It's Freezing Out There! }Open

[Beethoven__]

The ground was frozen solid, snow had been dumped everywhere, frigid to the touch- and now, now the wind was blaring! The life of a dog with a thin coat just never got easy did it? Anger and disgust rolled about in the curled frame that just so happened to make up the dingo dubbed Beethoven. Tall, thin ears were crunched back against his skull, no doubt by the end of this year they'd be frostbitten, possibly even fall off. It didn't matter, his hearing would be just the same- well, he hoped at least. His coat was short, something that the wilds of Australia had bred into him- after all, who the hell needed a thick coat there? Sure there was a winter season in the continent, but it was mild. Hell, the season we faced now seemed like the Ice Age to the adolescent dingo.

Now as the wind roared harder and harder it pressed down into the depths of his den, where he'd found the very last sanctuary that held some amount of warmth. He shivered, curling up in a tighter ball as the wind tickled his back; teasing him. Telling him there was no place he could hide from it's touch. He grunted, he wanted to get away from the wind and considered digging his den deeper into the ground. It would be a task seeing as the ground was frozen- but he wanted it bad. Of course, the other issue was his alpha would he allow him to make his den bigger? After all, each rank did have their own size. He huffed and made a tighter ball. What good would it do to make his den deeper? It would give the wind quite the workout to try and reach him, but it would take longer to travel- if he could even break through the frozen dirt.

Brown hues glared at the back wall he'd curled against- instead, he could always shape snow around the entrance, created some crude sort of blockage. Oh yeah, that could work until some bumbling idiot tripped over it in a fit of laughter. His eyes rolled, why had he settled here again? The silent male finally brought himself to his paws, movement would warm him up. If he worked his muscles hard enough, they would burn and heat would run through every portion of his body. BT turned to face the slight incline to the entrance of his den, and glared at the marking of white snow that dappled the hole. He'd have to step in it. He looked down at his paws absently and grunted, 'You're no use to me if you don't help keep me warm.'. He'd never speak aloud to himself, and even now his words were kept confined to his mind.

BT finally trudged up to the entrance, muscles quivering at the cold fingers that danced upon his pelt, he suddenly hated the rabbit that had led him from the yard. His lip twitched, at least he was allowed inside the damn house when it got to be to frigid. Make no mistake, he wasn't as domestic as most dogs- his high energy and rather wild behavior had kept him held at arm's length. He knew how to walk on a leash somewhat, and knew how to sit for a treat- he knew that he'd never been hit or abused even though there were creatures that had been. For instance, his alpha was quite the strange character he'd over heard him babbling to himself as if reminding his poor old soul to call himself a prope name rather something more foul tongued. BT had never paid much attention to it, and didn't have the mind or care to question the alpha. After all, if it came down to a battle, Prosper would haul ass, simply because his breed was heavier and thicker than the dingo. A battle of wits however, that could prove a difference...

Beethoven made his way out into the snow, lingering at the edge of his den as if he would rethink his motives to get up and get moving to warm up. He cast a quick glance back at his den and trudged off into the snow. His limbs screamed, protesting this action but soon they were cold and numb- he had to concentrate on his joints so as not to injure himself. He hoped that unlike himself, the rest of the Nepenthes pack would be resting cozily inside their dens instead of out and about. Truly he wasn't in the mood to socialize, not like he ever did anyway.

[b e r n e s e .]

P R O S P E R .
detox just to retox
and i'll promise you anything !

