Post by fox on Jan 4, 2021 2:11:46 GMT
Horse bounded through the snow, trying to find a place where prey might be. She was already starting to get tired even though she'd only been out for a few minutes. The snow was deep, touching her belly fur and weighing her down. To get through the snow, every motion had to be a leap. Maybe there's less deep snow under the trees! she thought to herself and oriented herself where she thought the trees might be. It was so cold, even colder than she'd been expecting. The sort of cold that stabbed claws through her fur and seemed to freeze her insides. The snowflakes pelted her harder, making it hard to move and clumping up her pelt, which she had fluffed up as much as she could to try to warm her up. She saw something dark and pointy in the sky, like a paw reaching up with claws extended. A tree! She floundered towards it, grateful for the small amount of shelter the bare branches provided. She sat down near the trunk of the tree, where there wasn't very much snow. She scented the air, trying to see if there was any scent of prey that she could follow, but her nose was so cold she couldn't smell anything at all. She sneezed. I-if I can't catch any prey, I s-should probably find my way home, Horse turned herself around in what she thought was the direction of the chestnut tree where they lived. She tried to jump through the snow as she'd been doing before, but found that she didn't have the energy. So she trudged forward at a snail's pace, dragging each paw through the thick layer of snow that was steadily growing as the snow continued to fall. Just as she felt like she couldn't take another step, she saw something in the distance. It was a tree! The chestnut tree! I found it! Filled with a sudden burst of energy, she bounded over to the tree excitedly. "Chestnut! Larch!" she called as she ran, although she heard no response. That doesn't mean anything, she thought. I just might not be able to hear them, her ears were so cold she wasn't sure if she would be able to hear something that was right in front of her. She ran up to the tree, and her heart sank. This wasn't the chestnut tree! Where was she, and how far was she from her home? How would she ever find her way back? "Chestnut!! Larch!!" she shouted weakly, but her throat felt like it was made of ice. She curled up at the base of the tree, snow piling up around her, too tired to do anything.
