Heading south from Avanthal [open]

[Kaito]

Day 29 Fall 511 AV

Kaito shivered lightly as her mare ran through the snow. They had been out for half a day and there was still no sign of the snow letting up. Deciding it was time to rest, she navigated the mare into the nearby woods and followed her ears to where the snow sounded softest. They found themselves in a small break in trees where the tall limbs still created a canopy to block most of the snow. The white haired girl quickly jumped off the horse and secured her to a tree, before removing her clothes and reverting to her animal form. The small fox shivered in delight at the inviting warmth of her coat. Then she trekked off deeper into the woods to see if there was anything nearby.

Following her nose, she quickly happened upon another fox, this one was a bit older than herself. She crouched behind a snow covered log waiting to see what this fox would do. Slowly, he padded along an invisible trail, before leaping down into the snow, leaving his back half hanging above the surface. Resurfacing, she noticed that he had managed to capture a small rat and was currently chewing it thoroughly. "Hello?" she called out to the fox who immediately stared at her. "Could you answer a question?"

The fox stared a moment more. "Yes." he responded cautiously.

"Do you know how far it is to the end of the snow?" she responded.

The elder fox sat back just a bit, "It's quite a long way child."

Kaito deflated visibly. She had forgotten to account for the exact difference in size between her map and the actual trip. Her city being a small dot actually made sense now. "Thank you." she replied politely before turning back towards her horse. Reaching the clearing once more, she realized she had spent far more time in the woods than she had planned. The young Kelvic returned to her human form and sighed quickly missing the warmth of her coat. Idly, she wondered how humans could manage to live here with their fleshly skin as she pulled her white dress back on quickly followed by her black shorts and boots and finally completing her look with her black cloak. "We should just stay here tonight Yuki." she told the mare deftly as she began the process of setting up her tent.

Day 30 511 AV Kaito awoke early that morning. It was cold, very cold. Sticking her head outside the tent, she saw what she dreaded. The snow hadn't been quite that high last night; but now, it was nearly two feet and still rising. Quickly gathering her things and tent, she tied everything back to the saddle. Yuki was pawing nervously at the snow and Kaito didn't blame her. She then stripped and packed her clothes away as well before untying the horse and reverting to her fox form. Now in this form, she could walk on top of the snow; there were advantages to being so light. Then, she bit down on the end of the rein and tugged at Yuki to follow her to which the horse easily complied, anxious to be moving. Their pace was slow as they would go short ways and then stop to allow the mare rest. Thankfully, there were small outcroppings of forest midst the snow and she made sure to keep them in as many of them as she could. As darkness grew closer, the small fox began to search for a more appropriate place to camp. If it had just been her, she would have simply dug a small den and stayed tucked away til morning, but she knew with her small form, she would never be able to carry her supplies. As it was, she could barely manage to carry her clothes in this form. She knew she would regret it, but she had no choice. Kaito returned to her human form and immediately dropped down into the snow. It came up to her chest and snow wasn't exactly the warmest thing. She quickly tied Yuki up to the nearby tree and returned to her fox form. Her fur even more welcoming now than it had been previously, but now she had another problem, she was stuck 3 feet down in a hole. Carefully, she climbed her way back to the surface of the snow as she went to survey the area. Sure, she'd always loved old trees with wide openings, but never before had she been so happy to see one. It was quite large too, unusually so, but she would not complain. Running back to Yuki, she jumped back down into her hole to change back into human form and untie the horse before switching back and climbing back out of the hole. Once more taking hold of the reins with her small teeth, they began to head towards the tree. Nightfall was quickly approaching now and she felt their pace slowing. Just as the last few rays of light left, they reached the tree. Yuki was quick to seek shelter within it and Kaito wasn't far behind as she followed the horse in curled herself up in a corner to enjoy a good night's sleep.

[Kaito]

Day 31 511 AV

Kaito stretched her small frame as she felt the first rays of sunlight. Glancing up at the mare, she was happy to see her chewing happily on the small bits of grass within the tree. Time for breakfast. she thought as light engulfed her to change her back to her human form. Yuki's ears perked up at the light and she paused mid-chew before continuing upon sight of the human form before her. Kaito then pulled her cloak out off the saddle and placed it around her. She saw no reason to fully dress herself as they would be heading out soon. Reaching within the backpack she had tied to the saddle, she found what she was searching for: salted meat. With a big grin and her canines making themselves known, she chomped down on the item in her hand. She was glad that she had Yuki, it would be a rather lonely trip alone she mused. It was also good that it was this particular horse that was with her. During her time in Avanthal, she had learned some riding skill and this was the horse she had learned on. As she grew older though, she began to dislike riding. She was a kelvic after all and as another animal it seemed somewhat strange to be on a fellow creature.

