Avalanche Rescue Pt 1
Whumptober Day 25: Buried Alive -- Wolfie, everyone
958 words
TW - broken bone, asphyxiation
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Before the snow around him had stopped moving, Wolfie dug up up up. His paws broke through the surface snow and his nose quickly followed. Fresh air, cold air, snow-laden air, no brother smell—that’s bad bad bad. Quickpaw digging, gotta leave snow den. Wiggle wiggle wiggle—Wolfie pawed and pushed and wriggled his way out of the snowy cocoon the avalanche had buried him in. Wolfe shook the powder snow off his coat, filling the air with sparkly ice.
Behind him a small patch of evergreen trees had stopped the snow slide, before him the mountainside stretched upward toward the sky. To the left, mounds of snow he couldn’t see over, and to the left was more downhill to distant trees.
“Packmates?” He yipped spinning around searching for his friends. “Where? Pups? Where?” Gotta find them quick. Gotta dig them out. Snow bury good for meat, bad for Hylians.
“WOLFIE!”
Wolfie whipped around and caught sight of Hyrule sitting on a shield and riding it down the slope, using his feet to slow himself. Hyrule came alongside Wolfie before digging his feet to stop.
Quick sniff! No smell of blood, only fear and sweat and snow. Wolfie licked Hyrule’s face twice before Hyrule pushed him off and stood up. One pup found, seven pups missing.
“Did you see where anyone went?” Hyrule asked, then turned away and shouted. “WHERE ARE YOU?? CAN YOU HEAR ME??”
“Here!”
“I’m here!”
Two voices answered. Wolfie took off following one, catching a whiff in the disturbed air—Old Father! Wolfie took a running leap off a packed mound of drifted snow and nearly bowled over Old Father.
“Wolfie!” Time exclaimed dodging out of the way of the flying canine. Wolfie landed and spun around. Quick sniff—no blood!
“I’m fine, go find the others!” Time said, but Wolfie was already off in search of the second voice. Two pups found, six pups missing.
“I’M HERE!” Young voice squealed—Baby Pup!
“Where? I don’t see you!” Hyrule called, entering the trees.
“Look up!”
Wolfie skidded to a halt next to Hyrule and they both looked up into the craggy branches. Wind draped awkwardly over two branches.
“Hi!” Wolfie barked. Quick sniff—small blood—but no worry. Also sap and armpits and lunch cheese and evergreen.
“What are you doing? Get down from there!” Hyrule said.
“I’m trying! I’m trying! Geez!” Wind answered.
“Are you two alright?” Time asked running up to them as fast as the snow would allow.
That was three pups found, five pups missing. Nose to the ground, gotta sniff sniff out the others. This way and that, up and down, sniff sniff sniff sniff sniff sniff sniff sniff sniff sniff sniff sniff—ooh what was that? Feathers and potion and lunchfood and ozone—Sky Pup! Stronger stronger stronger—
“Wolfie!” Sky called to him.
There he was! Sky pup! Sitting, half buried, legs buried in snow.
“Coming!” Wolfie called to the half-buried Sky Pup. He ran up to him.
“Ahh careful!” Sky exclaimed and Wolfie stopped short and didn’t touch. Quick sniff—fear, pain, alarm, feathers—
“I’m hurt,” Sky said. “My arm—it might be broken.” He hugged it to his chest with a pained expression.
“What?!” Wolfie whined.
“Can you help? My legs are stuck and I can’t dig them out!”
Wolfie whined, indecisive. Though Sky Pup hurt, trapped, though four pups found, four pups still missing. Sky pup hurt, but not in deadly danger. Sky Pup could wait.
“Wait here!” Wolfie barked. “I send help!” Wolfie took off back toward the others. He bounded over the snow leaping through the powder, skidding on the crust.
“Help! Stuck! Hurt!” Wolfie called ahead to the cluster of packmates digging in the snow.
“WOLFIE HELP!” Hyrule screamed. “WARS IS BURIED! HE CAN’T BREATHE!”
Wolfie galloped onward breaking into their crowd.
Hand! Hand sticking up in the snow—quick sniff! Battle Pup! Fear fear sweat snow—but alive! Lick! Hand moved! Touched Wolfie’s nose!
“Help us dig!” Old Father said. Wolfie jumped in digging where packmates dug. Dig dig dig dig! Have to find Battle Pup’s face! Sniff sniff sniff—wait! Battle pup not there! Not where they dig! Sniff sniff sniff sniff sniff sniff—there! Smell of tea and herbs and spit and tears.
“Here! Not there!” Wolfie told the others and started digging.
“What? Are we in the wrong place?!” Wind asked.
Wolfie dug a hole, dug it deep. Hands joined in beside him, Old Father’s big rough hands and Wander Pup’s delicate but strong hands, dug out the sides, widened the hole. Stronger smell stronger stronger!
“Hurry!” Wind cried. “His hand just went limp!”
Dig dig dig—FUR! YELLOW FUR! FOUND HIS HEAD.
