Post by Vox on Dec 7, 2008 14:46:39 GMT -5
It was cold. He had a fairly high pain tolerance, and it had gotten quite cold in the evening were he had been born and raised...But this relentless snow and rain and hail, all day long was more than his morale could handle, even if his body held up reasonably well.
He had sores on his feet from where snow, sweat or blood had frozen, and been rubbed off, taking some of the skin with it, and his body felt bruised and buffetted from the unpredictable gusts of wind that hit his body as he walked, blinded by the snow, thanking heaven for his good nose. Not yet shivering, his pride warming him from within, he had slight muscle tremours and the top of his velvety head trembled ever so slightly from the way he clenched his chattering jaws together. He would not be weak, he would not show his faults, not here, not now. The sky was angry, grey, and howling in it's fury, and Paladin knew that he and his companion could not hold out much longer, even if she did have a thicker coat. He envied her bushy fur, thick and warm, like a cloak, that kept the flurries of snow at bay. She even had a double coat, one to take the burden of the cold, and the other acting like thermal underwear, with the space in between holding a hot air pocket to keep her joints and muscles from freezing.
Paladin was hard, but not stupid enough to try to joke about how all his sinews were on fire, all his ligaments and tissues screaming for the relief of a human fire, or a hole he could curl up in, a tiny ball, with a thick blanket of snow and ice keeping his body heat in.
Turning his back to Ruby, who was slightly behind him, he barked at her over the noise from the howling wind.
"I think we'll have to find some place to stay until this storm blows over! There's no way we won't freeze to death out here, otherwise, and I don't think any of your missing children will be out here in the middle of a blizzard!" He wasn't sure if she could hear him, but he thought he saw a hazy figure a few feet behind him. It had gotten worse, before, he saw her clearly, fighting her way through the snow drifts, trying to stay on the path that Paladin had cleared for her, with his long legs and deep chest.
If there was only a cave somewhere around here...He started to shiver convulsively, and felt a stab of guilt and embarrassment as he thought that without him, she might have been able to go on. He didn't even know what time it was, he couldn't see the sun. He had not been trained to navigate this way. When he couldn't see the stars, the moon, the sun, the sky, or even smell as well as he had before, now his nose was icing over, he felt useless, naked, skill-less.
With his legs feeling like they would fall off at any second, he tripped and stumbled through the snow, feeling the temperature drop, and sucking in his breaths with difficulty, a persistant wheeze clutching his lungs, and his heart thumping irregularly. A flickering fear, and anger, darted across his chest, making him shake the snow that had crystallised on his face and sensitive ears off, proceeding to try and ease warmth and live back into his body by shaking the rest of his body as well. All that he achieved was to drive more warm into his back, which then took the snow and wind more sensitively. It had been better when he was numb...
A vague outline of trees and dirt, glorious dirt (though probably frozen as solid as the water by now), punched him in both eyes, and he tried to run toward it, but his deadened feet and clumsy legs made him trip and fall, head-first, into the deep snow underneath a snowy tree, small and stunted, but offering some shelter. Trying to force himself upright, Paladin saw stars explode in front of his eyes from the effort, and felt failure set in. He had failed...And he was falling. That was odd. He couldn't remember being someplace high, but he felt a curious sensation as if the act of his tripping had sent him farther into the earth than he had meant. Paladin disappeared into a hole that was made under the roots of the massive tree, he had not noticed it's size before. It was relatively warm down here, and there was something soft under him, leaves that had not yet frozen solid to the ground. His eyes couldn't see much, not after the bombardment from the snow, but he thought he recognised this as a rabbit den, or maybe a badger set. It didn't matter now though, whatever had lived there had frozen to death while hibernating, probably, that explained the furry lumps in the far corner. Dragging himself up, he stuck his head out of the hole, and called to his companion, the small little dot in the snow. It wasn't much more than a raspy yip, but he thought it might carry to her. Hopefully.
out of crackers! oh my gosh, it's horrible. >.< But I'm not good at playing Paladin when he's half-dead with cold.
