Silvertip Mountain a monkey on the edge

She couldn't find her brother, or her father, or anyone for that matter - and June was afraid. She thought she had been on a walk towards the hollow, set up to meet with Mason and go exploring through the old dens, but... The poor girl must have gotten turned around. It didn't take much. Her mind wandered, and so too did her feet. And now, having found a small ridge upon the mountain that she couldn't remember ever visiting before, June was looking down in to the dark and scary pit below. This must be what a waterfall feels like. she pondered, her nose reaching out over the edge as if to sniff at the stale air. One wrong step, one itty bitty imbalance, and she'd quickly find an understanding to what a waterfall really felt like; but June wasn't thinking about that. She was curious of the dark, and had forgotten all about her earlier desires.

The ever-dutiful Steady had decided to take a break from his patrols of the borders to head up the mountain, in hopes of taking a break and maybe finding some company. He took his time, finding it a little peaceful not to be in a hurry or on the look out for trespassers.

A strong scent interrupted his peaceful wanderings. It was June. He hadn't seen her in a bit, and hadn't spoken to her since their first awkward conversation. Hoping she'd be up for some company, he followed her trail, his tail wagging in anticipation.

He found her, and his heart stopped. She was leaning over the edge of a ledge, looking down below. June! he said, rushing towards her. He went for the first thing he could grab- her tail. If he was able to get a hold of it, he would pull her back from the ledge.

She was so engrossed in finding out what was in the dark, that when her tail snagged on something - or rather, someone snagged upon her tail - she gave a yelp of surprise. A force yanked her away from the edge, and the dragging of her heels made some small furrows in the hard mountain soil; when June stopped, she looked up and saw the shadow of a wolf above her. Was she going to get eaten? Was this the dark? Was the dark mad at her? Her thoughts were very simple, but coupling the immense confusion (from thinking she had done nothing wrong) with the sudden appearance of a living shadow which might very well try to eat her, she did the one thing that came naturally: June squealed and began to cry.

He dragged June away from the edge, a little more forcefully than he had intended to. He though she would turn around, maybe ask him why he had done that, maybe snap at him for pulling on her tail, but he never expected what came next: she started to cry. His ears pinned back on his head, and for a moment, he froze.

His expression changed from shock of seeing her on the ledge to instant regret. He nosed her gently. June, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to scare you! Please, I'm so sorry. I saw you on the ledge, and my heart stopped. He tried to console her, but was sure if it was going to work or not.

She wailed, sniffling between breaths, and pulled away from Steady when he tried to comfort her with touch. It was so loud that June couldn't hear the dark wolf speaking - but she caught the tail end of it, something about a heart stopping? Which startled her all over again. She looked down at her own chest, then over at Steady's, eyes wide and confused. "No stop! No stop! N-no!" Oh no! What would her daddy say if June made Steady's heart stop?! That was bad - she didn't want to do the bad thing. "Nooo!"

June pulled away from him, and Steady stepped back, not wanting to invade her personal space. He apologized profusely, but his expression turned to confusion when she began to yell. His ears fitted to the top of his head as he tried to make sense of it all. Realizing what she had been looking at, he figured out she thought his heart was literally stopping.

Getting irritated at yelling, but calming himself, Steady shook his head, smiling reassuringly, and then motioned for her to follow him, hoping that she would. He turned to lead her away from mother nature's sounds, waiting to see if she would come.

He didn't give her any further discourse, and tried to pull her attention away from the cliffside by simply walking off. June's lungs were tired from the screaming and her face was puffy from the crying, yet she followed after him as diligently as any doctor would in the face of this medical marvel. His heart was stopping because of her and it was all her fault and she didn't want him to hurt and, and, and --- she continued to cry, but had to focus on following after him as he retreated; stumbling as she sped along and occasionally sniffling. Where was he going? How was he going? His heart wasn't working!

He was thankful that she followed him, though when he looked back to her, she looked almost frightened and was still sniffling. It broke his heart knowing he was the cause of that. He walked until it was quiet enough that they would be able to hear each other clearly, then stopped and turned towards her. He was careful, though, not to invade her personal space. He didn't know if he could stomach having her pull away from him again.

June, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to scare you like that. What I said on the ledge was that when I seen you looking over, my heart almost stopped, he explained. Not quite literally, though it did skip a beat... It's a meaning... That if anything ever bad happened to you... It would break my heart. He frowned, his ears folded on his head as he spoke, his gaze cast downwards. He felt so bad for having scared her.

They stopped walking eventually, and June hustled as close as she dared to get to the dark wolf; she wanted to make sure his heart was working properly, and still sniffled from time to time, overwhelmed with the burden that she might have caused it to cease. Steady explained himself, and while June was still quite emotional about it, she did her best to listen and understand. His heart had not really stopped, which was good. It was frightening all the same though.

"June - Juh -" a small hiccup, and she snorted a wad of snot back up her nose which had begun to drip. "I didn't mean it, I didn't." But his heart was OK, so everything was fine. She was still somewhat rattled from the experience, but understood to some extent that he hadn't meant any harm. "Scared me." June's ears fell back and she looked sheepishly down at her big paws, her face creased in a childish frown. "B-but, I.. I ok now. And you... Ok?" Just to make sure. If he suddenly dropped dead in front of her, June would never forgive herself.

While June still seemed shaken up, she admitted she was okay now, and asked if he was, too. He nodded, Yeah, I am if you are... I am really sorry I scared you, he said again. He wasn't sure when he would stop apologizing for that. He just felt so bad.

He took a deep breath, not quite sure what to say from here. He desperately just wanted to nuzzle her, but didn't dare in fear she would jerk away from him again. Uhh... So, what were you up to, looking over the ledge? he asked. Had she just been curious, had there something been down there?