Is winter... almost over?

[Kairis]

~Just gonna stand there and watch me burn~

Slowly the dog stood up and stretched, the scars that ran all down the side of her body trembled in their hairless state and carefully, she poked her sharp and broad muzzle out of the enterance way. Winter was now and the downside and the smooth coated creature thanked her saviour everyday for helping her survive her first winter in the wild. Without him she would be as good as dead.

Icius was his name. A fighter, just like her... although he had had the fortune to excape earlier from the fighting pits and gangs. A horrible life filled with brutality and blood. Nobody cared about you, they didn't care whether or not you got fed, watered, or treated for the wounds you received just trying to survive an everyday ritual. A violent snort of discust exited from her black nosrils as her Cinnamon colored body with dark, mohagany markings pondered out into the snow. The choke chain collar jingling lightly as she shook out her coat.

Once, she had had the chance to have her chain removed but, surprisingly did not want to. It was a part of her, a part of who Cinnamin was; it reminded her everyday that even though life is harsh and uncaring in the wild, its even worse from the place she escaped from. Brown eyes looked back towards the enterance to where Icius was still sleeping. She was lucky enough to not get into a fight with the massive creature, but rather join forces to tough out the season... or more like teach her how to touch out the season. Many nights his long and thick white coat had kept her warm in the below freezing tempatures, Icius didn't seem to mind when she had to sleep pressed up against him for body heat or at least he had never mentioned anything to her up to this point.

The snow had stopped falling awhile ago and Cinnamin sented the air carefully. There was no sign of danger so the doberman decided to trot off into the nearby small patch of foresty on the side of the mountian in search for a quick meal for the two of them. It wasn't long until the dog had a white male hare hanging limp from between her broken but still sharp canine teeth; blood smeared all up the side of her muzzle. She had gotten quite good at hunting her own meals, wild instinct just came back to her easily since really, she wasn't far off from being totally wild in the first place.

dropping it just inside the enterance, Cinnamin ripped a chunk off and swallowed it hungrily before called briefly for her ally to wake up and join her if he was even still in the catacombs.

"Icius, breakfast is served," She stated in a smart ass way. I guess you could say she was happy, it was just her nature to be somewhat of a prick at times, it was better than having her hanging off of your throat. The dog chuckled lightly and turned a circle before lying down in the dirt striking a somewhat royal pose that had been long developed in her breed and that the female often made use of.

~Thats alright because I like the way it hurts~

[☾LUNA!☽]

An icy wind wisped through the cave, the snow it carried landing upon the ashen fur of an abnormally large, dozing wolf. His eyes fluttered open, ears erecting – an unusual response, for him. Typically, he’d wake up with a start, instantly using his enhanced senses to gather information on his surroundings. But his nose had begun the process long before he awoke, this chilly morning. He was comforted to know that no harm ventured near, to him or his ally.
Since the first icy months of winter, Icius had tended to the creature. At first, he considered her greatly inferior, and helped her merely out of pity… because he saw himself in her. Her short coat failed to conceal her body, littered with scars, much like his own. He took her under his wing because she reminded him phenomenally of his former self, when he first escaped to the wilderness. He remembered how lost he was… after his only companion departed from him, he was completely alone. Some freak, doomed to wander the forest, venturing closer to a painful fate. But… he couldn’t bear to let it happen to another being. Whether he had lived his life hating it’s kind, or not.

She was a dog. And not just any kind of dog, but a breed that he had been forced into fighting countless times. And he somehow knew she shared something with him. With time, he was certain. She had lived through the same hell he had. The ring, the inaudible chanting of humans, the snarling of your opponent… the pain, the hate, the desire, all of it. She had experienced it, too. And every day he spent with her, the bizarre, unexpected respect he developed grew stronger. It was as if he was in a love/hate relationship with himself. Half of him hated her guts, longing to tear her to shreds and leave her for carrion, but another half wanted to help her, to pity her and relate to her further. Since he could walk he was trained to hate this creature, yet he couldn’t bring himself to end her defenseless life.

Only, she wasn’t quite defenseless. Surprisingly, she got the hang of this quickly, and her endurance and determination surprised him. He didn’t expect her to last this long. But since she did, he managed to swallow his instincts and consider her… a companion, of sorts. Oddly, it was a win-win situation. He helped her to survive, she helped to, oblivious to her, nurture his loneliness and his secret longing for acceptance. He lived in fear of himself, thinking he was alone… but she was so much like him. So he was slowly, very slowly, letting her in.
He has even shared his name. She didn’t seem to really mind his silence, she tolerated it quite well. Whether she appreciated it or just didn’t mind, he did not know, but regardless, it wasn’t a big deal. But on the rare occasion, he did speak to her, now, anyway. The first thing he said was merely his na,e. She had requested it, and he looked her dead in the eye and spoke calm and smoothly, saying only his na,e. No words to accompany it. His gruff, bold voice had lingered a moment, followed by silence. It was a moment Icius hadn’t before experienced. He used to have quite a charming voice, but the scarring on his neck and the cracking in his soul left no room for joy.

