The air was cold this winter night. The bright snow on the ground seemed to glow in the moonlight overhead and chilled Vyper’s paws. But there was an odd, worm breeze that rustled his grey fur. He couldn’t figure out why there would be any type of warmth on a chilly night like this. Then again, it didn’t exactly matter, did it? Nope. He needed to keep his thoughts strait, and to focus on the mission he had at hand. But what was that mission? He was a lone wolf, with only a select few acquaintances, and even fewer friends. But he was very happy that way. So what could a wolf like him possibly be searching for? That’s what he was wondering. He was a wolf on a mission to find why he was on a mission, if that made any sense at all. It sure confused him if he thought about it to much.

Crunch. Crunch. Crunch. He began walking atop the snow, his paws only lightly sinking in. Luckily it wasn’t that deep tonight. The last snow storm had been days ago and the sunlight during the day had melted much of it away. That was a good thing, too. It made his journey easier. And what was also good, was that it was completely silent, besides his pawsteps. That is exactly what Vyper liked about winter, though. There were no birds singing, no crickets chirping. No nothing except him and the vast, seemingly empty wilderness of trees.

His pace was slow, his steps sure. There was no rush for him. He had no final destination, no dead set direction, nowhere to go but forward. His paws would carry him to wherever his fait wanted to take him. Whether it be to the deserts, to the mountains, to prey, or to another wolf he did not know. But that is exactly how Vyper preferred it. He wasn’t fond of planning things out and knowing exactly what was going to happen and when. No. He liked to take things as they came. That was the excitement of life for him.

So he carried on, slowly walking and letting the piercing silence fill his ears, and relax him. Despite winter’s hardships, it was his favorite time of the year because of this silence. This absence of life. Vyper didn’t hate others. Not at all. He just preferred to be alone and the emptiness around him right now was almost comforting.

Everything around him looked the same to Vyper. Tree here, tree there. Pile of snow here, pile of snow there. Wolf… wait wolf!? He heard it seconds before he had spotted it out of the corner of his right eye and turned his head to look. Before he could even blink it was trying to jump over him. And he had been expecting it to do just that and keep running. But instead something hit his back, and the other wolf tumbled and landed in a heap on his left side. Vyper’s eyes widened as he turned his hole body to look at it. What the heck had just happened? He noticed it was trying to get up, but it just sank right back to the ground. Wow. He had never seen another of his kind in such a sorry state in years! What was wrong with it? Vyper was actually getting a little worried. His ears perked forward and he tilted his head to the side, staring at the wolf as it appeared to be munching on some snow. Though he couldn’t exactly tell because it was facing away.

And as the other did some odd chuckle, he took a step back. This was one situation Vyper didn’t know how to react to. What the heck was he supposed to do right now? He didn’t like paying attention to anyone. But when a wolf jumps over him and stumbles, he cant help but be at least slightly interested. His ears went back slightly when the other staggered to its feet, making Vyper take another step back. It turned to face him and he finally managed to tell it was a female. Vyper gave her a weird look, his expression simply translating to ‘what in the world happened to you?’.

Vyper watched with a slight frown as the other wolf sat, then slowly sank to the ground. She looked exhausted in his opinion. How long had she been running for? And why the heck had she tried jumping over him instead of running around, which would of lowered the risk of tripping and stumbling such as she had done. But it didn’t really matter now, did it? The female was already down, so there was no use for Vyper to wonder what she could of done differently. And it wasn’t any of his business anyways.

"No worries wolf I am not crazy, just half dead."

Well that much was obvious. Vyper sighed and averted his gaze to the ground between them, looking to be in deep thought before finally looking back at her, not looking pleased at all. It would be no surprise to him if the other wolf collapsed and died right there on the spot. She looked as if she may go any minute now.

Hi, I am Tempest.
It is not as bad as I must look. I had a run in with a few wolves in neutral territory, nothing to bad. A bite here, a few bruises there. I have been running since...
About mid sun-up.
Look, I'm not a coward or anything... It's just three blood lust wolves against well just me...

Vyper stared at her like she really was crazy. Why had some wolves tried to attack her? Why had she run for so long? Surely she must of left them behind within the first half hour of her run. And why was she acting as if it were no big deal to have all this happen to her? He sighed and laid down as well, his golden eyes still on her. He didn’t want to seem threatening, so maybe being on the same level as her would help. “Well, sounds like you have found yourself in quite a situation” he said quietly. "I''m Vyper".

He watched her, his ears twitching as he tried to pick up some sound, any sound. But he couldn’t hear a single thing anymore except the breathing of this new wolf. He still thought she may be a little crazy. Even the idea of her maybe making up what she had just said crossed his mind. But he shoved that away instantly. No wolf would make up such a traumatic tale. Vyper tilted his head to the side a little, still confused as to why she had run for so damn long.

The female seemed deep in thought for a while, and he patiently waited for her to say something. He knew it wouldn’t be smart or nice to rush her. She was exhausted, he understood that. Heck, he would have been exhausted to. He had never run for an entire day before. And he didn’t plan to, either. Well, not unless he could help it.

