Out in the Cold Again (Jynx)

[Sodrel Frostfawn]

15th of Fall, 512 Poor Amaya. She’d been restless for days. There was so much going on inside the city walls and none if sat well with Sodrel’s companion. Her dog was always on alert, sitting by the window in her room, looking out on the city with her ears perked. She couldn’t imagine what Amaya heard through the glass. Whatever it was, she rarely came to bed without Sodrel’s coaxing since Fall had settled—especially the last few days. There was a sharp chill in the air. The fresh snow falling from the sky stirred the city to life like it was Morwen’s Homecoming. Everyone was buzzing around, trying to get things done before the falling flakes buried them. Sodrel was curled up on her bed, trying to catch a few more chimes of sleep, but her eyes kept drifting towards Amaya, watching her stare out the window. Finally, she sighed, pushed away the thin blanket that covered her and padded barefoot over to the window. She covered the top of her best friend’s head with her hand and scratched behind her ear. Amaya’s panting fogged up the window. Sodrel was rewarded for her attention by Amaya turning her head and giving Sodrel’s cheek a rough swipe with her tongue. “Aren’t you tired of looking out the window yet? There has to be something you want to do today.” She had the whole morning off and planned to spend it sleeping in, but Amaya looked like she needed the company more. They needed to get out of the Hold and burn of some of her stress. She’d been so busy at the stables, he hadn’t been spending as much time with her as she should have. Thinking back, Sodrel tried to remember the last time she’d woken up and Amaya hadn’t been tense like this. It had to have been before that day at the pet shop. She was sure that was when it started. Amaya had been out of sorts all morning and it never really went away. Then there was that horrible moment when Jynx was attacked by that bird… Things got a little crazy after that. Amaya never really recovered from it. Since then, she seemed always to be waiting or the next bird to swoop down out of the sky. “Is that what you’re looking for out there? What do you see that I don’t, pretty girl?” Amaya ignored her. She laughed, stood back up and stretched the kinks out of her back. Speaking of Jynx—her back was one giant knot. She could use another one of those massages soon. Maybe they could make an excuse to wander by the Warrens on their walk. She slipped into a clean pair of pants and a fresh shirt as quickly as she could, which wasn’t very since she was still half asleep. “Let’s go, Amaya. We’re getting out of here today whether you like it or not.” Sodrel opened the door and waited for her. Amaya hesitated, like she was considering it, then her tail wagged and she hurried to catch up to Sodrel. She followed her out of the Hold and into the streets. Outside, things were even more hectic in the thick of the crowd than they appeared to be from her window. The wind kicked up around them blowing snow everywhere. They barely made it the whole way to Jynx’s cabin. Amaya was so restless, she didn’t want to stay at Sodrel’s heel. She kept sticking her nose up into the air, catching a whiff of something and breaking stride to go after it. It became tiresome quickly as the snowfall became heavy, making the walk more of a burden. She was ready to end it and get back inside, but Jynx’s cabin was right there. If she popped her head in, she could make an appointment. She didn’t have to stay and get anything done right now. And then she’d have something to look forward to when the weather cleared. As she knocked on the cabin door, she heard Amaya bark and turned around in time to see her run off through the crowd.

[Jynx]

A muffled voice came from inside the cabin. “I will be there in a moment.” It turned out to be several moments. Then the door opened and the shaggy-haired man stood before her, a towel in his hand, only his pants on, his muscled and hairy chest on full display. He looked like he was at a loss for a moment and then a big smile spread across his face. “Sodrel Frostfawn,” he said. “What a surprise. Please, come in out of the cold. I am just finishing up with another client.” He stepped back to let her in. A naked man was lying face-up on Jynx's massage bench, head turned so that he was looking at her. He seemed unconcerned that she was seeing him in the nude. “This is Alkrie,” Jynx said. “He is a Kelvic. Snow fox.” He looked back and forth between the two of them and then said, “Alkrie, I think we may be embarrassing Sodrel. We're pretty much done anyway so maybe you should get dressed.” The diminutive young man said, “Sure thing, Jynx. Wouldn't want to embarrass the pretty lady. Especially if this is the one you were telling me about.” He hopped off the table and sauntered into the bathroom. Jynx looked at Sodrel expectantly. “Coming in?”

