Stupid Snow [OPEN]

[tehandwad]

<sub>Cooper hated winter. He hated the snow and the ice and the wind. It made traveling so much harder. Normally he would have already holed up somewhere to weather the cold, but certain circumstances had forced him onto the road again. So here he was, trotting through the snow toward an old house of sorts in the distance. Cooper’s paws had long since gone numb and all he could do was hope that no permanent damage had been done to them, but the wind... Oh, the wind. It bit at Cooper’s nose, eyes, and tail and his short coat did him no good against it. It didn’t help that he had already lost a few pounds since his luck with hunting had been so poor all winter. His stomach ached and growled for food, but all he was focusing on right now was shelter from the icy wind.

As he came ever closer to the run-down old house, Cooper’s pace quickened. The idea of getting some place out of the snow where he could thaw out a bit almost made him drool. Surely there was bound to be some other little animal there taking shelter as well. If he could just break his streak of bad luck, maybe he’d even snatch himself a bite to eat in the house. He came up at the front of the house, quickly hopping agilely onto the porch and out of the snow. Cooper wound up and roughly gave himself a good shake, sending melted snow and bits of ice showering down around him. He immediately felt a little better.

Cooper approached the front door of the house and nudged at it with his nose, but it didn’t budge. He huffed, then leaned forward and gave the crack of the door a sniff but it was no use. The icy wind was blowing away any scent there may be. Not to mention his nose was pretty numb. Determined to find a way in, the tan mutt made his way around the outside perimeter of the house looking for an open door or a weak board. Unfortunately he had to step off the porch and back into the snow to get around to the back of the house, but he wasn’t disappointed when he noticed that the back door was missing. He almost yipped in relief as he anticipated finally being able to feel his paws and his nose.

With a quick hop, skip, and jump Cooper was inside the house, his nails clicking against the wood floor as he entered. He gave his coat another good shake out and decided to check the place out a bit while his paws and nose warmed up, since he couldn’t really smell anything until then anyway.

Amount: 459 Words
Notes: My first roleplay post after a few years of being out of the game. I’m a little rusty, but I think I’ll pick it back up soon.
Muse: Just the sheer desire to get back into roleplaying!
Tune: Supernatural playing in the background.</sub>

[? relic]

Awaking numbly on the rusted hood of an old buggy in the scrap yard, Thorn rolled over stiffly, hoping her limbs would thaw out soon. She stood and stretched, trembling with each movement she made. Staring out over the icy landscape, the female muttered a curse, watching with annoyance as her breath came out in a puff of steam. Winter was the absolute worst season of the year, at least in Thorn's eyes. She could take the ceaseless rain of spring, the blistering heat of summer, and the chilly breezes that came with autumn, but when everything died and froze over, she's finally had enough. Her patience was wearing thin with this damned farm town and its unbearable ups and down. Dust storms left the locals asphyxiating, twisters and thunder storms ravaged the lands, and with all of the new packs springing up with their macho leaders, you just couldn't catch a break. Of course, Thorn wasn't scared of anyone in those little groups. She saw them as weak mongrels, who called it quits when the going got rough. Sure, most of the mutts decided they couldn't make it on their own in last year's blizzard, and she was pretty terrified herself with all of those damn bats, but to give up your independence without a second thought? It was insane! By joining a pack, a dog just gave up their life. They now eat, think, and even breathe for that ragtag group. If they decided to leave, they were marked as a traitor, and basically hated by everyone they thought genuinely cared for them. It just seemed like a lot of nonsense to Thorn. As another gust of wind stole her breath away, the doberman decided to go look for a warmer refuge.

