Blood in the Snow [open!]

[Rhindeer]

Fresh snow crunched under Teidra's hooves as she moved over the tundra, heading up a hill where a special flower was said to grow. It was called the Yyndris which, in the old language of her people, roughly translated to "blood in the snow".

It was called that because of its dark red petals that stood out stark against the white of snow, making it look like blood splatters from afar, especially when they grew in little clumps--and especially since it bore sharp, prickly thorns. A little ironic, considering the plant was used to heal--and heal it did, for it was a hearty plant with some strange qualities. It grew in the snow and thrived in winter, and died during the thaw. Still, it favored sunny hills, though Teidra knew there would be a lot of digging involved. After the recent snow, any flowers would be buried.

And with the way those dark approaching clouds looked, they would be buried even deeper soon.

Clutching her thick cloak to her body, Teidra pushed onward against the wind that had begun to pick up. The storm was going to be a big one, no doubt, but she had to find the flowers fast, and she wanted to kick herself for putting her assignment off for so long. She had had a week to do it! A week! But instead, she had procrastinated until she'd realized those clouds meant bad news, and that if she waited any longer, she would have missed her window at least until the thaw.

And then it might be too late, at least until next winter.

The snow began to come down harder as Teidra reached the hill's top, but she ignored it, shaking her head and flicking her ears to keep the snow off of her. Crouching down, she began to dig.

Matra had said she should look on this hill, but so far, no luck. With a grimace, Teidra tried another spot, cursing her stupidity, and then--

"Ow!"

Her hands found the thorns before she found the flower and she popped her torn finger in her mouth with a glower down at the snow. But there it was, the little frozen flower, and, moving more carefully, she started to dig around it so she could uproot it instead of pluck it.

By the time she'd gotten it up by the roots, the snow was coming down in earnest, a white wall she couldn't see through, the wind pulling at her cloak and threatening to grow stronger. The storm had come on faster than she'd estimated.

And now, she was stuck.

[schwaff]

Romhuv was, in a word, frustrated.

His brief foray into the south had been met with a resounding lack of success, bringing him no closer to his quarry. It seemed that nobody knew where the man with the mask could have gone, or had even seen him in the first place. He needed time to center himself, and collect his thoughts before he continued. He had been clueless in a strange land, and this hunt was already making itself out to be a challenging one.

From the moment he had crossed the Kilanthro mountains back into Hyoite, he had felt at home. At least here, he would be clueless in a place he understood. Not ideal, but better than the alternative. He was happy to be back home.

Hyoite, it seemed, was intent on reminding him how different it was from the south. Mere hours after crossing the Kilanthro mountains, it had begun to snow. The wind came soon after, pulling at Romhuv's heavy cloak and screaming into his helmet, blowing chill wind down into the rest of his armor. Aggrah, now in the form of a large muskox, huffed and puffed as it pushed through the rapidly deepening snow, occasionally giving a low grunt in what one would assume to be frustration.

"It looks like" Romhuv remarked, reaching for his hip flask "Hyoite didn't take too kindly to us leaving, eh, Aggrah?"

The muskox replied with another grunt, this time tossing it's hairy head back.

Romhuv pulled his helmet up for a moment, taking a sip from the flask, and smacking his lips appreciatively as he put his helmet back in place. "Want some?" Romhuv asked, holding the still open flask down to Aggrah's eye level, shaking it enticingly. "Some of that mulled stuff from down south. Made from grapes, they say."

Aggrah responded with a short huff, and opened it's mouth, tilting it's head to the side.

"'Atta boy." Romhuv chuckled, giving the muskox a healthy pour of the flask's contents. "A drink made from grapes. Can't hardly believe it myself!" 

Romhuv replaced the flask at his hip, and resettled himself on Aggrah's back. He sat silently for a span, content to listen to the wind and indulge in the occasional sip from his flask.

The snow began to come down harder, essentially forming a wall of white all around the pair.

"What say we pick up the pace, friend?" Romhuv asked, leaning down to speak over the howling wind, directly into Aggrah's ear. "Lets find a cave to spend the night in, before this gets really bad."

Aggrah huffed loudly again, and then began to 'gallop' through the snow, or at least as close to a gallop as such a large animal could manage. Romhuv, riding without the aid of a saddle, was violently rocked back and forth in time with his mount's odd, loping strides.

The big man bellowed out a huge belly-laugh, throwing one hand up into the air as he released Aggrah's shaggy mane, and gave a loud whoop as the snow began to come down even harder.

