Welcome to Gaia! ::

Hige watched Balan for a moment, wondering if that really was all there was to it... It wasn't a good time to press, just yet, though. It was Balan's call, as much as Hige would like to convince him to stay. Growing pains- he hoped that was all there was to it, the thought of anything else- like unhappy pack members- made him wonder with worry.

Shaking his head to loosen the collecting snow he shortly thereafter butted Balan's shoulder in a reassuring manner.

"We're all still young yet. Don't worry about that... You're pretty wise, if you ask me... We need that, the more good influence for the pack, the better. Intelligence and compassion are more important than brute strength." Hige thought aloud.

Thayne sat at the cave entrance, his hair ruffed up and his tail curled around his legs. He raised his nose and sniffed the freezing air with no success. The only scents he could smell were the warm ones of the pack members behind him and the bloody odor of the deer carcass.

The snow was coming down harder by the second. It was getting increasingly hard to see out past the whiteout and Thayne was getting worried. He couldn't see anything remotely resembling either of his packbrothers. He looked back at the wolves behind him, some of them half-asleep with full bellies and some still gnawing on meat and bones.

He looked back out to the wall of snow. The tricolored wolf stood and walked out where his howl wouldn't echo inside the cave. He lifted his muzzle to the sky and howled an urgent "come home" call. He would repeat it until his packbrothers returned. Whatever they had to discuss they could discuss inside, out of the snow. It wasn't worth freezing to death to talk.

"Comin' back when they're ready iddn' good 'nough," he replied, not looking at her. "Comin' back soon as they can is pref'rable. I'd rather not 'ave two packbrothers lost out there." He'd seen wolves frozen to death out in storms like this. He didn't have any desire to see it again any time soon. He came back inside the cave and shook himself of most of the flakes before he sat down. "It may not look tha' bad, but 'tis. An' it'll get worse."

He looked out into the storm again and then back to the cave, his ears lowering. He trusted Hige to know what he was doing in the snow, being a mountain wolf, but that wasn't the only thing worrying. Balan was acting oddly, so it seemed to Thayne, even as little as he knew the other wolf...

((*is eating up Thayne and Winter's RP-age* whee *urges the others to join!*))

Hige paused again, standing there as the quickly thickening snowfall began to blanket their world around them. He didn't really know how to reassure Balan, but just like with everything else, it wouldn't stop him from trying. The two figures were beginning to blend in with the rest of the forest, Balan especially, being of a lighter pelt than Hige. Were it not for the brown splashes about the top of his body, Hige might have even lost sight of Balan completely.

He approached the wolf, so as not to loose him in the white of the storm. "Balan, no one is fearless. Hell, fear is a good indicator that your mind is still functioning, isn't it?"

Painful memories threatened again to resurface, but instead of surpressing them, maybe sharing his situation would help Balan some... even just a little.

"My... my parents, I don't know what happened to them, or the rest of my old pack... If I even had one, I really don't remember. I've had similar nightmares, though, Balan. You're not alone... If you give us a chance, we can find home together."

But neither of them would find home together if they continued to linger too long. Thayne's call served a sudden reminder of their situation. The storm was beginning to come down full tilt. They wouldn't be able to find a thing if they didn't hurry. Hige moved directly beside Balan.

"I know that it's painful, but this is probably not the most wise time to talk about this. No matter which way it goes we need to get back to the cave or we'll die out here. We both have a responsibility to the others, they need US."

He butted Balan into motion, hopefully, already his own steps coming thicker, harder to move forward. They were going to have to plow their way through the snow to get back, but Thayne's howls were a guidance. They were hard to hear over the howling wind but at least it gave them a general idea of the way they'd come.

"Come on!" He yelled, more commanding this time. If Balan wouldn't shake out of this mindset on his own then Hige would make him. He wasn't about to let the two of them freeze to death out here.

Thayne looked back at Loki and watched her invite Winter to play. She was filling out, looking far better than before when her mysterious sickness had struck her. He turned his attention to Winter, noting that she had grown rapidly. He hadn't noticed when she had been next to him, as his attention had still been on the snowstorm. Her attitude had grown with her; he had noticed that.

He turned back to the lip of the cave, straining his eyes to see anything of his brothers coming back. He wondered idly if he was being too much of a worrier -- after all, he had faith in Hige and Balan -- but decided that he would rather worry and have the two come back, as opposed to not worrying and feeling guilty if they didn't return.