He had sores on his feet from where snow, sweat or blood had frozen, and been rubbed off, taking some of the skin with it, and his body felt bruised and buffetted from the unpredictable gusts of wind that hit his body as he walked, blinded by the snow, thanking heaven for his good nose. Not yet shivering, his pride warming him from within, he had slight muscle tremours and the top of his velvety head trembled ever so slightly from the way he clenched his chattering jaws together. He would not be weak, he would not show his faults, not here, not now. The sky was angry, grey, and howling in it's fury, and Paladin knew that he and his companion could not hold out much longer, even if she did have a thicker coat. He envied her bushy fur, thick and warm, like a cloak, that kept the flurries of snow at bay. She even had a double coat, one to take the burden of the cold, and the other acting like thermal underwear, with the space in between holding a hot air pocket to keep her joints and muscles from freezing.
Paladin was hard, but not stupid enough to try to joke about how all his sinews were on fire, all his ligaments and tissues screaming for the relief of a human fire, or a hole he could curl up in, a tiny ball, with a thick blanket of snow and ice keeping his body heat in.
Turning his back to Ruby, who was slightly behind him, he barked at her over the noise from the howling wind.
"I think we'll have to find some place to stay until this storm blows over! There's no way we won't freeze to death out here, otherwise, and I don't think any of your missing children will be out here in the middle of a blizzard!" He wasn't sure if she could hear him, but he thought he saw a hazy figure a few feet behind him. It had gotten worse, before, he saw her clearly, fighting her way through the snow drifts, trying to stay on the path that Paladin had cleared for her, with his long legs and deep chest.
If there was only a cave somewhere around here...He started to shiver convulsively, and felt a stab of guilt and embarrassment as he thought that without him, she might have been able to go on. He didn't even know what time it was, he couldn't see the sun. He had not been trained to navigate this way. When he couldn't see the stars, the moon, the sun, the sky, or even smell as well as he had before, now his nose was icing over, he felt useless, naked, skill-less.
With his legs feeling like they would fall off at any second, he tripped and stumbled through the snow, feeling the temperature drop, and sucking in his breaths with difficulty, a persistant wheeze clutching his lungs, and his heart thumping irregularly. A flickering fear, and anger, darted across his chest, making him shake the snow that had crystallised on his face and sensitive ears off, proceeding to try and ease warmth and live back into his body by shaking the rest of his body as well. All that he achieved was to drive more warm into his back, which then took the snow and wind more sensitively. It had been better when he was numb...
A vague outline of trees and dirt, glorious dirt (though probably frozen as solid as the water by now), punched him in both eyes, and he tried to run toward it, but his deadened feet and clumsy legs made him trip and fall, head-first, into the deep snow underneath a snowy tree, small and stunted, but offering some shelter. Trying to force himself upright, Paladin saw stars explode in front of his eyes from the effort, and felt failure set in. He had failed...And he was falling. That was odd. He couldn't remember being someplace high, but he felt a curious sensation as if the act of his tripping had sent him farther into the earth than he had meant. Paladin disappeared into a hole that was made under the roots of the massive tree, he had not noticed it's size before. It was relatively warm down here, and there was something soft under him, leaves that had not yet frozen solid to the ground. His eyes couldn't see much, not after the bombardment from the snow, but he thought he recognised this as a rabbit den, or maybe a badger set. It didn't matter now though, whatever had lived there had frozen to death while hibernating, probably, that explained the furry lumps in the far corner. Dragging himself up, he stuck his head out of the hole, and called to his companion, the small little dot in the snow. It wasn't much more than a raspy yip, but he thought it might carry to her. Hopefully.
out of crackers! oh my gosh, it's horrible. >.< But I'm not good at playing Paladin when he's half-dead with cold.
