Shadow Mountain Rockclimbing fiend

The little wolf was surprised and, to be honest, rather impressed with the answer. For the coyote, who seemed very proud of being a lone dog in a dog-eat-dog world, had just admitted to being lonely. He twitched his ear curiously, looking at the scraggly canine with interest. Hmm, well... he had a think, that's cool and all, but if I meet another coyote do you want me to mention to them that you're around...? In case you'd both be up for hanging out for a bit. It wasn't even worded as a suggestion. It was but a little thought that came about as a result of the coy's surprising honesty.

Pluto was slightly curious in the wolf's offer, the thought of perhaps meeting another coyote here being slightly tantalizing. But then again, coyotes might be different here, as the coyotes from his old home were mostly raised to be tongue-and-cheek daredevils while coyotes here...well, he didn't know! Then again, he wouldn't know if he didn't try. "Couldn't hurt." He shrugged, flicking a lone gnat away from one of his large ears. Perhaps the wolf didn't even end up meeting any coyotes and Pluto's agreement wouldn't come back to bite him in the behind. Well, he'd already said yes, so there was no use for second thoughts now. "Let's keep going." He suddenly barked, springing to his paws before bounding back and taking a leap, pulling himself up onto another, higher rock with a small puff of breath.

Pluto bounced from paw to paw on the stone, stretching out his legs before bouncing again, claws digging shallow furrows into the dull grey surface as he scrambled higher upwards, tail sticking directly upwards to aid him with balancing.

The boy had been intending to once more ask the coyote's name, with the explanation that he couldn't really tell other coyote's about him if he didn't know his name, but before he could pose the question the rock-climber was already rock-climbing again. Sure, he replied happily enough, and joined him in the scramble. On and upwards they went. While it seemed to him that the other canine was more practiced in mountain-climbing (either that or he just pushed himself more), Ishi had enough agility and stamina to keep up.

After a while, he paused as he felt a breeze that wasn't coming from the open world behind him. One white paw hovered speculatively, and he went to check it out. It smelt like there was a cave around here somewhere...

As the two petite canines scrambled further up the mountainside, Pluto paused as the sound of scrambling claws to his side seemed to halt, and he turned to see that Ishi seemed to be searching for something. The coyote flared his nostrils and scented the air, a strange breeze tussling his short grey fur as he realized that perhaps there was some type of chasm nearby, or perhaps a cave. Pluto stopped leaping and slowly began to follow the other male, carefully stepping across the loose rocks on light, nimble toes. He was all too away of how dangerous this was, and he had to make sure to take precautions. Suddenly, Pluto's gaze shifted to the left, a flash of ebony catching his eyes as he slipped closer. It was behind a few other rocks, and ever so slowly the male leaped onto a flat stone and sniffed the darkness to make sure that there were no animals inside. "Think this might be a cave?" He asked, not about to just leap in and possibly prove himself as a fool if he ended up smacking his muzzle right against a possible wall.

Not about to make a move, Pluto instead sat down and didn't pry his eyes off of the darkness while he waited for any response from Ishi.

It wasn't long before his companion found what Ishi had been eyeing — a potential cave entrance, dark and craggy. It looked like there could be a cave here, dug into the side of the mountain, but there was so much moss and loose stone around neither of them could be sure.

Maybe...? he ventured, gold eyes on some of the loose stones. I think the entrance was covered by a landslide or something... ah yes, here we are, he nosed away a medium-sized stone, and with it tore away a blanket of half-dead foliage... leaving a great black hole. Wanna go first? he asked the coyote, eyes twinkling.

Pluto's gaze followed the other male as he pushed away a large stone, lichen and other greenery tearing away with the boulder to expose a shadowy hole carved into the side of the mountain. At first, the coyote was not willing to enter just in case, but as Ishi inquired to if he wished to go first, he couldn't just turn down a challenge. "You know it." He grinned, mischievous smirk splitting across his lean muzzle before he sniffed the dank air emitting from the cave entrance. With no other scent of any other creature inside, Pluto raised his head proudly before stepping inside, steps proud as he strut into the hole with all the grace of a swan--a swan with a broken leg, that is. Flicking his small whiskers and swiveling his oversized ears, he made sure once again that he was alone before turning back towards the cave entrace, waving his tail back and forth proudly before barking out towards his ivory companion, "All clear! Think there's anything cool in here?" He asked, tones raucous and surprisingly loud as it echoed through the darkness. Every single sound was so magnified in here.

He gave a quiet chuckle at the coy's darkly playful enthusiasm, and watched him vanish into the cave. When his companion turned back round to regard him, Ishi followed him into the cave, and his fur was so white it almost lit up the place. Hmm, he poked around thoughtfully. It was quite big! Small though they were, both canines could stand upright. And the echo was curious... maybe it meant this place was even larger than it seemed.

