` ` like a candle in the dark || open

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[atrb=background,http://i970.photobucket.com/albums/ae183/sigathkerr/Tables/solacetablemid.png] thinking Petite feminine frame slunk through the snow covered ground in quick, precise strides. Her lightly coloured fur blended in nicely with the vast plains of pure white around her, making her appear like a slightly off-coloured smudge in the perfect ivory. The majority of her pelt was white, but it was mixed with sporadic flecks of silvery greys, along with some faint tinges of beige. Her eyes, these two things did not help her blend in, however. They stuck out like a sore thumb amongst the plain white canvas stretched out about her. They were very bright in colour, one a shocking vivid blue, and the other a deep emerald, although they were both speckled with tiny flakes of orchid. Many wolves had admired her for her eyes, they were truly unique, nothing anyone had ever seen before, but they soon forgot about the unique beauty they held, and ridiculed her for her absurd behaviour, such as never muttering a word. Solace's muscles tensed as her thoughts drifted in this direction, remembering the faces of those goddamn wolves who had made her life the way it was now; had made her incapable of forming any sort of decent relationships because they had scared her away from society with their petty and childish tormenting. A scowl adorned her slender muzzle, lips drawn back in a small grimace. How could some wolves be so heartless? So naive to the emotional pain they inflicted on others? She shook the thoughts off, trying not to focus on the negativity, and instead pushed herself off the ground harder, increasing the speed at which she traveled. Her small body left a wide trail in the snow behind her, the snow reaching her belly were she to stand still in it. She hadn't encountered snow this deep anywhere else so far in her travels, and she wondered what made it pile up so high here. She was pushing her lithe frame hard now, bounding through the snow somewhat awkwardly due to it's height on her. Her muscles were screaming at her in protest, obviously not appreciating the hard work she was putting them through as she pushed herself off the ground repeatedly in high, and long bounds, making her skim just across the top of the snow before she landed again. She ignored their agonizing cries, however, running was the only way she could keep herself from focusing on the negative, and she knew that when her body was crippled in aches and pain she could still ignore the mental negativities, and merely focus on the aching exhaustion of her body. This was a daily routine for her, running herself to the point of pure exhaustion, so she could keep her mind off her worries, and nearly kill herself every day. Solace was already underweight for her size, and she ate very sparsely, and that only got worse during the winter months, and the constant running on an empty stomach was only burning calories and weight that she couldn't afford to loose. She didn't have the time to pay attention to her body's needs, though, in all honesty, she didn't really care what came of it. Maybe today would be the day that she pushed herself too hard, pushed herself into utter exhaustion and just collapsed out here, in the middle of nowhere, a cold, snowy grave. She shuddered mentally, her blood running hot through her body as she continued forward, bi-coloured eyes narrowed toward the oncoming gusts of wind. Had Solace's adrenaline and blood not been pumped at that moment, she would have been very cold. The lack of fat on her body meant that she had no extra means of insulation, the heat simply escaped her body, although her pelt had developed nice and full this winter, managing to offer her some protection from the winter's harsh winds, and helping to hide the majority of her scrawny body, she looked almost average size with the help of her full winter coat. Gaze swept the empty plains around her, there were some snow-covered trees off in the distance, but aside from that she could spot nothing. No movement whatsoever. A small sigh escaped her nostrils, her ears flicking feverishly atop her skull. Her mouth had begun to froth from running, the thirst building rapidly at the back of her throat. She couldn't manage to get much oxygen, it was a fighting battle. Her mouth hung slightly ajar, gulping in as much of the crisp, stinging air as she could. It clawed at the inside of her throat uncomfortably, making her wince with distaste. Her eyes had begun to water, making it hard for her to see, blurring the great masses of white all together. She sighed again, blinking furiously in an attempt to clear her vision. She didn't have much luck, but she decided that she really didn't need to see that much, there really wasn't anything to see out here, anyway. Solace's pace slowed a fraction, her enthusiastic leaps over the snow turning into slower, more laboured hops. Her tail hung limply behind her, extracting