Blackbeak Bluff Weigh hey, roll and go!

*pokes head in*  :o  Hope this latenight and rambly offering is acceptable...lol.
Also apparently I can't brain dates, because (jfyi) I meant for this thread to be before this and later this happened...whoops.  *shrugs*  That's my headcanon, at least!  XD  Don't think it should actually affect much of anything for you, here?

He hadn't devoted much time and energy previously to exploring the areas beyond the shores of the Isle, but with autumn inevitably turning its face toward winter and the days growing colder as they marched by, Driftwood figured perhaps he ought to seize the moment whilst he could and have a good look around before the less-hospitable lands elsewhere got too icily chill and unwelcoming, or possibly even snowed-off altogether, though that certainly took some doing. He cast a doubtful glance up at the empty skies as he trotted along; what few wispy clouds graced the skies' darkening face certainly didn't look capable of generating winter storms of such a magnitude. But he certainly knew as well as anyone that Mother Nature could be a treacherous two-faced bitch with a bad attitude, sometimes.

Despite his pensive inner musings focusing on the skyscape above, his eyes were repeatedly drawn downward to the landscape beneath his feet as he kept moving. His steps grew slower and less certain, and his pace slowed as the jagged black teeth of the cliffs rising swiftly up ahead loomed ominously ever closer. This was a far cry from the soft, sandy shores to which he'd grown accustomed, and as the incline rose beneath him his claws skittered a little on the rockier scree sneakily concealed beaneath the surprisingly still-lush green grasses nearer the cliffs' edge. The wind was blowing in strongly from the sea, flattening the verdant carpet below and buffeting his face with the almost disgustingly thick scent of seabirds and guano overlaid across the salt, whilst carrying their high cries distantly to his ears. Driftwood's halting steps started to carry him further from the edge and the noise and the smell; his ears drooped closer to his skull in dislike, and he paused to gaze consideringly out across the high grassy plain's expanse toward the lands and rising mountains in the distance as he considered departing altogether. He'd planned to go further up the northeast shoreline than this, but despite the grassy carpeting this area was seeming less and less appealing, especially when a small patch of hidden scree went tumbling away from beneath his outstretched paw. Driftwood snatched the foot back and watched with wide eyes as the jagged rocks and pebbles went clattering loudly down the steep cliffside, almost loudly enough to match the screaming gulls, at least until one rock hit the edge of a nest and earned Driftwood a solid cussing-out from the mother bird who'd been lounging inside of it. Driftwood grimaced and leaned back from the irate feathery creature doing its best to hover nearby and yell its opinions of obnoxious, interfering wolves at a volume fit to burst his eardrums. Great. Yeah, leaving this place far behind and never coming back was starting to sound better and better yet of an idea.

But just as he started to turn away and depart further inland, the next gust of wind carried a more tantalizing change of scent: an unfamiliar wolf-girl's aroma someplace rather close by. Driftwood's startled and much-abused ears stood back up at attention as he stopped and scanned the rugged cliffs, and were surprised to locate their quarry right up at the edge, practically falling over the side as, grinning and murmuring something to herself, she leaned into the empty expanse to stare down, down, down to the bigger rocks far below. Driftwood stared at her for a long few seconds—he was completely unable to make out whatever she was mumbling over the catcalling seagulls, as the mother bird roused a couple of others flapping nearby to join in her tirade for a moment, but her actions and the enthusiasm plastered across her face as she courted the danger the landscape offered had Driftwood a bit doubtful of her sanity at first blush. But he didn't hesitate too long before flattening his ears back toward his skull and making his way into the teeth of the stiff breeze as he carefully picked his way across to her. Hello? he said, raising his voice to a half-shout to overcome the eddying wind and screechy birds alike. How do you stand it?! he had to ask aloud with a glance up and back toward the seagulls and their noisome racket, but then his eyes were hooked and drawn toward the breathtaking scene the sun was offering up as she dipped a final graceful curtsey into the ruffled waves below. Oh, said Driftwood breathlessly as he halted some steps back from the stranger to drink the beauty of it in. Not for too long, though, before his attention was snatched wincingly away to first the furious female gull that darted what he hoped was its final scream and swoop in his direction, and then to the female wolf positioned kittycorner in front of him as he recalled with a small start who and what had drawn him to linger here.

But he didn't have a lot insightful to offer about the gorgeousness of their setting, only an inarticulate, ...Wow. and then, again: Um, yeah—hi. I'm Driftwood. At least he didn't have to raise his voice quite so much, at this distance, particularly since the female seemed to have found a small, less windy pocket here. Or maybe the mercurial wind was just waiting to pounce even stronger and harder in a moment, who knew—but Driftwood was grateful for a breath of a break from its gusty strength today either way.