Popsicle toes

Just north of the water, moving east, away from Azure Grotto.

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This land was all covered in snow and ice and it bit at his toes, his poor toes. Pierre let out an agitated sign as he plowed through the snow on his way to something more… green. He hoped he would find a way out of this, because he did not plan on staying all the way north up here. From his experience, south was the way to go to find warmer places, so that’s where he was headed.

Currently there was water in the way, though. on his right side there seemed to be a narrow lake or river. Pierre was looking for a safe way to cross, some stones or rocks or anything that would be safe to step on, as he did not want to slip and fall into it. That would just make the cold worse. He didn’t know for how long this water would go on, but he didn’t feel like moving further east only to find himself just… going on forever.

So… a spot to cross. Where was it? The male sniffed, pawed at the snow, and scanned the area and especially the water for something that could help him.

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Chayka somewhat regretted returning to the tundra quite so early in the season. Typically she spent the worst of the winter far offshore near the floe edge, where food was plentiful and she didn't have to worry about pesky land mammals, other than of course the great ice bears. Now the place was simply overrun with wolves, a phenomenon she had never seen in all her years. Where were they coming from? Why weren't any of them white? And why did they all seem so confused?

She had flown around their old territory and called daily to see if her mate, too, had returned from the sea ice, but thus far he had not answered. He was probably chest-deep in a kill somewhere, squawking and filthy. But no matter, the pink Russian queen could fend for and entertain herself.

A brown creature was slowly working its way along the shore of the inlet to the north — currently little more than a vague dark spot on the snow — and Chayka fluttered along until she reached the water. It had been gradually widening as the ice melted with each warm front, and the great cleft was shifting ever closer to its furthest eastern extent. Chayka supposed the wolf was looking for somewhere to cross, and pitied him for a moment. It really would be quite terrible not to be able to fly. The gull drifted down with an exaggerated flourish and perched on a jagged block of ice along the shore, watching him with beady black eyes.
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Pierre was still searching for a way to cross while the bird watched him. He honestly had no idea he was being watched, not paying attention to the sky, because barely anything happened in the sky. Wolves never had anything to fear from the sky, after all. The male sighed, getting tired of all this walking in this awfully white world. Whenever the sun shone bright, it felt like the snow was blinding him. Pierre in no way was accustomed to this type of weather. Not snow in an amount such as this, at least.

Finding a few rocks spread out in the water he tried to step on the first, using only one paw, but already feeling how slippery it was. He frowned, the expression almost looking like a pout. This was going to be harder than he first thought.

From the corner of his eye he saw the bird come down from the sky and land on a rock of ice that lay in the water. Pierre turned his head just slightly, watching the creature and noticing it was watching him right back. Huh, that was odd. Pierre had never really come across any other animal species that seemed so interested in watching a wolf. Pierre wondered if the bird must be laughing at him right now, internally. Probably.

Hmmm, odd, though. That bird was quite pink. Pierre had never seen a pink gull before. It was kind of pretty. He didn’t expect a response back; no other creature – other than a wolf – had ever shown signs of speaking the same language, so he knew he would mostly be talking to himself. ‘’Guess it’s hilarious, hm? A wolf looking as lost as I do?’’ the words came out casually, and he just looked at the bird.

Damn, look at him talking to a creature that could not talk back. If others could see him now they probably would think he’d lost his mind. But… in a way it was kind of calming. Pierre could kind of… process his thoughts in this way.

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The wolf had noticed her, but otherwise did not pay her much attention, and Chayka looked on as the canine tested out a potential stepping stone. It would be a treacherous crossing even for one accustomed to the tundra, so she was not too surprised when he reconsidered and turned back. A soaking in those icy waters could be fatal if it got down to the skin.

He spoke, seemingly more to himself than Chayka, and she couldn’t quite comprehend all of what he had said, but she inferred the meaning of the alien words as best she could from context.

