::chapter one : the beginning::

The early morning sunlight moves across the frozen land, making the fresh white snow from last night's blizzard nearly impossible to look at directly. The air is unusually still, but it's appreciated as it allows the sun to warm the earth quicker. Throughout the entirety of the land, there is not a single animal in sight, although the clear songs of lone birds up in the trees suggests that there is indeed life.

Team You are likely awakening and covered underneath some amount of snow, you may have to dig your way out. But be careful, it's not unheard of to receive injuries from falling one hundred feet into semi-solid snow. Fortunately most of you survived, but it seems that neither of your owners survived the fall, the sled is crushed, and both a swing and a team dog did not survive the fall.

Pack As usual, you are on the move, early morning being one of your favorite hunting times. You are currently moving along the cliff face to search for small mammals that might have burrowed into the wall, seeing as you are still not used to hunting prey so small, your efforts have not been going well.

Gin-Go :: Male :: Five Years Five Months :: Team Dog :: Team
Mentions:: No One
The chinook might have remained unconscious if it weren't for the growing coldness on his rump, but it was starting to feel as if he was getting frost bite. Especially on his tail. He snorted only to feel the steamy air pushed back into his face and he jerked his head, only to feel ice above his head. Thoroughly confused Gin-Go opened his dark eyes, however it didn't do much as all he could see was darkness. Tentatively he tried moving various parts of his body, testing to see if anything aside from his rump and tail were functional. Eventually he figured out that his back legs were pretty loose as well, and his right hind paw could be moved. This was not the first time he had been in a situation like this, often times while the team was going on long races they would have to stop and camp, but the dogs would burrow into the snow to keep warm. He had once rolled in his sleep and ended up having to get help getting out, but an older dog had advised him to try and scooch back out if he could.

With that information in mind he started working with his right hind leg to try and dig into the snow and pull his body back. He grunted with the effort, but he could start to feel his looser skin start to shift forward and scrunch up around his neck. Determined to get out, especially now that he thought it was actually possible, he started working harder. The shifting warmed up the ice and he could feel it seep into his fur, but he could also feel the rough bits catch on his skin and scrape. After a while of this he finally popped out and fell onto his butt. Shaking his head Gin-Go blinked a few times as his eyes adjusted and looked around. He was sat near the base of a large pile of snow, and looking up the wall he could clearly see where it came from. Suppressing a whine, he started to search for the others, ignoring the stinging along his back and the pain in his left paw.

Nadi :: Female :: Five Years :: Alpha :: Pack
Mentions:: Pack
Nadi panted softly as she paced alongside the cliff face, her ears flicking all about, although the only sounds nearby were her pack-mates panting behind her. While on their "hunt" they had found about five or so animals, but only three were caught and she had allowed her pack to eat instead of her. As she moved her mustard gaze turned towards the open plains, covered in at least three feet of snow. Enough to swallow her up as well as most of her pack mates, aside from the fact there wasn't anything in sight, that was the reason they weren't travelling out there. Luckily the snow was more hardened along the edge so they sunk less than a foot in most places. She swung her head around so that she was looking ahead again and narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

There seemed to be something in the distance that broke the constant flat whiteness. Her pace slowed and her hackles started to rise subtly. She continued forward cautiously, but eagerly in the hopes that there would be food. Nearing she saw dark figures moving against the mound of snow and she stopped, turning to face her small pack, "Hold up, there's something up ahead. I want everyone to split into two groups, North you take Raina, [gamma], and [delta]. The rest of you are with me." She ordered, her normally light voice taking on a harsher note, partially because of her hunger, "Don't do anything unless I give the word." With that said she started moving into the deeper snow, even though the sled team was still quite far away, and expecting the other group to continue moving along the wall.

Inferno | Male | 3 Years Old | Alaskan Malamute | Wheel Dog
Mentions: Renegade, Gin-Go

Inferno's head felt as if it were spinning wildly even as he was surrounded by complete darkness. The large Malamute male had miraculously not lost consciousness during the fall, but he was no less banged up than the others. Renegade's voice sounded above him somewhere. She seemed so far away. He opened his mouth to answer her, but his muzzle felt closed shut by the mass of snow that covered him. Memories of the accident whirled through his mind. The sharp turn, dogs falling over, digging his claws into the ledge beneath them, trying so hard to pull back... It wasn't enough. The whole team had went plummeting over the cliff side.

As the dizziness started to fade Inferno slowly began to make his way to the surface, shifting out backwards in much the same way Gin-Go had. His rump hit something hard and he grunted, realizing it was probably the sled. His harness was still strapped around him so it was only logical he'd have fallen close to it. He was likely quite lucky it hadn't landed on him. He struggled to find a way out, but kept smacking into the sled. Inferno snarled in frustration and without considering any further injuries he surged upwards, bursting through the surface and sending snow flying everywhere.

