Mystic

Small paws moved through the blanket of white that had settled over the ground, dragging a trail wherever they walked. Upwards, a dome of grays as far as the eye could see, flecks of white flickering downward to begin covering up the trenches that were left behind. The paws were connected to a ghost like body, blending in with the weather like they were made for it. If it wasn't for a crusted wound along the small canines thigh as well as the brownish hue that had attached itself to their coat, they would have been a phantom in the white.

Despite the thick coat that adorned their body, the small canine vibrated as the flecks melted themselves against the top layer of their coat. It seeped down to what felt like their bones as it permeated their under coat and touched along their skin. If only they had found shelter at some point the last few days, maybe the wetness would be settled only along their outer coat. Yet the metal first that was the city was the last place they wanted to be. Not after barely escaping the metal swamp that those other creatures had called the 'dump'.

A puff of frosty fog emanated from their muzzle in the form of a sigh. Ocean blue luminaries turned upwards, watching those crystals ride downward along the gusts of wind. They had followed the sound of flowing water to this area, but now, as they looked out over the expanse of dull white and grey, they noticed that they couldn't hear that familiar sound. Instead, all that they could pick up upon was the rushing of the wind and a strange crackling sound, like something was breaking and moving.

Anxiety peaked in their chest as they considered that they might have wandered away from their only familiar area. The white furred canine whirled in a circle, looking around for any sort of landmark to help them place the direction they were facing. Yet all they happened to notice was a seemingly endless expanse of white all around them as well as that crackling steadily growing louder as it seemed to travel towards their paws....

Kazmei & *Others?*

Distant, lyrical voices had lead Kazmei to the Bay today, voices that she she'd heard on occasion in the past few months but had never found enough interest to justify investigating. With a light snow storm settled over the Valley now, promising to keep all but the most tenacious of humans away, Kazmei's interest was allowed to blossom and she soon found herself loping at a steady pace towards the rocky coast.

The snow was just thick enough in the air that she hadn't seen Mystic right away, thanks to the smaller canine's pale pelage. Kazmei herself, with her ochre-tinged fur and dashes of black and tan mix in, was slightly more conspicuous, if only one happened to be looking in her direction. But other than with humans, Kazmei had little concern with hiding herself from others right now. The strange voices that had drawn her to the water had gone silent, much to the wolf's disappointment, but she was intent upon sticking around until they sounded again.

'What's that?'

One tall ear twitched at the sound of a low groan and the barely audible crunch of paws on ice. A dull, echoed crackling followed, and it took Kazmei a moment or two to realize she was listening to the sound of straining and fracturing ice. The crunching had been small paws moving across the frozen hellscape of the bay, something that Kazmei herself had nearly done, but had thankfully stopped just short when an exposed bit of coastal rock told her she was on the beach.

Curious orange eyes swept the bay as the crackling grew more intense. The snow storm had brought with it rougher seas, and they were proving too much for the thin ice of the Bay. Kazmei took a healthy step back and scanned again, and that's when she spotted the lone figure out in the center of the bay, the mar on her hindleg being the thing that finally caught Kazmei's gaze. "Hello, friend. You do realize you're not on solid ground?" She spoke with a pronounced voice, trying to be heard across the distance.

What Kazmei didn't see was the dark form that moved beneath the battered ice where Taru stood...

Mystic

A voice pierced the veil, tall ears to big for the canines head perking up and turning in the direction that it came from. The wind was rushing out towards the sea, helping to carry the stranger's words. It almost seemed lucky that Mystic was able to pick up on them. If the storm had been any worse, or if the wind was blowing more inland, those lyrics would have fallen on deaf ears. Head tilting towards the source, It took a few seconds for the words to process.

'Not on solid ground....?'

Ocean eyes blinked a few times before she looked downward, a single paw scraping at the layer of white. Those same orbs went wide as claws hit the solid surface and scraped against the frozen ice. Ears immediately fell back against her skull and she felt every muscle in her legs freeze up. Where her claws had scrapped, cracks were forming and spreading as the water underneath also moved. The small white wolf appeared to shuffle where she was, trying to avoid the cracks that were spreading at her feet.