[Sodrel Frostfawn]

No... No... No... Where was Amaya going? Amaya’s white body disappeared easily into the snowy backdrop. She couldn’t see her anymore. Why did Amaya run away from her every time Jynx was close by? The snow was falling thickly and piling up quickly on the ground. It wouldn’t be long until she couldn’t see anything around her. Normally, Sodrel could trust Amaya to handle the snow on her own, but not in the blizzard that was coming. If she was left outside by herself, she might not get back to the Hold before the city got buried in snow. The door to Jynx’s cabin opened to her back. She turned her head to see Jynx with a naked man on his table. A blush crept up her neck and for a minute she forgot about Amaya. When the man got up off the table, her gaze skidded down his body and fell to the ground. Her blush crept a little higher. She’d almost forgotten about Amaya. Her blue eyes turned amber as a strong wind blew by, kicking her long hair up out of her coat and whipping it around her face. “I wanted to make an appointment for a massage.” She looked back over her shoulder, in the direction Amaya wander off. “I’m sorry. Amaya didn’t want to sit still. I’m worried about her being out here in this storm. I should go get her. Maybe I’ll come back when it blows over.”

[Jynx]

Jynx raised an eyebrow and cocked his head to one side. He peered around her to look outside. A storm was indeed kicking up. He hadn't been around Avanthal long enough to know its weather patterns, but he had been around blizzards, and this looked like it might turn into one. He grabbed Sodrel's arm and pulled her inside, slamming the door behind her. “There is a storm brewing out there. It is not safe for you to go wandering around in it. You should go home. Amaya will take care of herself.” He pressed her on this but could see that she was not going to be dissuaded. “Okay,” he said. “If you are going to be stubborn about it, I will come with you. Just to be safe.” He stripped off his pants and replaced them with fur-lined trousers, then a cotton shirt followed by a wool shirt followed by fur-lined leather boots and finally an ankle-length wool cloak. He grabbed his quarterstaff, an eight-foot long pole about four inches in diameter. Alkrie had come out of the bathroom by then, fully dressed. “Alkrie, you should go home right away,” Jynx said. “There is a serious looking storm brewing out there. I am going to help Sodrel find her dog.” He practically pushed Alkrie out the door. “Hey,” said Alkrie. “Do you want me to come along too?” “No. You should go home and be safe. But thanks for the offer.” As an afterthought he grabbed a backpack he kept by the door. Then he pushed Sodrel outside and shut the door behind them. A biting-cold wind struck him full in the face. He pulled his hood up over his head as he took in the rapidly deteriorating weather. The wind was starting to howl. Jynx was not happy about the situation but he knew Sodrel was very attached to Amaya and would go looking for her with or without him. “Now then,” he shouted. “Which way did she go?”

[Sodrel Frostfawn]

Sodrel pointed away from her in the direction Amaya had gone. “She went that way.” Jynx had been a little pushy about going along when she hadn’t even asked for his help, but as annoying as that was, a part of her appreciated his quick thinking, because by the time she realized what was happening, it was over. For a chime, she considered refusing his help—Amaya wasn’t his problem—but her dog’s safety had to be her first concern and with the winds picking up, she could use all the help she could get. Jynx always seemed to extend his hand to her in some way. She tugged her hood up around her face and hurried off the same way Amaya had, but in the few chimes that she’d been with Jynx, any trace of Amaya had vanished. Sodrel had no way of knowing where she’d gone. With the wind blowing, her tracks had already disappeared. Not far from his cabin, panic set in for real when she realized she had no idea where she was going. “I only saw her run this far, after that—I just don’t know...”

[Jynx]