absolutely no movement. She was not enjoying this anymore, she was too tired now, she should probably turn back now, or she might not make it back to the more comfortable, warm lands, which had some trees to offer her shelter. She slowed more, blinking against the wind as she managed to clear the rest of her vision. She was just about to turn around when the sight before her made her stop dead in her tracks. Solace stood motionless, her body sinking up to her stomach in the deep pocket of snow. Her jaw was still slightly ajar, sides heaving and expanding as she fought for the missing oxygen in her lungs. Her bi-coloured eyes rose in awe at the giant snow drift before her. She couldn't believe the size of it! It was massive! She noticed the two large mountain crops on either side of it, and concluded that the blowing snow must have been trapped between them, building up over time and creating this huge drift. She shook her head gently, moving awkwardly through the snow as she approached the great mass. She had never seen something like this before; it was beautiful in a very lethal kind of way. She reached the bast of the drift, although it took her much longer than she anticipated because the amount and depth of the snow had slowed her a great deal. She was now waded up to her sides in the snow, it was unbelievable how deep it was. She shook her head again, gaze running the length of the drift before she looked at the pile of snow just in front of her face. She stuck her nose into the snow, it was shockingly cold against exposed flesh, and she cringed for a second, steeling herself against the temperature. She let her jaws clamp down around the fluffy, white crystals, feeling them begin to melt instantly as the clump of snow met the heat of her mouth. It wasn't water, but it was helping the burning thirst at the back of her throat somewhat. She repeated this action, eating another clump of the snow before she began to grow weary. The wind had picked up again, and it was blowing some access snow away from the drift. If it managed to blow enough snow away from it, Solace could be trapped beneath it, half her body was already sunk into the snow. A small, panicky wave washed through her, eyes darting around her. She should really run away, but her muscles were already searing in protest. She turned away from the snow drift, determined that she would push herself as hard as she could. She was eager to be away from the drift and it's lethal beauty. She clambered through the deepest snow slowly and awkwardly, ears tucked back toward the drift as she moved, listening intently for any unnerving sounds. When she was finally back at stomach depth, Solace pushed her aching muscles forward, bounding clumsily and tiredly over the snow. Her progress was much slower this time, her exhaustion quite apparent. Her eyes had grown sleepy and watery looking, her alertness wading away to fatigue. She should not have ventured this far today, especially in the snow, but she just didn't think of those sorts of things, she was simply running from her thoughts. A queasy wave rolled over her, and she felt her entire body buckle, legs tensing and caving beneath her, stomach twisted into a tight knot. Solace went plummeting into the snow, her eyes clouding over before her lids fell closed. She landed on her side, her body heaving with great effort as she fought to regain enough oxygen to remain conscious. She didn't think she was going to have such luck, her vision had blurred to the point of blackness, and her head was spinning with dizziness and lack of oxygen. She was truly terrified now, if she passed out here, she would be toast. There was nothing around her but wide open plains, surely the savage cold of winter would due her in. She was already weak from the lack of food, she had nothing stored up in her body to keep her aware and alive. A weak, pathetic whimper left her muzzle, lithe body stirring as she tried to keep herself awake. It was a loosing battle already, she knew it. This would be her grave, buried here beneath the snow. The realization was almost calming to her at first, it would all be over. But then every wolf's survival instinct kicked up inside her, and she panicked all over again. This second wave of adrenaline was enough to force her eyes back open, and she managed to straighten herself up in the snow, although her legs were tingly and rubbery, and she didn't think she would be able to stand much longer, so she folded her hind legs behind her, settling her haunches into the snow. Were she capable, she would have released a howl into the air, letting someone know of her whereabouts, meekly hoping for help; but as it where, Solace could do no such thing. She had no voice box, she could emit no sound. She looked around hopelessly with her blurring, dizzy vision, another black cloud threatening to take over her vision. notes; first post with solace, i'm quite happy with it's length, too :]. this post is open or anyone, want some interaction going with her!

