Frozen to the bones (c)
Feb 24, 2015 1:38:18 GMT -5
Post by East on Feb 24, 2015 1:38:18 GMT -5
WAYWARD WINDS, THE VOICE
THAT SINGS OF A FORGOTTEN LAND
THAT SINGS OF A FORGOTTEN LAND
Keres was a new and welcoming development to Benjamin's seemingly endless journey. A familiar face wrought hope in the hopelessness his world had become. It was cold and brutal in the mountains, but less so when he had someone to curl against when the temperatures dropped ruthlessly low during the night. It was a necessity, though Benji felt a private satisfaction in the warmth of another. Once he had slumbered amongst his siblings. They would nudge and kick each other in a disorganized huddle, with a parent occasionally at the edge.
Then there had been no one, for months. And when it was Osiris and Lazarus, he wished it'd been no one. All his comforts had been stripped away and now it was almost overwhelming to have a friend again. He was starving, perpetually shivering and homesick, but it all felt just that much better when there was someone else. The Collie mutt didn't eat a lot and she said peculiar things, but Benjamin didn't mind. He thought it almost endearing when he didn't take it seriously.
The boy was keen to manage both of them. Call it the hero syndrome that those raised in Kekoa were vulnerable to but Benjamin left the cave daily in search of food. It could take hours before he found anything or nothing at all.
It'd been two days since they'd shared something resembling a meal when he next ventured out and he couldn't return with nothing. Hours into the hapless search his pads were cracking again, never giving them the opportunity to heal and he was feeling increasingly lethargic. Benjamin was wandering down a hill blanketed with snow, just beyond the cover of trees. His gait was clumsy with small stumbles and his head felt light, but he continued determinedly, foolishly on.
Lightheaded, Benji was vaguely aware his world was spinning into a dash of black stars before he lurched forward onto his chest and rolled a few meters down the snow before finishing in a sprawl of limbs, unconscious.
SEE IT FALL, CHILD OF WOLF
LEND A MENDING HAND
LEND A MENDING HAND