Chills jolted through her bones with each crunchy step in the snow, making her pick up her pace to a gangly trot of sorts. Her muscles were tightened from the cold, and her neck was low and tucked in slightly. She held her ears back, the winds beginning to make them ache. Thorn usually thought of her short coat as a blessing in the warmer months, but when it came to the freezing temperatures of December, she cursed her genes. The female's russet pelage was sleek and glossy, and while it was pretty with its sharp color scheme, it offered minimal protection from the elements. Frostbite could claim one of her appendages at any time if she didn't take great care to protect her body from Jack Frost. The femme was breathing harshly, the thin air barely satisfying her desperate thirst for oxygen. Thorn sucked in a breath, and began to sprint, charging toward the fences that were beginning to appear in the distance. As a small ranch house came in to view, she sighed in relief, smiling weakly. Though the farms and ranches were usually no place for the likes of a dog like herself, desperate times called for desperate measures, and she would have to make the small shack work. She was usually the type to stick around the more suburban areas, as she was lost in the rolling hills and titanic fields of the country. To be honest, livestock kind of creeped her out. The cows and their mindless habits, dull, brainless eyes... they were just unnerving! Now, you may say that a buck or doe would be the same, but no, they were much different. A whitetail had the decency to put up a fight for its life, the intelligence to run from a threat. But farm animals just stared at you with that naive, blank stare. Sure, they put up a bit of a fight, but it was nothing like the adrenaline rush one received from a kill in the wild.

As she made it up the steps of the porch, she collapsed in a huff, laying on the floor. Her lungs burned and her muscles throbbed from the journey across this tundra of a town, but she made it. The doberman turned her head slightly, expecting an easy entry to the ranch house, but furrowed her brow when she saw that the windows and door were boarded up. With a growl, she reared up and tore at them with everything she had, but to no avail. The lumber would not budge. Muttering angrily under her breath, she trekked around the cottage's perimeter. Once she reached the side, she found the opening to the storm cellar, and grinned. She climbed down the steps and in to the concrete room, flying up the wooden steps that led to the main floor after seeing a rather terrifying wolf spider. Near the point of hyperventilating, she collapsed on the ragged couch, staring up at the ceiling. Mold was beginning to grow over the white paint, and she stared at the shelves of rusted and broken up knickknacks. A family used to live here. They probably had children, and so many memories stored within these walls. Flashbacks of her past, her love, her children, flooded her mind, and she was left there in the horrible aftermath of it all. She lay trembling on the rough cushions, lip quivering, heart pounding, and eyes watering. She snapped up with a crazed snarl when she heard the floorboards of the back porch creaking, and she leaped to the floor, hackles raising in defense. "Who the hell is there?!" she called out, daring someone to make a move. She was emotional and exhausted, and if the beast couldn't be calmed, there would be hell to pay.

? ? ? ? ? ?

count: nine. two. seven. [ 927 ]
tags: Cooper, Open.
notes: Forgive me, my muse is a little iffy today. :B Hope you don't mind me jumpin' in. c:

[seriously]

Table for the lovely Seri and her amazing Novaaa<3333

<sub>Every step was a a lash of thunder in her mind, every breath was a scream, and every surrounding canine, was a witness to some kind of crime. A puddle splashed under the impact of a sable paw, filthy water sloshing out of the smell pothole and spreading around her feet. Staring down at the liquid, mesmerized by the simplicity of the movements, left, right, up, down, then right back to where it originated. Did it not learn? Obviously, if it stayed in the slight slope in the damp earth, it would merely get thrown out a few minutes later by yet another careless creature who didn't take the time to watch their step. So why did it not keep moving? Shaking her muscular cranium, avoiding the questions she herself could not answer and trotting further down the road always glancing to one side or the other, or even behind her shoulder with the lightest of noises. One day Cato would come after her, when? There was no telling what that male had planned, his mind dirty, his body ready for whenever he wanted, or perhaps when she slipped up and waltzed right into his jaws.

A whimper escaped her throat, all the breath whipping out of her body quickly in a gasp. Was that voices? Ssshhhh, Nova it's just me, her mind whispered raising another paw before letting it fall to the ground, creating a perfect imprint in the fresh snow, right back where it had been before. It was voices, unfamiliar canines from the smell of it. Though everyone in this town was a stranger to her except for Nicholas. Stomach fluttering, mind flashing with the sight of his pale blue eyes cutting into her soul, those orbs full of life unlike the dead gaze of the only love she had before. Raising her nose, sensitive nares flaring with a snort ; time to go home Nova. Social life was no longer important, all she wanted was out of this area, where the voice had came, in a direction unknown, angry was the sound of each and every of the booming words. It had echoed through the ranch, shooting through her audits like a cannon, creating a stream of thuds which remained long after the vocals had dispersed into thin air. Amber eyes glancing below her, hoping to see footfalls of her own to lead her back the direction which she had came, but finding nothing but a fresh layer of heavy snowflakes crusting over all sides.