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Raina | Female | 4 Years Old | Timber Wolf | Delta
Mentions: Nadi, North

Raina followed after her new Alpha on silent paws. Her maw was flecked with dried blood, she'd been blessed enough to snag one of the prey animals they'd come across on their ill-fated hunting trip. A small rabbit that had barely been enough to fill anyone's belly. She had attempted to present it to Nadi, but the dark furred female had insisted the rest of them consume it instead. It had been an odd notion for her. In Raina's old pack the Alphas always ate first no matter the lack of food. They were the pack's most important members. Why would Nadi deny herself the right to first catch? Her ears perked once Nadi mentioned there was something in the distance and she wanted them to split up. Her pelt prickled with uncertainty, but she moved to stand a bit behind North obediently regardless, looking to him for further instructions.

ALISTER | MALE | 4 YEARS | ALASKAN HUSKY | SWING DOG
Mentions: Gin-Go, Renegade, Inferno

A chilling cold seeped into his skin as he slowly emerged from his unconscious slumber, a sensation he wasn't familiar with. His skin was durable and his coat thick, he rarely felt such an uncomfortable exposure to the cold. "Ah.." He groaned as he struggled to shift beneath layers of snow, blinking away the white substance as he tried to get a good look at what was happening and where his pack mates were. Did they even manage to survive?

"Renegade?" His voice came out as a wheeze, roughly coughing as he realized his throat was blocked with earth grit and melted snow. Swallowing hard, he tried to sit up to determine where the other dog's voice was coming from. He didn't manage to even take a step forward, letting out a pained cry and flopping back down in the snow. Agony wrapped around his front left limb; it was twisted and hung at an awkward angle. Not broken, but definitely not sitting in the socket anymore. He flattened his ears, looking at the injury with a tight-lipped expression. He wasn't about to start lumbering around with such a painful issue.

"Is everyone okay?" He called into snow-blanketed atmosphere, his heterochromatic eyes narrowing towards a few forms. He caught sight of Gin-Go, Renegade, and Inferno. So far, that was it.

NORTH | MALE | 5 YEARS | TIMBER WOLF | BETA
Mentions: Nadi, Raina

His large form pushed mounds of snow from his path as he stalked along, running his tongue along the sides of his jaw to remove any access prey blood. He had been thankful for his alpha's kind consideration of the rest of the pack, despite the fact nearly every wolf had insisted on presenting their catches to the female. He had quickly snapped down the frail and bony carcass of a lemming, but it hadn't done much to curb his hunger. Continuing along the edge of the wall, his ears pricked forward as he detected an array of scents. Holding back the territorial growl that grew within him, he glanced at Nadi and gave her a firm nod, "Of course." His grey eyes followed the form of his alpha for several moments before he gave a silent command to Raina, continuing their trek through the snow to discover just what lingered up ahead.

Liam | Male | 1 ½ Years | Gamma | Pack
Mentions: Nadi, North, Raina

Liam followed quietly behind the others, staying closer to the back since he was just a youth. He was excited to be out on this hunt, even though it wasn't a spontaneous thing he himself had come up with. With his focus, he had been able to catch a mouse. It wasn't very satisfactory, but it took the edge off the growling of his stomach, and would keep him until they could find something else, and after their dear alpha had eaten. The next thing he caught would be for her, no buts allowed.

He paused when Nadi commanded them to though he lifted his head and tried to stand on his tip toes to see what was going on. But he was still too short, and it hurt his toes, so he stopped doing that. Instead, he followed his orders and went to stand with North, Raina, and the nameless delta, falling in behind Raina since she outranked him. He itched to stand by her side, even if she was a bit grumpy sometimes, but that wouldn't happen for another six months at the very least. If he kept up with his irrational “nothing bad could happen” mentality, though, he might be stuck as a gamma for the rest of his life.

The youngster waited for North's command and then silently fell into place, though sneaking was out of the question since his paws sunk mid way up his leg each time he set a foot down.

Anastasia | Female | 2 and a half years | Team Dog | Team | Mentions: Renegade, Inferno

Anastasia lay unconscious under the snow, not moving. At the sound of a cry of her name, she began to finally stir. Renegade...? She slowly opened her eyes to only to see darkness. Panicking at the sight of darkness, she jumped up from her spot letting out a yelp to only fall into a pile of snow. Floundering in snow for a few moments, she finally manage to break free. Everything was a blur of colors before her and she was panting heavily from trying to escape from the snow. She looked around the area quite confused as to what had happened, her memory of what had happened was fuzzy. Hearing familiar voices, she snapped her head towards them.