One thing he hadn’t yet shared with her, however, was his abnormalities. His enhanced senses were easier to hide than his massive size, but whether she had gathered his mutations or not, he wasn’t aware of. The possibility that she had, by now, noticed that his eyes, though they appeared blind, had improved sight. Their dull, glazed and icy color made it seem quite far-fetched.

”Icius, breakfast is served.”

It felt quite unnatural, to have his name called. But he was growing used to it, and protest was pointless. It was better than being addressed as ‘wolf’.
With a small sigh, he lazily pushed his muscular body up, shuffling out of the cave. He was sleepy and lazy, but his senses were alert. He could tell in his subconscious that she was coming long before he really acknowledged it. Apparently, she had caught them a meal. If he had not been so hardened, perhaps Icius would’ve seen the humor of the situation – the lesser-capable dog catching food for the more-than-capable wolf. Whilst he may have usually caught a larger animal later in the day, she presented him with a hare. But he was gracious, nonetheless, and acknowledged her with a solemn nod before taking the rabbit in his jaws and biting down, a disturbing crunching noise erupting from the limp animal’s body as its bones were crushed. He ripped off his share, walked a few steps away and flopped down with his back turned to the dog, picking at his meal. He couldn’t decide if he had really trusted this dog yet… but most of his actions were just behavioral habits.

He finished quickly, the portion not much of a snack for him, and he would soon need to eat again to fulfill his huge body’s needs. He sighed and grunted some as he brought himself into a sitting position, again facing the dog. He looked at her briefly, still licking the blood from his chops, he glance intended to be grateful, but with his rather emotionless face, it was difficult to get the message across.

[Kairis]

Her left ear twisted backwards with slight boredom as she watched the massive light colored wolf eat the hare she had caught. Cinnamin mused for a few moments realising that this creature would not be enough to substain him or since it was not a big meal in the first place. Her hazel eyes lingered on the size of his frmae for a moment or two and she briefly pondered on how big he acutally was if he had a short coat.

Probably still bigger than her because he was, well, just a big wolf but Cinnamin didn't mind. You could say the two of them came to a sort of agreement to help each other out although the doberman often thought that she was not fullining her share of help, thus making her feel obigated to hunt and do other nessacary odd jobs to help the quiet brute. Even though she was a reserved, agressive bitch didn't mean that the dog did not know manners and one thing for certain was that she did not want to feel like a parasite to the wolf that had basically taught her how to survive in the wild.

Cinnamin uncrossed her font paws and layed her head down against the cold dirt letting her nostrils sink into the decreasing depth of the snow. Although she was never state the fact that she hated winter and often times shook with cold 24/7 as it might indicate weakness, she was thrilled that spring would be fast approaching and that she had lived through her first season in the wild. The look on Icius' face let the female know he did appreciate the small meal she had caught. Most canines would not be able to pick up the faint signs that the brute put out but she could. Something that was a sort of skill to her, to be able read a dog or wolf fast and get to know their strengths and weaknesses in a short time. Blinking once, she nodded her head and flopped onto her side letting the sun that nowadays rarely showed its face warm her brown and tough hide.

Birds cheeped and the dog took in a deep breath of freedom. It was the classical tale of when a creature has not been given the chance of love and freedom from birth, they become extremely grateful that they have the chance to live everyday. The female was taking that time now and she clossed her eyes and let the moment sink in.

Cinnamin also contemplated the thought of leaving Icius now that the worst of winter was over. The thought itself make her frown slightly as she would long for the company that he brought but then she focused on the benefits of it. She would be out of his hair and he could take back his den to himself after having to share it with one of his worst enemies. Cinnamin might find a better place to stay as up here in the mountian the weather was always chilly and she knew that further down at the base, the tempatures would rise higher thus making it a better home.... and maybe, maybe she would find a pack to take her in?

The longing of feeling like she belonged ate at the dobermans heart as everytime she looked at herself, she was a misfit, a creature of burden and fear. No wolf in their right mind would ever trust her Cinnamin thought and stretched out her paws infront of her. That was too big of a thing to ask of from the world she has been put into, there was also the matter of her coming into heat at odd times. Cinamin like many other dogs would cycle twice a year, not just once during the wolf breeding season thus making her another nusiance to a pack.

Sighing, the dog rolled back over till she was looking at Icius again and she wondered if he ever wanted her to leave now that he somewhat knew her. If he did she could not blame him as many would not be able to tolerate a dog in their home. Her short docked tail wagged once as she considered what to do now that the sun has risen up into the sky and that the day would be a fairly warm one.

((( bleeeeeh sorry that its so yucky, had to type it up really fast on my friends computer since mine isn't working yet >.< )))))