* In The Bleak Winter Cold *

[Grhym]

Grhym huddled down into a hallowed burrow, though it was far too small for him. It may have once been a fox den, he thought, but it was surely abandoned now, and it would do until he was well rested and could travel into the bitter cold again.

The wind roared past him and he pulled his lanky form closer to him, flopping his tail over his nose. He groaned inwardly as his stomach lurched and nausea made him tremble even more. He shouldn’t have eaten that carcass; it had the scent of disease all over it. But he had been so hungry . . . and even afterwards hadn’t eaten in over a week. He needed food or he was going to die before this wretched season ended. He shuddered and tried to turn in the small den so he could put his back to the entrance. When he got stuck, he simply lay there, his stomach churning, drool running out of his mouth. He was starving and unable to eat, he was hot and cold . . . he wondered how long it took someone to go crazy for a moment. He wondered how long one could remain lonely, hungry, sick, and . . . well, bored until one went completely and utterly mad. He twitched an ear and sighed heavily. He was hungry, and yet so unable to think about food. He worried that he would get sick doing so.

So, he dozed.

When he woke, he felt even more disoriented than before and for a moment, forgot where he was. Fear seized him in an iron cold grip and he felt jerked to his feet, only to slam back down to the earth when his head hit the top of the small den. He lay there for a moment in a slight daze before slowly backing out of the small opening, backwards, with his rear in the air, shuttering at the cold blast of wind. When he finally emerged, he was relieved to see that the blizzard had somewhat subsided. It was still freezing, but there wasn’t any wind or blinding snow.

Hesitantly, he put his nose to the air, hoping to catch a scent of some newcomer, any newcomer. He needed someone with him right now, to rescue him from this brink of insanity. He was starting to see why all the survivors left . . . the result of last years battle had left images imprinted on his brain that did nothing more than haunt him, and when he was alone . . .

A melodic sound filled his ears then, and he stood in small, quiet suspense for a time, listening to it. It had a crystal ring to it, almost magical and very . . . lulling. His bright eyes lost their glaze of sickness during this spell and when it ended, his mind felt clearer. There was no doubt whose howl that was, for it had to be Sasriel – their voices were impossible to imitate. And, as far as he knew, there was as yet only one Sasriel in Sun Crest.

“Rahiel,” he murmured.

Her howl sounded sad and full of longing. Come to me, it sang, join me. Grhym hung his head and sighed.

“I wish I could.”

He glanced back up to look at the distant, white mountains. For now they were clear of clouds and had spots of sunlight, but far off in the distance, he could see more clouds coming, darker, more ominous. If he was stronger and knew he could make the journey before the storm he would go see her. They both needed the company. She would offer him shelter, for a while he knew, but he could never stay there. He was only half Sasriel. So, drawing in a deep breath, he threw back his head and curled his tail beneath him, and let his own song erupt from his throat.

His haggard tones carried through the crystal air and they sang of one thing.

There is life.

[Lelu]

Bounding through the snow with a rabbit in mouth, Lelu looked around. She was cold and tired and wanted some company. Even a grouch was better company than the wind.

She looked to the mountains and wondered if her father's birth clan was still there. Maybe, but she would have miles to go and it would be too dark before she got there to search. It was still morning but with her luck, it be midnight by the time she got there. She sat and grumbled.

Suddenly, she heard a howl. The voice of a sasriel that was sad and longing. Then another howl followed, a haggard toned voice and it was so much closer. They were calling for company. Lelu's eyes glittered. Someone was out here. She wasn't alone!

Dropping the rabbit, she sat in the cold snow and howled her beautiful howl, crying out her loneliness and telling the other two she was here. Lelu's voice would never match that of a sasriel, despite being one of the several sasriel hybrids, but at least they would know she was here. She may even find a new friend besides the imaginary ones that now filled the places of real life. Lelu wasn't about to go crazy from loneliness. She had called out and, maybe, the other wolves would answer.

I'm here!

[Grhym]

Grhym knew that the wind was picking up and Rahiel would probably not hear his call. He heard no further response from her and decided that it was perhaps for the better – that meant at least she had gone into her mountain. It was safer there, warmer.

He sighed and turned away from the landscape, back to the miserable loneliness of Raven Wing.

They will come, he kept telling himself. They will all come back.

Something stopped him in his tracks then, his long slender body being pushed slightly by the wind. There was another voice on the wind, a beautiful, hopeful howl. He flicked his ears behind him but immediately discarded it as Rahiel’s. This was not Sasriel, but it was oddly close . . . and female. I’m here, it said.

I’m coming! he thought.

He lurched forward before he could lose the direction of the howl, panting hard as his body struggled to keep up with what his mind willed it. His lack of nutrition was starting to bring him down, he knew that, but he needed to keep going.