The sunlight on his back warmed up his body and soothed him, chilling him to the bone. He felt just right, and hoped that the heat would last, unlike the bitter winter that had took place. But that was over and done with. The dog-looking wolf looked around warily at the glittering yellow meadow, watching as the long grass swayed in the gentle breeze. The golden grass was up to his shoulder, but could easily get over his head by the middle of summer. The second season- and the warmest- had just started, and he was already wishing that it would stay. Spring had been humid and rainy, gloomy really, and it had been rather depressing. That was over, thankfully. With gleaming blue lanterns he took a sweep of the land around him, swirling his head around almost all of the way like a twisted owl. Close by he saw trees gleaming in the distance and hanging in the air like early morning mist, and the tall grass blazed in his light eyes. The sky was a rich purple colour, signaling that it must be somewhere close to midnight. Twinkling shards of eyes cut his eyes, and the large, floating ball of ivory was a sliver. Jaws widened, taking it all. Gleeful, he sprinted forward at high speed, thick fur flying in a frenzy. Tongue lolled from his mouth, teeth reveled and shining the moon's light. He suddenly heard a voice jag through the air like a bleeding knife, making him shiver. It sounded like one's of a human- not knowing what they are saying, yet feeling what they feel. Bolting even faster, eager to know what made the noise, he forced his legs to move even faster now. Only a few yards away was a medium-sized human, dressed in a black shirt and blue jeans, like a regular female going to school. Her long, brown hair was neatly straightened and down to her bottom, a smile plastered on her face. Her ears were perked up like a normal, cheerful dog. Eyebrows were raised, telling him that she was confused. Joy pulsed throughout his body, making him move forward swiftly. As he approached the person, he didn't do it with caution, but ran smack-dab into her weak legs, making her tumble onto the dirty ground. Coiled up in the dust, she looked up into the eyes of Prosper and smiled. She was found. His human, his wonderful human. Why did he run away from her? He was wrong, so wrong, too wrong. Why did he have to ruin his life? He could have stayed, and he wouldn't have formed Nepenthes, wouldn't have to deal with a pack, wouldn't have to be an alpha.

He leaped away and layed down next to her as they stared into the blackened sky. They both seemed like nothing in the world mattered but this night when they were one, not two lost souls. Delighted that he had finally found her, he jumped to his feet and turned, licked her face with his sloppy, over-sized tongue. She laughed, and then he stopped, suddenly sensing danger from her cutting laugh. His ears perked up and his head buckled, sniffing around like a terrified deer. Alerted, the human realized that he smelled an odd odor and sat up, asking, "What it is, boy?" He didn't know, but what he did know was that the wolves said that humans were bad creatures, and that was what he smelled, canines everywhere. Bricks finally hardened from the cement, and he realized that they were trapped. He swung his head around and whimpered, telling her to run, but she didn't understand, stupid people. Not blaming them anymore like he used to, he snarled to the trees, and as he did so, slithering bodies of wolves, dogs, foxes, and hybrids popped out, all of the packs' scents lingering in the air. What stepped forward was an african wild dog, female, scars covered her body, thick muscles rippling in the light from the moon. He could tell by the haunted look in her dark brown pools that one eye was blind. Confused, he asked angrily, "Why are you here?" He stared at her, dumbfounded, as she silently flicked her tail- an order for her warriors to attack. Who was this dog and why was she leading all of the packs? He turned around, and saw no human. They were heading after him? He ran the way that he had come, bolting faster than ever, but he was circled and cornered. watched innocently as the circle enclosed around him, and then bodies flew on him, into he was covered in a wrathing mass of strong muscles and lean canines.

And then he opened his eyes.

He didn't know where he was at first, but he quickly got used to the damp, cold cave and realized that it was the alpha's den. He was the only one in there, of course, since he was the only alpha. He wasn't the only pack member, but he had a female and a male, one a warrior, the other a duke. Beethoven and Tackle, a lovely pair of fine canines. BT was a dingo, and the fae was a wolf. He slowly put his muzzle to the crusted snow and sniffed, realizing that his human time was just a stupid dream and that it was really winter and not summer. He sighed. He got up on his creaky legs and walked up on the steep slope and into the bitter cold. He quickly looked around and saw that the dingo boy was out, walking through the deep snow. Snorting loudly, he jogged over to the thin furred dog and snarled into his ear, "I didn't mean it literally whenever I said that dukes were supposed to guard! Go back to sleep, son, you need it, and let's get out of the cold." His dreams suddenly rushed back to him, and he shivered once more, from the cold and from fear. He shook his body, and stuttered, "Naw, I have slept for so long. If I do it any more I'll feel like a bear! Let's go hunting or something, or really meet each other, like get to know our weaknesses, our history, our personality... our fears." Humans. That was his fear.[/center][/blockquote][/color]

Word Count: 1141
Puppet: Prosper
Music: None
OOC: Mmmm. I dunno.

[Beethoven__]

BT had taken the direction that would take him past the other dens, his eyes dancing into the shadows as if checking in on them. Well, he was a duke and like Prosper had said 'As a Duke you're to guard the denning area.' Well, something like that. the brute came to a stop outside the alpha's den, brows furrowing as he watched the fitful nightmare that played inside the other male's head. A light shrug left his shoulders before he trudged off again, heading away. He faintly wondered what the nightmare consisted of, and part of him tried convincing him it'd be nice to wake the male up from his nightmare. Then again, why should he feel compelled to wake the male up? He picked up the pace, hoping that his dawdling wouldn't wake him up.

