No Sun in Winter

[Lion]

"And do what?  Alert those wolves?"  He sighed and the wound closed. "Let's just keep going."

[visualspice]

With a grunt,s he jerked away from him.
"The beast will leave a trail of my blood anyway." And she gestured towards the chaotic path of paw prints and fading blood.

"That fucker had quite a bite for a little thing."A nd she wrinkled her nose. "Come on, most creatures that small wouldn't attack without reason. And it looked strange- though I guess most beasts out here are."

[Lion]

"Everything has been strange since we started traveling, but going after them and wasting energy won't be helping either of us.  Remember the cursed corpses we found.  Something deeper seems afoot here.  I don't have a good feeling about this.  Let's just keep going.  The mountain gets bigger the longer we wait."

[visualspice]

She paused.
"You have a point. Everything seems to be coming volatile."

[Lion]

With a pat on her shoulder, Theon was ready to move on.  Ahead of them snow fluttered down now, and the path softened somewhat with new fallen frost.  He walked ahead, Jouzan remaining tucked away in his hood.

[visualspice]

For a moment, Ninn felt as though she was leading them blindly in the snow. What trail was let of the creature that attacked had since gone cold, and all seemed quiet. Perhaps too quiet. Something caught her eye, and she paused a moment and stared over at the horizon where a pure white, dire wolf stood, looking at the pair of them but unmoving.

Ninn, who always kept one hand on the hilt of her sword, tensed, but did not draw the weapon, rather kept her gaze upon the creature. It seemed the wolf was only there for a moment, then it turned and left, slowly disappearing into the white washed world of the mountains.

Ninn remained tense before releasing a breath, it coming out in spirals of white from her lips.

"Dire wolf...." she murmured, and slowly began to follow after.

[Lion]

Theon froze a while after seeing the wolf.  A sickening feeling churned in his gut.  He didn't like the look of this.  And when he saw her following it, he treaded after her.  "What are you doing?  Why are we following it?"

[visualspice]

"Dire wolves are not the beasts I hunt, and are natural to the tundra. And the wolf saw us, but made no threat. I find it curious. If it saw us as a threat, it would attack, or alert its pack."

[Lion]

He did not see how following it would be prudent, but he bit his tongue and followed after her, crunching through the snow.  It seemed the dire wolf had been waiting for them to follow, pausing on the hill until it saw them crest it and continued onward again.

[visualspice]

For a time this went on. Although strange, Ninn felt the need to see this through. After all the hell she had endured, perhaps a little trust was needed, both with this wild wolf, and that of her new companion. She couldn't say many traveled with her as long, or had a similar purpose, but she was beginning to wonder if the winter world was speaking to them. Rounding up a steep hill, Ninn paused, tensing a hand on her blade when the wolf vanished, but after taking a step forward she stopped dead in her tracks. Before them was a wide mouthed canyon, and within the walls of the other side, many feet below them ,was a cavern, with a hint of smoke winking in the dark.

[Lion]

Jouzan cawed and ruffled his feathers as he peeked out from underneath Theon's hood.  He couldn't say he was happy to be following this wolf, but he made no more expression of his displeasure.  Theon would stand by Ninn as they ventured to the lip of the canyon.  Smoke billowed out of it, and though he was alarmed that it indicated a person, he would not act rashly.

"Who goes there?" A voice called out.

[visualspice]

And that's when Ninn hit him.
"Fool!" she hisssed. "It's not a fire from a who, but a what!" And if her intuition was right, the what was exactly what she was hunting.

[Lion]

[Why are all your women so abusive?]

Theon nudged her back.  "It wasn't me," he growled.  "Listen!  There it goes again!"

There was a hiss.  A woman's voice and it grew more irritated.  "Identify yourselves!"

[visualspice]

OOC: Maybe you just like role playing with my mean women :P



Up ahead was a woman in ragged furs that were frost bitten, as was too her long, braided locks of her hair that  came tumbling out from behind all her layers. She wore no gloves, but shaking, wrinkled hands clung to her coats as deep, sunken eyes glowed back from beneath her hood.

Ninn remained tense, attention from the cave over yonder to the woman before them.

"We're just travelers!" Ninn replied,, keeping her guard as she watched the woman look the pair over.

"Lovers?" she asked, with distaste.

"No, warriors. Natives to this land." At least, she was a native, more or less. Theon....
She knew not much about. Then again, Theon knew not much about himself it seemed.

The old hag continued to stare at them.

"You were the followers?" she looked at them skeptically.

"Followers?"

And just then, the dire wolf stepped up beside the old woman's side.

[Lion]

The dire wolf gave a chuff at the pair, even barking lightly before the old woman put a gnarled hand onto the wolf's head.  It calmed and she looked up at them once again.  "And why are you here, warriors?  Hunting something?"

[visualspice]

"Our business is our own," Ninn replied with a stinging tongue. She observed the dire wolf, who simply looked at her. "Your beast seemed to want to guide us here."

"So you followed?" That made the old woman smile. "Curious anyone would simply  follow a dire wolf... wouldn't you agree?"

"Curious anyone would keep one at their side."

The woman's smile grew.

"She protects me and I protect her. Call it a mutual relationship."

"Well, if we have disturbed you we meant no disrespect."

But before Ninn could explain anything further, the old woman cut her off, saying,

"You come to hunt the beasts that breath fire."

Ninn narrowed her gaze, but did not argue. "Yes."

The woman went quiet, nodding before turning her head towards the massive canyon to the east. She too, was looking at the cave on the other side.

"Strange thing it is... a cave with no means to it."

Ninn eyed the other woman.
"So you know what it is?"

"Aye," the woman nodded, and turned to walk away. Ninn furrowed her brows.

"Is it of any importance?"

As she walked away, the woman spoke over her shoulder. "Come night fall, you shall get your answers. Best you pair rest well here. The spruce make fine tents in such weather." And she continued about her way.

[Lion]

Theon was quiet during the exchange, knowing it was not his place to speak.  The woman seemed more preoccupied to speak with Ninn than address him.  Jouzan too was curious, poking a beak out from beneath the fur-lined hood beside Theon's head.  He made no sound, only looked between the dire wolf and the old woman.  The fluffed feathers beneath the hood made it appear awfully lopsided.

Theon watched the pair walk away and then turned to the trees.  "She's right.  The weather will not let up.  We should rest here while we have the chance."  He refrained from asking further questions.

[visualspice]

Ninn wanted to ask more, but instead, watched as the pair left. After a moment, she turned back to look across to the cave before stepping away.
"A good idea." The sun was setting, too. "The large spruce over there looks well enough." It was a good choice, though it's branches were so thick it didn't appear as if there was any means to get within- and with that, would there be space enough witht he branches.

Finding a loose section, Ninn pushed the branches aside, just enough to peer inside.

"Spruce don't offer much room, but are the best to ward off the cold without need for a fire. Looks like we'll be sharing body heat for another night."

And she moved to step inside, using her boots to crunch down and push aside any low laying branches that were brittle. Eventually, she made enough room she hoped for both before slipping inside the tree.

[Lion]

By no means a small woman, the space she made was big enough for him.  He took his space with ease and dropped his pack qnd rummaged through it.  He ripped some meat, biting it and offering her some.

[visualspice]

She took it and ate in silence, eyes distant while she did so.