Snow ly on the ground, covering up the lowest regions of grass so that only the tips of the grass stuck out.  The lake was rimmed about the edges in ice but it wasn’t quite enough to make it but a foot or so away from the shore.  Rampage stood at the waters edge, a paw cautiously put on the ice and hearing the subtle sound of tiny cracks that formed in the ice the more weight he put on it.  

One paw became two paws as the boy shoved more of his weight into it, grinning as the cracks grew in funny lines.  Half his body shoved at the ice and a determined growl came from his chest as he tried to break the ice.  He could make the cracks longer but he wasn’t quite heavy or muscled enough to break it on his own. “C’monnnn” Rampage couldn’t say why it was important for the ice to break more than he had started the task and wanted to succeed at whatever he chose to do.  Would a big chunk of ice make a good boy if he got it back on the shore?

Rebel trotted through the trees as she made her way down to the lake, her mismatched paws crunching through the thin layer of snow that coated everything as she went. The lake was probably her favorite place to play and explore so more often than not once she was done with whatever lessons and training she had to do this was where she would go. Sometimes she drug one of her siblings or parents along, but today it was just her though she did hope she'd find someone to play with once she got there. Sure enough, as she got closer to the edge of the lake, she heard a mix of grunts, thumps, and growls and she spotted the brown-furred figure of her brother bouncing on the ice that ran along the shore of the lake. Her ears perked with curiosity and she immediately turned her path toward him, trotting over to see what he was up to.

The cracks that splintered off across the ice were easy to pick up on as she got closer and it was obvious that they originated from where Rampage was jumping on. She had no idea what he was hoping to accomplish, but that didn't stop Rebel from joining in without a second thought! She grinned and immediately hopped in beside him to start jumping and shoving her own weight into the ice as well, adding an extra set of soft thuds as her paws hit the ice with continuous hops. The cracks started to show up more frequently and get wider each time, splintering off in every direction from where they were attacking the sheet of hard, cold water.

"Rebel Klein"

Rampage would say he was a patient pup but only because he was the one who determined how long it took to be labeled patient.  The ice was taking forever!!  His ears twisted as he heard a sound from behind but didn’t stop what he ws doing.  The boy was confident in no true dangers while he was on pack land.  The pack patrolled their land and after all, what predator would dare to step on Ashen soil?

Rebel appeared and was suddenly assisting him!  Oh, they had this chunk of ice now!  He liked the sound of the crackling ice and all the more so as it meant they were succeeding.  “Faster, faster!”  Not that Rebel seemed to need encouragement but as the lines started to spider out and grow in length Rampage's excitement grew.

Thud.  Thud.  Thud went puppy paw and this time instead of a crack a small piece of ice cracked away fully from the rest.  It was hardly larger than the size of a puppy paw though and he’d been aiming for a much larger chunk than that.  Still, he paused to lower his head and eye how it floated off before slamming his feet at the bigger chunk of ice again.  “I wanna see how big of a piece we can make!” It might be nice to share his plans with Rebel if his sister was going to help after all.

"Rampage Klein"

Rebel never stopped hopping in place with her front paws striking the ice again and again along side her brother. He certainly didn't need to tell her to go faster but when he did she doubled down on her efforts, their paws thudding against he ice with each synchronized bounce. The ice certainly didn't stand a chance against them and already she could see it splintering and cracking off in certain places it took a little bit but finally a small chuck broke off from their efforts, this piece not much bigger than one of their paws, but it was progress! Progress toward what she wasn't sure yet, but she stopped along with Rampage as they watched the smaller piece float away.

Finally her brown-coated brother shared what his goal had been all along–to see how big of a piece of ice they could make. "Ohhhhh!" she replied with the realization, her magenta gaze looking back to the ice enthusiastically. Well, that certainly required a different approach than just trying to break it apart which was what she was trying to do. She glanced up and down the shore line a couple of times, trying to find a good spot for her new idea, and once she had it she added, "Let's try this!" She bounded a couple of feet down the shore, putting a bit of space between them and finding a place where one of their cracks had splintered off in her new direction. "I'll hop over here and you hop over there and maybe this piece between us will break off!"

