I Can't Even Dream (open)

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Setting: Midday
Weather: Snowing lightly

The cold condensation of her breath on the air was nearly lost in the snow drifting lightly but thickly around her. The lavender and teal pastels of her coat were mostly obscured by a blanket of white sticking stubbornly to her, but she hardly seemed to notice. The small female was looking down at the space in front of her, wild perturbation on her face. There was a hole rubbed in the snow, beneath which was not the water she'd come here looking for. There was only ice, cloudy enough that she couldn't even see the water beneath it. Frowning, she scratched at the section of ice with one paw, then the other, in a digging motion. Grooves formed in the ice, but not nearly as quickly as she would have liked. After a minute, aching in her nails made her stop. She looked at the little headway she'd made, then turned away in disgust.

Winter had obviously taken its toll on Savita. She was young, and the winter had been hard and harsh, and what scraps of prey she'd managed to procure for herself were only enough to keep her alive. Her normally silky fur was rough, ribs poking visibly from her sides. Her hips were prominent. She wasn't emaciated, but it was obvious she was wanting for spring and the prey it would bring. She moved away from the frozen and snow-covered river, settling to lay shivering at the base of a scrawny tree. She grit her teeth, not allowing herself to feel self-pity. It was unbecoming and absolutely useless, besides. If only... if only the sun would come out, perhaps her mood would be lifted at least a little. As it was, all she could do was look out at the never-ending snow falling from the grey clouds with a sense of forlorn longing.

[forte]

It was noon as Indy traversed the hunting plains with difficulty, and yet it was just as dark and grey as the dawn had been, only now it was snowing, too. The she-wolf had always enjoyed the open expanse of the hunting plain, but this winter the snow piled so high here that she felt like she was wading through water. When the snow had started to fall, she had felt that it would be a while before she would see clear weather again, and she had decided it was time to find shelter. With half of a stiff and scrawny snow hare in her jaws, had made for the nearest trees, which would catch much of the snow in their branches before it touched the ground, and thus keep the snow from piling so high beneath them. It was hard going across the plain. The wind was picking up, and it seemed every step she took was more laborious than the last. Her fur was matted with ice, weighing her down and making gaps in her fur for the cutting wind to exploit. Wow, winter had sure gotten old fast.

A slight dip in the terrain did not slow her, but it should have: Amoux Creek was sheathed in ice, and of course Indy slipped as she accidentally tried to cross it. She yipped in surprise and her prize flew from her mouth as she flailed to right herself, failed, and fell into the snow bank as if onto a feather bed. A very cold feather bed. "NO! MY FOOD!" She yelled as she jumped up and sniffed around for her catch. She knew it was no use. That rabbit butt had been frozen so long it had even started to smell like snow. Her frustration finally bubbled over and Indy fell into a storm of curses, oblivious to the snow-shrouded she-wolf lying quite nearby.

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It had only been by chance that Savita had lifted her head and caught sight of the partially-white-obscured brown creature. She couldn't hear the wolf in the muted quiet of the falling snow, nor could she smell it with the numb chill over her and the wind drifting in the wrong direction. But as she watched, wary and hunkered down, she realized two things: one, that there was a hare dangling limply and absolutely tantalizing from its jaws, and two, that the wolf was about to trot right on over the frozen river without a care in the world. It would probably be fine, it wasn't that- ah, but no. With a yelp the wolf went down, hare flying, and Savita was finally able to make an identification as 'female'. Savita winced, but the ice was far too solid for the wolf to have gone through.

She watched silently as the wolf tried to find her prey, but she was looking in entirely the wrong spot. Savita had seen where it had gone, but its hunter obviously had not. Not willing to get out of her little snow bed, which was only slightly warmer than the outside air but still worth preserving for the moment, she still took pity on the other. She was too hungry herself to find the female's irate curses amusing enough to let it continue. "More to your left," she said quietly - not much noise was necessary here, when there wasn't even the sound of the river's gurgling to act as background noise.

[forte]

The voice was barely loud enough for Indy to hear over her own swearing, but still it made her jump and turn around, searching for the speaker. There, beneath that bare tree. She was not the type to fear strangers, not in the slightest, but the surprise of abruptly realizing that, if the other she-wolf were a snake, Indy would be on the ground right now, writhing and foaming at the mouth, was...awakening. This snow hid everything, both dangers and benefits.

Suddenly sheepish, the brown-and-snowy wolf cleared her throat. "Sorry. I didn't realize anyone else was around." Her missing hare pressed on her mind. As much as she hated the thought of digging through the snow looking for it, she realized that in this season, food was too precious to just lose. She turned back around the way she had been facing when the other wolf had spoken and looked, as per her advice, to her left—it took a moment, but there she saw it: a hole in the snow, barely visible. Recklessly Indy dove into it, and her maw was reunited with the frigid half-corpse that was to be her dinner.