"Wh-Wha.... What do I do?!" Mystic pleaded towards the stranger near the shore. She was afraid of breaking into a run and the surface giving way underneath the sudden weight. Her mother had never taught her how to ease off of frozen water before she was taken... As the white wolf danced where she stood, her panicked gaze didn't notice the movement underneath her paws...

Kazmei & *Others?*

While Mystic was processing the words of a stranger and the very dire circumstance she'd blundered onto, Kazmei was trying to decide if there was one little wolf out on the ice, or two? She was sure she saw two tails whipping in the harsh winds, but it was dreadfully hard to discern when the white fur blended so nicely with the backdrop of near white-out conditions around her.

'I see only one muzzle... right?'

For a moment, the wolfess seemed more caught up in this idle conundrum as she tilted her head to the side and tried to hone her vision on the now panicked form that shuffled helplessly on the deteriorating ice. Mystic's pleading words snapped Kazmei back to the reality of the stranger's situation, and she raised her muzzle, ears pressed forward to capture what words she could from the unforgiving winds. "Don't stay where you are, for one." The ochre wolf offered in no less than a shout, "And don't dance about so, for Hayali's sake!"

Kazmei didn't realize just how fractured the ice had become, or she would have offered Mystic more urgent advice than she had.

A smattering of air bubbles began to rise and collect beneath the ice, under where Mystic frantically pranced. If her ears were keen and her attention on her surroundings sharp enough, she might even hear a rapid pulse of clicks emanating from somewhere below...

Mystic

The white one winced at the command that the dark brown wolf yelled across the ice, freezing up in her frantic steps to avoid the cracks. 'D-Don't dance about. Okay, okay. Mystic stared downward at the ice that seemed to shift and slowly break, a whine escaping her muzzle as she tried to calm her rapidly beating heart. 'But...don't stay where you are. Her gaze danced along the little ice that was shown, looking for a spot that might be able to support her weight if she moved to it.

But she had never dealt with cracking ice. She didn't know where was best to place a paw and where she'd just slip through. In her indecision, the rapid clicking that was in the background slowly seemed to grow louder, like her mind was focusing in on it to fill itself with white noise. 'What's that noise!!' Giving herself a shake of the head to try and clear her thoughts, she decided to at least take a step. It had to have been better then staying in this one spot!

Slowly, a paw was moved to the next random spot in the snow covered icescape. She checked the pressure, hearing the frozen water creak but hold. Another step. And another. Mystic was praying to whatever God may be out there that she'd get through this. Part of her missed her family. Her mom. Her siblings. With each step she took, it brought her closer to the dark form at the shore, but with her slow movement, it would take her a minute or two to get there.

Kazmei & *Others?*

She watched the whole procession from her relatively safe stance on the beach, still not fully appreciating the acute danger that the little white wolf was in. Rustic orange eyes squinted against the onslaught of wind and snow, and a few times, Kazmei lost track of Mystic in the near whiteout conditions that had developed over the Valley. But slowly, one hesitant step at a time, the stranger seemed to be moving away from the center of the bay and back towards the shore.

Kazmei trotted dutifully to the location where it looked like Mystic would make landfall and raised her accented voice above the raging zephyrs once more, "A little further, friend!" Her bark of encouragement still lacked the urgency it probably should have carried, as Kazmei couldn't hear the creak and groan of the fracturing ice. That is, not until it suddenly exploded behind Mystic.

In the spot where Mystic had been frozen in place just moments ago, the weak ice suddenly rose up and then shattered with explosive force as a massive black and white body tore through it. A long held breath was released in a great, steamy torrent as the beast continued upwards several feet, bits of ice and a cascade of frigid water glistening down its sleek body. An impossibly large maw yawned open, sporting what looked to Kazmei like hundreds of glistening ivory teeth that would put any alligator to shame.

Even from the safety of the beach, Kazmei scrambled back several healthy steps. "Go, go, go!" Now her barks were pitched with shared fear as she watched this foreign beast tilt forward and slam downwards, obliterating more ice and sending a sloshy wave of seawater and icy chunks rolling across the frozen surface Mystic was desperately trying to cross...

