her position as the wind shifted. Iskra would take her sweet, sweet time preparing. No rush so long as she didn't drag things out an eternity.

As she neared striking range the plump bird looked up and she instantly sank down, almost disappearing the deep snow save for the top of her head, white-tipped ears poking up the highest. Tension filled the air while the dumb bird tilted its head to each side, taking so long she was almost ready to charge over and strangle it before it finally was at ease and returned to digging through the frozen ground doing some stupid bird things and making the strangest noises she'd probably ever heard. A few more slow steps, careful not to crunch any ice or do something stupid like snap a hidden twig - wouldn't that be some horrible luck - Isk inched closer so cautiously it was almost painful. Finally! she sprang, front legs tucked together as she shot upwards and forwards and slammed down onto the bird, killing it swiftly amidst the wild flapping of wings and aimless peck of the sharp beak. Once her quarry lay still at her paws she looked up at Ruthgar, tail flying wildly side to side, chest puffed with pride at her quick kill.

Carrying the heavy, limp creature, she plodded her way back towards her new friend - he would be her friend whether he liked it or not, after all - Blue eyes sparkling brightly like the gemstones they resembled. Plopping the animal down on the ground she said, "Want some? It's pretty tasty. They're a lot meatier than some birds. Nicer looking feathers too, I think, not that it matters." She was in a pretty spectacular mood, radiating happiness and an amiable demeanor. It wasn't every day she shared her food with someone, hopefully the man had some sense and would accept lest she have to beat him with the turkey till he accepted her offer against his will. She'd do it, no doubt about that.

He watched her, his heart racing from his hidden position among the trees, unlike Isk, Ruthgar’s pelt offered a sort of camouflage, and his dark pelt could easily be mistaken for a tree stump at first glance, especially to some of the more mentally incapable animals which he suspected the turkey counted as. Regardless he knew enough to stay down wind and watch from a safe distance away. The last thing he wanted was to interfere and scare the damn bird off. His back straightened as she closed in, tail arching slightly as his pulse began to race. He felt his heart leap into his throat as she sprang and came down on the bird in a flurry of tossed up snow and ripped away feathers. He gave a small, excited bark as the bird stilled and trotted over to meet her. "Want some? It's pretty tasty. They're a lot meatier than some birds. Nicer looking feathers too, I think, not that it matters." She asked. He laughed heartily. “Ad nevar eat b’fore a woman tucked in.” He said, tossing his thin tail idly from side to side. “Ye keeled eet anyway. Take th’ furst bite n’ I’ll dig in myself aftar.” "Talk" "You" Think

Laughing and giving him a 'suit yourself' look Iskra plopped down here she was and began working at removing the feathers from the still warm body of the bird, holding it between her slightly bloodied paws as she worked at making the creature a bit more palatable by clearing all that plumage. Soon she was digging in, eating her meal with a less than lady-like gusto. Once satisfied that her belly was full she pushed the bird towards Ruthgar, rolling over and proclaiming, "I'm full, couldn't eat another bite! I must pass the torch to you, go forth, devour the rest of my precious bird so it's tasty flesh does not go underappreciated." her voice was just a bit dramatic, perhaps, but she was feeling good this fine day, so a little silliness and dramatic flair to her antics was to be expected.

After relaxing for a bit in the plush white powder blanketing the earth she'd right herself in order to actually be able to make eye contact as she spoke. "Hey, so, have you talked with my sister very much? How do you get on with the infamous Artemis Aeris?" she asked with a chuckle.

He waited patiently, laying down in the snow as he waited his turn. He gave a hearty laugh as she passed him the bird carcass. “A’ll honer yer sacrifice am sure” He said, bowing his head in mocking reverence before he buried his nose in what was left of the bird’s surprisingly large chest. The question came up if he had talked to Artemis, and while he had when he first settled into the pack and he helped her find a den, he hadn’t really spoken to her alone since. “No very mooch nae.” He answered in response to whether or not he had talked to her muck as he started to rip away the feathers on the bird’s stocky legs. “Bu she’s vary nice, er wuz tae me anywho.” He thought about what he could possibly tell her that she didn’t already know, but that assumed she and her sister had talked fairly recently, which she herself admitted she had been remiss in“Th’ Boss likes her.” He said with a sly grin. “Mare than A do that's fer sure.” This is talking