Windy Peak

“It is something else, but let’s not get caught up in sightseeing.”

"Indeed. But it is a beautiful sight to behold." Linnëa replied calmly, her eyes lingering for one more fleeting moment. Her gaze then broke and she focused back on the path before her. Crimson was right, the mountain was dangerous, but did she really understand what he meant? Yes it was dangerous to fall, but what other dangers were there other than slipping and falling to ones death? She was not sure. As well, the place she had resided in before had been mainly flat, apart from warmer than this territory. There had been cliffs and lower mountains, but they were not snowy as this place was. Confused slightly, her ears pinned, but moments later she reaction disappeared.

“Watch where you all place your paws, the ground may look safe, but it does not always show the truth.”

The ground? Linnëa thought, looking down to the snow beneath her paws. The khaki female was still slightly confused. Thinking about what he meant, she remembered a few words from her largely fogged past, one where she had been attending a Guardian's lesson from her birth pack that was about traveling. Beware of mountains capped of snow, a wrong step and the snow will flow. She got the meaning for the most part. What had they been called? An avelance? No, no... An avalanche. I must not ignore him then, he obviously has more experience here than I. She thought. It was okay though that she did not know of avalanches. She would learn soon.

Lelio padded behind the alpha pair. He thought about life over the past few weeks, Linnea, the lovely female in front of him had been named alpha, much to no ones surprise. She was perfect for the job, or so he thought, plus it was always good to have a beautiful creature like her at the front of the pack. Lelio kicked a pebble in his path and sent it over the cliff they now stood at. Surprise of all surprises Lelio had been named Lead Guardian, the position his father had once held, or so he had been told.

Lelio looked out over the territory, it was really beautiful, he had grown up in a land not unlike this one, just smaller. He knew of the dangers, but had come to accept them as a fact of life. Lelio let his gaze travel back to the female in front of him. He wished he could get to know her better...if might be fun.

(Lame)

Linnëa turned around to take another glance at the wolves padding behind her, as well as the territory beyond them. What caught her eyes, however, was the Lead Guardian looking at her. The khaki female was somewhat caught of guard by this, it was not often that one stared at her. She pinned her ears confusedly, but otherwise hid the full extent of her reaction. "Hello." She said simply, as she slowed her pace to match the male's so that she walked next to, but just in front of him. She was placed closest to the edge of the lightly snowed slope that laid to the right of her.

Her eyes then trailed back to the mountain as she gazed at the expansive rocky spire. There was a strange feeling coming over the female now. It scared her somewhat, as if she was at the wrong place at the wrong time. Or she was forgetting something.

Lelio hadn't been aware his staring had gone noticed. "Why hello, what brings you back to me?" He said in a different tone then usual (think Sean Connery XD), when the very female he had been staring so intently at, came back to join him. Though when a look of fear crossed her features as she looked over the sloppy abyss all thoughts of flirting drifted from his mind. "What is wrong?" He asked his own eyes searching each crevice for secrets that may harm the pack.

That is why he was named Lead Guardian, was it not, because he could protect the pack like no other? He had been feeling the same emotions as the female beside his but had pushed them aside as mere annoyances.

"Why hello, what brings you back to me?

"Thought I might say hello." The khaki female replied kindly, giving Lelio a small smile in reply. She kept a smooth, loose pace next to him. Her long legs were good for many types of travel, whether through snow or swamps or through plains and forests. She could cover ground quickly and efficiently without expending too much energy, and obstacles were no problem. She could leap over tall fallen trees, wide branches, and several obstacles in a row without loosing speed. It was very helpful indeed for when they traveled like this. Alphas were meant to lead, not to lag behind. Her mind continued to wander from subject to subject at random and in no particular order like this for a few more moments until her thoughts were interrupted.

"What is wrong?"