[Rhindeer]

Don't panic, don't panic...remember your training!

These sorts of quests were common for her people--a right of passage, of adulthood--and she had been prepared for it. But training for something, and doing it for real, were two very different things. It was that moment when you were truly alone and had to connect all the pieces on your own, or fail. Two years ago, she had succeeded in her Trial, the Trial all Tuathi faced at twenty-one years that marked their journey into adulthood, but it had been easy. There had been no storm. This quest, which was supposed to be a relatively simple exercise on her journey toward becoming a healer, had turned out quite the opposite with stunning speed.

But there was a reason they had their trial at twenty-one, to cross over into adulthood. It was supposed to prepare them for anything. Accidents happened, and it was vital to know how to survive on your own. This was just a giant case in point.

Working fast, fighting back the fear, she removed her travel pack to ease her burden and slipped the flower inside. And then she started to dig.

Stay in one place, she recalled. Don't go walking off or you could exhaust yourself and freeze. She had to make a shelter. That was crucial. She had no tools to dig with, but her gloved hands would suffice. It didn't need to be pretty, she just needed a burrow to curl up in. She could lay her blanket on the ground to keep her off the snow, cut a hole in the roof, and then...and then just hunker down until it passed, whenever that would be. She had some food with her. It would be okay.

It would be okay, so long as the storm only lasted a day or so.

After that...

Teidra swallowed and dug a little faster, pushing snow up to form walls. She couldn't deal in "what ifs". She could tackle that if it reared its head. For now, she had to focus on one thing at a time, one problem at a time, one--

Her ears twitched, flicking, registering the sound before her brain even did. A new, different sound carried over the howling of the wind. At first, she just thought it was her imagination; the wind could sound like different things, after all, and there were plenty of stories about folks hearing voices in it--and all those stories were cautionary tales, because only dark things lurked in the swirl of a blizzard, things with towering, twisted horns and bloody smiles that left only bones behind. Those who heeded the call never returned, and were found in pieces, if they were found at all. But no, it was real. A sound like laughter, deep and masculine.

A chill raced down Teidra's spine that had little to do with the cold, and she froze and held her breath to listen. And there it was again, a loud whoop, closer now. Coming closer to her.

Teidra went absolutely still, her eyes wide  and ears flattened under her hood. Stay still. If she bolted in fear, it would catch her. It wanted to draw her out. She just had to stay where she was, quiet and still despite the crunch, crunch of the snow as that thing walked ever closer and--

A face suddenly swam into her vision, wreathed in billowing snow, a monstrous black face with curved horns and shaggy fur, and Teidra let out a piercing scream and fell backwards against her shelter, landing in a pile of snow.

[schwaff]

Romhuv and Aggrah were making good time, crashing through snowbanks and trampling what few shrubs and branches remained on the tundra underfoot. Romhuv waved his free hand back and forth in the air, hooting and hollering as much as he pleased, heedless of the freezing wind burning his mouth and nose.

And then someone else joined in.

To be fair, the scream that Romhuv heard seemed to be less in line with his own jovial yelling, but one of genuine terror. It had been close, too.

"Slow down, Aggrah!" this command came in a much more commanding tone, prompting the big muskox to skid to a thunderous halt, kicking up yet more snow. "Did you hear that, friend? Someone isn't having such a good time as us."

Romhuv scanned the snows from his seat on Aggrah's back, but the veritable wall of snow didn't do anything for his vision, and his plate helmet restricting his field of view wasn't much help either.

The big man sighed, and hopped off his mount, cupping a hand to his mouth. "Hello?" He bellowed, the words being practically ripped from his lips by the howling winds.

Aggrah gave a few big huffs, presumably looking for a scent.

Romhuv took a few experimental steps in the deep snow, his axe and shield clanking against one another in their places on his back. He patted around on his waist, and unbuckled his flask from its resting spot. He shook the small vessel again, much like he had with Aggrah, not considering the fact that the source of the scream probably couldn't hear him.

"Anyone?"

Aggrah huffed for what seemed like the thousandth time that day, resigning himself to snuffling around in the snow.

[Rhindeer]

It had seen her! Surely it had seen her! Teidra froze where she feel, heart thundering in her ears, as she tried to decide whether to run or stay. If it had seen her, her only hope was to take her chances and flee into the blizzard--but if there was the slight chance that it hadn't, it was best to stay still and not risk drawing attention with movement and sound.

