[ NO PLACE FOR A HERO — JOINING ]

[WINTERWOLF]

[align=center][div style="width: 500px; text-align: justify; font-family: helvetica; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 1.4;"]It's a lucky person that can find peace in their history that. That can revel at it. Winter had never had the luxury — from having no history, to forging his own, there had always been some shame. Empty, but haunting. No real escape from it. Even now, it rises like bile and burns at the edges of his memories. The few stable things he had left. Gone, or just fading. Not gone enough to forget, of course. Just gone enough to feel bitter. Perhaps he should be grateful that his decisions had never been so great that they affected the lives of an entire group, but then again, his decisions still ended with death and misery. Blood stains the pads of the lion's paws, deep into the cracks of his very existence. No matter where he goes or what he does, there's far too much red for him to even dream of washing it out. But he does. Dream, that is. Hope. Just that one day, in one life, he'll have done this right. Winter doesn't even believe in heaven or second chances, only fate, combined with the idea that his choices will always be his own. A strange ideology, to be certain.

He supposes his thoughts on his past also extend to the cold. Unlike the other two, who have adjusted well enough to enjoy the location, at least in part, he's been immersed in enough cold to last him a lifetime. Why he allowed himself to wander this far was a mystery — maybe Winter simply needed the challenge. As the two approach him, he wonders if he's found it. They don't appear particularly frightening, but he knows better than to judge on such simple criteria. Cold blue eyes snap crisply between them, only the rarest hints of warmth in his expression. The first is when Atbash offers him hot chocolate, a little twitch of his mouth saying that he wasn't entirely opposed. Still, the lion shakes his head. "No need," he murmurs, though his voice carries. The second person gets less warmth but more interest, Winter's head cocking like a curious dog for just a moment. "Winterwolf, but Winter should suffice." Nothing shorter, the firm tone of his voice makes that clear. "This is Snowbound?" Almost exactly what he was expecting. Good. "I was hoping to stay for a while."