Moonspear Running with the boys

Wildfire replied in the positive, though the shakiness and pitch of her voice said otherwise. As soon as the single word was out of her mouth, she suddenly pivoted, and Floki stiffened reflexively. He poised to usher her out of the cave, but she only went so far as to lay down in its entrance, sucking in deep breaths of fresh air to calm herself.

Floki turned and lowered himself to his belly next to her, shoulder to shoulder and hip to hip. He licked her cheek reassuringly, his tail stirring against the stone behind him. "You did great. Baby steps," he reminded her with a gentle smile. His expression then sobered. "That does sound like it was really scary, though. I can't imagine being lost underground for that long," he said; he had no reason to fear tunnels, but thinking of the lack of sunlight and oxygen made him uneasy.

She thought about moving further out of the cave, at least until Floki settled down beside her. He was both comforting and distracting. Unabashedly, Wildfire inserted her snout into the long, velveteen fur of his ruff and inhaled, then snort playfully. She withdrew, then quite abruptly rolled onto her side, her legs bumping against him gently. Eventually, she wound up mostly on her back, albeit with her legs propped comfortably against Floki. Despite lying partially inside a cave, Wildfire felt content.

"I'm glad we got to catch up today. I missed you these past few days," she murmured, glancing at him despite the slightly odd angle. She was in no hurry to part ways, either. "Will you just hang out with me a while longer?" she requested, letting her head fall sideways so that her smudged muzzle brushed his shoulder before her cheek came to a rest against his nearer foreleg.

Fade here? <3

Yup! <3 *self-archives like a boss*

He laughed as she snorted into his fur then rolled away from him. He was glad to see that she was feeling less nervous about the ominous cave looming just behind them. Next to her, it was easy for Floki to forget about his surroundings -- it was likely that Wildfire was experiencing the same phenomenon as she focused on interacting with him rather than on her fears.

"I missed you too," he said, surprising himself with the admission. But he was more than happy to agree to stay with her a little longer, and the youths whiled away the afternoon with the shadows at their backs.