It wasn’t long before he caught sight of the fae and he slowed his pace to a easy gait, eventually to a trot. He didn’t want to frighten her, as he often seemed to. His tall black form came towards her anxiously, but at the same time offhandedly. While he didn’t want to frighten her, he also didn’t know if he should be wary of her. Her mind had been mangled by the Heus . . .

His bright amber eyes glinted in the dull sunlight as sniffed the air in front of him, assessing the situation. She seemed harmless (but then, so did Rahiel) and judging by her tall stature and splashed markings, he immeadiatly classified her as only one thing.

“Hybrid,” he mumbled.

He kept his tail low, as all wolves did on neutral terra, keeping his slouched and calm. Mist clouded before him as he breathed out into the chilly air, making his eyes seem to glow. His body was so thin that he knew she would be able to see his shoulders working, the ripple of his ribs as he walked. He was careful to keep nominal eye contact, should she feel threatened, and he stopped several feet in front of her, raising his head and perking his ears.

He sighed inwardly . . . the hardest part was always the introductions.

“Hello,” he said in his soft, gravel tone. “My name is Ghrym.”

Being a sasriel hybrid could only mean one thing for her, he considered. And that was that she had lived here before. With a crooked smile, he carefully turned his large head to the side and nodded to her politely.

“Welcome home.”

[Lelu]

Lelu looked upon the wolf male. He was really thin, but she couldn't blame him. There had been snowstorms galore and they had put all the creatures in hiding.

"Hello. My name is Grhym." The male wolf introduced himself. He smiled a crooked smile and nodded at her. "Welcome home."

"Thanks. I'm Lelu," she said, smiling happily. She wasn't alone out here and this wolf was no illusion that her mind had conjured up, for if he had been, he would looked slightly healthier. The scars were kind of scary but not so bothersome as his almost skeleton thin body. Plus, he looked ready to fall over.

Picking up the rabbit she caught earlier that day, Lelu walked towards him. When she was about a foot away, she dropped the the small carcass. She smiled and said, "Here. You probably need this more than I do."

She waited for his response.

[Grhym]

He relaxed noticeably when she smiled, pleased that he hadn’t frightened her off. She really was pretty, almost puppyish for being so short. Her short, precise response and easy introduction made him so much more comfortable that he hardly realized the carcass at her feet until she said something. For a moment, he couldn’t process the action – she was giving him this? A gift? He turned his head to the side, studying the rabbit with wise, appreciative eyes.

Such a simple gift, in such harsh times. She was so trusting of him. It stirred something inside of him, of memories of not long ago. He hung his head slightly and closed his eyes, swallowing hard. His breathing continued to cloud about him and when he looked up again, he blinked a few times to clear his vision. The power of giving a gift like this was overwhelming, especially in his condition. Was she serious?

“Thank you . . .” he hesitated, stumbling over her name slightly. “Lelu.”

His stomach did a turn and he held up his head, smiling. He knew he shouldn’t have eaten that carcass he had found . . .

He refocused on the situation again. Somehow this felt wrong, just taking it from her . . .

“But I don’t think I can accept this hospitality, though it is very kind of you.” He gave a short nervous laugh, shaking off some snow that had collected on his back. Then a thought struck him – what if he offended her? “I’d be willing to share with you, of course. But don’t let the likes of me take you from a rare meal. I’ve survived worse than this . . .”

Yeah . . . right . . . because shadow season has always been this bad . . . he flicked his ears, irritated at the sarcastic voice in his head.

[Lelu]

Lelu smiled at Grhym.

"I seriously don't need it that much," she said. She was in in better condition than he was and wasn't about to fall over dead if she didn't eat. Plus, he looked sick. "Are you ok?" she asked. She usually wasn't concerned for health issues, but seeing another wolf in the condition he was in, it got her worried. "Are you... Going to make it?"

If he had been healthier, she'd probably ask him questions galore, but not now. He might fall over just listening to her. She was content to know, her mind going completely off her usual personality.

The wind begun to pick up more and more. Ah, crud... Another storm coming in soon. That's not good, Lelu thought as glanced in the direction of the storm. She turned to Grhym. She said, "There's another storm coming soon. Do you have a cave nearby?"

She hoped he did. She really didn't want to get stuck in another storm...

[Grhym]

Grhym heard his stomach growl long before she finished her sentence and finally gave in. He nosed it carefully first and then lay on his stomach, his strength giving over to his need to eat. He took the rabbit into his mouth and began to tear at it mercilessly, thankful that someone was there to watch over him while he ate. It was hard being a loner; you could have landed one good meal one moment and be chased off by someone stronger than you the next. It was often a good thing to at least travel in pairs.

He hardly noticed how long it took him to eat the rabbit and when he was done, he casually licked some of the blood from his muzzle, blankly staring at the rabbit that was nothing more than coarse haired pelt – that he’d leave to the ravens. The hair was never good on his digestive system. He pricked his ears to say he was listening to her again, smiling kindly, feeling much better now.

