Welcome to Gaia! ::

The group wasn't sure what the sound was, at first; nestled at the base of a sharp incline, the little herd of totoma huddled together, telling stories and passing the time as the snow built ever higher outside the cave they were resting in. The noise started lowly enough, easily passed off as a gust of wind. At some point, a foal asked, but was dismissed and warned off from the chill outside; it stopped now and then, yet each time grew louder, more urgent.

By the time they realized it was a voice, it was too late; the slow progression became a rapidly increasing scream! The eldest of them stepped up to defend, to protect against whatever strange beast the noise belonged to -- only to be soon after stumbling back from an explosion of flurries and a heavy whump as something landed in the snow ahead. No one moved for several long moments; when they did again, the entire group startled back as the thing burst upward from the snow, huffing and whuffing excitedly, eyes wide as it shook its head and slowly climbed to its feet.

It was a totoma - a young doe, looking very confused, then very worried, spinning around and around until spotting what she was looking for - a bundle nearby, a heavy fur speared through with a sharp stick, keeping the whole thing (mostly) together. A few dark pieces had fallen out, and she turned to the group with a sheepish look, tilting her head to one side.

"I climbed up to hunt for mushrooms someone told me grew only at the peak... but I only found some weird nuts before I lost my footing! ... They're really good, you want some?"