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[junebug]

On the stark whiteness of the snow that surrounded him, Cas stuck out like a sore thumb. No part of his body matched the pure, unblemished ivory of his surroundings. It was not comfortable for him to be here in the least, as the snow came up to just before his stomach. He didn't have very thick fur, so the snow easily needled its way in to settle on the sensitive skin under his coat. It was not often that he would travel up here, and perhaps the only reason he came here in the first place was to just forget everything. In the last few days, he had managed to sink deep into depression while still maintaining a smiling face on the outside. He constantly reminded himself of his mother, and how she managed to be strong out of love for her pups. But poor Cas; he had nobody to love, nobody to be strong for except for the memory of his family and even more, the memory of Diane. And the memories of them deepened him more into this depression because they were just memories and probably all dead.

Ignoring this sense of loss and sadness, he continued trudging his way through the pass. The frigid winds seem to lift his spirit and he found himself with a seed of happiness, tongue hanging out of his mouth. Snow - wasn't it the most fun thing on the planet? Playing with it....so feathery and light. With a little puppy-ish yelp of happiness, he jumped up in the air and allowed himself to sink into the snow. Now, he was heavier than he had been when he had last played in snow, so his weight brought him much deeper. It felt like a whole other world down here, with the light snow on top of him encasing him in a cool, worry-free cocoon. After a moment of thinking, Cas let his tongue seep serpent-like from his mouth. The snow was refreshing against his tongue and he eagerly sank his teeth into the cold slush.

It wasn't long before lack of oxygen caught up with him, and he let his paws dig deeper and find the ground and he straightened up, and as his head broke free worries returned to his head and soon he was as sad and broken-hearted as he was before.

His worries were driven out of his mind as soon as they had come back in as he noticed a small hole in the snow beside a huge snow drift. Curious, he trotted closer and with horror sawthe body lying curled inside. A dead body. With a thrill of horrific adrenaline all his memories came back, memories of his father and their pack. This place killed her. And, though he knew that he didn't, he couldn't help thinking, I killed her. But that was his depression speaking; his happiness picked up a little as he noticed a slight rise and fall of her chest. He came closer to the edge of the depression and nudged the wolf inside. It was a female, and she was very pretty - with her pure-white pelt, she might have been mistaken for snow. For a moment she did not wake up, and he recalled a little bit of what he had learned. In coldness, if was good to share body heat. He drifted closer to her and tentatively licked her.

With that, Cas jumped backward with a start - for she immediately rose to her feet, and then collapsed back on her haunches. Cas was startled into silence for a moment but got up the courage to speak. "Um, hello. I'm sorry for bothering you....I thought you were...dead..." His embarrassment was apparent in his voice and he lowered his head miserably.