He didn't move fast enough. At some point the male had awoken by himself and emerged from his den. BT's keen ears picked up the crunch of paws on the snow coming up fast behind him. A soft silent sigh fell from his lips as he turned to face his Baron. Ears quirked as Prosper snarled to him, a light shrug left his shoulders as he turned about face and began to make his way back to his den. Orders were orders- he'd warm himself up in his den by digging, probably get reprimanded by it, but what else could he do? He figured then that instead he'd wait for the King to return to his own quarters before he'd leave his own room for the opposite direction.

He stopped as the Baron rambled on about something else, his ear flickered backwards, paws stopping- an invitation to keep moving? Hmm, intriguing. Beethoven turned around again and nodded, game for the idea of a hunt- but speech evaded him as always leaving Royalty to make the final decision on the matter of activity. He wondered faintly if he should go awaken Tackle, perhaps she would like to come along. BT had a feeling that she was close to being promoted, she was a warrior for now- but he'd noticed the smooth glances both she and their alpha tossed back and forth to each other.

[b e r n e s e .]

P R O S P E R .
i will never end up like him
behind my back i already am

The ebony-hued wolf trotted forward, ignoring the soft, thin fur of the dingo guard and wondered if he was to change his name. It was driving him crazy that he was arguing with himself every day, and he could tell the way that the loners slinked along past him that rumors were being spread about him. That he was getting old and was insane, like some sort of rabit canine. He sighed under his breath so that his packmate wouldn't hear him so distressed. Austin. I kinda like that name. He looked up at the light grey sky, and realized that it must he nighttime. He could see the nearly-half moon behind a blanket of fog, almost peeking to see if it was okay to look at the white powdered forest. The snow wasn't very deep, it went over his paws and froze his pink pads, making him shiver. His skin crawled like a worm under his thick black pelt, suddenly fearing something that he didn't know, like maybe an upcoming battle. If Colcannon and Retronym attacked each other, Nepenthes would be right in the middle of it all, unable to choose a side. Trapped like a mouse under the claws of a hawk. Prosper growled heavily, then stopped, realizing that the dingo boy was still with him. He clamped his jaws shut and innocently looked around, pretending like that was his stomach. They were now approaching the fallen, blackened trees. He turned his head and barked, "I think we sho-" But he was cut off when he didn't see the dingo boy. Confused, he stopped and turned around, paws spaced out, shoulder muscles rippling in the soft breeze. The alpha stared at the sandy-brown Beethoven, surprised that he wanted to go back to sleep, but he realized that he was just following orders. Right when he was going to call out, the tan canine turned back to face Prosper and raced forward. Delighted that he had thought twice, he bolted into the trees.

The husky-looking dog swung his head around and growled happily, "How about we race, and whenever we get tired, we rest for a while, then hunt?" He cocked on eyebrow, and without waiting for an answer, he forced his paws to move faster. He laughed with the blowing wind, feeling free and so wild. His long, flurring fur danced with the wind as he flowed like a river current. He hoped that BT would follow him in the race, but he wasn't so sure. This dingo boy hardly talked to him. Might as well be a loner; being so solitare! But he kept his posture and face, making his legs go fast until they buckled and broke, like his heart.

Word Count: 534
Puppet: Prosper
Music: None
OOC: Gaw. No muse. :c

[Beethoven__]

BT caught little of what his alpha had said. He'd nearly caught up with the mix hued male when he'd darted off nearly at top speed. Beethoven had stopped, brow quirked in question. His alpha was indeed mad. A sigh fell from his lips, limbs shivering, well a run would warm him up. His ears shifted, he looked back to the sleeping dens then back to the snowy trail the brute had left behind. BT wasted no time, his hind legs worked as springs, shooting him into a gallop after the Baron. The snow stung his paws, but as the blood pumped fiercely through his body he began to warm up. Soon he didn't feel the sting in his paws, just the dull throb of the snow pushing up between his toes as he pounded the floor. BT raised his ears, listening intently for the sound of his alphas paws- so far nothing. He grunted and pushed his stride faster, snow flew up behind him as if his mission was of life or death importance. His senses worked over time as they processed the air for the unique scent of the other brute. Finally the musky perfume came to his nose, directing him along the invisible path after his leader. Of course, the prints in the snow were quite the helpful hint as well...

