[Chr24] Avalanche! Watch Out!

White, white, and freezing that's the best way to describe the place Pyper was currently at. What was she expecting though, balmy tropical weather? If it ever got that hot up in these mountains then the world was definitely ending….or exploding; or something. Point being her and her brother were in bum heck no where about to climb a freezing mountain. Why? Heck if she truly knew! They’d gotten a couple jobs that all aligned in the same area so they figured, why not? For a search and intel, something about some rare species or whatnot on a couple different beings, and one extra special request for a special core. Probably some rare animal collectors or nerds who were too chicken (or smart) to come out here and instead paid someone else to freeze their butts off for them. Pyper couldn’t complain too much though, the pay was good and the cold was manageable, for now. 

Pyper turned towards her brother as he came up beside her. He glared at her daring her to comment at him. He wasn’t quite used to the elements as much as her, normally being holed up in his room over field work. That was more her expertise, she took on the more hands on physical parts and he took on more networking and information. She may tease him a little in situations like now, but truthfully she was glad for her brother and his brain. Without it they wouldn’t be able to do over half the jobs they’d taken on. 

“Why is it so friiiickin colllld”, her brother, Atticus, growled and shuffled his feet, “ Remind me again why we took this job, and even more so why I decided to tag along with you instead of being back in my nice WARM room.”

“Aww come on lil brother, it's not honestly that bad. Also you're here instead of back home because the more eyes the better, plus your drones or equipment won’t work up in the mountains so you have to be here in person.”

“Well it sucks. Next time we pass on these kinds of missions, deal?” 

Pyper softly chuckled. “We’ll see. Let’s get going Im sure our guide is probably waiting on us”
The two trudged up the path for a small while till they came to a small hub area. There they quickly spotted their guide. A black duneburrow nodded at them in greeting as they approached, the frosty blue vulp sitting on his back peering at them curiously. Another buck stood beside their guide and did not look the most pleased at all.

“Hey, sorry we are running a little behind!” Pyper greeted them. 

The grumpy tan and blue female harrumphed, which their guide gave them a side eye and small shake of his head to clearly say ‘be nice’.
“You're fine, these trails can be a bit confusing especially if you’ve never been here before. My names is Lykaios, I’ll be your guide, and this is an acquaintance, Rumi, who will also be joining us.” 

The little vulp on his head chittered at him making him huff out a small chuckle. “And this is Skadi. If you ever get lost or separated just listen for his bark and follow him, he’ll lead you back to me.” 

“Alright, though we hope to not ever get separated. Also though we’ve probably mentioned earlier at some point, I’m Pyper and this is my younger brother, Atticus.” 

With introductions and greetings exchanged, mostly, the group set off up the trails. At first the path was clear and easy, but as they began climbing the snow started growing thicker and the trail more inclined. The group mostly walked in silence with the occasional small comment or talk here or there. Rumi had been completely silent the whole time which slightly agitated Pyper. Why were they even here? To be honest she wasn’t the happiest the female had joined, but she also wasn’t going to raise complaint especially if they were here because of their guide, he must have his reasons. Atticus was having a blast taking in the sites, his earlier disgruntlement over the cold momentarily forgotten. He kept up most of the conversations, mostly over facts on the area or inquiring about Skadi. Pyper loved her brother but sometimes he got a little too nerdy and information absorbent for her, thankfully their guide didn’t seem to mind a bit.

“Be careful coming up,” Lykaios called back to them,” the snow covers most of the path and area around it so it’s hard to tell where the path actually is. One wrong misstep and you’ll be finding yourself tumbling off the mountain or into a pit of what we call ‘quick snow’.”

“Quick snow?” Atticus inquired.

“Quick snow is basically really soft snow that kinda acts like quick sand, you’ll start sinking in it and it’s extremely hard to get out. If it's deep enough you can sink and suffocate.” Lykaios explained.

“Yikes. Noted.”

The four bucks treaded cautiously, everyone making a single line as they followed their guide. A grumble sounded and everyone turned back towards the last buck in line. Rumi narrowed her eyes and growled, “That wasn’t me.”

“Hey, it’s ok I miss meals all the time,” Atticus tried to joke lightly, “I think I have some snacks when we are at an okay stopping point we can share!”

Lykaios nodded in agreement. “We can take a break in a little bit, we just need to get past this bit.”

“I’m telling you it's not me!” Rumi snapped, “Lykaios you know I’m not some greenhorn here I know how to eat and prepare!”

CHIRP CHIRP CHIRRRRP!!!!

Skadi suddenly started freaking out on Lykaios’ back, hopping up and down clearly agitated.
Lykaios frowned at his companion, but looked in the direction Skadi seemed to be upset towards. He valued his companions' intuition up here, often times Skadi had helped him in tough situations and even saved his life more than once.

“What’s wrong little guy?” Atticus asked Skadi.

Even Rumi was looking worriedly at the little vulp.

“Sh- run now!” Lykaios yelled and took off with no other warning. 

The three looked at each other in confusion but a second later leapt forward after their guide, something was obviously amiss and they trusted his warnings.
A noticeable grumbling that was dismissed before grew into a louder rumbling causing everyone to look back toward the sound.

“Is that a?”
“Frick”
“Just keep running, you idiots!”

They’d finally spotted the cause, an avalanche! The warm sun or something must have dislodged the snow above and now it was all barrelling down on the group. As fast as their paws were carrying them the avalanche was gaining faster.

“Omph” Atticus went down in a ball of flailing paws as he stumbled over something. Without second thought Pyper lunged over and took a hold of his scruff, hauling him back up and not so gently shoving him back in motion. The two rushed to catch up to the others, Rumi now ahead of them. She looked back worriedly at the siblings, her earlier hostility now outweighed by concern. She may be a grump and not be the best with interactions with others, but she didn’t want to see anyone buried by tons of snow.

“Over here!” Lykaios called out.

They raced towards him, noting a small cave he’d found. He was beckoning and encouraging them to hurry. They could feel the snow behind them now, and if they didn’t make it to Lykaios and the cave in time they were surely gonners.