A pleasure to meet you Vyper, sorry to have met this way.

The dark colored female finally spoke to him, and he perked his ears up ontop of his head, intent on listening to whatever she may say. Something bad, something good, something interesting or something dull he didn’t care. It was actually a relief to speak to someone, after weeks of not doing so.

Look, I know I sorta crashed into you. I have taken quite a bit of your time already. I'd understand if you left...

Vyper was stunned for a moment. This one time he was happy to talk to someone, and she thought he wanted to leave? Did she think he was mad at her for crashing into him? He wasn’t. “Its ok that you bumped into me” he said and was about to say ‘it happens all the time’ though shoved that away, considering it wasn’t every day someone tripped over his back. “And I am not leaving. I have nowhere else to go” he said and noticed she was staring at the ground, as if sad, or shy, or what? He sighed and also averted his gaze from her.

I was chasing a cat.

Vyper gave her an odd look. She was chasing a cat? Why was she chasing a cat? That was weird. Everyone knew cats were extremely hard to catch. What was the point of chasing one? Its not like you could make much of a meal out of one, anyways. But then the female, who had not told him her name yet, began to explain further.

Her story was a shocking one, and every now and then he would hear her pause, but then go on. He saw several flashes of anger in her eyes. He didn’t blame her for being angry. He would have been angry as well. Heck, he was getting angry just by hearing of all this. It wasn’t hard to imagine what those three male wolves would of done to a lone female.

So here I am...

The female said after she was done with her story. It was quite dramatic. Hard to imagine to, but he believed her. He felt a little bad for her as well. Oddly enough, he wanted to stand up, run off, and track those evil wolves down and rip them to shreds, and then do it a hundred times over again. Sure they hadn’t managed to do much, but just the thoughts those wolves probably had annoyed Vyper to a great extent. But those wolves were probably long gone by now. He had no way of getting to them.

I am scared of the darkness. When I said I'd understand if you left I only said it because I didn't want you to leave because than I would have to face the darkness alone...
I hadn't realized till now I did not want to die alone...

Vyper looked at her sadly. She must have been cold. And she thought she was going to die? Crap. He had to keep her awake. But how? He thought quickly before coming to a decision. He got up and then laid down next to her. Vyper had to keep her warm so she wouldn’t freeze. Sure, he didn’t take well to others company usually, but he couldn’t just let this female die, especially after what she had gone through. And he had to keep her awake, at least until he was sure she would be alright. “You haven’t told me your name yet” he said.

He waited paitently for the female to reply to what he had asked. Or maybe she wasn’t going to reply at all? Maybe she was to far gone already and was slowly dying? Was there no hope? But, apparently there was, because she turned her head and finally spoke to him.

My name is Tempest.
Thank you Vyper. For not leaving and for helping me when you don't have to.

But he did to have to. “Yes I do have to help you. I was already involved. I have been since you nearly ran me over. I couldn’t just walk away” he said, giving her a small smile. Talking so much was weird to him. Normally he wouldn’t mutter a sentence for weeks at a time. But here he was, talking to this almost stranger wolf. But then again, he couldn’t just ignore her, could he? That would be very rude if he did. And even though many thought he was rude because he tried to avoid others, in reality he was a very nice and decent wolf. Well, at least he thought he was. Or maybe he really was just a bastard. But if he was a bastard he wouldn’t be here right now, would he? So therefore he must be good. Vyper shook his head then, clearing it and trying not to confuse himself more than he already had.

The male heard her sigh, and he focused back on her, wondering what was wrong. She wasn’t dying still, was she? He noticed her shivering had mostly died down, which was a good sign, right? He wasn’t even sure. For some reason his brain seemed to have frozen up after he had shoved everything from it.

May I ask why you are here?
Hmm... That sounded rude. I guess what I meant was could you tell me more about yourself? If you don't mind.

He gave her a small smile and nodded. “Well, I’m a four year old and I was born on a cold and stormy spring night, the same night my father was struck dead” he suddenly paused right then and there, his voice holding up. He couldn’t bare to go on about that. It was amazing he had even muttered anything about it. He gulped a little and closed his eyes. “Never mind about that, there is nothing to tell other than that I'm a lone, wondering wolf” he mumbled, sorrow filling him slightly as he turned his head forward.

Please don't be sad. I am sorry Vyper, I hadn't meant...

He was a little surprised when she tried comforting him with her words and her touch. Though it honestly did little to help. The memory was very depressing. Sure he didn’t even remember his father, but it was still sad. Maybe that’s what made it so sad, because he never knew him. Though from what his mother had told him, he had been a very honorable wolf indeed. And Vyper didn’t think Tempest should apologize for asking, considering she didn’t know. So he slightly shook his head. “Its fine, don’t apologize” he told her.

We are both lone, wandering wolves.

The male looked at her, not surprised by what she said. He had had a feeling that she had been alone, considering there had been nobody with her and she hadn’t mentioned anyone anyways. Though being alone wasn’t to bad, to him. Sure it got pretty lonely at times, but the quiet was very peaceful, which is what he liked. He hated loud noises and to much activity going on. He wondered how she felt about being alone.