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[atrb=background,http://i970.photobucket.com/albums/ae183/sigathkerr/Tables/solacetablemid.png] While in her momentary state of utter cold and blackness, Solace could have sworn she'd felt her body move not of it's own accord. Had something else moved her? Touched her? She didn't know, she couldn't concentrate on anything. Everything was just black. Black, and weak, and dizzy. A shallow sigh fell past her jaws, her whole head felt like it was spinning in a never ending circle. She had no idea what was happening. Was this what dying felt like? She was completely submissive over this feeling, like there was nothing she could do. She was just too tired. I just need sleep... She thought, the words in her head even managing to slur together, becoming almost incoherent to even herself. Was that even possible? She knew it couldn't be a good sign if she couldn't even understand what she was thinking. Her body jerked again against it's will, her fur dampening as the snow soaked through it and chilled her skin. There it was again! Her mind rationalized with her that that feeling was not normal to her, it was something foreign. Very faintly, very distantly, Solace could feel something warm run across her fur, something warm and wet. But what it was, she had no idea. It was then her second wave of adrenaline kicked in, and she managed to lift herself from her snowy grave, her bi-coloured eyes fluttering open in a complete blurry daze. She had fallen back onto her haunches, and she could immediately feel the snow seeping through the fur there, as well. She looked around her, although everything was a meaningless, blurry haze of white. That was, until her gaze fell across something which was strangely dark and out of place. She blinked in surprise and confusing, not quite understanding at first. After a second her vision had cleared, although the black spots were still lingering in the back of her vision. Ears twitched as a voice rang out through the silent plains, loud and clear beside her. Solace started, muscles going rigid and her shocking, different coloured eyes widening. There was someone else here? How hadn't she noticed that before? Because she'd been half dead, obviously. Were she able too, Solace would have emitted a terrified yelp right then and there, but as it were, lacking a voice box made it impossible to make such noises, so all that came out was a pathetic, wheezy sounding gust of air. She pushed herself backward, and that only made the black spots on her vision double in size. From what she could see, she had startled the other wolf, as well. Although, how she had managed to do so was unknown to her. Gaze ran over the male's form, he was remarkably larger than she was, and he was much darker in colour. His pelt ranged from dark greys to blacks and everything in between, where as hers blended into their surroundings nicely, all light colours. Although her eyes stood out shocking well in contrast with the white canvas around them. Her breath had hitched in her throat, and she only remembered to breathe when the male had finished speaking. She exhaled shakily, her every nerve on edge, her entire body tense. She had no idea what was happening, and she was afraid that if she got up to try to run away, she would simply collapse again, and she would definitely be done like dinner then. Her fur quivered with uncertainty, and her vision seemed to clear slightly as she remained completely still, observing the male wearily. She was surprised by his words, and by his embarrassed tone and actions, and the only reply she could make was to raise one eyebrow slightly. He had thought she was dead? Well, I guess that wasn't too far off from the truth. Solace was at a loss now, she couldn't answer the male, she couldn't speak, what was she supposed to say? She couldn't tell him it was okay, she wasn't dead. Was she really even okay, though? She sure as hell didn't know. She started at him, mouth gaping as she fought with herself to come up with some sort of an answer. Should she even answer him? No. She didn't want to risk being ridiculed again. She didn't know the first thing about how this male acted. The embarrassment could have simply been a charade. Unable to think of anything else to do, Solace simply shook her head at the male's words, as if to say she wasn't dead. The action sent a new wave of vertigo washing over her, and her vision darkened as the spots bloomed again. Her eyes almost seemed to glaze over, and Solace completely lost her balance again. She tumbled over onto her side, putting another dent in the smooth surface of the snow. Her bi-coloured eyes fluttered close again, her chest rising and falling in heavy successions as she fought to control the waves of nausea which were overwhelming her. She was just so exhausted, so weak. So hungry. As if to voice her thoughts, her stomach contorted and rumbled with a loud gurgling sound. Solace hardly noticed, she was too busy fighting to remain conscious again. How would she get out of here? She shivered, her coat had become very damp and she was starting to get chilled. Maybe she just needed to lay there for a few minutes, rest her tired and aching body. Then she would be able to get up and walk away, hopefully wander across some sort of a meal. She doubted that, though. She never had such luck. Solace fought to open her eyes again, remembering the other wolf who had found her. What did he think was going on? She had no idea, but she felt somewhat safer now that he was there, at least she wouldn't die alone in the barren snow land. No. She would not die. Another wheezy whine escaped her muzzle, her emerald eye opening into a narrow slit. Her gaze managed to find the dark hued wolf again, and she looked at him with a pathetic expression, another small whimper escaping her. She tried lamely to push herself up from the ground again, but her limbs were just too rubbery, she was just too tired. She needed to rest, but she couldn't here. It wasn't safe here, it was much too open and far too cold. She shuddered again, her eye falling closed again. What was she going to do?

