Pine had decided she did not really like winter. Even the mild winters that tended to grip the moors. Moisture was thick in the air, making the snow thick, heavy, and wet. It weighed her small body down and made moving miserable. The snow had fallen thick and hard, a challenge to move through. But move through it she did! After months of talking his ear off, begging, pleading, and frankly doing it anyway, Maverick had consented to let Pine accompany him on his rounds. Of course the pup then took the liberty to go out on her own, wherever she chose. Today, with the snow piling on her head, she regretted her choice. White covered the brown and greys on her neck and shoulders. Only her forested eyes and the black tips of her ears were clear under the packed white chunks. Still, the pup stubbornly continued her self-imposed duty.

Only a year old, she knew what she wanted to do with her life. It was her deepest desire to make Big Wolf, Aster, and the Empress proud! Whatever that entailed, she would do it. So, here she was, trudging through snow that was deeper than she was tall. Cold nose pressed to the ground to try to take in anything she could. Miserable, she sneezed in the cold, then growled in her own disappointment at herself. Sneezing was not allowed on a mission! Even if it was ‘just patrol’. Winter. She thought. It could just stop.

Something ahead of her caught her attention. Soft padding thought the precipitation. The fox-like pup froze where she was. Seriousness overtook her expression. What had the wolf by the riverside? Use your senses.It began out of order, but she still lifted her nose to the air this time. It did not smell like something that should not have been there, in fact it smelled like something that had been there a long time. Tipped ears trained forward, followed by her eyes and she locked onto the dark shape poking through the snow. She did not recognize the male, but he did not seem to be much of a threat to the pack. He WAS however, close to HER home, as well as her section of trail to ‘patrol’. Growling with a ferocity that was still little more than young yips she struggled mightily (in vain) toward the pup! Realizing her progress was going to be slow, and understanding that, smelling how he was part of Iromar, he did not mean too much harm; her growls shifted. Hey! Wait! A soft yelp came from her as she stumbled in a particularly deep patch of wet. Who are you? Why are you here? She demanded, finally stopping next to him. Her shoulders hunched against the blizzard wind and she glared at him, as if he were the one who convinced her to come out in the storm. Apparently to save his sorry tail, judging by the lost look on his face.