I think I can get up now so we can find somewhere to rest , rather than the open...
Well I mean, so I can rest... and I would be grateful if you would come.

Vyper smiled at her slightly and nodded. Out here was pretty cold, and even though it seemed like there was nothing else around he still didn’t want to be caught out in the open. And as Tempest got up, looking like she was in a lot of pain, he also stood to his feet. Vyper shook out his coat and observed her, seeing the smile that was on her face. But it was easy to tell it was fake. Yet he said nothing about it.

Alright, I am standing. How about we find someplace to rest?

Honestly he didn’t think she should be moving at all, but he got the sense she didn’t want to hear a lecture on why she should just stay put. So he nodded and spoke “Yeah, lets go” he said and slowly started walking in the direction he had originally been standing, making sure not to leave his injured companion behind.

As Vyper led the way he made sure to take quick glances every couple minutes to make sure the stricken female had not collapsed into the snow. If she did he would have been very sorry about it. He wanted to help out as much as possible, though it was hard. What could he do for her? Pretty much nothing. He had no healing powers that would make her better, and kind words of comfort didn’t do much, either, except make her smile. But that was it. He felt so weak because of the fact he had nothing to give that would make her injuries go away.

The male shook his head and took another glance at Tempest, seeing her do a hoping motion. The progress they were making was quite slow, and any other wolf would of probably been dying to get going. But this was Vyper. He was a patient wolf most of the time, just like right now. He felt as if part of this was his fault anyways, so he couldn’t just leave her behind. He had to help. When she leaned towards him and touched his shoulder, he had almost leaned back towards her to keep her on her feet just incase she was about to fall over. But all she had done was straighten up and apologize, which she seemed to do way to much.

You know there is something to love about each season. The ending of Winter and the beginning of Spring brings unknown weather. The snow though brings such beauty, even at night it makes the land glow. And the quiet, peaceful calm it brings is worth the cold... well in good health it is worth it.

Vyper looked at her once again, his ears perked forward on his skull. She had such a way of saying things, it made him want to listen, which was rare. He gave her a small smile. “It is quite beautiful” he said and looked around. Then his eyes spotted something and he squinted is golden eyes. In the distance through the trees was a massive, gnarled old tree which looked to have a hollowed out trunk. It looked as if a fire had burned through it. Though he could tell the tree was still alive, surprisingly. He smiled and picked up his pace a little, though quickly brought it back again. “Look, some shelter” he said, sure even from this distance it was what they were looking for.

He smiled as Tempest picked up her pace to get to the shelter as well. Though he still felt bad for her and the pain he knew she was in. What if her leg was broken? What if it never healed right and became just some useless thing? That could be a death sentence for a wolf. Death was never a pleasant subject for Vyper though, so he shunned all thoughts of it from his head as they headed towards the tree.

You have exceptional eyesight.

Vyper turned his head to look at her and smiled at her comment. “Thanks” he said with a slight chuckle. It was true. One of his best qualities was his eyesight. Though his eyes themselves were a little weird. Many wolves had gotten freaked out by the bright color that they were.

As they finally reached the tree, he stopped walking and peered at it with his golden orbs curiously. What if there was something in it? Like a snake… Though he found it hard to imagine a snake hiding in the trunk of a tree on a cold winter night. Snakes were probably in warmer places than this. And he could not hear anything coming from the dark space of the trunk.

I wonder how old this tree is to have stood the test of time all these long years. Amazing.

His eyes slowly drifted back to the female before looking up at the gnarled mass of branches. Well, that had been deep. Though, she was right. The tree surely was a magnificent specimen. It was most likely hundreds of years old. It had stood the test of time. Fire, water, earth, wind. Nothing had brought it down. It really was amazing.

This is an excellent resting place, and it will be really warm with the body heat from both of us.

He hadn’t even noticed that Tempest had gone in until she had spoken and brought him from his thoughts. He looked in through the entrance at her, seeing she was already resting. And after a quick glance around the seemingly deserted woods, he went in as well and laid about a foot away, his head resting on top of his large paws.

Vyper watched as she cleaned her wounds. He still felt a little sorry for her, but wasn’t going to tell her that. Nobody ever wanted others to feel sorry for them. Well, nobody he knew of. So instead of staring at her with a sad expression, he looked away and focused on the dark, charred walls of the inside of the trunk. The fire that had burned it must have been a long time ago. Maybe even a hundred years.

Thank you again Vyper for... everything. I am glad I crashed into you.

He didn’t look at her when she spoke. Instead just dropped his golden gaze to the ground. Why was she so thankful? What had he done for her? Oh right, he had talked to her, walked with her, and even laid next to her. All were simple gestures of kindness, yet somehow they had probably saved her life. Yet for some reason he didn’t feel as she should b so thankful.

And thanks for... not leaving me alone.

The male finally looked up at her, seeing her eyes close. “Anytime” he said quietly, not wanting to disturb her rest. All he could hope for was that her body wouldn’t go into shock. The risk of that wasn’t as high as it had been an hour before, but he was still worried. Yet, he did not wake her, and fell into unconsciousness as well.

(ooc: sorry its so short!)