“It is very far where water closes,” she stated simply, her voice low and musical although slightly tilted with an accent. “But further there might be a safe way.” The rosy gull gestured vaguely to the east with an outstretched wing. “Easy for Chayka to look,” she added with as close to a shrug as a bird could muster, head tilted quizzically to the side. She hopped upwards, flew around in a tight circle, and landed back on her perch. Chayka wasn’t particularly altruistic as a rule, but perhaps if she set this fellow in the right direction, he and his kind would return to wherever they had come from. The fewer things around to tromp all over her nest and eat her eggs in the coming spring, the better.
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Pierre found himself staring, eyes wide in shock, trying to process what he just had witnessed. He probably looked like he’d seen a ghost. The bird had spoken, she had spoken. ‘’I- I’m sorry. I didn’t know- I’ve never-’’ Pierre had never had a bird talk to him before. He blinked a few times, wondering how this could have happened, and wondering if maybe… he was in some faraway land where other creatures could speak, too? It was a little hard to understand what she was trying to say, but Pierre assumed he’d heard that right.

Was she giving him directions? She was talking a little rough around the edges, but he understood most of it. Did she really want to help him? He watched her fly up, then come back down upon the rock of ice. She still looked at him. This had to be some sign. ‘’I- yes. If you could be so kind, please.’’ he told her, his eyes lighting up a little at the thought of finding his way out of this massive tundra. He could really use the help, honestly. ‘’Please help me.’’

It was so odd, hearing a bird talk. Pierre had always hunted smaller prey, since food was food and wolves ate meat but… to think this creature had a consciousness in the same sense as him, even close to speaking the same language- he couldn’t in his right mind hunt a creature that spoke. Pierre was hungry, but he would let her be. She offered to help him, and he gladly accepted that help. She didn’t deserve to get eaten and honestly the conversation they were kind of having right now made him want to eat her even less because it felt morally wrong.

What had she said? Something that sounded like a name. Chayka? ‘’Chayka, your name?’’

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The grizzled wolf looked positively bamboozled when Chayka spoke, and she sat in silence for a moment as he processed what he had just heard. She was somewhat used to the reaction, as she rarely interacted with or spoke to other creatures except to drive them away from her nest — little things and the bigger things that ate them for simply weren't often in a position to communicate with one another amicably. Most of her communication to predatory creatures or other potential nest-raiders consisted of strings of profanities.

He seemed relieved enough at the prospect of her assistance, and even asked nicely. Chayka puffed out her rosy breast with self-importance. It was flattering to be on the receiving end of such attention from a creature that probably wouldn't have otherwise hesitated to have her for a snack if he had caught her grounded or off-guard. For the moment, she held all the power here. Thankfully he had been friendly, or she would have thought about sending him in the wrong direction, at least for a little while.

Her name? “да,” she confirmed with a nod. “Yes.” Chayka flicked her wings and titled her head to look at him sidelong. “Will be back,” she assured him, and with that she took off, a flash of pink against the snowy tundra as she fluttered off along the water's edge in search of a crossing that might bear the wolf's weight.
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Pierre wasn’t sure what kind of language she spoke originally, but it was certainly different from what he knew. But… so far, she wasn’t that hard to understand. Her name was Chayka, he was more certain of that now. And she wanted to help him. Pierre was in luck here! ‘’Nice to meet you. I’m Pierre.’’ he returned his name, dipping his head in greeting, with a friendly smile on his face.

She said she would be back soon, and then took off from her perch. Pierre turned around, standing there and following her with his eyes. That bird certainly was a sight to behold, he had never seen feathers with those colors before. Pierre was still kind of processing what he’d just witnessed. A talking bird. Had he perhaps died? Or were birds always able to talk and he’d just… never heard them speak? There was a lot to think about.

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Chayka fluttered along, alternating between high arcs above the water and low sweeps that gave her a better look at the detail of the terrain. She knew the inlet well, and would not have had to scout it if one of her own kind had needed directions, but now she had to look at it from the perspective of a wolf. To a ground animal, it posed a significant barrier to travel; to her, it was but another feature of the landscape.

She spiralled down to a prospective spot where an old log extended out into the water, washed downriver from some place hundreds of kilometres away where trees could actually grow. It had been wedged up onto the rocks and nearly spanned the length of the crossing, save for a narrow space at the far end that she assumed would be possible for a wolf to clear with a well-timed jump. As she landed on the end of it to check, however, it lurched violently to the side, and she hopped into the water alongside it, paddling fervently against the current to stay in place. No, this wouldn't do at all.