When she made the decision to leave Avanthal and see the world, it seemed natural to get a tent, to which point she had been convinced by the shopkeeper that she should get the four person tent. It was shortly after that, when she realized she did not have the strength to carry her tent. Her thoughts had quickly drifted to this very mare and soon after, the mare became hers. It had worked out well. Most horses were not comfortable around kelvics, but Yuki tended not to mind their strange antics. Perhaps that had something to do with her age, but no matter. Kaito pulled the cloak off and tucked it away once more, before patting the mare's neck and dropping back into fox form. She grabbed hold of the reins once more with her teeth and the two headed off, glad it had stopped snowing.

[Kaito]

Day 31 511 AV

The day appeared to drag on as the pair worked their way through the tall snow. The sun had begun to melt the top layer of the powder substance and thus freezing it before finally melting it. This resulted in a crusty mush for them to fight through. Kaito didn't enjoy it, it stuck to her furry paws and she kept having to stop to pull the ice off. She was used to snow or ice, not this strange mix that she was growing to hate. They had found a trail and thus Yuki was able to pace through the snow with ease once again as it's height had lowered considerably. The small fox thought for a moment about the boots currently stowed within her backpack. Chewing the last bit of ice off her paws, she reverted back to her human form and quickly set about dressing herself. With her boots firmly in place, they set off again. She could not deny her happiness at not having to chew ice every few feet. There were times when human clothing had it's uses.

The pair continued on their trek south until night fall when they found a clearing that seemed to be used by travelers past. There was very little snow in this spot and the half buried rocks marking a fire pit made it even more clear. Tying Yuki to a tree, Kaito went about looking for small bits of dry wood and happily found a variety of them which she brought back to her camp site. It was still a little early, but she hadn't felt like continuing past this site. She dug the snow out of the pit before double checking the rocks and placing her wood within its center. Then, she returned to her horse to find that flint. After a few minutes of digging, she found it and then set about the process of making a fire.

Walking around the clearing she found what she was looking for: dried pine needles. It was an excellent source of kindling and there always seemed to be some of it. Placing her find under her wood, she struck the two pieces of flint together trying to create a spark. After a few tries, she managed to get her kindling lit. While this was going, she searched for some more pine needles before returning to her fire. Kaito sat there waiting on the wood to catch and adding more pine needles as needed until it did. Finally. she thought as the wood caught flame. Now that this was done, she returned to Yuki and pulled out a her tent and set about tying the the main rope between a pair of trees and laid the tarp down on the ground where she planned to place her tent. Then she propped the actual tent up and staked it into the ground before placing her bedroll in the object. Looking in her backpack she grimaced. She had only packed enough salted meat to last her seven days, but it seemed this trip would take longer than that. She put her backpack in the back of her tent, before stripping once more and reverting to fox form. Well, I should save my meat and work on my hunting skills.

The small fox ran deeper into the woods, but always made sure to stay where she could hear Yuki. She heard the soft padding of feet under the snow. Slowly, she worked her way towards the sound, before leaping into the air diving into the snow. Her wagging tail slowed as she came out of her hole with a tuft of hair. The sky had darkened considerably by now and Kaito decided to return to her camp. It would be a long trip and after munching down on her salted meat, she curled up on her bed roll and drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

[Kaito]

Day 35 Fall 511 AV

Kaito was cold, her food supply was beginning to run low. She hadn't planed on it taking so long. Yes, she had never bothered to learn to read, but this was ridiculous. She and Yuki had been out in the snow for six days with no end in sight. She had never been out of the city more than seven days at a time and definitely not alone. Fear was starting to enter the outskirts of her mind, what if they didn't make it. There wasn't much else she could do, but hope that all went well.

They had been fighting through the snow since morning and finally, both had had enough. The small fox had no interest in setting up camp tonight. So she simply tied the mare to a tree before curling up in a small ball ready to sleep.

Her stomach wouldn't allow that though as it rumbled loudly with protest. She forced her small limbs up and began to make her way deeper into the woods.

[Kaito]

---End----