With that plan made she turned her attention to the ice and started to hop on it again with both front feet. However, she was having a hard time getting a new crack to form on her own and the crack they had already made was a few feet away from her, further into the ice. After several impatient moments, hoping she could make a crack that would meet up with the first, she huffed and started inching forward onto the ice, hoping maybe more weight further out would do the trick. She inched further out a couple of times until she was fully out on the ice in her efforts to reach the original crack, but just as she felt the ice finally give way it suddenly disappeared from under her. Her front paws hit the ice and she went right through, diving into the freezing cold water beneath.

The cold water shocked her system and she scrambled and floundered for a moment before managing to pop her head back through the surface in the hole she had made in the ice with a sputtering gasp. "Dad! Mom!" she immediately started yelling on instinct while she struggled to figure out how to tread water, bobbing back under the surface a couple of times and coughing up the ice water each time.

"Rebel Klein"

Rampage raised his head when Rebel offered up her own idea and ran off a short distance.  How about that!  Rampage hadn’t known if walking out on the ice would be alright.  Well, that had clearly been stupid considering Rebel was proving that it was safe.  Rampage glanced down at his patch of ice, flicking his ears back in a glower at it.  Ram slammed his paws into the ice another two times, venting his wrath on the cold surface.  Raising his eyes he saw Rebel crawling further onto the ice.  

Rampage swallowed the urge to call out to Rebel and say it was dangerous.  The young prince’s pride refused to allow him to say something could be dangerous and risk sounding like a coward when it turned out to be safe.  He didn’t hit the ice with his paws anymore though.  The brown pup had to grudgingly admit his respect for his sister was growing!

Ram was all-eyes on Rebel when the ice she was under cracked, and broke, and his sister fell into the water.  “REBEL!!”  His howl was sharp and fast with fear and while it wasn’t specifically calling for dad, it was the call of a scared pup that would carry well. Rampage’s heart pounded as he tried to think of what to do.  If he went after Rebel then he might just fall in also but how long did Rebel have?  What if she drowned?

Rampage spied a branch a short distance away and charged for it.  It only took around five seconds to reach but his heart hammered in his ears with each second.  Right back to the lake and the struggling Rebel.  The stick was almost as long as the pup and the thickness and about an inch thick; surely that would be good enough?  Hmm, the edge of the ice wasn’t close enough even with the stick.  Rampage put two feet on the ice, lay down and started crawling out on the ice, one end of the stick sticking out of his mouth.  The closer he got, the more the pup had to acknowledge the stick wasn’t all that long for this but it was the best stick he could find fast!!

“I’m commn Rebl, cmmin!” The words were mumbled with the stick awkwardly placed in his mouth, pup teeth grinding into it.  “Git, th’ stck!”  Rampage watched a new crack form and he froze in place.  Rampage was never going to like ice cracks again.  “Climb!” No no no no Rebel was gonna drown.  Two more crawling motions and Rampage stretched out his neck with it teasingly close to Rebel.  It wouldn’t be enough to pull Rebel up with but Rampage didn’t know it.

"Rampage Klein"

The last thing any father wanted to hear was the scream of his child filled with genuine fear. That was exactly what Maverick heard while he was teaching Rogue the proper stances he could use during a fight. The playful lesson with his middling son was interrupted by the panicked howl from Rampage coming in the direction of the lake. It was enough to make the wolf's heart stop beating, teal eyes narrowing in sharp focus. "Go back to the palace, get your mother," he instructed Rogue in stern tones, the seriousness in his voice leaving no room for debate or protestation from his son. Then he was gone, sprinting through the snow in the direction of his other son's call for help. He ducked and weaved through the dark forests with ease, using the light of the moon to help guide him and keep him from tripping on any upturned roots. When he finally arrived at the shore of the lake, his blood ran cold at the sight he saw. Rampage was out on the middle of the damned ice, leaning over a hole broken down into the frigid lake!

There was no room for thoughts or planning in Maverick's head. He was an impulsive wolf by nature, but this was even more reckless as he sprinted out over the ice, using calloused paw pads and sharp claws to act like snowshoes to prevent him from slipping on the slick ice. With it still being the dead of winter, the ice was thick enough to support his greater weight, but as he got further out onto the ice field and nearer to the cracks his children had made, it began to groan in protest. Mav didn't even stop to ask what was going on. He ran right to the hole in the ice, scooping up Rampage in his paws and hucking him back behind him to slide the pup over the ice onto the stable uncracked sheet. "Go back to shore!" he shouted at his son, eyes narrowed and furious as he pointed Rampage back to land. Then he dared to look down into the hole and his heart sank. Bobbing just underneath the surface of the inky black waters were splotches of white. Rebel.

