Stone Circle You've got a friend in me

For sister @Clary!

The snow had fallen the night before and now blanketed the ground several inches deep. Steph was up early this morning, leaving paw prints in the snow as she made circles outside of the den. She wondered if her siblings would be up soon, or maybe if someone would stop by and play with her. 

She grew bored rather quickly playing by herself, and plopped down on her haunches in the middle of her circles. Her back was turned on the den as she admired her work of art. She hummed to herself, trying to keep her mind occupied.

<3

For all the noise she made in the day, boy, how the could the girl sleep. This morning she roused at no particular hour, discernable time, in the warm, dark underground. Someone still slumbered against her back, but her eyes already set toward the exit to the great above.

She burst forth into the daylight with characteristic style, tail waving circles through the air. Her eyes locked on Steph without much thought. Against the snow she forged a clear silhouette, and Clary bounced forward, touching her paws here and there through the twisty path of her sister's snowy steps, and at times, pressed a fresh mark of her own.

"Steph!" She chirped, and gave an extra spring, a leap she fully intended to land on her paws. But in lifting her eyes from the ground, she stumbled and fell chin first into the snow. Oof! The white dazed her, and Clary recovered with a swift shake of her head. Okay, not as planned. The quiver of a giggle slipped from her lips, and she turned her sheepish glance toward her sister, still from her vantage on the ground. "Wanna explore?"

Thankfully, her joyous sister came to rescue her from her boredom. Steph watched with a smile as she followed her pawprints. Hey, Clary! I'm so glad you're up! she expressed. She didn't feel like doing anything alone today, but thankfully now she didn't have to.

Yeah! she responded quickly to her sister's question. Any place in mind? she asked. Steph wasn't aware of any new places, but she was sure they could find something to get into. 

Clary thumped her tail at Steph's enthusiastic yes, but the necessity of thought sunk her against the ground, sprawled like a star in the soft packing of snow. "Hmm." She puckered her mouth and glanced toward the sky. There really wasn't much they hadn't seen; after all, there wasn't all that much to a meadow, except for a lot of grass, and more recently, a lot of snow.

But there was somewhere else she hadn't braved before, and her face slipped into a narrowed grin. "I know..." and Clary sprung forward and dashed a few steps, before spinning around to beckon Steph with a thrum of her paws. "What about the mountains in the south? They're only a few steps outside of home, so it's not like we'll be doing something that dangerous." She swayed her tail with a devious wave. "Whady'a say?" She kept her voice low, and her lips quirked with mischief.

Steph was a little surprised that her sister would suggest going outside of the territory, but she supposed she had a good point that it was just next door. She looked back, as if their mother could be standing there, and tried to imagine what she would say. A big fat no, she was sure. But, her sister looked excited, and Steph just couldn't bring herself to say no.

She smiled, Okay! Let's go! Suddenly, she lifted a paw to touch it quickly to Clary's shoulder. You're it! she announced, and ran off towards the mountain. She hoped @Valette wouldn't be too mad at them when she discovered where they went. And Steph had no doubt that their mother would find out. 

Tagging for visibility

When Steph turned to look at the den and nothing else in particular, Clary could guess the thoughts that ran through her sister's mind - and the conclusion deflated her. She prepared for Steph to turn back with a quick and settled no and tried to think of something else they could do - but what she got widened the smile on Clary's face. "Right on!" she piped, but before she could gather herself to move, Steph had already whirled about her, to leave her with the uncoveted title and the charge to give chase.

"Not once I catch you!" Clary laughed and charged after the steady footfalls of her dark and fleet-footed sister. They both knew the way - a product of their ceaseless exploring - and Clary let the direction of their travel fall to instinct while she locked in on catching up with her sister, who bobbed up and down in stark contrast to the snow, just beyond her reach.