She pondered this question for several moments. What was wrong? What was this strange, disconcerting feeling that brewed inside her like boiling stew? It disturbed her and caused her heart to be at unrest, and her mind to be far more alert than it normally was when she traveled. Normally, she would be in a robotic state where her body went into an autopilot sort of mode and her mind was quiet and at rest. But not now. "I have a strange feeling that is causing me some.. Mental unrest." She replied quietly. It was so only he could hear. She did not want any wolves that may find her current state of mind silly or stupid. She pinned her ears. If only the female listened to her mind. But she was more intent on calling her feelings and ideas silly for fear of them causing her something she did not want.

Spirit walked in silent observation behind the others, bringing up the rear of the group trekking across the snow tipped peaks. Conversation drifted to the landscape and the view that presented itself to them. Spirit allowed her eyes to drift off to edge of the rocky pathway and beyond. Trees stretched across the land in a sea of green, stirring a longing feeling in Spirit. She was not one to mind the snow (for she was best at hunting in it) but the cover of trees brought shelter to the female and up here on the open cliff she felt vulnerable.

Shaking her fur free of the clumps of snow that began attaching themselves to her, Spirit turned her attention to those in front of her. Linnea had dropped back a few paces to walk along side Lelio. The Delta didn't bother straining her ears to listen in on their conversation, she didn't feel like intruding nor did she have the energy. Their smiles soon dropped as the conversation turned serious; Linnea whispered something to the male that was meant to be inaudible to the rest of the wolves. Spirit looked away, she wouldn't bother herself with it. Free of watching the others, Spirit gaze traveled up along the slope to her right and up to the snow collected at the top. She didn't trust this rocky landscape in the least.

[ Lame ]

Arisah picked her way along carefully as the group moved forward. As usual, she had navigated herself somewhere in the middle of the small portion of the pack that had elected to go on this expedition. From her vantage point, she could see, or at least hear, every wolf in some way and unconsciously keep tabs on their wellness. Since joining the pack, she had fallen enthusiastically into her duties as a scholar, learning more about the resources around them and helping out whenever possible. In truth, she loved every moment and, almost as much as the wolves themselves, her duty gave her purpose and made her feel at home here.

So it had, of course, been with great enthusiasm that she had volunteered to participate in this trek: it would be an opportunity not only to get to know the lands and their resources better, but a number of her packmates. She smiled to herself as she watched them move forward, commenting on the landscape and talking among themselves. Hearing Crimson's warning to watch where she placed her paws, Arisah immediately nodded: the last thing that she, every the clumsy one, needed was do was stumble on this mountain.

Catching Phantom's comments, Ari had to echo his sentiments, "Agreed, this is like no where I've ever been." She was a wolf of the forest. Endless seas of timbers, not peaks, were what she had always been used to, and while there was a kind of beauty in that which would always hold her heart, there was definitely something to be said about this landscape, foreign thought it was. At least the snow was familiar, with it's fierce chill and cautious footing. The forests where she had grown up had been pelted with blizzards each winter.

Phantom's joke brought a quiet chuckle to the she wolf, "Unless you trip. We might not find all that white fur in this snow," she joked back, with no idea how terrifyingly accurate that might come to be.


[eh, not my best, but didn't want to get too behind on the thread]

Lelio's brow furrowed, he looked around, was that what his senses were trying to tell him. "I have a feeling you may be correct alpha. Be watchful" He said "Perhaps you should stay here, you don't get safer than me...that sounded a lot less conceited in my head." A laugh escaped his muzzle, yet his eyes were wide. He wasn't used to letting such things out, especially around females. "Sorry that was really horrible, but you know, Guardian here, kinda supposed to keep you safe. Not that you couldn't take care of yourself of course, you would not be alpha without being able to take care of your self, what i am saying is...That i am going to shut up and stop talking" He looked away embarrassed.

(Lame but realized i had to post)

Linnëa nodded, though most words after her last replies fell on deaf ears. This feeling of looming doom was causing extreme stress to build in the light khaki female. her paw steps grew more rapid, and her eyes were beginning to look more and more wild. She was dearly hoping this feeling was just nothing, just a feeling. The female was wrong to think this though, and if she had only listened to her instincts the oncoming disaster would not have involved the alphess so deeply. Because, as she took up a position in the front of the group next to Crimson, the disaster occurred.

