the grotto is treacherous ...or at least the descent into hell the grotto is. the ledges and outcroppings down are steep and there is a moment when dauntless reaches the middle in which he wonders if he could truly be called dauntless as he glimpses down and takes a shallow breath that hisses from between clenched teeth and presses himself against the rock face, leaning his weight against the cold, uneven and jagged stone for support. after a moment to recollect himself he deduces that the only plausible thing was to continue on down until he reaches the bottom and that was less because of courage and more-so because the thought of turning around and heading back up on the ledge he froze on terrified him more than continuing forward.

eventually, dauntless' paws touch solid ground and lets out the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. logically, since he was in absolute hurry to ascend that treacherous path so soon after having cleared it — it would take time for his courage to recharge — he ventures forth into the grotto, curiosity piqued by the pool of water he sees through a break in the thick forest. he adjusts his course only to slow his pace and let out a low chuff of greeting, his steps growing increasingly cautious as dauntless sees the other on the opposite side of the pool.

dauntless' hazel eyes more green then they are brown today, his gaze flickering over her in a quick assessment. she is small, dainty from what he can tell but mirza knows that size doesn't always mean much of anything. he finds what he seeks in his quick assessment: that her body language does not appear hostile and that he will not have to fight for a drink at the pool. in fact, as she calls out to him, it becomes apparent to dauntless that she's being rather good-natured and his posture, previously stiff with weariness, softens ever so slightly. not enough to let his guard down — the gruesome picture of burr's blood pool and entrails strewn about jump to the forefront of his mind and dauntless wonders if his friend had let his guard down too soon. yet, dauntless is an extroverted beast and confident to boot. burr's death might have shaken him and drove home the point that youth did not grant immortality but it could not erase what had already begun to cement as his personality. death, he'd came to learn, was simply a natural part of life.

"hey," he returns with a neutral flick of his tail behind his haunches. "just needed to get away from home for a few hours." dauntless replies with a lofty shrug of his broad shoulders, favoring what is more or less the truth. he loves morningside and he loves his family but there are points when a guy just needs a few hours on his own ...or more accurately in the company of a lovely stranger. "how about you?" dauntless inquires in return.

dauntless's ears cup forth and swivel to the side as she gives a laugh that sounds as if it's almost devoid of mirth at his response. it was a sound of understanding made evident as he watches her come around to his side of the water source and draw near, offering him a response to his return of her question. dauntless's gaze follows the direction that she gestures to, tucking the name 'bracken sanctuary' away because it doesn't strike him as familiar. he assumes that she means her brother is a bit much at times and dauntless is immediately grateful that he can't really relate. he has a bit of that testosterone competition thing going on with his oldest brother at the moment but that's just dauntless growing up and trying to find his place both in the pack and the family and is far from personal. "i'm due to become a big brother any day now." frankly catori looks like she's going to pop at any second and even though dauntless has had two months to process it he's still not sure how to feel about it. it's a whole boatload of new responsibilities that he's both excited for and quietly dreading. she hadn't asked for him to elaborate but it only seemed fair since she offered him her own reason for getting away and as a way of confirming that he understands in a way.

it's dauntless's turn to let out a short, mirthless laugh as she brings to attention how dangerous the grotto is. "yeah," he concurs verbally with a low snort. "getting out of the grotto's going to be interesting." he remarks with a slight smirk tugging at the edges of his lips that slowly begins to morph into a cringe at the prolonged thought of attempting the treacherous climb back out. "i'm not in any hurry to attempt it." he admits, trying to play it off cool with a lofty roll of his broad shoulders.

dauntless finds her genuine excitement for his to-be status baffling. he struggles to keep the perplex off of his expression but it shows itself subtly in the twitch of his ear and the sweep of his gaze as he processes it. given that he has yet to work out how precisely he feels about it, a stranger's excitement places him in some awkward cross between being weirded out, protective and guilty. Guilty, mind, because he doesn't share in that excitement. in truth, dauntless has existed in a state of ...disinterest in the whole ordeal while he tries to figure out if he's excited or scared shitless. siblings are a lot of work and he, as a newly minted big brother, would be taking on new responsibilities. of course it was terrifying.

are you excited? ah, the dreaded question. "erhm," dauntless hesitates as he contemplates whether he wants to blatantly lie or not. "i...don't know. to be honest." he speaks on a heavy sigh. there was no use in lying, no doubt his hesitation was a pretty big tell-tale on how he felt about it: extremely conflicted and unsure. "i don't know how to be a big brother." he admits with a sheepish twitch of his lips was given.

she remarks that they will probably be stuck here for a while and dauntless feels himself nodding with passive acceptance of that fact. he's not overly bothered by that knowledge and he thinks he got pretty lucky as far as companions went. she offers her name next and he sweeps his gaze over her again as if learning her name somehow gave him a new perspective to see her. "i'm dauntless." he offers simply and then lets out a small half laugh remembering in lieu of offering his name bluntly as he had that it was a name that could also be used as a word to describe someone as fearless. "i mean my name is dauntless." he clarifies and then adds, because he's suddenly remembered that she's pretty and he's nervous, "or you could call me Mirza instead of Dauntless. Mirza's also my name so ..." he trails off then lest he look like a bigger than idiot than he already does, gives a soft clear of his throat and pointedly avoids his gaze to stare at the green brush in the background.