First pausing long enough to answer Thayne's howls with a reply of his own-- We're on our way, --with an understandable sense of urgency, Hige led them back in the direction of the cave. As the bay faded into the falling snow, the two wanderers plowed through the snow which was high already, and getting higher quickly. By the time they arrived it seemed like the entrance was more-over suddenly there, than anything. Getting the two of them inside, Hige would give an audible complaint of the cold,shaking out his fur at the entrance and sending snow harmlessly every which way. He crept into the cave alongside Balan, and planted his kiester down closest to Thayne, since Loki and Winter were engaged in play it seemed.

"Damn, it's colder than the river's bite out there!"

His first thought was to lie down to rest. He might be built for it, but that didn't mean that he- nor Thayne- didn't notice the bite of the cold. Thayne was very much aware of it, Hige was sure, or he wouldn't have called his brothers back. Had they stayed out there longer it would probably be impossible to get back to the cave.

It was indeed unforgiving out there right now. He settled by the deer carcass, as an afterthought, tearing a piece from the haunch.

After getting situated he began to eat to help his body recover quicker after going so long without eating, himself. He was aware of the others, but now that the immediate situation was settled, his stomach was demanding compensation.

Hige acknowledged Thayne as he was greeted, settling down once there was no longer the fresh chill of snow pummeling his pelt. After he'd had a bit of time to eat his meal and digest Thayne's question, he looked to the tricolored wolf that he'd come to know and trust.

"I can't really say," He replied, equally quiet. "I think he'll be alright once we've settled. Seems like this might have just been kind of sudden for him."

Balan had mentioned feeling insecure about his standing with the pack, worried that he would be a burden more than of any use. Hige was a wolf of words, but he also understood that in Balan's case it was going to take time for him to find his place. That wasn't something that Hige or Loki could do for him, though as a pack it was their place to help him feel welcomed. It wouldn't be as simple as saying to Balan: 'We need you for this.'

Balan would have to find acceptance of himself before he could feel truely accepted in any pack... He simply sighed, the gesture of an ear flickering from where he sat on his haunches in the dark of the cave. Focus, Hige.

"He'll be alright, whatever the outcome. How are the rest of them holding up?"

Hige's eyes wandered over their group, having already noted the amount of meat missing from the kill he could guess that everyone had enough time to eat. He was surprised to realize that Winter and Shilah seemed to be a bit bigger than his last vivid memory served. That was probably just as easy to chalk up as Thayne's and Balan's growths. Hige hadn't noticed them either until they had a moment to sit.

They grew up so fast...

His eyes wandered discreetly to Loki, finding himself, again, urged to start their own family of little ones. Someday. No rush.

He gave a small smirk to Thayne, amused by his own thoughts, though Thayne might wonder what Hige's sudden expression was about.

((Okay! We feel that the pack needs a jolt, so we're going to get ahead to the packlands so everyone can begin to settle in and RP can go on as normal. Visiting the freelands or other territory is fine, but please keep in mind the wolve's mentality and behavior. Wandering too much isn't normal behavior once one becomes a part of a pack. We aren't gonna play the "yo-yo game", no back and forth for unannounced period's of time unless RP-circumstances (or real world circumstances) call for otherwise. If your wolf shows signs of indecision, yeh best be ready for the matter to be handled. ._.))

The final stretch of the storm came and went for the banded packmembers without further incident. Come the next evening the pack was ready and on the move again.

They traveled a bit quicker with just one pup to carry, Tatiana, who was easily hefted in one or another packmember's mighty jaws. Several times during the journey they discussed the lands. Minus the rest stops it was a three day trek once the journey was finally underway.

Now... here they stood at the edge of their new home, the sea air, though cold, blowing through the trees. Hige's heart swelled and began to race with an excited pride. "We're here... this is it." He said, voice near a whisper with that same swell of anticipation as he stared at the stretch of woodland.... The snow was beginning to melt away, revealing the recovering forest floor for them to see. Mountains, to the East, the ocean directly South, open lands to the West, and deep forest directly North behind them, branching out towards those same mountains and those same open lands. Those mountains that Hige had once called home, the shore that he had run along months ago, this was it! The territory for their new found pack... the pack that he was going to lead alongside his mate.

There were no other scents here, the ocassional animal, yes, but no fresh wolf scents but their own. He couldn't contain it anymore. Hige threw his head back and let loose a resounding bay, the thrill audible in the rising notes of his howl.