Little Goat Mountain rocky mountain high

for @Stag -- WOTD is highlighted and underlined below

his quest for game (along with soul-searching?) took him south, to the mountains he had seen in the backdrop but never properly explored. the first peak was less than intimidating, a gentle, lush-carpeted slope—smelling strongly of goat. heartened by the prospect of food, surya trekked onward, breathing steadily as he ascended.

the vistas were quite something; more than once, he stopped to stare down, awestruck. the whole world seemed to roll out before him. if artyom and company didn't seem to be attached to the stream, he would advocate for them to move here. maybe not this exact mountain. . .but somewhere close.

he abandoned thoughts of relocation when the bleating of goats (faint but audible) caught his attention. surya's ears swiveled and he grinned, continuing his voyage. the air grew thinner as he climbed. he might very well be huffing and puffing soon, but for now, he was feeling good. he was feeling invincible.

thank you for starting! <3

While Mahler had never explicitly said the boy was soft, Stag was beginning to feel ashamed by the lack of mileage under his belt. His other comrades, like Praimfaya, had gone out, made a pack even -- and here Stag was, Little Johnny-Stay-At-Home.

He set out in early morning, assuming that would give him enough time to find his way home. He left his tracks obvious; a broken sapling every hundred feet or so, lots of swiping with his paws to keep his scent evident -- he did not want to get lost again.

Hearing small noises he thought might be bleating, Stag warily approached with his ears perked and neck craned. He was sniffing the air curiously when he caught wind of a wolf and spooked; somewhere nearby by his guess. Squinting up the sunny slope Stag caught a loping figure against the mountain, no doubt trailing the goats.

of course!

the pale figure caught his eye immediately, stark against the rocky backdrop. surya gave him a quiet whuff of greeting and a wag of his tail, trotting up to meet the stranger. it was another yearling, rangy and long-legged, who clearly lived in the mountains by his scent.

hello, surya said, beaming warmly at the other young man, then pitched his voice lower: playful, conspiratorial. i'm hunting goats—would you like to join me?

might as well cut right to the chase. they could share, after all, especially if luck was on their side. it was a good day for a gest—and a useful one, at that! besides, it was clearly beneficial to make friends and allies in these parts. aphrodite clearly had a friend in the form of aiolos, and the man's aid had been crucial in bringing her home.

Once he was spotted, the male made very little time coming to Stag. Unused to such warmth in a stranger, Stag held back -- but the longer he stayed in Surya's presence, the more at ease his posture became.

His gaze flickered up the slope at the mention of goats. "Umm." His tone was unsure, stippled with a rare brand of bald honesty. "I've never hunted them before." Stag's soft green eyes met Surya's carefully before looking away. "But I would help if you told me what to do."

surya understood perfectly well the other yearling's hesitance. the one and only time he had hunted goats before had been with that pale woman on the plains. and they had gotten lucky, to boot, with a clearly injured specimen. it would be great if that same fortune visited today, but he didn't count on it.

i don't have a lot of experience, either, he reassured (in awkward, terrible fashion) the other. we'll stumble along together. my name's surya, he added, introducing himself with a dip of his head and a smile. he was beginning to ascend again, gesturing for the young man to follow.

his nostrils flared, surya followed the scent of a nearby band of goats, hoping one of them had some sort of malady for the wolves to exploit.

Stag half-expected the wolf would ridicule him, mock him for his lack of experience -- yet instead, a warmth seemed to kindle in the stranger's eyes, and his tone carried with it the conviction of a wolf who understood, emphathized even, with Stag's inexperience.

Mollified by the gentleness of Surya's tone, Stag watched as the agouti yearling began to scale the scree. "Alright." He agreed, his words breathless in anticipation as he hurried after the huntsman. "I'm Stag. Where are you from, Surya?"

surya was heartened as the other yearling followed his lead readily enough, and the two of them ascended. he was just a little bit ahead of stag—his name was stag—when he glanced back to answer the question. whitebark stream, he replied, voice carrying slightly down the slope. and you?

the mountains, presumably; that had been established by smell. but before surya could ruminate further on his hunting companion's origins, a nearby bleat drew him to an abrupt halt.

he turned and gave stag a knowing look, then continued more slowly, more silently, until they reached the top of a small rise that gave way to a grass-lined plateau. here were several sheep, grazing contentedly, a couple of young ones at their mothers' sides. he crouched low, his tone hushed as he spoke.

you always look for a weak one, he explained, unsure if stag knew that or not. which one of them look the weakest to you? his own verdant gaze scanned the small herd. no individual stood out to him; that was where another pair of eyes came in handy.

so sorry for the wait on this ;-;

no worries u gucci <3 EDIT: 8/11 - I saw you mention wrapping up posts with Surya, I will edit and archive <3

Stag kept pace with the ardent yearling, his gaze following the leader's. Whitebark Stream wasn't a place familiar to the boy, but given how unseasoned he was outside of his home it was not surprising. 

They halted as a bleat wracked the hill-line; Stag's eyes fell upon a middling group. At Surya's behest and query the boy frowned as he studied the group. Admittedly, he saw very few that looked easy, but he did see a straggler grazing by a rocky outcrop. Maybe we need to watch them move.. there's that one over there. What do you think?

Setting to work, the two boys began the hunt. Stag's heart beat a mile a minute as the chase began. In the end, they were not successful, but Stag had learned something new that day and returned home with a jaunty step.