we'll be lucky if we ever see the sun [kovex]

Borislav

The loose ends will make knots, you’re all I’ve got

Snow fell in flurries, burying the earth in a thick layer of mud and sleet, clinging to the undersides of most animals who wandered through the Timberland. Plush fur matting down to stick uncomfortably to his chest, Borislav trudged on, the familiar treeline thinning to open, icy sky. The peninsula lingered in the distance, and the heavyset samoyed's step quickened, urged on by the strong scent of salt and the rhythmic crash of waves at high tide. The closer he got to the Crooked Tooth's edge, the thinner the air seemed to become, his nostrils closing and gills gaping open at the prospect of breathing properly for the first time in days. With a rattling cough, the dog broke into a sprint, slowing to a trot, mouth lolling open happily as the peninsula dropped and the ocean came into view. Glassy green waves danced across the water's surface, crashing into each other with thick coils of seafoam, splintering into pieces as frozen shards of water swirled down into the depths. Sucking in a strangled breath, Borislav took a moment to sit, fluffy tail wagging as he took in the spectacle of the winter ocean at high tide. The season was always the worst for opportunities to get away from the pack long enough to find water, any water deep enough to breathe in, but the sea was always his go-to for its treasure trove of shiny shells and strange, otherworldly creatures.

Rising to his feet, Borislav took one step, two, and then, with a great leap, dove off of the peninsula's side and into the water. Immediately, the waves battled over which would carry him, the larger swell moving him deeper into the murky, snow-mixed water. Gracelessly chugging along, tail straight out behind him like a rudder, the samoyed swam deeper, finally free from the surface's turmoil, and breathed in deep, almost ragdolling from the flood of relief that came with the first shot of air through his gills. Grinning happily up at the glimmering surface, Borislav watched the movement of the ocean overhead, swirls of seafoam creating delicate patterns, only to be washed away in seconds. Pivoting in the water, he slowly swam closer to shore, completely concealed by the ocean's dark depths and the pervasive fog of snow blindness. The closer the beach became, the more shells came into view, and the bulky Warrior floated down to rest on the sandy bottom of the water, nosing at the shiniest treasures and generally oblivious to his surroundings.

dog (cc) hepp @ flickr | table coding by Quirky Tea

[googlefont="Cinzel Decorative:700"]

Kovex had wandered far-- perhaps too far. It was cold up here, and there was hardly any fresh water. He had been getting by where he could, but it was hard to survive by the coast. There was a pack nearby; the main reason he had come here was because he was hoping to lose any potential Ash River Project dogs from chasing him. For the most part, it had just made him hungry.

The canine had been prowling the beach, rocky and frozen. The ocean was somehow even colder, but the sound was almost soothing. It seemed rather quiet and uninhabited down by the waves--

A flash of white caught the canine's attention and the borzoi looked up to see a dog jumping from the edge into the ocean bellow. His heart lurched up into his chest as he thought that something must have chased the white bullet off. A pathetic whine came from his throat as he shivered against the wind and tried to hide in the shadow of the cliff, pressing low to the rocks, hoping that whatever had sent the white dog to its definite death would not find him down by the beach.

He didn't dare breathe, much less look for a dog that was actually quite happy to be spinning about in the waves. While he might have been harder to spot up on the tip of the peninsula, he was a fairly large and obvious blotch of fur from the water's edge.

Borislav

Borislav

The loose ends will make knots, you’re all I’ve got

Focused on the task at hand, Borislav was oblivious to the horrified dog above, eyesight narrowed in on the shiny, mother-of-pearl encrusted inside of a shell. Batting at it with his paw to make sure it wasn't going to come back to bite him - which, yes, had happened a lot over the years, most notably with a hermit crab that had latched onto his tongue for hours while he showed it off to Yulianna - the samoyed finally scooped it up in grinning jaws, more gently than anything else about his movements. Shoving bursts of water aside with powerful strokes, Borislav rose swiftly to the surface, blinking the water from his eyes and watching the waves until one rolled close enough to push him to shore. Edging sideways, he rode it to the beach's edge, climbing up and out of the water with his tail wagging furiously as he pranced to the first bit of semi-dry sand he could find, sheltered from the snow and surf. Gently plopping the shell to the ground, he snuffled it with his nose, nodding to himself in accomplishment. It was a good gift, one he'd have to save for a special occasion. Granted, just about anything counted as a special occasion to Borislav, so the shell wouldn't stay around for long.

