Capwolf curls up as tight as he can against the cold, biting wind, burring his nose under his paws to keep it warm. His neck chafes where the elvin rope was tied around his neck, fastening him to the elderwood post.
He eyes the small rabbit standing by the edge of the frozen lake, his stomach rolling with hunger. It had been so long since he'd eaten. But there was no way that rabbit was going to come close enough for him to catch. The men who captured him tied the rope so that he had as little length to move around as possible. With a tired huff, he looks away, licking his wounded paw.
A sharp crack comes from the forest, startling the rabbit away. Capwolf's ears twitch towards the sound, trying to work out what made that noise. It sounded slightly bigger than a deer but smaller than a bear.
He could make out the quiet mumblings of a voice. The words are slurred, he can't place the accent to work out if it were a man, fae, mer, or otherfolk.
From the bushes a man stumbles out, clothes dirty and torn, reeking of alcohol. Capwolf's noise wrinkles up in distaste.
There wasn't much he could tell of the man from what was left of his clothing. He could be a metalsmith, ranger, or a royal, it was hard to tell.
Maybe he could eat him?
Capwolf normally wouldn't eat humans, they were too stingy and gamy. He preferred sheep and cattle, it was got him into this situation, tied to a post in the middle of a frozen lake. But he was hungry and cold. Maybe if he could get the man close enough…
He whines, trying to get the man's attention.
The man turns to him with an expression that actually makes Capwolf draw back.
"SHUT UP, MUTT! I DON- I DON'T NEED ANOTHER PERSON-… ON MY BACK!" The man shouts, waving the bottle in his hand, spilling some of its contents. "I CAN DO-… I CAN DO THIS ALL DAY!"
The man stumbles, tripping over a tree root. Face planting into the snow. The bottle flies from his hand towards the frozen lake. The bottle lands on its neck, piercing the ice. As it lands there's a sicking cracking noise. And he knows that it wasn't the bottle…
The ice begins to crack and give and fall away around the bottle. Capwolf watches as the lake sprinters, watching in horror as the cracks head towards him. He can feel the ice grow weaker under his paws. He flattens out, trying to scoot backward, away from the braking ice. But it is no use, he is stuck to the spot by the post he's tethered to.
He lets out a scared, panicked whine as he watches the cracks get closer and closer.
The ice he's standing on dips forward into the water. He turns and tries to scramble up the ice, trying to keep himself out of the water. He tries to claw up the post as his hind legs sink into the freezing water below.
Broken up, the ice disappears, sinking and slipping away, leaving Capwolf treading water. He bites down hard on the rope keeping him tethered to the post, trying to keep himself above water. But his legs are cramping and seizing up. His jaw hurts. He eyes the icy water around him, knowing it was a matter of time before he sinks under.
He closes his eyes with a panicked whine.
Something twitchy and alive brushes against his foot. He flinches. It was probably a fish, but he didn't want to find out, he knows there are more dangerous creatures out here than him. Desperately he tries to get his hind legs up onto the post, his claws, as sharp and powerful as they are, are unable to get a hold in the ancient elderwood of the post.
Regardless, Capwolf does the best he can to keep himself up. His jaw aches with the strain of basically holding his body up. His front paws are losing their grip. He tenses, trying to summon all the strength he could to cling to the post.
The water below gurgles, air bubbles rise to the surface of the icy water. Before Capwolf could even wonder if it were a monster, he notices that the post is looser, shifting freely under his weight. The post was coming free of the lakebed below.
With a stomach dropping creak the post begins to sink backward, taking him with it.
Capwolf yelps as he hits the water. He lets go of the post and tries to swim towards the shore. But as the water soaks his fur he finds it harder and harder to keep afloat as the weight of it pulls him down.
It is too much for his tired, cold limbs to keep himself afloat. He watches the light fade as he sinks deeper and deeper into the lake…
TBC