The baron's rump came into view as BT swung around a tree and a smooth grin fell over the Duke's features. He pushed harder, muscles burned and threatened cramp but he continued on ignoring the pain. He got the sudden urge to nip at his leader's hocks, as if to push him to run faster and longer. BT resisted the urge however, and continued in a matching stride behind the King. A wind kicked up, pushing the fog about the air, and the snow about the ground. It was as if Jack Frost was amongst them and was encouraging them to keep running. Beethoven's vocals strummed up a low thunder in his throat. It was far from a growl, or any other vicious sound. It resembled a score of music, only softer- like a theme only he could hear in his mind. His paws hit the ground in time to the missing notes. The Duke's jaws spread, his vocals falling silent as his lungs sucked in the frigid air to force more oxygen into his contracting muscles. His breed was built for the hot outback of Australia, but here in the frigid forest of America- he was well out of his element, even if he didn't remember anything more than the red dirt.

It happened almost as fast as a heartbeat, but it played out in a slow motion that was to vivid for the brute that was following. BT's eyes became distracted by the way his Baron's paws fell upon the earth, the way they struck the snow. It seemed, wrong... Beethoven shifted his gaze up the hind legs, watching the muscles ripple as if in ignored protest and warning. His ears shifted forward, was he tiring? had he stepped wrong and not realized it? The dingo's ears moved backwards slightly, what made the Baron run on even though his body seemed to scream it's complaints? The Duke found his voice just as the brute ahead of him buckled and went down. "My Liege!" It was a rough call, he had a deep voice, powerful in it's tones. BT hit the brakes, skidding past the male as his legs froze and his joints bore the brunt of the jarring stop. Oh this would hurt in the morning no doubt. BT turned and quickly made his way back to the brute, eyes quickly scanning over his body, looking for any bones that might be sitting the wrong way. Again he spoke, quieter but still in a tone just as rough, "Are you alright?" Silence answered him for the moment, BT looked up and around quickly judging the distance from the dens and their placement in the territory. He started calculating, trying to remember each random hole in the ground that was big enough to encompass the two canines. Adrenaline pumped across his vision, flooding his body as the heat seeped up in tendrils of fog from his short pelt. His ear flickered, catching what he thought was the beginning of a reply, BT looked down at his King once more and waited anxiously.

[b e r n e s e .]

.:. P R O S P E R .:.
you can't
be too careful anymore

I was surely having the time of my life. My salmon coloured tongue lolled from my slightly opened maw, icy blue lanterns dancing with happiness. I had never found out that running through the cold breeze and snow, paws hurting and face stinging, was fun. I howled happily to the moon and to the future sun and continued to make my way through the fallen trees, binding underneath them and weaving around them. My ears flapped in the soft wind, along with my thick black-and-white fur. Large paws slapped against the heavy snow, making paw prints indent into the frozen, icy earth. I could easily run all night. I was bred to run for miles and miles without getting tired or failing. I sometimes believed that I was part alaskan malamute because of this, but I was actually pure breed wolf, and happy to be so. I howled my laughter to the wind once more, and it echoed around me. Beethoven wasn't anywhere around me, and from my trusty friend Wind, she told me that his scent wasn't close by. I nodded to her with glee, knowing that I was surely going to win this race. I was bred to run in the thick piles of snow, and my pack member was born in Australia, only knowing flat sand domes and no grass- or white powder. When the dingo boy suddenly arrived in the forest in some part of America, he must have been astonished about the "white aliens invading the earth". Paws smoothly pounded against the earth, and not knowing that something terrible was about to happen, I faltered and stumbled, which edited my running skills and made my fall head first into the deep snow. Unfortunately for me, I was right at the top of a hill, in which I rolled down. A loud noise rumbled into my ears, drowning me, and wrapping me into it's unforgiving blanket of cold.

Cold. It was cold. Biting. Freezing, actually. Maybe this was the beginning of heaven; it started out as cold and then into the intense heat? Or maybe heaven was just a stretching, endless cold white? I tried to open my eyes. Couldn't. I whispered my name into the dark, hearing it echo for so long until I thought that was all that I was ever going to hear. I suddenly got more cold, it bit me with an undying pain. I fell into the deep snow, chest covered, icy blue lanterns looking around at where I was. It seemed like I was in some sort of dome, like a human house, only made out of frozen snow. I tried to stand up. Couldn't. A sudden burst of thirstiness entered my white-dipped maw, so I gobbled up a few mouthfuls of snow, only I forced it. The snow tasted like fur, humans, and something else that I couldn't put my paw on. It smelled like deer blood, but only it wasn't, but I knew that it had to be some sort blood. Maybe it was human since it smelled like them so much, and since this shelter of ice looked like only people could make it, maybe humans lived by. Confused, hurt, and wandering where I was, I soon fell asleep, broken while I scented the human. The women. My women. And then I opened my eyes. At first I still thought that I was in that strange dream, but I realized after a few moments that I was actually in the real world. I was in the Nepenthes territory, my territory, at the bottom of the hill that sloped up toward my pack. The hill was steep to climb up, and I never intending on coming this far. I looked up, eyes concentrating clearly, and saw Beethoven. Dingo boy was my hero.