Ooh, he said as he spotted something pale on the hard ground. At closer inspection it was an old, long, fragile skull. Looks like a deer skull, he theorised — like many wild predators, he was pretty familiar with the remnants of prey. I wonder how it got all the way up here...?

Pluto watched as the ivory wolf trotted into the darkness besides him, swiftly expressing a small noise of interest as he padded towards one side of the cave. Eliciting curiosity, Pluto tailed him and padded over, dark gaze catching the pale object complete with crumbling antlers and an aura of ancientness. While he had never seen a deer skull with his own two eyes, he had heard tales about them from his old family members and had seen the head of a deer enough times to recognize it in the shape of this old skull. Ishi pondered at the strange skull, and Pluto huffed slightly before responding in a matter-of-fact tone. "Maybe a mountain lion? Bobcat? Any big feline?" He barked, lifting a clawed toe and prodding the side of the ivory surface, where deep fangmarks could be seen in the dim light. They looked pretty large, large enough to be around the size of a wolf, but wolves weren't really made for climbing or dragging such large beasts up into places like this one.

Mind firmly set on the predator being a large feline, Pluto turned and padded deeper into the cave on light toes to see if there were any other interesting artifacts buried deep within the chilled ruins. Suddenly, his form reappeared from the shadows, jaws clamped around what seemed like a thin leg bone of what had to have belonged to the deceased deer itself. More deep fangmarks were dug into the sides, but the coyote was relieved to find that the cat hadn't cracked it open to drink the sweet marrow, which he swiftly began to do himself. It tasted old and bitter, almost ashy on his tongue with age. Pluto shuddered before dropping the bone and scraping his fangs along his pale tongue, wishing to wash the taste from his mouth.

A proper little thrill went through his heart as he heard the coyote's theory and his ears went straight upright with interest. A mountain lion... he hadn't even thought of that! He had to confess that while he didn't often still think of cougars, he wasn't doing much to actually put into practice his wild ambitions. He was having too much fun with his new friends and his training as a Scout. But now an image of a cougar sprang into his mind fully-formed. He imagined the magnificent beast hauling a deer carcass effortlessly over the crags and into this cave. So preoccupied was he by the thought, he missed the whole debacle with his companion and the bone marrow. Have you ever seen one? he asked. A mountain lion.

Pluto spat onto the earth as the bitterness still clung to the inside of his mouth, though as his companion began to speak his head lifted, pale tongue still hanging out from between his jowls limply before swiftly being sucked back in. He's caught glimpses off the magnificent felines before while crossing in rocky areas, though he'd never gotten close due to the fact that he could easily become one's lunch. "Yeah, from a distance. They look like those little feral cats, only bigger than a wolf and kind of a tanish grey. Huge fangs and claws, and a pretty long tail too." Pluto barked, brow furrowing as he struggled to recall details from the few, brief encounters that he'd had with them. It was the positive side to exploring and constantly being on the move, being able to witness things that many other canines have never seen before.

"Must be gone by now, we would have smelled its reek from a mile away!" Pluto exclaimed, using a small grey paw to kick the broken leg bone he had gnawed on away from him, wishing it to be out of his sight so he would not be reminded of the currently fading taste beginning to slip from his taste buds. It clattered on the far side of the cave, hitting the stone flooring and further shattering.

Time for Ishi to head home! :3 This has been such a fun thread~

Ishi listened wide-eyed as the coyote spoke of what it had been like to behold a cougar. See, not even this proud and brave daredevil had seen one up close! Ishi had seen one from a distance too, but he liked to hear about other peoples' experiences of them. And now that he had, it felt like a natural marker to the end of their adventure, for his head was freshly filled with mountain lions.

That's true, he admitted when the other canine pointed out that a cougar wasn't likely to be nearby. I'll keep a lookout for it on my way home, though, just in case, he added, hoping he did see one.

I'm off! he confirmed with a smile and a swish of his tail, his small form silhouetted in the cave entrance as he regarded his new pal.

Thanks for RPing with me!

Pluto nodded, stretching out his legs before lowering himself into a lazing, sitting position and suppressing a small yawn. Ishi was leaving, which would once again abandon him to speak with his own thoughts. "See ya. Don't get eaten." The coyote barked, further slouching over until his belly rested against the hard stone and he found himself laying down.

This cave would be a nice place to rest for a bit, as it was clearly abandoned and most creatures weren't brave enough to venture up this far. Once he had rested, he would be off again to continue his exploring. Pluto yawned, this time not suppressing the action as he crossed his front legs and shut his eyes, not yet dozing off but still resting near the corner.