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[junebug]

Cas had to admit that he felt a twinge of guilt as he watched her wake up. She looked startled, just as startled as he had been. He hadn't meant to bother her, and certainly not to scare her...maybe she had just been sleeping. Oh, what have I done? he thought. Some wolves didn't like to be touched - maybe she would kill him. He had heard of lots of wolves who hated being touched and hurt all who disobeyed them. However, all his doubts about being killed were instantly extinguished as soon as he saw her eyes. They were bi-colored, a clear blue in one and an emerald green in the other. And, to put it simply, they were beautiful. Not every day beautiful, but beautiful in an exotic kind of way. Cas had never met anyone who had two different colors on their eyes so this was especially breathtaking to him. He looked at them for a moment, the faintest trace of a smile of fascination on his maw, but then realized what he was doing. His head snapped back down to stare at his paws.

He waited for the female to say something - anything - but she didn't. Looking at her, brow slightly furrowed curiously, he saw er shake her head. She was shaking her head to what he had said, of course. Did that mean...no, she was not dead? Or no, that did not bother her? Cas felt a twinge of confusion for a moment. He sat down, tail and head low. She didn't seem the type to be angry, though he wondered why she didn't talk. He had heard of people who couldn't talk at all, whether it from battle or from birth, but he had always thought it was some myth. All wolves could talk - they could howl for help or for a pack meeting, they could converse with other wolves. He didn't understand because to him, talking was as easy as breathing. She could have lost her voice in a battle, but he remembered no scars tainting her pure-white fur. She didn't want to speak - maybe it was that, maybe she was doing a strike against something. If that was it, he envied her. He would never have that kind of courage.

His head lifted again as he heard a poof of snow. Eyes widened in terror, he clumsily waded over to the fallen female as quickly as he could. She simply lay there, breathing heavy and hard. Exhaustion, he thought. It all fit. She couldn't speak out of exhaustion. But he snapped out of his thoughts at the sight of her beautiful emerald eye open a slit. She whined pathetically and the sound nearly broke his heart. She couldn't speak, and here she was, about to die, and he was just standing here. He had never saved someone's life before, but he started now - wading over in the snow, he pressed close to her side, hoping to share some of his body warmth with her. Cas didn't have very warm fur - in fact, it was quite cold, but he had some life left in him and his body heat would help keep her warm. And as their pelts touched, he noticed that she was very, very cold.

He didn't know what this would look like - would it look like he was grieving over someone? He didn't want it to look like he knew her - she might get embarrassed. Anyone would get embarrassed to know this clumsy, cowardly wolf. However, he started rhythmically licking her head, his eyes twitching everywhere nervously. However, the thought of saving someone's life made his feeble attempts a little stronger and he continued licking her face. Her fur was getting matted, but he didn't care. He couldn't bear the thought of someone dying out here, to be found, stone-cold, by other wolves who came to explore. He paused his licking for a second as he heard her stomach gurgle and a thought occured to him. He murmured softly, "I can...carry you down to the..." He gulped nervously. "Um...warmer areas, and then you would...be...warmer...and I could...help you get some fresh kill." The last phrase was a nervous rush to finish the sentence. He waited to see even a faint twitch of the head, hoping she was still conscious. If not, he would carry her down and feed her.

[` ` s o l a c e]

