{{ either way || now open/joining || i won't wait }}

Snowpoff huffed as he trudged over the soft, squishy earth in the marshland, his nose scrunched in distaste and his ears tipped upwards as he listened for anything that might be moving towards or around him. The young elk wasn't too fond of this weather either, but at least some of his tricolored fur shed to try and cool him off. He wretched one of his hooves free from the earth, stamping the limb back down over more solid ground that, personally, was a great relief to him. Poff hurried away from the muddy area, scraping some of the grime off that une ended his stride. At this point the child perked at the strong scent emitting from up ahead, his muscles tensing and short tail twitching while he remained alert, though with a more defensive gleam in his unusually red-tinged hues than fear.

Poff's nose scrunched as he slowly lowered his body close to the ground, the underside of his chest nearly parallel with the surface under him as he side-stepped slowly, aware that a fight with even a lone creature could kill him. At least his antlers had grown in, but they weren't of much use to him at the moment since he had neglected to rub off the soft outer velvet while the bone underneath grew. No, he would much prefer to wait until he possessed a large set to impress people with, and fend off others.
Snowpoff made it partially to the forested area, but he knew that his pelt would give him away. Due to this fact, the young male kept his head angled toward Mirror, and his ears swiveled to either side before he inhaled sharply, feeling his shot nerves run through his form and making him shiver a bit, prepared to keep his ground and try to fight back if he must.

Poff shook again, but this time he was sure his nervousness showed a bit. Either way he puffed out the fur on his chest and neck a bit, though keeping his head craned toward her. "I- I'm Snowpoff. I'm a loner so I walk around and... do... loner things." His voice cracked at the beginning, but he quickly fixed himself and held a firm tone, despite the desire to dart off into the overgrowth. "And who might you be?" Poff emphasized her presence, straightening his abdomen a bit so he stood as tall as possible without leaving his neck exposed.

"I don't know, probably in a herd somewhere, why?" Though it was pretty odd to see a creature from a more frigid area, Snowpoff didn't understand her concern. Well, mostly due to the fact that she was classified as a predator in his species' books. "Nice to meet you, I guess. Thanks for not hunting me down as soon as you saw me, though."

At that point he seemed to relax a bit, but Poff still kept his antlers angled. "I'm not sure to be honest. All I know is that I've been alone for... quite some time, actually. I'd understand why they'd leave me though, since my fur would give me away in the snowy places where we lived, or even in the dark ones." There were so many inconveniences with his pelt that would have been a perfect explanation as to why he was disowned, but he always continued to believe there was more behind it.

Poff's knees nearly buckled at the last part, causing him to half-stumble as he picked himself back up again, clearing his throat with an edge of anxious laughter. "I'm pretty sure the laws of nature won't be on our side in that case. Normally prey herbivores like me get killed by any carnivorous- or omnivorous- animals. The herd would have left me to survive, so I never got mad at them. I'm not sure if you'd even want to be my mom, I mean, it'll be exhausting trying to help me find food, and it's not like I could help you hunt or anything." These words were all just nervous ramblings of a child who basically had attachment issues, but he was more nervous about building hope for a home before having it break apart again, rather than being afraid of getting killed in his sleep. Snow's eyes gleamed with a brief moment of thought, clouded slightly at the idea like it hurt him, but soon enough he dismissed it as his shoulders relaxed and head lifted. He was bound to die eventually if he continued on alone, so if she was telling the truth, then he'd tag along.

Snowpoff tensed at the embrace, his fur puffing out as much as possible as he stared at her for a moment, soon to let off a short nod. "F-Fine, I guess." He only hoped he wouldn't regret his decision, his tall ears resting back against his scalp as he shuffled awkwardly, not comfortable with any sort of contact.

(+bump~)

"Virus?" The child cast a curious look toward Mirrorshards, his small tail twitching before he returned his gaze to Striked, inwardly unnerved by yet another creature close, but putting on a brave face. "I won't get sick, Im smart enough to stay away from people who are coughing and sneezing and stuff." Well, partially. If they were someone who was extremely sick, he might want to try helping them and taking care of them rather than hanging back.

The elk shook his head, shuffling a bit away to get some space from the formulating crowd. Geez, how many people lived here, exactly? "No, not yet. I don't think I'd want too either by the sound of it."
However, all this talk made him vaguely curious about what they might be going through. All the ones here didn't seem unhealthy or at all afraid, but that still didn't quite appease his anxiety.

W-? Well then. Poff watched the female vanish in the foliage, turning back to the other two with the look of a mischievous child about to think of a plan. A "plan" that most likely included something to do with the virus, but he didn't seem to think he let anything off about this. "I suppose thank you for inviting me to this place. I'm not quite sure how different clans are from herds, but... I'll do my best, if it means not being torn to pieces in my sleep." His ear twitched, obviously uncomfortable with the fact he was admitting this to two wolves that were basically towering over him.