The hole in the ice was too small for a dire wolf to dive down into, but a little thing like physics wasn't about to stop the sire from saving his daughter. Rearing back on his hind legs with an enraged snarl, Mav drove his paws down onto the edges of the cracked ice with all his might, shattering them and widening the hole enough for him to dive straight down into the pitch black lake. Hitting the water felt like slamming face first into a wall of icy needles. Pain instantly hit his body and his muscles tensed and went rigid from shock. Even his dense winter coat did nothing to protect him from the freezing embrace of the frozen water. Only the knowledge that his daughter's life was on the line kept the father moving, teal eyes opening to peer through the dark water and find the murky white shapes of her again. Maverick was a natural swimmer, but even this water proved challenging for him. He kicked and pushed his way over to Rebel, jaws parting to snatch up her scruff before he kicked his way back to the surface.

Both wolves erupted from the lake in a splash of water, Maverick sucking in breath through his nose while he padded and treaded the water to the best of his ability to keep them above the surface. He doggy paddled over to the edge of the ice, giant forepaws clutching at the slippery edge as he tried to pull them up, only to wind up slipping back into the water when his claws couldn't find purchase in the smooth ice. Growling in frustration, Mav once more swam up to the edge of the ice, thinking quick before he and Rebel both froze to death or drowned. He couldn't pull them both out here, but he could get her out. Paws clasping to the edge of the ice again, his claws scraping at the smooth, slick surface, Maverick pulled himself as close to the edge and as much out of the water as he could without slipping, then used all his might to hoist his soaked daughter up out of the lake and onto the ice. Once she was safely up on the ice, he pointed back to the shore as well. "G-G-Go," he growled to her, fighting to keep his teeth from chattering while he bobbed up and down in the black water. It was all he could say in his freezing state, and he prayed Rebel was coherent enough to get going so he could focus on getting himself out of this without drowning now.

"Maverick"

It was hard to see what was happening beyond the edge of the ice as she bobbed up and down in the cold water, just getting glimpses of the world above the surface occasionally as she floundered and strained to keep her nose up over the top of the water with her legs kicking endlessly. She heard her brother yell her name and a moment later heard him yell something about climbing and when her magenta gaze turned upward she saw a bit of a stick that he was holding out for her. She reached and tried to grab it, but her teeth just barely scraped the bark and her efforts only made her dip back under the water in the process. The little "hop" she had done with her outstretched neck in her attempt to grab her brother's stick had an opposite effect with the returning momentum, sending her further down into the icy water than she had been before and she started to panic a bit, her magenta eyes wide as she looked up toward the hole in the ice where she had fallen in, the moonlight just bright enough for her to distinguish it from the rest of the mostly solid ice around it.

A moment later she saw a shadow cast over the hole, this figure much bigger than her brother, and there was a muffled voice from up above just as her lungs started to burn for oxygen. Everything was so cold that it was getting very hard for her to move but she tried her best to at least not sink any further with stiff kicks of her legs while she watched as the shadow slammed into the ice, making that hole even bigger, and then started to move toward her. It wasn't until her father was in the water with her that she was able to make out his similar white splotches in the dark water and she started doubling down on her efforts to swim toward him until she felt his teeth on her scruff and felt him pulling her back toward the surface. Relief washed over her because she had full, unwavering belief that everything would be fine now that their dad was here. A beat later he brought them both back to the surface and she sucked in a breath of air, coughing and sputtering from some of the frigid water that she had breathed in among all her struggling to stay above water.

Everything felt a little foggy around her, but she managed to keep her eyes open for the most part as her dad swam back to the edge of the ice, only slightly aware of his struggle to get up onto the surface until she was suddenly moving again and she felt the hard surface of the ice on her side as he tossed her up onto the ice. She blinked and tried to refocus her vision, which was suddenly very hard to do, and she saw their dad floating in the water with his paws on the edge of the ice and heard him telling her to go. Everything was somehow kind of numb and also hurt at the same time as she forced her legs to move and she rolled onto her paws on the slippery ice and it wasn't until she was making herself stand that she realized she was shivering all over. "O-Okay," she agreed, at least having enough sense to know that arguing with her dad right now was just going to get her into more trouble, and she began to slowly shuffle her way back to shore, looking up toward the edge of the lake to make sure she could see Rampage to use him as a guide.