She took a few steps towards them, almost falling over from the sudden sharp pain in her left hind leg. She flinched at the pain and stopped moving, turning to look at her leg. Giving up on trying to find what the problem was, she turned back to look over at the moving blurs that seemed to be her teammates."Renegade? Inferno?" She called out to the moving blurs not too far from her. Taking a step forward, she let out another yelp as she tripped over a part of the torn harness that was still on her, crashing face first into the snow.

Gin-Go :: Male :: Five Years Five Months :: Team Dog :: Team
Mentions:: Alister - Anastasia - Inferno - Renegade
He has only just started moving about when a familiar tug told him he was still attached to his harness... Or what was left of it. All that remained of the black and blue harness was the part that went over his right leg and neck so it was easy to slip out of. He had started up the mound to see if anyone else was okay when he heard Renegade's voice and with a slight yip of excitement he started over, ignoring the increased stinging as he ran. He was nearly over to the lead when a great red and white beast leaped out of the snow before him, forcing out a small yelp. But once the snow settled Gin-Go could clearly see that it was his team-mate Inferno and Renegade was coming near, a concerned expression on her face.

He looked beyond the two as Alister spoke up and padded over, his hind right paw leaving a little trail of blood droplets, but it was nothing to what appeared to be a broken leg? "I think everyone's doin' pretty well, your injury is the worst I've seen." He responded gesturing with his nose to the twisted paw. At the sound of Anastasia's voice he pricked his ears and looked over to her, looking back to Alister he made a small whine of reluctance to leave his team-mate by himself, sort of, especially with his paw all mangled, but he also wanted to make sure Anastasia was alright. Making up his mind, the chinook made his way over to the seppalla just as she fell and increased his pace. Lowering his head he used his nose to nudge her, "Are you okay there?" He asked, though the answer was quite apparent.

Nadi :: Female :: Five Years :: Alpha :: Pack
Mentions:: Last
She didn't spare a glance back, trusting her pack to follow through with her plans and continued forward, at this point having to either move in bounds and leaps or forcefully push her way through the fresh and compressed snow. She chose the latter as she preferred brute force in most cases so it was a bit slower, but when the faintest hints of dog reached her nose she quickened. Dogs weren't too common, but they made for an easy meal, however as she grew nearing her fur rose. From what she could tell, there were more than the usual one or two. Turning back she moved over to the omega, her voice soft so as not to give them away, but still holding a fair amount of authority, "Last, I want you to scout ahead and see just what we're dealing with."

Anastasia | Female | 2 and a half years | Team Dog | Team | Mentions: Gin-Go

Darn harness. Picking her head back up out of snow, Anastasia looked up at the blur before her who she recognized as Gin-Go from his voice. "Yeah, I'm fine." She slipped out of the torn harness as she sat up. She stared straight at Gin-Go, trying to let her vision set more before trying to do anything else. Standing up slowly, she looked around as the blurriness began to fade somewhat before she looked back at Gin-Go. "Everything is pretty blurry. What happened though? I can't seem to recall anything."

Inferno | Male | 3 Years Old | Alaskan Malamute | Wheel Dog
Mentions: Renegade, Gin-Go, Alister. Anastasia

"Yeah, I'm okay. I think..." Inferno mumbled in answer to Renegade's inquiring if he was alright. The light of day was blinding compared to the darkness he'd just forced himself out of and left him stumbling over his paws in confusion as he attempted to trail after his fellow Malamute to check on the other team dogs. Alister, Ana and Gin-Go's voices soon filled his ears and he he was somewhat soothed despite their circumstances. They were alive at least. Yet where was the rest of the team? His eyesight finally focused again, but felt strangely limited on the left side. Unknown to him an awful looking gash was slashed down his face and the eye itself was likely missing entirely. He was numb to the pain from the cold and shock. Unaware of the damage done during the fall. His single golden eye glanced down to Alister's injured paw and he frowned. Not good. Not good at all.

He lowered his nose to sniff at the Husky's injured paw, but said nothing. His gaze turned to Renegade and noted she was looking rather crestfallen. Her expression and posture said it all. "It's not your fault," the usually cocky brute said gently, nudging her cheek with his nose. "I'm the wheel dog. I should have stopped in time," he muttered. "Or I should have been able to pull you all back up. Guess I'm not as strong as I thought," he muttered, his own ears falling back against his head. "We should look for the others..."

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Raina | Female | 4 Years Old | Timber Wolf | Delta
Mentions: Nadi, North, Liam

Raina stepped after North and was conscious of young Liam just behind her. As they crept closer her golden eyes widened slightly. Dogs? The scent hit her long before they came into clear view and she paused in uncertainty. Blood tainted the air. They were wounded. What would Nadi want done with the poor souls? Raina knew a proper wolf ought not to have any sympathy for a lesser canine, but well...according to her former pack's Alphas' she'd never been a proper wolf to start with. That's why they'd banished her.