The next spot looked more promising. A few hundred metres past the treacherous log was the remnants of what had once been an impressive ice jam. Sheets of ice had calved from the once continuously frozen surface of the channel and piled up against one another as the channel thawed. It was a wide part of the crossing, and there was still plenty of open water along one side, but an intact shelf of ice stretched out towards the far shore, where it was shallow enough that rocks could be seen jutting from the water. The wolf might get his feet wet at the end, but it was probably his best chance for a few miles.

Satisfied with her finding, Chayka winged back to Pierre and announced her arrival with a few mewling cries from above. “This way, Pierre,” she said calmly, hovering to give the wolf a moment to compose himself before beginning to lead the way onwards.
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Chayka was clearly searching, and Pierre was very grateful for that. The fact a bird was helping him- well, he’d never expected that would happen. Any bird would probably steer clear of a wolf, but not this one. But then again… it was the first time a bird had spoken to Pierre, after all. And Pierre in his right mind couldn’t harm a creature that could speak. It felt so wrong, to even think about it. So he let her help him. He watched her and he waited, until she returned and called out for him, to follow her.

‘’Okay!’’ Pierre called back, head lifted to the sky. He followed Chayka, who calmly floated on the wind to Pierre’s apparent destination. The wolf made sure to keep up with her, and to not slip or stumble on any ice pieces that might be sticking out of the snow. He really did not like this type of landscape. He couldn’t wait to find forests again, even mountains. Yeah, he preferred mountains over this.

He got closer to the chunks of ice that seemed to go across the river, looking like a slippery but solid enough place to cross. ‘’That’s the spot?’’ he asked, calling out to Chayka. It looked a lot better than the spot he’d tried to cross at first, at least.

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As she floated lazily along, she looked down at her canine guest intermittently to make sure that she was not moving too quickly for him. For a wolf that was clearly uncomfortable in such a landscape, he was doing quite well. “Yes,” Chayka said with a nod. “Some water at the end, but not deep.” Neat riffles of whitewater betrayed where the gravel bottom was closest to the surface.

Chayka flew along the ice crossing to highlight the safest path and landed on a prominent chunk of ice on the far side. She wouldn't be able to do a whole lot if he stumbled, but from that vantage point she would at least be able to make sure he stayed on the right track. From her perch she bobbed her head and gave a couple of mewling peeps that she hoped sounded encouraging.
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Sorry for the wait, muse has been fickle lately.

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So there was a good crossing, here. Or well, as good as it probably would ever be. The rocks of ice looked tricky to walk on; Pierre was sure he had to be careful with where he stepped, and he shouldn’t rush his crossing. But it was still better than the spot he’d looked at, before. ‘’Alright, let’s give it a try.’’ was Pierre’s response, taking a look at the crossing point.

Chayka quickly flew over the river towards the other side, and it were times like this where Pierre wondered what it was like to be able to fly and get to places more safely. If he’d had wings, he would have been able to go anywhere he pleased. Sadly, he was bound to the ground.

Well, here he went… Pierre took his first step, placing a front paw onto the ice. Alright, so far so good. Another one… he just had to get on top of it on all fours. Slowly but surely he found his footing, and carefully stepped from ice plateau to ice plateau. The last thing he wanted was to fall in. He didn’t mind getting his paws wet too much. But everything else- well, he wasn’t sure if that would bode well for him.

He had come so far, though. He had to finish the journey. Pierre had done much scarier shit than this before, he would be fine. He should be. As Chayka made noises to call him over, Pierre shot her a sheepish smile to show his appreciation but his expression clearly gave away that he was quite iffy about the idea of falling in the water. One of those awkward expressions that conveyed nervousness and struggling.

Somewhere near the end, he almost slipped, and his nails scraped over the ice to find a grip again. Uhmpf, he’d almost face planted into the water. Now that would have been embarrassing. But he was almost there, wasn’t he? Just a little longer. His paws had to get wet now, and the water was freezing. But he was so close, it had to be worth it. It was worth it.

He tried making a jump for it, to avoid most of the water on the last part of his journey. He ended up jumping in quite close to the edge, water splashing up against his belly, dripping off the hairs. A wince escaped him at the cold, and he huffed and snorted at himself for thinking that would have made it less insufferable. Newsflash, it had just made it worse.

