November 08, 2020, 12:16 PM
The mountains did not intimidate the young icewalker but they were an impressive sight from their base, urging him to climb up the slope and see what magnificent vistas may sit in wait for him. Kigipigak wondered if he could see the tops of the clouds from such a height, or call to the stars in the evening and hear them sing back to him.
Kigipigak had never been as high as he was in these moments; he crept among the winding paths of the forested hillside until the tree line tapered away, seeking the blissful sensation of thinning air that came with the effort.
He spent a few hours looking for a line of sight in to the valley he had left but could not find anything, and then moved on across the escarpment until the mountain was bald-faced, marked with many blackened trees (surrounded by new growth and shocks of green, but nothing had prepared him for such a wretched sight).
What did catch his eye was a shock of sunbaked earth. It was distant and would require him to hike some ways down among the cliffs. His last meal had been the fawn of the southern woods and soon he knew his hunger would burn again, so he would have to be selective of his course.
Before he could get too close to the place of red dust he noticed the wolf scent layered thick upon the patches of dry grass and stopped, drawing himself away from where it was thickest, alert for possible danger.
Kigipigak had never been as high as he was in these moments; he crept among the winding paths of the forested hillside until the tree line tapered away, seeking the blissful sensation of thinning air that came with the effort.
He spent a few hours looking for a line of sight in to the valley he had left but could not find anything, and then moved on across the escarpment until the mountain was bald-faced, marked with many blackened trees (surrounded by new growth and shocks of green, but nothing had prepared him for such a wretched sight).
What did catch his eye was a shock of sunbaked earth. It was distant and would require him to hike some ways down among the cliffs. His last meal had been the fawn of the southern woods and soon he knew his hunger would burn again, so he would have to be selective of his course.
Before he could get too close to the place of red dust he noticed the wolf scent layered thick upon the patches of dry grass and stopped, drawing himself away from where it was thickest, alert for possible danger.