Full Moon StoneSaying

[Chill]

Chill slipped through a crack in the ice. To any other wolves who watched her, she looked as though she were hiding as many cubs did in these places. Well, not this place.

As her fur brushed against the rather jagged ice, and some of it got pulled off (fur, that is), Chill snarled at the ice and pushed through. A wider passageway met her immediately, but the force the young wolf used to propel herself sent her tumbling down an icy passage. She regained control when the ice began to melt smoothly into stone, and she walked slowly downwards

Chill had made this walk many times before, but each time she was stunned by the glowing white that met her and shone on her own coat when she entered the main chamber. She enjoyed the beauty of it, positively glowing. Literally glowing, as the light met the ice-blue of her fur and reflected from it. She padded into the bright chamber's center, settling down to wait for the old black wolf who could help her.

[Kwolenth]

Kwolenth had scented an icy tang, a disturbance in the perfection of the caves. He muttered to himself and slipped down through his own tunnel that led perfectly to the chamber Chill had entered. His joints were stiff at first, but he didn't bother with them. They loosened in time.

At the base of his passage sat a set of Stones, one of many sets that he used for representatives. This one was particularly made to have many stones with ice, snow, cold, chill, blizzard. (Like the wolves, Kwolenth thought fleetingly.) He enjoyed making a dramatic entrance for all guests, no less for Chill. He pushed the Stones hard with one paw, and they reverberated along the walls of the Web of Ice chamber. Chuckling to himself, the old wolf entered and sat down, watching the bouncing of the stones and their eventual settling into a pattern.

[Chill]

Chill jumped as Stones leapt at the walls, bouncing off as she scampered out of their way. She watched from a safe distance as they landed in a pattern, and silence fell. Well, almost. Annoying Kwolenth was laughing at her. If he wasn't the StoneSayer...

What? a voice came. She whined and shook her head to clear it. You'd bite me? An older wolf? Of course you wouldn't. Wouldn't dare, little cub.

"Kwolenth!" she shouted accusingly. "Cut that out!"

[Kwolenth]

Kwolenth laughed again. Perks of being a StoneSayer, he aimed at her. She would hear it, he knew she would. Then he walked to the Stones and glanced down at them.

To all other wolves, they would be pure white. But to the StoneSayer, symbols danced over their surfaces, pictures formed, predictions spoke to him. It was his job to put these together, and to tell the wolves who needed to know. Now he looked curiously down, and as usual, muttered to himself.

"Something good? That hardly looks...oh, I see, but how...yes." He turned now to Chill, took a deep breath, and spoke.

"I think, now, I understand," he began, a bit uncertainly. "A great storm, to rival all those the Glacier has yet seen. A blizzard greater and stronger than ever before. And...a sickness, I think, to sweep through the pack." He sighed now, and turned, motioning for her to leave. "Go now, Chill. Tell your pack."

[Chill]

At first, she was angry at his comment. Perks of a StoneSayer. Hmph. But later, as his words came from him and not her mind, her heart dropped.

A storm! A sickness! What kind of...prediction...was that? Now she felt herself wishing she hadn't came, had just stayed with Blizzard and spoken with him. Her next conversation would be tainted with these words. She sighed, turning, and walked forlornly back, and through the tunnel in the ice, through the opening.