“Found! Found!” Wolfie yapped. Battle Pup face down, one arm stretched out behind sticking out of the snow, other arm covering face made an air bubble. Sniff sniff sniff… no fresh breath.
“THERE HE IS!” Time exclaimed. “Be careful Wolfie! Don’t hurt him!”
“WAKE UP!” Wolfie barked as loud as he could and nibbled Battle Pup ear. Wolfie scruffed by Old Father, pulled out of hole, make room for Wander Pup.
“Wars! Wars! Can you hear me?” Hyrule put a hand in Battle’ Pup’s fur. “Guys I don’t think he’s—”
A jolting gasp! A deep inhale!
“Breathe! Come on! Keep breathing!” Old Father begged. Wolfie lunged forward back into the hole. Sniff sniff sniff lick sniff—fresh breath! Battle pup lives on!
“Hey! He squeezed my hand!” Wind shouted.
Once again, Old Father pulled Wolfie out of the hole.
“You did good, Wolfie,” he said. “We can take it from here. Go find the others.”
Five pups found, three pups missing. If any buried like Battle pup, no air left. Gotta find right now!
(to be continued tomorrow...)
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Quest Updated: The Nightrose
Fiona Silverwind (Azali Vareth) // Folk Hero // College of Valor Bard
Born the half-drow daughter to a Lolth-Sworn turncoat sorcerer of a father and a high half-elf bard of a mother, Fi had a more unusual upbringing than most. Up until the age of 12, she visited her mother semi-regularly, but spent most of her life with her father, Tarez Vareth, in the Underdark as he worked with a group of Seldarine drow to help other drow escape their lives among their Lolth-Sworn counterparts. In part, this was because Tarez wanted his daughter to grow up understanding her drow heritage, and in part this was because Fi showed a propensity towards magic at a young age. However, while the Seldarine drow were always kind to her (and far kinder than any treatment she would have received in Menzoberranzan), Fi was always distinctly aware of the barriers between her and the drow around her due to her half-blood heritage, and longed for the freedom of traveling with her mother and her well-regarded entertainment troupe on the surface.
After finally convincing her father she understood and respected her drow heritage, but did not belong in the Underdark, Fi started traveling with her mother, Lady Rose Silverwind, and the troupe. Fiona, then going by Azali still to honor her father, was quick to learn two things on the surface. For one, her complexion was...less than ideal when dealing with the day to day of the surface world, and for two, she had a strong inclination towards music as well as magic. She immediately followed in her mother's footsteps as a bard, and joined the troupe officially as a violinist and singer on her mother's one condition that she disguised herself and her half-drow heritage**. She knew her mother was not malicious with her intent and instead an incredibly worried mother, so Fi agreed and began performing with the troupe far and wide for anyone and everyone along the Sword Coast.
As time wore on and she grew older, Fiona eventually started wanting to strike out on her own (as herself) and honor the stories she came to know and love. Though convinced someone of her complexion could never be the hero of those stories (Drizzt was a once in a century sorta deal after all), she instead wanted to become the person to be there and catalogue the heroes' deeds so that their stories could continue being told and bringing inspiration for years to come. The idea of the Nightrose was a complete accident, born of her inability to stand idly by while injustice was happening and her need to help. After one, disastrous attempt to do so without any alterations to her appearance, she got the idea to start changing her appearance like her mother taught her and enact her vigilante justice in that manner. And thus, the Nightrose was born, and she donned a different appearance every single time, so no one else is sure who the Nightrose really is, or if she is even just one girl.
And so by day, Fiona travels as the young, half-drow bard, always willing to offer a story or a song to anyone who asks, and by night she works as the Nightrose wherever she's needed. It was all working wonderfully until a certain Nautiloid appeared and she got an additional little traveler in her eye along with the rest of them.
**Additional:
How Fiona looks vs how she disguises herself, usually as a high half-elf who bares a striking resemblance to her mother. She's often considered hiding her eye color in her true half-drow appearance, since she knows the pinkish red eye she inherited from her father unsettles a lot of people, but can't bring herself to do it. Instead, she styles her hair and uses her clothes (her hat, primarily) to conceal it.
What her true, real name is (Azali Fiona Vareth or Fiona Azali Silverwind) depends on which parent you ask, or at what point in time you ask her. She kept the name Azali as a kid even when she went to the surface in order to honor her father, but she listed her family name as 'Silverwind' once traveling with her mother. When her father died, she felt like she no longer had any ties to the Underdark and took on the name Fiona, which is what her mother wanted to call her. Fiona Silverwind is what she's considered her full name most of her adult life, though of late she has been toying with the idea of reclaiming her father's family name and going by Fiona Vareth.
The scar on her cheek came from her first couple of months on the surface. She was out running an errand for her mother alone one day in Baldur's Gate and a couple of young boys were harassing her for her general appearance. They got annoyed at her ignoring them so one of them picked up a rock and threw it at her, hitting her in the jaw and leaving a nasty cut. It was this incident that convinced her mother she needed to be magically disguised, and admittedly, the incident that made Fi stop arguing against the idea.
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