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[atrb=background,http://i970.photobucket.com/albums/ae183/sigathkerr/Tables/solacetablemid.png] She could just barely make out the darker male's outline through the blurry vision of her open emerald eye, her head still swirling and spinning around, making it hard for her to concentrate on anything. She thought she could make out the expression on his face, but she was still uncertain, what she saw was worry - worry and concern. This made her heart thump against her ribcage anxiously, did that mean he actually cared about what happened to her? Would he try to help her? Her concerns and questions soon faded away into a simple blackness again. The dark was so simple, so one-dimensional, so calming and easy. Solace released one long, tired sigh, her eye fluttering closed as the exhaustion began to set it. Her thoughts were blurring again, all running together and forming one long, unintelligible haze of memory. She was too tired, too weak, she couldn't fight off the harsh coldness from the winds anymore. Her pelt was already soaked through from the snow, chilling her thin, fragile body. She could feel her body breaking out into a frenzy of shivers, but it seemed very distant, and she could do nothing about it. This cold would be the end of her. She could ignore her hunger pains, those were normal to her. She would die of hypothermia long before starvation set in. After an undeterminable amount of time, Solace could feel some sort of foreign, warming presence. Where was she? What was happening to her? Her mind whirled, trying to come up with some sort of rational explanation, but she couldn't, she couldn't think, everything was so far away. She laid motionless aside from the sporadic erupting of shivers that ran through her spine, her mind drifting closer and closer to unconsciousness every second. She had no idea how much time had passed, time seemed never-ending to her by this point. But, for some reason, she seemed to be becoming more aware, she seemed to be able to feel things more closely now. She didn't understand what was happening, but she felt somewhat better, more revitalized. Warm. Warm? How could she be warm? Hadn't she been freezing to death in the middle of a snowy wasteland? Her breathing had regulated somewhat during her unconsciousness, it had fallen into a steady rhythm that matched the male's who was now wrapped neatly at her side. With some effort, Solace was able to open her bi-coloured eyes, confusion washing over her entire mind and body as she tried to place the weird feeling around her. Her vision was still blurry and unclear, and she stared out in front of her blankly, her face slack and emotionless. She blinked furiously, finally clearing the annoyingly foggy vision. She was still confused, all she could see before her was the vast snowy plains spread out before her, and then it hit her, how could she have forgotten? She turned her head around slowly, bi-coloured eyes focusing slowly on the dark hued male who appeared to have huddled close to her, offering his heat. She started again, every muscle in her body going rigid. She hadn't been expecting him to be so close, in all honesty, she hadn't been expecting to see him at all. A small, wheezy yelp fell past her jaws, bi-coloured eyes widening in surprise, making the orchid flecks which rimmed both eyes stand out more. She calmed her instinctive reflex after a second, finally coming to realize that the male was not a threat. Her muscles relaxed, a small sigh escaping her. He was merely trying to keep her alive, to keep her warm. A small smile graced her slender muzzle, her bi-coloured eyes softening. She couldn't believe that this wolf had gone out of his way to help her. Maybe he wasn't a bad wolf at all. Her tail twitched slightly in it's snowy grave, a small display of her relief and thanks. Had the male spoken to her while she'd blacked out? Solace wasn't sure, and her brows furrowed slightly in frustration. Oh well, even if she had heard the male talk, she wouldn't have been able to answer him anyway. When her brows furrowed, her confusion only deepened, why was her head wet? She glanced at the male with a questioning look, but she really didn't expect him to understand what she meant. Maybe he had been licking her, trying to wake her from her unconsciousness? She didn't know, and she decided she didn't really care, she was just happy that the male had cared enough to stay by her side and offer her warmth. She shifted her body slightly, trying to push herself up with her front legs. They were still rubbery and aching in protest, but they managed to hold her weight, at least for the time being. She stood up slowly, a small wave of dizziness washing over her, making her lithe frame sway slightly, but she managed to stay up, and gently shook her pelt free of the cold, clinging snow. Her vision spotted over again, but she stiffened her muscles, staying rooted to the spot. She thought that she could make it out of this place now, if she had a little extra help. She looked back at the male, a hopeful expression laid across her dainty features. She was still too afraid to speak, even if he had laid with her and offered her nothing but help, she just couldn't get past the old terror, couldn't find the will to muster up her telepathic voice. If she could just get out of this place okay, then she could rest, she could sleep peacefully and everything would be okay. She would deal with her hunger later, that wasn't as pressing as her fatigue. As if trying to contradict her, her stomach contorted with another angry growl, making her wince slightly. She looked much thinner now that her coat had become dampened and was clinging to her body in some places, but she could have looked worse had her fur been completely wet. She was still gazing at the male with the same, hopeful expression, trying to talk to him through her actions rather than words. She wondered what he thought of her speechlessness, maybe he just figured she was too tired to talk, that would make sense. She waddled toward him awkwardly, paws hooking in the deep snow and making her movements jerky and slightly uncoordinated. She began to lean slightly, as if indicating that she would need his help to maintain her balance, someone to lean against as she made her way out of this vast canvas of white, to make sure she didn't collapse again.

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