He plowed through the shallow part of the water and found himself jumping on shore, toes curling and stretching, suffering. Snow was okay, ice water was not. ‘’Aaahhh- dang.’’ came the exhale of both annoyance and relief. At least he’d crossed and could continue moving south now. But he had to keep moving to keep his toes functioning. ‘’Thank you for pointing me in the right direction, Chayka.’’ he said, looking for the bird. She’d been kind to him, she deserved to be treated the same.

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no need to apologize! <3

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Chayka watched beadily as the wolf painstakingly made his way across the chain of ice slabs. He was making slow but steady progress, but without the stout legs and powerful claws of a creature made for traversing ice, he was clearly out of his element. When he slipped, she ruffled her wings nervously. Earlier, she perhaps would have laughed at the wolf's struggle, but after having had a pleasant exchange with the fellow, she couldn't help but feel a bit of concern. The gull had no love for the various canids that sought to plunder her nests each summer, but this one was no tundra wolf, and if he did happen to return in search of a snack in a few months, he would get an earful from Chayka.

Pierre made it to the last gap in the ice that separated him from shore, and she watched him intently. She was somewhat surprised to see him try to cross it in a single leap, but the rosy bird supposed that was a logical enough thing to try. Wolves were decent enough jumpers, but perhaps he would have benefitted from a running start — which, of course, would have been impossible in his current situation. There was a loud splash and a frustrated exclamation as the wolf landed short of his target. Forced to wade across the icy shallows, he had nonetheless made it across, and Chayka puffed out her colourful breast with pride.

“пожалуйста — you're welcome, Mr. Pierre,” she crooned as the wolf clambered on shore, perhaps a bit wetter than he had intended. He would be cold, certainly, but hopefully no worse for wear. “Here just in time. Soon the water will be wider.” Chayka imagined that Pierre didn't feel particularly lucky at the moment, but it was her attempt at spinning the situation in a positive light. “But it should be easy from here. Be careful for ice bears, they are very big and angry but slow,” Chayka offered, hopping up from her perch and flying a tight circle over the dripping wolf. She circled a few times to see if he had any questions of her, but flew slightly higher with each spiral, indicating her imminent departure.
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After he’d crossed, he received a remark from Chayka he did not understand, but soon enough she returned to the language he knew, and Pierre smiled at her words. He’d been helped by a bird. It still sounded like a fever dream to him but… it wasn’t an unpleasant one if that was the case. If he found his family again, he had quite the story to tell. Waking him in some strange place, no memories of before- and then a talking bird. Huh.

The water would grow wider later in time? Perhaps since the ice would melt during spring and summer time. Yeah, that’s what she meant, probably. Pierre had seen it happen back in the old place; rivers would freeze over at the edges, then during spring time it would melt, and the loads of rain would add to it and overflow everything. It only made sense that it would happen here, too. At least he didn’t have to swim across…

Pierre assumed with the information Chayka gave him that he simply had to continue south from here. He nodded at the mention of ice bears. That sounded kind of creepy but also interesting. He both hoped and did not hope that he would come across a so called ice bear. He was curious but… not enough to be willing to risk his life for it. ‘’Thank you for the information, I shall be careful. And thank you for your help, once again.’’ he said, nodding at her, and smiling bright.

‘’I shall continue south now, it was nice to meet you!’’ It really had been a pleasure, as odd as it still felt to Pierre. ‘’Goodbye, Chayka!’’

And with that, Pierre set off south. If he kept running he could warm up his toes, and hopefully he would be in warmer places, sooner.

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Shall we exit here? O:

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Sounds good! :D

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Chayka twittered softy in recognition of Pierre's thanks, and soared a last, lazy circle. “Hope you get to where you are going safe, Pierre,” she offered. “Goodbye!” With that the wolf padded off to the south, and she rose upwards until she was a faint rosy speck. She watched for a few moments longer to make sure that he was going in the correct direction, and then veered off back towards the river once again in search of her mate. The gull wondered idly where the wolf's intended destination was, but was distracted from the thought by a passing jaeger that sought to harry her, and just like that it was back to life as usual.
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