Normally Jynx wouldn't care about what happened to a dog. He certainly wouldn't risk his life for one. But Sodrel cared about Amaya and would risk her life to find her. So Jynx cared too. He stopped her and turned her toward himself so that they were face to face. He locked his gaze on to her eyes. They were changing color back and forth from amber to multi-hued and back to amber. He knew that blue was her color for calm and relaxed. Red was her color for anxious or nervous. He hadn't seen amber before. Nor the odd multi-hued color. He guessed they represented fear or concern or something like that. He put a hand on each shoulder and held her firmly. “We will find Amaya,” he said. He held her gaze for a moment before releasing her. He looked around. What few people were still outside were hurrying home. “Over here,” he said, pulling her into the partial shelter of the side of a building. He dropped his pack and staff and stripped off his clothes as fast as he could. It was always cold in Avanthal, but a strong west wind made it bone-chilling cold. Fortunately he was an arctic hawk and his hawk form was designed for just this kind of weather. “Follow me if you can.” He transformed and found himself in the snow at Sodrel's feet. He took two hops away from her and leaped to the air, his powerful five-foot wingspan beating hard and fast as he turned into the wind. He could make little headway against the wind, but that wasn't what he was trying to do. He was trying to gain altitude, and flying into the wind gave him maximum lift. At about fifty feet he wheeled around and headed east, the wind at his back. This was the direction Sodrel had last seen Amaya going. Even with his keen eyesight, he could not see very far because of the dense blanket of wind-whipped snow falling from the sky. He scanned the ground in front of him and to either side in long, sweeping arcs. He saw people heading for shelter but no Amaya. If she had changed direction, he would probably not find her. A few minutes later the Icewall Gates came into view. Amaya was racing toward them. Right behind her were three frost hawks, closing fast. One of them dove for her but she veered aside and it missed. The guards saw the hawks and moved to intercept them. Two of the hawks engaged the guards. The third continued after Amaya. Then she was through the gates and disappeared into the storm, the hawk still in pursuit. The other two hawks broke away from the guards and followed. Jynx wheeled around to look for Sodrel. He did not have good news for her. Amaya was gone.

[Sodrel Frostfawn]

When Jynx grabbed her and looked into her eyes, she saw the determination in them and something inside of her settled. Even though they’d just met, she believed she could trust him to find her best friend before anything happened. The look on his face meant that Jynx understood how important Amaya was to her—he knew she was much more than just a dog. Her eyes burned with tears that were only partially due to the cold wind whipping at her face. She didn't try to hide the emotions she knew swirled in them. They’d changed colors several times already, as uncertain as her mood. His massive wings expanded and he lifted off into the air, leaving her behind in his shadow. She quickly gathered his things and ran after him, keeping her eyes pinned to the sky. Any hope of finding Amaya rested on his shoulders.

[Jynx]

Sodrel was within sight of the gates when he spotted her. He swept down in front of her, his five-foot wingspan adding its own flurry of snow to that which was already swirling around her. He shifted back into human form and wrapped his cloak around himself, glad she had thought to bring his things along. “She is outside the walls. Three frost hawks are after her. I do not see what we can do about it. We can not go out there in this weather. I do not think the guards would let us anyway. You should go back to your hold now. I do not think you will see Amaya again.” It would be foolish and futile to go after Amaya. She was almost certainly dead by now, a meal for one of the hawks. It was the natural order of things. Predators hunted prey. The one died so the other could live. He dreaded Sodrel's reaction to this news. He was pretty sure she would not see it the way he saw it. He dreaded even more the possibility that she would want to go after Amaya anyway. Would he have to use physical force to stop her? EDIT : Made some minor changes to draw out more of Jynx's animal side.

[Sodrel Frostfawn]

Three frost hawks against a single Amaya? No. One frost hawk she might handle, but three? Those were impossible odds. Sodrel’s mind raced. She barely heard the rest of the words Jynx said until he got to the part about the guards. He didn’t think she could make it through the gate, or he didn’t think she should try. But she didn’t care about the guards. Let them try to stop her. And Morwen help Jynx if he tried to stop her. In a daze, she held up her hand and shoved his pack at him. If Amaya was outside the walls, she needed Sodrel’s help, even without the frost hawks chasing her. Nothing Jynx said mattered anymore. He’d done everything he could for her, now he just stood in her way. “I’ll go after her myself. Thank you for your help—I couldn’t have found her without you. It'll be easier for me to find a way past the guards on my own.” Her arms dropped away from him and fell back down to her sides. She was done with this waste of time. She dug her heel into the snowy ground and spun around, closing the gap between her and the gate. Nothing and no one would stop her from getting her dog back.

[Jynx]

Jynx had underestimated the Vantha's resolve. Short of using force he wasn't going to be able to stop her. And if he did, she might never forgive him. “Wait,” he said, running after her. “It will do her no good for you to get yourself killed. I will go outside the wall and find her. You go back to your hold and wait for me there. I promise I will bring her back, dead or alive.” OOC : Short post, I know. But I'm pretty sure Jynx would make one more attempt to keep Sodrel from leaving the city.