Shaking his head to clear the water from his ears, the dog paused just before wading back into the water, a blob of fur up above catching his eye. Turning his gaze with an expectant grin, the expression faltered at the appearance of someone who was decidedly not his best friend. Tilting his head to one side curiously, he narrowed amber eyes up at the shaking shadow, tail wagging lazily. "Hello? Who ees there?" Booming voice thick with a decidedly Russian accent, Borislav's grin made a reappearance, and he pranced to face the stranger. "Vinterwood, ya? Ees okay to come down, friend. Water ees fine!" An overloud laugh, and the gills on his neck fluttered with the exertion.

dog (cc) hepp @ flickr | table coding by Quirky Tea

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A sudden BOOF of a voice hit Kovex's ears and he spun around, popping up on to his toes in an instant. His thin body shivered in the cold, his thin fur on end as he stared in complete, unhaltered fear. A tiny bit of hot trickled down his inner thigh, but he was much too distracted by the dog made of literal, drenched cloud to care.

The dog was bounding closer, woofing with laughter. Kovex knew for a fact the water was not fine. It was freezing out, and even if the water wasn't ice it still bit like ice. The Esper thought he saw something weird on the smiley dog's neck, but he didn't want to get close enough to find out what it was. He scampered back and slipped on an icy stone, falling on to his rump.

"What, no, sorry, I-- I'm just passing through! No water for me, thanks, I'll just... I'm just gonna go, okay?" He stammered out, eyes like round, golden coins. Immediately he tried to pull on his magic, his translucent horns catching the sunlight and shimmering warmly inside as he tried to push away any emotions the dog had. The touch was hardly gentle, but it was also clumsy, and such a joyous dog would probably hardly falter in its mood with his lousy attempt to smother emotions.

Borislav

Borislav

The loose ends will make knots, you’re all I’ve got

Fluffy ears flicking to and fro, Borislav's head tilted to the other side, a pout forming on his face. The stranger looked skinny and scared - or maybe cold - and the samoyed's protective instincts were blaring, only getting louder with the other dog's words. "Go? Vhy go? Ah, you get down from the rocks, ya - ees not safe. A good plan," the Warrior approved, backing up enough to plop down on his stomach and feel the water trickle over his gills, the slits moving up and down like tiny lungs. "You lookeeng for something, ya? Only thing close ees Vinterwood," the samoyed added, huffing. Strangers were always a puzzle to him; he much preferred interacting with his packmates, whose patterns he'd long since grown accustomed to. Suddenly perking up, he grinned, wiggling contentedly as another wave washed over his neck. "Ah! I am rude, ya? No introduction! I am Boris, friend. Safer to climb down, then back up from beach, ya?"

A sudden, sharp push at his grin made it flicker, but it bounced back into place in mere moments, and, being a dog who didn't let much bother him, Borislav didn't dwell on the strange pressure. Instead, he ducked his head under the latest swell, coming up sopping wet, tail beating to and fro so furiously it was a wonder it didn't get him airborne. The sheer relief of gill-breathing after so long was steadily keeping any hint of suspicion or mistrust away from his relaxed frame.

dog (cc) hepp @ flickr | table coding by Quirky Tea

[googlefont="Cinzel Decorative:700"]

Yulianna felt a storm brewing inside of her chest, but she held it deep inside of her, keeping it quiet and still despite the immense pressure. Her fur was smooth against the cold as she followed the trail of her packmate, even though she had a pretty good idea where he went. They both had their secrets, though she wasn't too sure how much a secret her best friend's mutation was. It wasn't just that he could breathe under water; he needed water to breathe properly. A frustrating thing to deal with, but only because he sometimes wandered off without warning.

Or maybe he had told her, and she had just been busy thinking about the Problem. She couldn't get her mind off it, even though it had been a whole season since her mother's passing. Murder. Whatever you wanted to call it. Her tail lashed behind her as she focused on the task ahead, ears pricking at the voice of her big white puffball up ahead. Focusing, she could hear a quieter voice, unfamiliar and hushed. Urgency filling her veins she bolted into a sprint, only slowing once the two dogs came into site.

Boris was characteristically soaking wet, and his new friend was a thin twig of a dog. Up in the frozen wintry north he was ripe for the picking, especially alone. She held her head high as she drew closer, letting out a reproaching call to the samoyed, "Boris, I've been looking all over for you!" It didn't escape her notice that the lanky, mostly-bones pup shrunk away, practically tripping over his paws to try and face them both. She approached regardless, strolling up with a casual pace.

"Who is this? They look like an idiot about to freeze to death," she pointed out bluntly, which was her way of showing concern, supposedly. The scrawny thing's glowing eyes kept darting between the pair of them, frozen in terror. "... Maybe it's too late."