I could tell that he must of said something to me while I was out, but I didn't bother to ask. I stood up on my large paws very slowly, shook my pelt, and looked all over me. Nothing seemed too badly hurt. I had a few scratches here and there, but still fit enough to hunt. I moaned. My eyes felt like that could have been cut out by a cat, and my shoulders burned from rolling down the hill. But I was fine. I fixed my posture and slowly lifted my tail over my head. Jaws widened to say, "Did you not fall?" That was all I barked to my brother, my hero, my packmate. That was all that needed to be said. I frowned and snarled under my breath, then sighed. Bored and hurt, I flopped down into the snow and sat on my haunches, still drowsy even though I had slept like a bear.

Word Count: 860
Puppet: Prosper
Music: Paramore
OOC: Sorry for the lateness. :c

[Beethoven__]

There was without a doubt, something wrong with this male. BT kept his thoughts silent however, ears shifting back as his King barked at him. 'Sand is harder to run in then snow you fool!' He snarled in the very depths of his mind- of course, his vocals didn't betray his monkish silence. Beethoven didn't reply to the question, he knew Prosper wasn't looking for one. The idea of the hunt now seemed less likely to BT, his eyes wandered up the hill and marveled at the level of incline. Had he really run down it as if it were flat?

The Duke wanted to chuckle, to brag about this feat that his own alpha couldn't commit! How he, the out of place Dingo had outbalanced the very largest of his distant cousins. The very one who was supposed to be at the top of the chain of command. The one who was supposed to be invincible. BT noted in his mind, that if there were ever to be a challenge on his tongue for control; he'd bring it here. The thought quickly vanished however at the wolf's under hand snarl. The Dingo's ears flickered, picking up the tiny sound as if the male had read his thoughts. The corner of his lips picked up, amused. For now he would follow along with orders until provoked otherwise. His tongue ran down the side of his slim dog like muzzle. "So, my Leige- the hunt?"

His brow quirked, as he eyed his prone companion. There were no scents on the air, and no doubt with all the racket his alpha had thrown up into the air- everything had fled. But still, the promise of food wasn't something BT was going to turn down. His limbs began to shiver, whatever heat he'd mustered up in the flat gallop- had smoked off through his short pelt. Oh now he hated this weather even more. His paws began to tingle, and throb- but BT did his best to counter that by trotting about, nose close to the snow to find whatever he could. There had to be at least one field vole lying about in the snow, the dumb rodents never seemed to take full shelter- not when the birds drop their seeds!

A low grunt left his nostrils, as he shoved his nose under- poking at something he'd thought had moved. Well, indeed it had, and now with it's life endangered it bit. Tiny teeth latched onto the brute's nose making him give the smallest of squeaks before he flung it free and drove after it with a vigor. It was a nonsense hunt, one that took barely anytime at all. Within minutes the rodent was limp, bloodied marks and slobbered fur. BT picked up the creature gingerly and brought it back to Prosper. Rules are rules. BT had learned that within moments of joining the Nepenthes pack. The Dingo tossed the limp gray rag to the male and sat, licking away what was left of the matter form his lips.

This was the way it was. Sure, Prosper could hunt for himself- hell, he could do whatever the hell he wanted to do. But BT, BT couldn't. He couldn't eat until this fat brute ate. He couldn't go out on a run unless he gave the Commander In Cheif his exact location. Beethoven swallowed his grunt, it was annoying- but he dealt with it. He didn't care to think of moving up through the ranks; his was just fine. He wished the rules were different, but they weren't at his whim to change. Again, his tongue glided over his features, and finally he'd waited enough. The dirt red boy got up and strode off, making more trails through the unbroken snow in search of another vole. He didn't go far, of course not. BT stayed within sights distance of the other male, and of course; kept an ear cocked backwards just in case.