"Rebel Klein"

Rebel reached out to grab his stick and hope surged in Rampage’s chest, light a match lit then snuffed out the hope didn’t last long as his sister missed the stick and was sucked under water.  Ram keened out a high pitch whine, glancing back sharply with widening eyes when he heard Dad’s charging approach.  

Dad could fix this! Even as he was scooped up Ram saw the rage in Dad’s eyes, the boy’s potential relief dampened in the expression.  Oh damn.  Rebel and he were in some big-time trouble!  He’d never seen Dad look so angry.  Still, she’d be ok now, right?  Ram slid on the ice as thoughts and feelings flew by.  The boy found his feet as soon as possible and bounded back further to solid ground.  With all the emotions surging in him, the child hadn’t noticed how his legs shook in anxious fear.

“It’ll be ok now, it’ll be ok,” he whispered the words to himself, assuring himself that his sister would be fine.  Rampage had no doubt that Maverick would be fine.  A bit of water was nothing for him, right?  A few seconds seemed to take forever but Dad came up but then seemed to lose his grip on the ice.  For the first time, a tingle of doubt tugged at him.  No!  Dad wouldn’t fail.

They came back up and Rebel was hoisted onto the ice.  Rampage let out a deep sigh of relief and with Rebel seeming to make slow progress getting closer Rampage moved to the edge of the frozen water.  He wasn’t about to risk Dad’s wrath and put one paw on the ice but he stayed as close as possible so that he could shove his head against her shoulder, rubbing his forehead into her soaked coat, followed up with a gentle nipping at her coat.  He was hardly known for being affectionate but this was a special moment.  He'd been scared she’d die and he had a part in it but now it was alright.  “C’mon, let's get farther up.  Find a spot to lay down and I’ll help warm you up.”  His gaze drifted back to the water, squinting, “Dad’ll be alright and up here with us in no time.”

"Rampage Klein"

Rebel didn’t offer any sort of resistance or protest when Maverick yeeted her up onto the ice and told her to go to the shore, which was the best call the waterlogged pup could have made. Bobbing in the inky black water of the lake, Mav grit his teeth to keep them from chattering, fighting to keep his muscles from locking up while he kicked his legs to keep himself afloat and above the water’s surface. Once his daughter had gotten far enough away from the hole in the ice, the father once again tried to hoist himself up out of the water, paws scrabbling at the ice to try to find anything to get a hold of, but there was nothing on the slick surface. Again the white wolf went plunging back into the frigid waters with a yelp, fully submerging into the darkness and swallowing a mouthful of the icy liquid on his way down. His lungs burned, his muscles ached and screamed against the effort, but the adrenaline in his bloodstream kept him alert and moving.

Kicking his way back toward the hole in the ice, Maverick burst through the surface with a gasp for air, coughing and sputtering as he grabbed for the edge of the ice. This time, he curled his body around until his hind paws caught the underside of the ice, claws digging into the ice and giving him the leverage he needed to propel himself up over the ice. Forepaws latched onto the ice with sharp claws, the half-frozen brute grunting with the strain of hoisting himself up out of the arctic water. Water and ice crystals sluiced from his fur, freezing to his coat in the bitter cold as he crawled up onto the ice away from the hole, gasping for breath. His heart pounded in his chest a million miles an hour. The real fear that had gripped his heart was slowly beginning to melt away as he came down from his adrenaline-fueled high, only now realizing in the aftermath of the chaos how close he and Rebel had come to being lost in the abyss of the black lake.

Maverick laid out on the frozen lake for a while longer, shivering and breathing deep while his body tried to recover from its cold shock. He knew he needed to move before he got hypothermic, but even just shivering hurt all over. Eventually he managed to rally his willpower and push himself to his paws, shuffling and trudging across the ice, aching all over like he'd just fought a dozen grizzly bears. The father made his way over to his children, jaws clenched against the cold that buffeted his body. "C'mon. We g-gotta get you b-both out of th-the cold," he told them, doing his best to keep the shiver out of his voice and failing. Nudging his pups with his snout, Mav ushered them back towards the palace where they could warm up. He and Rebel needed to get dry and warm fast, before they suffered any permanent damage from the cold.

"Maverick"