Welcome to Gaia! ::

Nodding to the older buck..Wait stag, White saw defeat with the familiarity between the two. Mentally shrugging, the young buck continued on in the conversation. "Well, this being my first winter here, I haven't heard that much about invigorating." His breath clouding around his nose. Not sure if he should leave quite yet, he glances about while trying to learn from an elder.

Where others had begun the trek because of dreams or feelings, the small pink doe had made the journey for another reason entirely. That did not mean wisps had not filled her head during sleep. It meant that she had left them inside her own mind in favor of those that belonged to others. There was something more beautiful, better, about the experiences of others. And that was important, Little Lies thought, for she fancied herself a story teller. Truly that was the entire reason she had come; to witness the event (or non-event) that she may spin it into a tale. There was little she would not do for a story. To her, they were dearer than air.

The new companion that lagged behind her, for it seemed to have a knack of finding snowdrifts that even it's steady paws floundered in, was likely not in agreement. Not that the doe would have thought to ask. It -- she had not bothered to find out its gender -- let out a pitiful yip as it sunk down to it's stomach in a white pile of fluff.

"Oh, True, do hurry up!" she shouted. Eventually she made her way back, using her hoof to break down the snow into an incline. Once the poor hound had made it's way out, she followed behind it to keep it from sinking once more. She herself sunk once or twice until the two finally found themselves looking at a vast gathering of kin. Kimeti and kiokote and acha all together, waiting.

Finding the snow less high, she led her dog into the gathering. The doe's eyes danced at all the many kin she might talk to. She even saw her grandmother speaking to not one but two Legendaries. A large part of her wanted badly to intrude but then her eyes landed on the bright red hide of her brother. Off to the side, alone. She frowned, that would not do.

She pranced forward -- she could speak to the great stag and mare some other time perhaps -- "Brother! Oh, brother dear, hello!" she chirped happily as she made her way to him. She grinned brightly because he probably wouldn't. "How are you, brother?" she asked, nuzzling her nose at his cheek in greeting.

This is obviously a chatty beast; as Nightlife goes on and on, Badgerlock's eyes go slightly out of focus, shifting instead onto the crew of Acha chattering and teasing behind him. Already, the scarred kimeti is thinking these are not exactly his people, not meant for someone who frequently retreats into the wilderness and the snow, just for a bit of peace and quiet.

Nighteyes maybe sense his uncertainty and flits a few steps away and then back again, paws light in the snow. Badgerlock fidgets once, himself, weight shifting. "...no, I know about mirages. Is that a sand dog?"

He nods, briefly, to one of the small canines flitting around their acha owners.

The nickname did not bother her. It seemed to be the natural part of her name that was taken. And though it had likely nothing to do with what he chosen to call her, she found that she felt a touch out of place among the two. Whatever the cause she refused to give the feeling any real thought.

More cryptic images and words. Is this the rule of their knowledge or the exception, she wondered. She expected them to know more.

"I think it's all rather vague," she said. "Are your visions always so...fickle?" she asked after a moment's thought.

"Where have I been? Anywhere and everywhere, sister, that there are kin in need of my assistance!" Traveller's eyes narrowed dramatically. "The real question here is where have you been? Not planning anything...devious...are you?" Traveller always suspected the worst of her sister, often without reason. "You haven't somehow called this coldness upon us all?!"

Swan takes advantage of Meets' arrival to focus his attention once again on Lull, lowering his voice. It is natural, in large crowds, for groups to form and break again, and he thinks nothing of it.

"It is certainly a mixed blessing to be given a gift without being told how to use it," he acknowledges, his face troubled. "All of us are learning how to better direct our questions and better seek our answers, but we are like little children now, still new. Sometimes we have memories that are not our own, and at times it can be difficult to pick the one from the other, and then again to sort memory from dream and dream from true prophecy. In many ways we have learned much--" he gestures absently at the ghostly swan trailing his heels "--but in others we are profoundly humbled in the face of the knowledge we have been given. We can only try to improve ourselves, I suppose. Just like anyone else."

He shakes his head; behind him the spectral bird does the same in sync. "Perhaps one day I will learn to help others walk in my dreams, like in the old stories. And then I could take you to the far places we see." The smile returns. "Last night I dreamed of enormous eagles, far larger than any we have here, and they caught rabbits for their masters. It was a strange and beautiful thing. Perhaps something I can show you one day."

-*-

Fix is about to reply to Fox and make some suggestive sort of comment at Watch Me--the look is plastered all over his face--but it doesn't last long. He gets his mouth open when suddenly all of them, Rouge, Fox, and Watch Me, all are forgotten, because Fix has spied with his unique knack someone who needs a friend.

"Be back later!" he cries airily. "I am sure that the loss of my presence will have a negligible impact on a group so collectively fabulous. Hobble on without me, guys."

And with that he dances--because it is cold and also because Fix rarely walks anywhere--towards Beetleshell, Dog clutching his shoulders in fright at the jouncing ride.

"Hello! You are wonderful! I am Fix! This is Dog! Please tell me your name!"

"All of your insects?" he inquires, with the flattering tone of someone whose interest is not just a social olive branch but also completely, utterly sincere. "Do you have those giant wasp things? I saw one of them riding on a buck's shoulder the other day and nearly peed myself in terror, but they're pretty, you know. Very shiny."

Meets smiled at the kindly mare and nodded, a laugh in her eyes. "He did seem like the type to appear out of nowhere," she agreed. "I wonder how far this cold is reaching -- it had not yet struck the borderlands when I left this morning. Perhaps if he made it to the plains then he might not have noticed." Meets tilted her head in thought, pondering. "Though I admit to not being quite sure how far your awarenesses reach. Perhaps he would know anyway."