[PRP] A Cold Tomorrow [Landslide x Winter]

[Chrystali]

The winter had been harsher than usual, and Winter loved it. Every second of crashing avalanches, every flurry of fresh snow gale, even the days she did not get to eat because the storms were too powerful - she reveled in it. Winter languished in her namesake, she felt drunk with the power of her waking dream filtering through her lungs and stinging through her fur. It hurt, but it was truly her dream realized. She was practically blind with being caught up in it all.

It was why, during a lull in the storm that promised the heaviest yet to come, she was not sheltered. She had not eaten. The huntress could almost be said to be delirious in her current state, wind-whipped and having to breathe through her mouth as the cold, sharp temperature stole the air from her lungs. She couldn't see her own eyes, but she felt certain that the entirety of the sun was captured there so that her winter could reign. So that she could reign.

Frostbite, distressed by her behavior that could not be understood (for gryphons do not have the dreams that kin do), remained on Winter's back against her withers. It was warmest there, and this way, they wouldn't lose each other.

Aric Val

 

[Aric Val]

The cold sharp wind was whipping against his dark fur, hooves pressed solidly on the ice floor --- and he loved it.

But despite this, the buck had to keep a secure place for himself and his familiars and had enough foresight to build a makeshift home of his own, against a solid matured tree and on boulders that were molded together with time. Crash and Climb, had been scouring the immediate vicinity, but never going off too far from where the kimeti was, gathering their own dinner for the night.

The buck stepped out from his safe haven, looking around -- he didn't want to be safe, he loved this stinging cold, this danger, how everything looked so dangerous and life and death was apparent. His mane brushed against his neck, fur dancing in the wind, he could smell something.

Chrystali

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[Chrystali]

The wild eyed doe didn't see him, but the gryphon on her back heard him despite the deafening snow. Feathered ears lifted to Landslide and, determining familiarity, settled at the side in a cross manner. It was cold, Frostbite was getting hungry and being social was not something either the huntress or her other half quite had on their mind.

Aric Val

 

[Aric Val]

Even against the blinding white, even with the colour of her fur against the wild surroundings and with the avian on her back, she stood out to him. In his mind's eye memories of their last meeting still fresh.

And with no hesitation he moved forward, crash confused at the movements of the other, watching cautiously with claws gripping against the branches of a low tree. All while the buck was marching through the snow, making a loud sound that drowned even the stinging wind. And with some powerful leaps he caught up with the wild doe, standing in front of her, hooves buried in the snow and eyes determined. He didn't need to say anything, turning his head towards the direction he came from, watching her. And how how stunning she looked up close with the harsh winter that was around them.

He stepped towards the direction he came from, eyes still locked on her, despite his enchantment they had no reason to delay.

Chrystali

 

[Chrystali]

Bright, unbridled eyes fixated first - and instinctively - upon the brown male's throat first, before lifting to his face. Her lean muscles tensed, the sway of her body speaking of springing at him, to pounce, to hunt --

And she let out a sharp snarl, whipping her head around towards her back. A small line of blood trickled through the white of her fur, where Frostbite had clawed her. The gryphon squawked and snapped at the huntress, communicating with her in ways she'd understand.

Not food.

But possibly not friend.

Winter snapped her head back around to glower at Landslide, eyes narrowing slightly - the barest flicker of recognition there. Like a distant memory, a forgotten dream, she was coming back to herself but only by a thread. The Huntress in her had an unforgiving hold, not quite relinquishing her sense of logic and survival just yet.

Aric Val

 

[Aric Val]

He grunted when she wouldn't follow immediately, casting a heavy look on her, eyes intense even as the snow was veiling them from each other. He could feel the way she looked at him, as if she was the weather itself at this very moment, strong, wild and unforgiving. Yet Landslide remembered every inch of her even with just his muzzle, walking towards the unmoving doe, traces of blood on her white coat to the snow not lost to him.

And he growled as loud as he could, overcoming the howl of the wind for a moment to catch her full attention on him, going as far as to press his head against her shoulder, broken horns touching at her neck and pushing her 'awake'. Noting that her companion might not be pleased but he did not care right now. Once again the buck telling her to come with him, looking over to the direction he was going to.

And he growled again, she would come with him.

Chrystaliiiiii

 

[Chrystali]

The growl trickled over her like her blood down her side, her teeth bared and preparing to growl back. She was not quite ready for him to actually touch her, however - hunt, attack, sure, but touch? The broken horns parted her fur and she felt the briefest sting of pressure, her shoulder flexing against it, but at the same time, she looked down at him from so near by, nostrils filled with his scent, and was hit by the memory that had been so fleeting.

Him hunting the boar.

The power of the hunter, the kill, the conquest.

He was the father to her children.