The ground began to slide beneath her paws as a sheet of snow was moved. A sharp gasp escaped her, about half the group was on this moving snow now. An avalanche. That was what her mentor had called it. In an act of preservation, she shuffled around before finally meeting her goal. Her head collided with the alpha male's side as she knocked him off this sliding snow, but there was no time for her to move off of it herself. Trapped on it, she found the only way out of the sliding sheet was to flee. For now, it moved slow, but quickly gained speed as it moved towards a steep slope.

Her paws were frantic as she ran like prey away from the frothing wave of cold. An alarmed howl escaped her maw. It was not just melodic, it was filled with terror as it was not only a lament, but a warning so that others could make a quick escape before they were trapped. Her strides grew longer and longer, and for a few moments it seemed she would escape. But that was until disaster struck the female. Linnëa's shoulder locked up and pain seemed to shear it in half. She let out a noise that was almost like a scream, but it was a loud screeching yelp of pain and horror. Her past wound was out to seek it's last bit of revenge on the khaki female.

As it did so, she found her coordination gone. Her front legs folded as she crumpled and began to slide just in front of the snow. Her senses flickered. And, with one last burst of speed, the avalanche consumed the alpha female and darkness enveloped her.

Kitara stood at the base of the mountain not feeling the power to clmb the large slope. She placed one paw forward and started slowly trotting towards the peak. About half way up she plopped down into the sodden ground and sighed. Her mind swirled she was too tired to move an inch further. As her breathing slowed she got back onto her paws her stomache rumbling and her mind swirling she was unbalanced. When she took a step she clumsily slanted towards the ground and wobbled. But she had to reach the top before midnight. Or she would be left unprotected starving and lonely.

ooc: sounds good to me Finn
--

Arisah's attention was suddenly drawn away from the group by the sound of an approaching wolf. Ears flickering, noting that there was something vaguely familiar about the voice that yelped out, Arisah turned in the direction from which it had come. Sure enough, a little ways behind, was a figure Ari hadn't seen in a while--in fact, she was surprised to see it at all. After they'd planned to find plants to heal sick Linnea, who seemed to have gotten better of her own accord, the male had seemed to disappear. At first, as she was known to do, Arisah had worried and wondered about her lost packmate. Finn was one of the few she'd actually spoken much with, and had been considering him to be a friend. But after a while she had let herself assume that either he'd decided to strike out on his own or was simply off scouting for the pack. Seeing him approach, she was left to the belief it was the latter, and was barking back a hello when it all broke loose--the snow that is.

Suddenly the ground beneath her paws was rumbling and falling away, a churning mess of snow and danger. Pale gaze flashing around to her pack mates, Arisah did her best to keep moving, trying to follow some of their leads and get off the moving mass of white. She watched as Linnea pushed Crimson away, then heard with horror the sound of her yelp as she stumbled and disappeared into the snow. Distracted by the scene unfolding around her, ever clumsy Ari suddenly lost her own footing, tripping over a large chunk of rolling ice. With a frantic bark, she too sunk under the swimming sea of white, unable to regain her footing in time.

Lelio felt the rumble of the earth below him and his tail tucked between his legs as his eyes widened. His eyes gazed upon the rolling waves of white before they crashed upon the wolf. So unprepared was the guardian that he was unable to regain his feet. Swept away by the increasing pace of the avalanche, Lelio was bashed against every sturdy rock on the way down to where ever their end may be.

Fear speed his heart faster than it was meant to go, and still pains came, bruises were already beginning to form as his body was pushed against yet another rock or tree or what ever had hit him. the last thing he thought, was that he should have stopped flirting and done something about his life, before the world went dark and the snow piled on top of him.

Kitara woke at the jolt and rumble of the earth and she limped down the mountain to where the snow and debris was falling and stood there wide eyed and heart racing. she heard the yelps and whines of the wolves. So she tried to get a better glimpse of where they were, but there was no wolf in sight. So as things started to calm she hopped onto the pile and began searching for the wolves.