Round and round he went on rounds and rounds. Sleekwing had not been lying to them when he had suggested border patrol was boring, and the ice storms had certainly thrown a twist in things. Still, Baird remained diligent in his duty, even during the thick of the weather. As ice and sleet hailed down he had done all he could to seek shelter until the raging winds had passed, leaving the terrain he had been scoping all but unrecognizable. When he stepped from the shelter the sun was shining innocently from clouds that had cursed the earth. His breath whisped from his nose in steamy snaked, curling around his whislers and frosting them with small icicles. This would be interesting… he thought, peering around with his blazing orange eyes. Instead of pressing forward to the further reaches of Spirane, he decided to turn back and inform the pack the northern trails were iced in and unsafe to traverse. With a sad sigh, he turned to pad down the trail, hoping to make as much distance as he could before the ground froze too solid.

As he picked this way and that he started to notice the landscape was even more unrecognizable than usual. Trees he had thought were strong had snapped and splintered. Entire cliffs became level with snow and ice whereas spaces of peace had transformed into treacherous forest of jagged ice. A subtle prickle at the back of his neck stopped the scout in his tracks, a shift moving under his paws. He looked up at the mountains themselves and judged the movement of the sun. He glanced behind him. If that mountain was there… and those trees had fallen… the sun shined on that peak at midday… Another shift under him, this time with rumbling growl that came from the earth itself. And that ledge was…

Mother f-- Baird launched himself forward in haste, hoping speed would win out over slow and subtle in this moment. He was wrong. The moment his paws pushed him forward the fragile sheet of ice under him snapped. The thin bridge had connected the sides of a small crack in the rocks that a forceful creek pounded through. It shattered under his weight and he fell into the trap. Trying to twist around and protect himself the best he could, readying for the impact against the water, Baird’s head collided with the rocky walls, sliding against them as he fell. Dazed he dropped into the water that surged him over a small falls and through rapids before depositing him, spluttering, on an icy bank that had been sheltered from the storms thanks to trees and a rock face.

The side of his silvery brown face was bleeding, burning eyes struggling to focus as he staggered away from the water. Trying to stand he yelped in surprise pain in his foreleg. Looking down at the swollen joints he figured he must of scraped it against the rocks, too. All he needed was to find a warm, dry place to rest and he would be fine. He placed his paw down again and hissed in extreme pain. Okay, I guess I will find a healer. His tail wagged at this plan and he tried to stand again. This time the leg gave out from under him. Fine! I guess I will call a healer! He swore at his own body. Quickly he went through all the healers of Spirane. His mother was safe in her den. Sila? No, she was probably out helping others. Not to mention she would never let him forget this. He could almost hear his sister’s twittering taunts at him for the rest of time. There was another, a wolfess in training. What was her name? Oh yes…. Moonfeather He called casually into the air, his tone lingering nonchalantly on the last letter of her name. Nothing about his call indicated the severity of his predicament. For all intents and purposes it sounded like his tune was asking her out to tea, or what the time was. Wet, cold, wounded, and concussed, clearly the boy had everything under control.