He growled again, and she drew it in with a sharp breath, the fire in her eyes not dimming but becoming more contained, more herself, burning from within rather than consuming from outside. Winter's ears lifted, lowered; her head shook, and though the wildness in her lingered, she was - more or less - herself again. It seemed that at that same time, the weather raged at losing its hold over her, the storm becoming denser and heavier, both of them to be lost in the darkness and the fall if not for her distant colors of spring and his red-adorned face.

Winter rolled her shoulders and turned her head, squinting to where Landslide was indicating. Looking back to him, she slightly bowed her head. She conceded, and would follow him to safety.

Aric Val

 

[Aric Val]

Landslide was not the most patient buck, yet for some reason he was much more towards her -- though he realized he was more impatient for her to 'look' at him like she did before. And it took a few heartbeats of watching her face, eyes that looked to him, still fierce and heavy like the hunter he had touched and made each others for that night but he could see the recognition in her eyes .. and he knew what would follow next.

The buck made a deep sound, she would come.

He flicked his face towards the direction once again, his mane moving with the wind and starting to tread his hooves on the thick ice. Not looking behind him till they were already close-by, having no fear that she couldn't handle it herself. After all, she was special.

As if he did not know how to use words, he made a loud sound again, pointing her towards the 'house' he had made. And this was when Crash fluttered his wings, shaking the snow off his dark feathers, flying over on top of the large stone, eyeing the newcomers.

Chryghjgfjstali

 

[Chrystali]

And she followed, lead by his sounds and his scent that she could pick out between gales of frigid wind.

The hovel was simple but more than good enough, a welcome shelter against the storm. The huntress ducked her head as she entered and did so without qualm, finding the largest open space and turning in a circle a few times before settling. At the same time, Frostbite dislodged from her withers and took to a spot close to the entrance and giving the other enough space; usually, the gryphon would curl up with Winter, but like last time, was aware something else was going on.

Quiet, she began to lick at the blood on her hide, limbs feeling frozen beneath her cold body, waiting for her natural body heat to thaw herself out. How long had she wandered in the storm? She didn't know, and at the moment, she didn't care, focused instead on the taste of her own blood and the fact she was temporarily at the mercy of another hunter.

Aric Val

 

[Aric Val]

He let her go before him, and it was as if the season itself welcomed him into his own home when he walked inside. With one look at Crash (who was watching patiently, still cautiously though) and the gryphon, Climb in the distance still gathering little acorns, he retreated into the makeshift shelter.

Landslide let her get comfortable, shaking off the cold that was still on him before he walked towards her, and even just nearing her he could feel her cold. He grunted.

"....." He had set down what leaves he could find for the flooring of the hovel for warmth, but even then he knew that probably wouldn't get her warm too soft. And immediately he set himself beside her, pushing her face away with his own gentle but forward, biting her neck for a moment to feel the chill in her bones as he shivered but not pulling back, nosing to where she was cleaning and doing it himself with a deep growl.

Chrystali

 

[Chrystali]

She would have been just fine to ignore him until the storm passed, already under his rules and having made a concession to it. The doe had not, however, anticipated what followed next, her jaw pushed aside and her neck bitten. Such a thing would have been rewarded with a sharp kick and an eye gouge were she anywhere else in the swamp, but in his territory and under his roof, she allowed it. He was the dominant one, and she acknowledged it by lifting her chin subtly and not resisting, the moment stretching for her. Winter was not a fan of being rendered immobile.

And it passed. His tongue drew over her superficial wound and her brightly stained fur, his warmth seeping into her from how tightly he was pressed near. In the cold, it made sense, and in the absence of Frostbite against her, she understood its necessity. His ministrations were not unwelcome, for now.

Her eyes lid while he asserted himself, her front legs relaxing and stretching out in front of her, allowing a slight shift against him so he could clean as he pleased. The silence stretched, the soft sound of his tongue against her fur barely audible over the roaring storm outside, the shuddering of the shelter that would not yield. Her mind, previously one with the storm, settled back into her bones as time passed. In the comfortable silence, she found herself.

"You're a father to four," her voice rasped from lack of use and inhaling the cold for so long. "Hunters, save one. All strong."

Aric Val

 

[Aric Val]

The male never really had done this to another, but it was something that was not unpleasant to him. He cleaned the wound as if wanting any trace of red gone from her pristine fur, nipping a little bit before he felt his body practically freeze in place, even more than when he was out in the snowstorm.

He didn't really exactly know why he felt tense at that, but the information was not unwanted. It was also clear that he was surprised at the fact.

"...I see." he started, voice a bit husky. Frowning a little bit at the 'one' bit but then content at the last part. "Of course they are strong. They are ours." He leaned over again and lick at her wound one more time. One look at this huntress' face, nothing less than strong children could happen.

But then he did note what she had first said. He was a father.

He had strangely never thought of it that way, merely knowing he had blood spread across the swamp but never giving a second thought about it. He lowered his eyes, looking at her as if searching for answers to questions he could not manage to think of.

"Our children... Do you see them?" Landslide finally asked in his deep tone, resting his nose on her neck.