how you hurt, how you reacted

In a life that was too good to be true, Hallie had curled up and fallen asleep. The hearth was warm, the fire bright. Surrounded by love and laughter, she'd slipped away from them. It was getting late. Tomorrow would be busy, the first market day of the year. She would need her rest, her strength, in order to do her best work. Morning would come early, even if it's an exciting one.

Morning did not come.

It's far later than Hallie would like, when she flickers awake. It's not in the warmth of her den, but instead in the hollow of a strange tree. Around her, it looked as if winter had come again. Taking a step out into the blinding landscape, she blinks hard. Once, twice. Trying to sort out exactly where, exactly who, and exactly what she was. No, she's still herself. She feels fine, just chilly. Fine, at least, until she realizes just how alone she happens to be, under the stark landscape and strange sky.

Sun hanging high overhead, it had to be nearing midday. Chewing at the inside of her cheek for a long moment, Hallie realizes she has no other option. Look for help. Journey forward. Look for answers. All of that, with a heaviness in her heart. Things back home really had been too good to be true.

the staff team luvs u

Admittedly, waking in a strange place was disorienting for the little dame. The unfamiliar sights and smells, the expanse of uncharted land stretched before her, it was both daunting and exhilarating. She had been walking for some time since waking, her muscles loosening with each step, readying themselves for action. Snow had always held a special place in her heart. She remembered the long, carefree days of her youth spent playing in snowdrifts with her siblings, racing across frozen waterways, and basking under the sun’s brilliance as it danced off the endless white. Those were memories of a time when home was a tangible, intimate thing.

But Kirain refused to let those thoughts weigh her down, not now, not when there was so much yet to discover. Instead, she embraced the unbridled joy of finding herself in an environment so familiar and welcoming. She broke into a run, her legs stretching, her muscles reveling in their newfound freedom as warm breaths puffed from her maw in clouds of mist. A smile, genuine and wide, spread across her face as she launched herself into a snowbank, vanishing momentarily beneath the soft powder.

When her little white head finally emerged, she laughed, a sound bright and unrestrained, ringing out across the quiet expanse. She scrambled free of the drift, shaking off clumps of snow, and took off again. Her movements were wild and joyous, sending sprays of snow in every direction as she bounded and leapt. Nothing else mattered, not the questions that lingered, nor the uncertainty of this place. Only the sharp, invigorating chill of the air in her lungs, the satisfying crunch of snow beneath her paws, and the sun blazing bright above her in a world painted white.
the staff team luvs u