Cranium spinning with confusion, ears flattening against her thick skull in aggravation, chin raising to keep brave, the german shepherd dog let out another tiny whimper before setting forward in a dainty march towards the direction in which she thought was that of her path to the old outskirts. It took only a few seconds until her decision flew to hell, the worst choice she could have possibly made in this situation, heading right into the flank of the red doberman. Of course it was her fault, she should have been paying attention, however she had been wasting her time hyperventilating and worrying about going the wrong way. Instead, Nova should have been paying her dues to the home which she had somehow managed to wriggle into without noticing, it was tiny, definitely a farm home of a small family. It made her sick to think about humans again, turning her head from the picture frame in which enveloped a ebony and ivory photograph of a couple, smiling plaintively at the camera which had flashed the photo of the two, creating a memory. Memories were nothing but a nuisance, therefore she tried her hardest not to remember, but it never worked. "I...I'm sorry.." she muttered, moving backwards and staring at the cracked wooden floor boards beneath her, covered in a thick layer of dust and marked with multiple trails of paw prints of different sizes. This situation was devastating to the female who sat, front paws shuffling to find the most comfortable seating, not daring to look into the eyes of the dobie who had most likely spoken the harsh words in a volume more than audible.

Amount: [695]
Notes: i need to get nova out there while i have all this muse for her, i don't believe i've yet said welcome to saddle creek, i hope you don't mind me jumping in.
Muse: amazing <3
Tune: skrillex, every song imaginable
Tags: cooper ; tehandwad, thorn ; rellix</sub>

[tehandwad]

<sub>The winter wind still managed to permeate into the building somewhat, so it wasn’t technically warm inside, but compared to the nasty bite of the wind outside with nothing to block it, this was like a tropical island. Everything was covered in a fine layer of dust, disturbed only in the places where the wind got through or where some small rodent had wandered. That was a good sight; rodent tracks. That meant food, even if it was just some small mice. The golden mutt’s stomach was empty and had been since his last small meal of the frozen scraps of someone else’s kill a few days ago. Cooper wasn’t even really sure what the remnants of meat and bone had belonged to before it met its demise, but when you’re that hungry, you’re just that hungry.

He found himself standing in what appeared to be the place where the humans stored their food. He only recognized it slightly from the one time he had been inside a human’s house. A child had brought him inside and Cooper had seen the small boy rummage through this room and eventually come up with some meat. The mutt had just enough time to gingerly take the thick slab away from the boy when two adults entered the home and started shouting and chasing Cooper away. Luckily he kept hold of the meat and practically inhaled it once he was outside. He looked back over his shoulder only once and had seen the boy standing in the doorway watching him. It was the only time Cooper had ever been offered any sort of kindness from a human and it had left a mark on his mind. He remembered it today as clearly as if it had been yesterday.

Cooper shook the memory away and turned his attention back to exploring the building, but he hadn’t taken two steps into the ranch house when he heard a nasty snarl, ”Who the hell is there?!” The muscles under the mutt’s short coat immediately coiled in preparation to defend himself. His hackles raised and a growl rumbled its way out of his own chest in response, ”I’m not looking for a fight,” he grumbled. It was true. He hadn’t come here with plans to have to scrap with another dog for shelter from the cold. His paws were still numb and his nose little more than useless. He couldn’t smell the other dog and wasn’t sure where in the rundown house he or she was, which didn’t ease the tension in his muscles one bit.

“I’m by the back door. I’m not trying to sneak up on anyone,” he said, loud enough for the other dog to hear clearly no matter where they were in the house, “But I’ll fight if it’s necessary.” He growled and stood his ground, waiting for the other dog, his muscles all coiled like springs ready to snap into action the second the situation calls for it.
Amount: 496
Notes: Cooper hasn’t realized Nova’s presence yet, so he hasn’t interacted with her. I’m not ignoring you. I promise. <3
Muse: Healthy and kicking.
Tune: Supernatural in the background, of course.
Tags: Thorn; Nova; [OPEN]</sub>