The snow was new sensation to Kaneq's paws. In fact, it caused the wild dog to suddenly stop. His head turned back, blue eyes looking backwards towards the grasslands he had come from. It was an odd feeling to feel the cold on his pawpads, but something was calling him into these snowy hills. Despite the change in texture and temperature, he pressed toward. Tail and head down with his ears back and his eyes squinted, he pressed forward into the snow flurry to try and find what was causing him to make this climb where no wild dog should even go.
Snow on the otherhand was something normal for Motla. She had grown up with it all around her, just like her sister had too. In fact, they had grown up surrounded by the stuff. Today was just like any other day. Motla was the one that found the tracks for their dinner that day and Nyomozo was the one who followed the tracks to find the food. Some days there were fresh tracks, some days there were old ones and then some day fresh snow covered them. With how quickly the storm was coming on, it seemed as though the tracks she was following would be covered up by the falling snow.
"No, no no!" Motla cried out, her bi-colored eyes squinting to try and make out the remaining tracks. She had gone against the norm and begun tracking the hare without her sister. It had been over two days since they had eaten and a small hare was hardly filling for two full grown wild dogs. Every meal counted and when it came down to it, she had to try and get something in their bellies.
The 'no's that the female canine let out ended up sounding like wails from where Kaneq was standing. He froze instantly, looking all around for some indication what had caused the sound in the first place. Snowfall was all around him, covering his tracks so he could not tell what direction he came from. No rocks could be seen. No place to hide. The chill and panic began to set in. Was there a demon up in these mountains that had done some foul ritual to lure him there? Slowly he began to sink to the ground, hoping to make himself appear less of a meal so the demon would pass him by while at the same time hoping to conserve some of his remaining warmth.
The tracks were lost. Motla's eyes narrowed as she glared at the snow that had just fallen over the last of the tracks. The only ones that remained now were her own and even their indentations were beginning to be filled back in. A firm frown was growing on her muzzle as she stared down the snow before her paws. The feeling of frowning was odd to the young female. She was usually smiling, laughing and happy. This was a somewhat alien emotion she was feeling. Was it...disappointment? Anger? Both? She didn't know, all she knew was that she wanted it out. Lifting her head, Motla let out a long, low howl.
What the hell was that?! Kaneq's head pressed down as his blue eyes looked around frantically, expecting some great beast to come out and devour him. Snow pressed against his chin and belly, but he didn't care. Cold paws put themselves over his muzzle as he shut his eyes tightly. Never in his life of traveling had he been so terrified of nothing, but it was the fact he couldn't see anything that truly scared him. "Go away!" He yelled out into the falling snow, hoping that was enough to scare off whatever was out there.
Her head dropped quickly to look out into the flurry of white that clouded her vision. Was that a voice? It was faint, but it was there. Was there someone else out in this weather? Oh gods, what if it was Nyomozo! Quickly then she intended, she ran down the pathway, looking frantically to try and find the source of the voice. "Hello! Is someone el-" Her words were cut short as she tripped over a rock, falling face first into the snow, her tail sticking up in the air as she laid there stunned.
Except the rock wasn't a rock, it was the back of the huddled mass known as Kaneq. His head bolted up as he grimaced, his jaw clenching as the female's paw connected with his side. This incident his was going to leave a very nasty bruised in the morning. His head spun around, icy eyes glaring at the black and white mass. "Hey, what's the big idea?! You're going to let it know we're here!" He scolded a little too loud. The wild dog's attention quickly broke from her to glance around, hoping the beast of the mountains didn't head either of them. Everything was still and quiet at least for now.
Finally Motla raised her head out of the snow, shaking her muzzle off as she turned her head to glare again at the rock she had tripped on. "What's the big idea? I could be asking you that! Why are you curled up out here? Don't you have a den to wait this out in? And what am I going to let know that we're here?" So many questions in so few breaths.
"The beast of the mountain! Er.." He stopped and shushed himself before repeating, "The beast of the mountain, didn't you hear it?" She had to have heard it! He couldn't have just been hearing things or maybe it only let those it was hunting hear it! Motla's ears dropped back as he frantically began to look around himself again. Nothing, just himself, this new wild dog and lots of snow. For the moment he was save. "I don't live around here, so no I don't have a den to take shelter in. I was just hiding from the beast of the mountain. Hey, are you okay?" He asked, finally taking the risk of standing up to go make sure she was okay.
She stood, shaking the collecting snow off of her back. "Yeah, yeah. I'm fine." The female said dismissively as she turned to face the rock, her head raised slightly as her eyes closed for a few seconds. "So rock, what 'beast of the mountain' are you talking about? I've lived up here all my life and I've never seen anything that I would even call a monster and trust me, I've seen my sister after a bad night of rolling around. It did horrors to her fur."
"Didn't you hear it? It was wailing, probably a call to let its prey know that it's hunting!" Was she just playing dumb or had she really not heard it?! Regardless, she obviously knew something about the monster and she just wasn't telling him. Paranoia was replacing fear as he looked her over very carefully. "Are you working with it?" He asked, his eyes narrowing slightly and his question sounding a little more like an accusation then a real question.
"Wha- No!" Motla replied without even thinking. "You know, you're stupid for thinking there's a beast, monster, whatever up in these peaks. It's just my sister and I up here and it has been for a while. You probably just heard me, idiot. I lost some tracks and got angry." With a huff and a stamp of her paw she turned and began walking back up towards the little den she and her sister shared. Stupid rock didn't even know what he was talking about.
The wild dog stood there, stunned at the outburst that had suddenly happened. His eyes fell to the pawprint she had just left. There his eyes stayed as he watched the snow fall, filling it and the prints she left in her wake back in. Had he really just heard her instead of a beast that wanted to devour him? Had he really just accused her of helping to hunt him? How could he have been so stupid?! Time had passed so quickly and the sun was already setting. A layer of snow had already collected on his back and the top of his head. One good shake though and it was all gone, adding their own small mounds to the growing inches of snow all around him. Finally it hit him and he should apologize even though every instinct was telling him to go back down before he froze to death. What was way that would be to go... Against his better judgement, he trudged onward towards the top of the peak.
[Word Count: 1451]