There really was no polite way to say, 'No, go, as in leaving, as in bye,' but frankly he was starting to think that talking wasn't the way to go. If he wasn't careful, the fluffy pooch would cut off his only exit... Though he seemed to somehow be enjoying the waves more. The dog introduced himself as Boris, and the borzoi's bat-like ears folded to either side of his skull. He really didn't want to make friends; he wanted to hide.

As he opened his mouth to speak, however, another voice hit his ears and he felt all remaining sense of reason leave his body. His heart pounding in his chest, he stumbled further back, folding his legs up and shrinking into the stones. His whole body was quaking now, the rocky beach rattling underneath him with the effort. His golden eyes flashed from one dog to the other. White and Black. If he could form any rational thought, it was that they were going to drown him in the river and he was going to die. There was no escape-- not with a perfectly good, not soaking wet dog, standing between him and freedom.

He had, more or less, stopped listening at this point. His horns were full on glowing, his body burning through energy rapidly, doing his frantic best to shove away any dangerous-- which to him, was all-- emotions. The effort was unfocused and really rather useless.

Borislav

Borislav

The loose ends will make knots, you’re all I’ve got

Blowing bubbles from his gills and watching the stranger with golden-brown eyes, Borislav jolted at the voice of his best friend, head popping up to grin at her toothily, taking her harsh call for the concern it was. "Leetle sister! Ees a good day for a swim, ya?" Chortling, he shook his fluffy, soaking wet mane, casually flicking water everywhere as his tail thumped at the water, acting a bit like a tiny motorboat. Gills fluttering, the samoyed rolled onto his back, tongue lolling out of his mouth as he watched Yulianna and the stranger interact. The thin dog looked even more concerning now than before, which Borislav hadn't thought possible - but then again, not every dog was as strong as Winterwood dogs. "Freeze?" Pouting, the fluffy tank stilled, before he leapt up with a grin and a metaphorical lightbulb going off above his head. "Ah! He ees cold, ya? I can fix! Body heat cures the cold," he belted proudly, chest puffing out with the lofty heights of his (apparently new) discovery. Long fur draining out onto the sand, Borislav trotted to Yulianna's side, bestowing upon her his general greeting to friends of a plush face pressed into her shoulder and a hypersonic wagging tail.

Opening his mouth to no doubt reveal more brilliant plans, the dog was distracted by a bright, glinting glow, and slowly turned his gaze to stare in befuddlement at the stranger's... head? His own head tilting to one side, Borislav murmured out of one side of his mouth, low and, for the first time in the encounter, containing a bite of suspicion. Long-ingrained worries over the strange death of his father aside, he simply didn't have much experience with anything that up and decided to glow. "He ees... glowing? Ya? Am not waterlogged?" Frowning, the samoyed's tail slowed down, coming to rest pointing down to the beach below. "Strange... vhat we do, Yulie? Safe to help a glowing pup?" Voice as loud as ever, Borislav didn't seem to be concerned over whether the thin dog could hear him - after all, they didn't have anywhere to go, unless the water counted.

dog (cc) hepp @ flickr | table coding by Quirky Tea

[googlefont="Cinzel Decorative:700"]

Yulie's tail wagged gently behind her as Boris grinned at her, the playful giant of a dog who acted like a puppy who had never grown up. She grew still, straightening, as the soaking puff ball came trudging over to her and shoved his snout into her shoulder. In return, she turned her head and promptly stuck her nose into his dancing, ever-twitching ears. "You'll soak him," she murmured to Boris, silence seeping through them as the golden glow caught both of their attentions.

The belgian shepherd tensed as her dark gaze focused on the strange, folded lump of a shivering dog. "I don't think you can get waterlogged, fishpaws," she replied to her friend before stepping forward. "Stay back, just in case." She held herself high as she crept forward, ear twitching back towards Boris as she went.

The stranger was clearly an Esper, but neither her nor her friend had much experience with an Esper's power. No one in the Winterwood used their abilities if they could help it, so getting a frame of reference for what the Borzoi could be doing was practically impossible.

"Calm down," she instructed curtly, lowering her white-tipped snout towards him and wagging her tail in a friendly manner. There was still a good distance between them-- a few meters. "My name is Yulianna. It's dangerous to be out here on your own, especially if a storm comes." The stranger didn't react to anything she said, but aside from a sense of doubt creeping into her emotions, he didn't seem to be doing anything hostile. He looked more and more like prey that had gone into shock.

Determined to figure out just what was wrong with the frightened dog, she closed the gap between them and carefully raised her right paw to prod at his shoulder.