Mystic

The strangers words of encouragement did not fall on deaf ears. White audits that were flattened against her skull perked up, flicking against the wind that whipped around them. Tail involuntarily swaying side to side because of her words, Mystic found a flicker of courage spark in her chest. She was gonna make it!! She could see the dark splotch of a wolf standing closer then before. Land was just within her reach!!

Crrk...CRRRRKKKTSSHHH!!

A terrifying sound of thick plates shattering apart behind her. Droplets of frozen water ricocheted into the air, drizzling down like a swath of rain in the endless expanse of snow. She stumbled as the ice under her shifted from the disturbance, paw nearly slipping in as the crack gave way under foot. The sudden shock and fear made her freeze up, her gaze turning back to whatever had caused the breach.

Mystic would immediately regret her decision when she saw the forboding black mass rising to it's zenith. She had never seen something so big before. It had to have been bigger then the metallic beasts the humans commanded! She was almost in awe...until that maw opened up, multitudes of white spikes as big as her ear shining against the black of it's body. She had never seen so many before!! And they were sharp. Triangular. Made to rip and tear. Predator teeth... that had nearly found their mark in her!! She was lucky to have mov--

FwooOOOOOOM!!!

That last thought was unable to be finished as that mass started coming downward, influenced by gravity. She wasn't sure if it was instinct, or if it was the frantic bark of an order coming from the shore. All Mystic knew, was that her body moved on it own accord in that moment, unlocking her from the tense muscles and propelling her on a beeline for land. She barely avoided the initial impact of its massive body. Head? It all looked like one piece to her.

However, she didn't think about the water and ice in her panic. Despite getting out of reach of it's gaping jaws, the wave of frigid cold that was displaced by it's massive body washed over her. The white wolf lost her footing, tripping and being forced to tumble as the water pushed her down before settling. The liquid stung from the cold, quickly seeping through her already damp coat. Her muscles shivered involuntarily as she attempted to stand. The water made the ice slick, her claws having trouble finding purchase as she looked like a baby deer trying to get her footing.

Mystic looked forward. The water had pushed her towards the shore. She was so close!! Yet so far... She couldn't stop here. She had to find her family. See her mom. It had been so long and she was finally able to get away from all these bad humans and animals that just wanted to hurt her. She had to keep going. A shaky pawstep was taken, the sloshing water underneath making it hard to keep balance. Then another. Just had to keep going, even if it was a single step... Even if she slipped at every touch of the ice. She had to keep going. For her family.

Kazmei & *Others?*

Kazmei could now hear the groan of the ice as the disturbed water beneath it carried like a shockwave, distorting and twisting the fragile surface and making escape all the harder for the now petrified Mystic. Kaz's sharp barks carried on, even as she felt certain the little white wolf was doomed, having stopped in her tracks too look back in terrified awe at this beast from the deep.

Self preservation kicked in once more though, and off Mystic went... well, tried to go, anyway. The young canine had scrambled out of the whales immediate reach, only to be pulled down by a surge of water that must have stung just as sharply as those teeth would have with the penetrating chill it brought with it. Kazmei felt an involuntary shiver run down her spine as she watched, as much for the cold as it was for the certainty she was about to watch this creature perish. Any second now, that behemoth would rupture the ice again and it would all be over.

A brown ear cocked at a squeal that resonated from somewhere below the choppy surface. A sound of frustration and annoyance, like some pitched and angry sigh, only much louder and sharper. And sure enough, that ominous black and white head did resurface through the initial hole, though it was a a little calmer and less dramatic than before. And though Kazmei couldn't see it through the sheets of snow in the air and the distance between them, one of those massive eyes latched onto Mystic like a hungry hawk, watching its prey slip away across ice that stretched over water too shallow for it to follow beneath.

By now, the dangerously soaked and terrified Mystic had nearly made it to shore, and finally drew close enough that Kazmei pushed forward herself, showing no qualms about reaching her fangs for the other's pale scruff to try and pull her back onto more solid ground. "Don't dally, come on! Keep going!" She'd called out, feeling every fiber of her being screaming to get clear of the water. She had never seen an orca before, and had no idea whether it could climb onto land or not. And she did not want to stand around and find out!