Unwilling to set her catch down for fear of losing it again, Indy showed her gratitude with just a tail wag as she approached the female, while being careful to keep her body language relaxed. She sat down a couple of yards away, cleared the snow away from a spot in front of her with her paws, and set down the hare. "What brings you out this way?" she asked, hopefully casually. She had been speaking to everyone she had met to try to gather information about where the food seemed to be in the Valley these days. It seemed Indy had had more luck than a lot of folks, though, so far. She hadn't gone three days yet this winter without finding food. Sure, some of it had been off a weeks-old carcass, but she couldn't really afford to be picky about it.

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Savita saw the other female jump, and could stop a smile from coming to her lips. When she wasn't feeling so ridiculously run-down and lethargic, she was more of the high-energy sort that would relish in taking someone unawares. She shrugged off the apology, watching the wolf locate and recover her meal. Lavender eyes locked onto the hare for a moment, and she swallowed against a dry throat. When the female spoke again, though, Savita shook herself out of her little stupor, chiding herself. It wasn't like this was some sleezy guy leaving his meal out haphazardly that she could slip in and steal. This was another young female, probably as hungry as she was. She didn't want her food.

She smiled wryly at the other's question, but there wasn't much real amusement in it. "Looking for water, actually. Food. Something. But things are pretty hard to access at the moment." Her voice was a little hoarse, more from disuse than anything. She inclined her head in a half-shrug again. She wasn't one to complain, not to others. She refused to look or sound weak, and she definitely refused to be pitied. "And you?" she inquired.

[forte]

Indy nodded at the other female's words. Water was even harder to find than food. Eating snow had been keeping Indy alive, but it made her too cold to eat much at once, so she had been thirsty for a long time now. "I came here for shelter," she answered. "The snow is too high on the plains. And getting higher. I'm lucky I wan't buried in it." She gave a short laugh. Winter was no joke, but she found humor made her feel a bit warmer. "I wonder if the waterfall is frozen. Maybe you could get water there?" Wildwater Falls was one of Indy's favorite places in the warmer seasons, but she had never visited in the winter. It would be an impressive feat for this cold to freeze it solid. "It is way across the plain, though," she added with another laugh. Spring really needed to arrive already, to end her streak of misfortune.

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Savita laughed along with the other female. Perhaps it was a bit of hysterics for both of them, laughing in the face of this godforsaken winter. Despite everything, she was feeling a little more content. Perhaps the old adage was true: misery really did love company. "I haven't been out onto the plains much, but I can imagine it's awful. And the forests have proven to be as comfortable as anything in all of this." She shook her head with a sigh, pushing herself up into a sitting position and feeling the snow slide off of her back. She'd seen the waterfall, once, and she too could hardly believe it was possible it would freeze over. It wouldn't be worth the risk of the trip before spring, though. She gave the other female a friendly smile. "I'm Savita, by the way."

[forte]

The brown she-wolf tried not to stare at the other wolf's fur as the snow that had been concealing it slid off, revealing a tapestry of muted purples and blues reminiscent of the sky at dusk. Indy suddenly felt quite plain in comparison, but she was not the type to care too much about how she looked. She just wanted to admire the colors.

She returned Savita's smile. "Indy," she replied, her tail giving a little wag. It was nice to have friendly company in winter, when everything seemed to be a competition. "Do you wanna team up on a hunt?" she asked quickly, out of the blue. Savita looked hungry, as was Indy, and while Indy had some food left, in this season, it was smart to take what one could get. She didn't want to let this opportunity at having some help slip away.

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Savita's smile was genuine and open, which was a fair rarity for the close-hearted female. "It's nice to meet you, Indy." And she meant it. It wasn't often she met anyone so seemingly kind and unguarded that she took to them quickly. At Indy's suggestion, she couldn't help but feel both a little self-conscious and excied at the prospect. On one hand, she was embarrassed that Indy might be taking pity on her. But on the other, while she wasn't one to take free handouts, hunting together was hardly something given to her. She would have to put her skills to the test as well, weak as they might be at the moment. "I would like that," she said after a pause, lifting herself fully from the snow to stand. While the plains might be treacherous at the moment, it could be well worth it.

(We can head over to the plains then? :D)

[forte]

Indy's tail started to wag again as she picked up on Savita's growing friendliness. "Great!" the brown she-wolf said excitedly at her new acquaintance's acceptancestors of her proposal. "Im sure it'll be hard but, I mean, I caught this stupid rabbit out there and that's better than nothing." She stood up, ready to lead the way back out onto the plains—a place that, just a few minutes ago, had felt so harsh and arduous, now with a companion seemed almost surmountable.

((Yeah! Excitement! I almost never get to do hunting threads.))

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Giving a smile, Savita pulled herself completely out of the snow and followed Indy's lead. There was eagerness in her step that hadn't been there before - the prospect of a meal had her mouth practically watering.

(She'll follow there~ And I'm excited too! I don't think I've ever done a hunting thread before.)