She knew she only had a small window of time to decide.

And then that voice called out again, a greeting, but it was a question. And then again. That was...odd. So the creature hadn't seen her after all, but suspected something was there. And it seemed...uncertain. In the stories, the monster always seemed more determined, more confident. It pretended to be your friend, it mimicked voices, it coaxed you to come out and follow it. It tried to trick you. Maybe this was a trick, though? Mimicking the behavior of a lost traveler? But it didn't make sense. But then, what had that huge horned monster been?

Surely if it had been out looking for prey, it would have seen her when they'd practically collided with each other! Those beasts of legend tended to have better vision than that--unnatural vision! It could have snapped her up right then! No, something wasn't adding up, and with the cold and wind bearing down on her, she decided to play on the risky side.

"Hello?" she called back, shouting over the roar. "Who goes there?"

[schwaff]

Romhuv's ears pricked up at the sound of that. A voice had answered him over the howl of the snow!

Romhuv wasn't much for thinking, but it did seem that the voice he had just heard call out a tentative greeting to him could very well be the same voice that made the scream a few moments before. It seemed a safe enough bet.

Romhuv popped his helmet off his head, tucking it under his arm, squinting against the snow and sleet that buffeted down on him. The voice had come from the other side of Aggrah, and so the big man made the slow trek around the muskox, still clutching his flask in one hand, and his helmet in the other. He lowered his arm, and leaned ever so slightly forward, squinting ever further, to make out the shape of the figure in the snow.

"Malkitte!" Romhuv bellowed, his arm falling to his side, swearing in his native tongue. "What are you-" he paused. That question itself seemed to be enough. He had never seen anything like this creature before, at least not outside of the Fae. But, he opted to continue his line of questioning. "What are you doing out here in weather like this?"

The big guy sat in silence for a few seconds, not knowing how to proceed. If he didn't get a response in this short time, he'd wordlessly hold out the flask, still unstopped. Aggrah would give a grunt, shaking his head clean of the snow that had begun to pile on him.

[Rhindeer]

A shape loomed into view suddenly, human-shaped and massive, with thick furs that had Teidra almost thinking it was a bear at first! Her heart leaped into her throat until she realized it was a human face attached to those broad shoulders, head bald and tattooed and face bearded. A human! But he was huge! Blinking up at him, eyes stinging from cold, she glanced down as she took him in and noticed the horns at his side. Horns...? Was that...oh. A helmet?

...Was that what she'd seen before? But that face had been bestial and the horns different. Then again, she was freaked out, and one's mind could play tricks on you! Though that face had been lower to the ground. Oh, she didn't even know anymore! Maybe the cold was getting to her head. Once it started to set in, you could lose your mind, make stupid mistakes, forget simple things. She shook her head, snow falling from where it had piled up on her hood, and rose slowly to her feet on reindeer-like hooves.

Whatever the case was, this was no snow demon. He seemed almost more surprised to see her than the opposite! And somehow, his surprise lessened her own unease.

"I didn't mean to stay out this long," she said. "Weather wasn't bad when I left home, and I just, well..." She paused then, and then squinted up at him, almost suspiciously. "What are you doing out in weather like this?"

[schwaff]

Romhuv took a swig from his flask, frowning a little as he realized he was rapidly drinking up his supply of delicious southern grape juice.

"Why am I out here? The same reason as you! I-"

He was interrupted by a large groaning noise from Aggrah, who had turned his head to watch Teidra, tossing his fur out of his eyes to get a better look at her.

"We..." Romhuv continued, taking a moment to look back at the muskox "are trying to get home. Just like you. It seems the snow was quicker than both of us, yes?" A broad smile splits his face, and he gives a few short chuckles. "I am still a way away from home, myself!"

Romhuv looked down at his flask, his smile vanishing as he contemplated taking the last sip of his drink. The big man grimaced, and then took a healthy swig of his drink, draining the flask. He tucked the now-empty vessel back onto his belt, and give a small sigh of resignation.

The wind howled ever louder, and Romhuv flinched slightly as a pellet of hail smacked into his head. "Me and my friend here are looking for some shelter from the storm. Did you happen to come from a village nearby? I don't travel near this part of the tundra often. If I did, I'm sure I would have met something like you before."

The words aren't said with any sort of malice behind them, but they are delivered with some degree of bluntness, with even the question about which village she came from coming out as more of a statement than a question.