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Kovex had gone into full, outright panic attack. Struggling to breathe, much less listen to the others, his whole body shook with effort to protect himself. His claws dug into the ground, staring with wide eyes at the strangers but not quite recognizing them. His mind continued to race with thoughts until something brushed his shoulder.

With a sharp yelp, the Borzoi bolted to his feet, realizing that he had let the black dog get too close. He didn't lash out-- his psychic abilities petering out as exhaustion hit him. Adrenaline properly being the only thing keeping him upright, he stumbled away and felt the world slip.

The peninsulas beach was promptly replaced with icy teeth biting and pulling him under the water. He had fallen-- somehow-- into the ocean, but actually understanding what he had done was well beyond him. Panic had practically sent him racing into the water, much to the appalling disbelief of the dogs who were only trying to help. He was pretty sure if he wasn't going to die before, he was as good as dead now.

Thankfully, it was a bit hard to panic when your brain finally shut off. It would make the whole drowning thing a bit of a problem, but blacking out was probably a welcome bit of peace for the overworked Borzoi brain.

[attr="class","kovexname"]
KOVEX

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Borislav

Borislav

The loose ends will make knots, you’re all I’ve got

Ears wiggling at the tickle of Yulianna's nose, Borislav relaxed minutely, tail slowly raising into its normal snow-white curl. "I stay back, ya. Vill do," the stocky dog assured, stepping back a bit as his companion strode closer to the odd stranger. "But be careful," he added, frowning at the same niggling push at his brain that seemed, now, to be coming from the glowing welp. It felt much like the coils of a snake he'd once found caught around his foot during a hunt, squeezing tight while sharp fangs lingered just above the skin, ready to sink in and envenomate. "No good to spook hi-" Of course, because he was almost always a beat too late in social situations, the moment Yulianna touched the shivering Esper, it seemed to... break, racing down the ice-slicked rocks and past Borislav as fast as a shot. Eyes widening, the samoyed turned on his heel and began to run, barking out with every exhale, each more panicked than the last. "Nyet! Don't! You vill drown, you fool!"

He watched the dog go under, limp as the dead, with a furious snarl, and within the space of a breath was diving into the freezing ocean once more, nostrils slamming shut just as gills popped open, head ducking under the waves as amber eyes searched for the downed stranger. The tall, thin pup was being tossed in the waves like scrap, no movement of their limbs obvious, and Borislav prepared himself to be dragging a dead foreigner back to camp, already formulating explanations as he chugged through the waves, trying to catch up to the other's body before the next swell carried them both further out to sea. The Esper easily had five inches on him in height, and much more in length, making for an awkward rescue at best, but the samoyed had more than enough sheer muscle to make up for the difference. Mouth opening, Borislav made a grab for the dog's paw, watching it slip past his grasp and sail further out to sea. A mutinous howl built at the back of his throat and, glaring, he pushed forward again, back legs kicking out in tandem - and grasped the stranger's scruff. Breaching, half-blind from saltwater and tunnel vision, the samoyed weakly stayed afloat, the dog's head above water while his own gills stayed below, gaze frantically trying to find the beach.

dog (cc) hepp @ flickr | table coding by Quirky Tea

[googlefont="Cinzel Decorative:700"]
Yulianna

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[attr="class","yulienotes"]you can't tell me to feel- the truth never set me free- so, i did it myself

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Yulianna was completely taken aback as the borzoi yelped like a dying rabbit and bolted straight for the ocean. Her whole body froze, dumbfounded, as she watched the strange Esper fling into the waves as though somehow that was a good idea. She blinked, paw settling down on the disturbed stones, as Boris let out a series of barks and dove forward.

Sighing, she picked her way carefully after Boris, unsure what to do. Her friend had apparently determined that saving the stranger was the only action to take; he was noble like that. It was probably going to get him killed one day. After a tense moment, she caught sight of the white puff in the ocean, making a horrible noise in protest of the crashing waves.

A frown flitted across her expression, a bit nervous to try her luck with the ocean. She hoped that Boris wasn't exaggerating when he said the water was nice today as she bound into the shallow, cresting waves. The sea bit at her undercoat with a furiosity she half-expected, but it didn't knock her frozen solid immediately. It beat at her, kicking the breath out of her lungs, but she sputtered past the salty froth.

"Boris! This way, you're almost there! Come on, I'll help drag 'em in!" She called when she got as far as she dared, water threatening to kick out her legs as the waves crashed around her chest and throat. "Boris!" She barked, fiercely, hoping his ears weren't as soaked as the rest of him.

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Borislav