Whitewater Gorge hit a few.
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Ooc — Stevie
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#1
All Welcome 
The feeling of unease hadn't left Liffey for even a second since she'd left the Vale. Even so, the simply act of acting had steadied her immensely. It had been a few days since her departure and she had yet to find his scent anywhere. Still, she kept along the paths she would have expected him to take, which led her now to the gorge.

The Blackthorn stood upon the higher cliffs, gazing down at the treacherous waters that raced along below. As eager as she was to continue her hunt, she wasn't so desperate that she felt tempted to risk herself needlessly. After all, Rannoch would never forgive her if she got herself hurt searching for him. Little did she realize the irony.

Liffey glanced downriver, trying to spy a safer crossing from afar. The wind rippled along the black stripe along her spine, whispering of an impending temperature drop, but she didn't pay it any mind. Her thoughts were elsewhere as she turned and began to trot along the ledge, her senses working still to find any trace of her wayward alpha, even knowing she was unlikely to be successful.
if I knew where I was going, I'd lose my way.
~•~
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#2
It was warmer inland than it had been on the coast, which suited Celephais just fine. If she never saw the ocean again, it would be too soon. She cast a glance back over her thin shoulder at the distant sequoia woods bordering it and wrinkled her nose. Disgusting water, disgusting air, and disgusting fare all made the sea one of her least favourite places in the world, and she'd only traveled alongside it for a few days. The forest had brought a measure of comfort, and the flatlands beyond that had brought more.

She traveled by the water, as she was wont to do, believing fervently that as long as she followed the water she would never get turned around. Her nails clicked on wet stone as she ascended the cliffs above a rushing rapid, which she glanced at with a nervous gulp. Best not to fall here, Celephais thought. She felt surefooted enough to trace her path near the cliff's edge, but each paw was placed with care, and when a pebble rolled out from under the pads of her toes, she gasped and retreated several feet from the lip.

That was when she first noticed Liffey heading in the opposite direction on the opposite side of the river. The brindled black wolf drew herself up curiously, watching the silvery female's progress, and then without hesitation began to follow suit. She swung around and strode purposefully along her side of the river, mirroring Liffey in all but appearances. She had nothing better to do, after all, and Liffey sure was pretty. Much prettier than her. Kind of like that other she-wolf on the beach with her exotic red collar. After a beat, Celephais turned her head sidelong and whisper-shouted, "Soooo, what're we doing?"
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Ooc — Stevie
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#3
Liffey didn't notice the other wolf at first. It wasn't until she called out, actually, that she even looked up from her paws and the ground beneath them. She stopped in her surprise, blinking over at the stranger and tilting her head to one side. Her gaze slid across the other female's frame, noting the interesting pattern of her fur. A quick glance was all it took to tell her that there was nothing threatening in the other wolf's posture, and a quick blast of logic reminded her that she was on the other side of the gorge and couldn't physically harm her anyway, unless she could fly.

"We're looking for a way across," Liffey called back, seeing no reason to be dishonest or even untrusting. "You know of a safe place to cross?" she added.
if I knew where I was going, I'd lose my way.
~•~
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Looking for a way across. Seemed like an easy enough task. Celephais scanned the high-lipped edge of her own side of the gorge and the very slightly lower cliff on the other side where the much prettier Liffey strode. There was no obvious way across where they were, but every river had a crossing somewhere. If she was thinking, she would have remember that further northwest, the cliffs tapered down to ground level and made for an easy swim, but she was too busy cooking up another plan.

"Well, jump, of course!" said the dark wolf with a bright smile. The river was far too wide at their location for any wolf to successfully make it, but Celephais wasn't thinking. Or rather, she wasn't thinking about that. She was thinking more about impressing her new "friend" across the way with her mad skills. Without further ado, the brindled yearling hopped back from the edge, wiggled her rump, and charged ahead.

Her hind paws met the edge of the cliff and bunched, launching her an impressive height into the air, but it was nowhere near enough for her to clear the gap. Even when she tucked her paws in to make herself more aerodynamic, she began to tip earthward less than halfway across. Upon realizing she was never going to make it to the other side, Celephais' eyes went wide and her mouth twisted into a silent scream before she plummeted, landing in the river with a massive SPLOOSH.
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Ooc — Stevie
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#5
Liffey watched the other girl hopefully. She had her suspicions about the water getting less treacherous further downstream, but she wasn't exactly feeling patient enough to be alright with traveling that far out of her way. The sooner she got across, the sooner she could find her way to Neverwinter and (hopefully) find Rannoch. Maybe this stranger could make this easier for her?

Or, maybe not. Liffey laughed lightly at the stranger's suggestion and shook her head slowly. It was amusing the way she was really trying to sell it. The girl had a good sense of humor, but even so, Liffey did have somewhere to be and if she wasn't going to be actually helpful, she needed to keep going.

"I don't think that's a good ide-- What the fuck??"

Liffey froze in shock as the female leaped into the water. She hadn't realized the girl wasn't just putting on a show; that she was actually going to attempt to jump across. The Blackthorn stared, wide-eyed, at the place where the dark female had disappeared into the churning water. She didn't move as she waited for her to reappear, and was seriously considering just walking away at this point. Finley would have. Elwood would not, and so she stood, gaping.

And that's the story of how Liffey dropped her first f-bomb.
if I knew where I was going, I'd lose my way.
~•~
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#6
WHUH was all that Celephais heard as she flew downward, well out of hearing range of Liffey. Luckily for her, the gorge wasn't quite as deep as it was wide, and the fall was blissfully short. Still, for a creature that wasn't winged and didn't particularly like plummeting through the air, it felt like ages before she hit the water stomach-first, uttering a wrenching groan moments before she sank into the rapids.

Her senses returned quickly enough. Belly flops sucked, and if this was Celephais' first rodeo, she might have stayed stunned just long enough to suck in a lungful of water. Thankfully, this was only one of many belly flops she had performed, albeit most of them weren't quite so sudden or from quite so high, so she only got a mouthful before coming to and splashing inelegantly to the surface. It wasn't fatal but it was enough to send her into a panic. Also, she noticed belatedly, her paw sort of hurt from where it had scraped against some rock or another. That sure didn't help.

Her body went through the motions of swimming while her mind went through the motions of drowning, contradicting her reality just enough that Celephais screeched out a garbled, "OH MY GOD HELP," in spite of not needing much help to stay afloat at all.
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Ooc — Stevie
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#7
Though the other female was not actually in any danger, it certainly looked like the situation was more dire than it actually was. The girl surfaced after a few seconds and set to flailing about in the water, and Liffey sucked in a nervous breath as she watched. She still wasn't certain what to do about tis situation, but as the water began to settle and it became more and more clear that the strange wolf was not actually in any sort of danger, Liffey found herself just plain confused and over the whole thing.

"Just stop flailing!" she barked at the other girl, "Steady yourself and you'll be able to swim to those rocks and get yourself back out." Liffey trotted further down along the cliffside, once again debating whether or not she should just walk away. In the end, she stayed and assisted the odd wolf in getting herself safely back to where she'd started from. Once it became obvious that she wasn't going to drown, Liffey bid her a hasty farewell and retreated further down the way, having no desire whatsoever to continue interacting with this particular girl.
if I knew where I was going, I'd lose my way.
~•~