“I’ll be fine,” he assured her, gruffly pushing himself to his paws. “Thank you for concern. And the meal.”

He still couldn’t shake the guilt, but at least he wasn’t shaking from lack of food. She was a kind soul and he had many questions for her. He hoped she wasn’t on her way so soon. He liked her, she was nice . . . kind. But still, his past forbid him from letting him trust right away. He didn’t trust that she was completely kind; if she was against the sasriels, if her mind had been twisted by the Heus . . . that would mean she was against Rahi, and that meant she was against him.

So, for now, he could only suspend judgment.

He growled low as the wind caught him by surprise, cold and bitter as it had been earlier, and he flexed his paws so that his claws dug into the snow as he struggled to hold up against the sudden change in direction. He barely caught Lelu’s words but he nodded when she finished speaking. His own? No. But there plenty of den’s dug up around the area. He just had to find one. He thought of the fox den he had slept in but quickly discarded it; it had been barely big enough for him. If they could get to the woodland, that would be better, but they needed shelter now.

“Come on,” he said turning, amber eyes flashing as snow flew by them. “Stick close.”

He started off with a quick gait, bracing himself against the wind. After this he was going to have to move himself to the woods; it was too dangerous out here on the grasslands, even though that meant leaving Sun Crest that much farther away . . .

He put his nose to the ground and sniffed around a dead log and jumped back when his front paws gave way underneath it – someone had already hallowed out a den. Cautiously he stuck his head in and found it vacated, though thick with the scent of wolf . . . it was big enough, he decided. It would have to do until the storm blew over.

Pulling his head out, he looked over his shoulder for Lelu and was startled for a second when he could see her, but she soon came into focus. She blended so well . . . He motioned with his head for her to follow him as he started digging out the entrance. When it was big enough, he slipped under and lay down, the top of his head touching the log above him. He watched anxiously, waiting for Lelu to join him.

[Lelu]

Lelu followed Grhym to the log, panicked for a second when she saw the ground give way beneath him only to find out it was a wolf den, took a second to calm down, and, after he motioned for her to follow, she helped dig some of the entrance out and crawled in. She sat next to Grhym, her head not even touching the log above. She swore that if she never got any taller, she'd... She didn't know what she'd do. And didn't care really.

Smelling the air, it was thick with the scent of wolves. She wondered if someone was still living here or had just left. Maybe they would come back, maybe they wouldn't. She then tried to think of something else.

"I hope the storm's over soon. It's always nasty in Shadow and makes you wish it was Burgeon or War... Wait... Only Burgeon... War's when the Blood Fang and other Heus like to kill," Lelu rambled, knowing that they both knew what had happened in the previous summers. She didn't mind the Heus as long as they didn't bug her, but since it was winter, she really didn't have to worry.

She suddenly felt tired as she watched the the wind blast snow over the hole. She layed down, sleep drifting in to snatch her into dreams of chasing small creatures.

[Grhym]

Grhym waited for Lelu to get settled and then listened quietly as she spoke of her wish for it to be of another season. He smiled kindly, understanding where she was coming from. If they made it out of this season alive, it would be a miracle. The cold was one thing, the lack of wildlife another. One couldn’t survive on rodents and rabbits for long. But Burgeon brought hair raising tension, and War was just simply that; bloody and full of fighting.

“Burgeon isn’t bad,” he sighed, settling in. “Much warmer than this, granted. And there’s usually pups. I don’t know about this year though, it’ll be different. Packs have to regroup . . . I guess we can only hope that the Heus are moral this year.”

He scoffed at the thought. Like they would pass an opportunity to attack when the packs were weak . . . but then, their pack wasn’t much in existence either.

He shivered and lay his head on his paws as Lelu laid down next to him, a gust of wind sealing them in as snow came in deep drifts over the entrance. They could dig their way out easily enough he figured, especially after she rested and they both warmed up. His stomach was more satisfied now and not on the warpath to make him sick, for which he was very grateful. . .

For the time, he kept his ears carefully pricked forward, in case another should chance upon them which seemed unlikely. The only other sound was Lelu’s quiet breathing and his own thoughts.

He wondered who may have slept here before – how many others had used this den. Dens in Raven Wing were never permanent. There were several scents here, one including prey blood, as though food had been stored here. A faint scent of wolf blood was present as well, metallic and thick in his nose, but thankfully the scent of death was not.

With a sigh, he stretched his legs out in front of him and yawned widely, studying Lelu, wondering about her and what her intentions were. Loner or was she destined for the pack lands? There were questions for her, and he was sure she had questions for him, so he waited quietly, glad that there was another warm body to curl up next to in the frigid cold.