Arrow Lake Testing Your Worth

Approaching the ledge Koa glanced down at the lake below with his usual frown only growing. The needed to make it down the the water, however the way down didn't seem exactly safe. It was rocky, and he assumed that slips must be common. However, the lack of rain as of late at least left the rocks dry. He glanced over to Zitari to gauge her reaction.

Zitari cast her gaze downwards toward the slope, watching small rocks top over and crumble off down to the bottom. I wonder how many animals have slipped down here .. She thought to herself, flicking a pebble down and tilting her head. Her gaze shifted over towards her brother, who looked way more than just a little bit agitated and hoped that some water would lighten his mood.

"That’s a mighty rough way down."
The she-wolf started off.
"Think we’ll make it there okay? There could be snakes hidin' beneath the rocks.”
She remarked, finally breaking the silence. Of course, it wouldn’t be Zitari Le if she didn’t ask at least one concern inducing question in the middle an already not-so-good situation. Though — she seemed pretty unbothered but it.

He raised an eyebrow at his sister's remark, scoffing.
"Why? Are you really scared of a little snake?"
As usual, the question was rhetorical. Koa turned back to the ledge, carefully taking his first step and watching as pebbles tumbled down in response to his movement. It would all be fine - a bit of a tumble would be worth getting a good drink and, if they were lucky, a meal.

"Don't act like such a pup."

"I’m not. I was just sayin' .."
She grumbled, following after him slowly. The farther down she went, the steeper the drop seemed. Think happy thoughts .. think happy thoughts .. She reran the words in her mind, squinting to the best of her ability in an attempt to make it less scary. 

She’d been bit by a non-venomous snake before — and that was enough to make her petrified of every variant of them. There was absolutely no chance she’d allow one to get anywhere close up until now, and she didn’t like the idea of cutting it this close.

He seemed to be unbothered, stepping and stumbling down the side of the mountain with a clear look of focus in his eyes. Sure, he hadn't done anything to this extent before - but he was sure he would be fine.

He glanced back to Zitari as he went, looking rather smug.
"See? I told you it would be fi-"
However his teasing was cut off as he stumbled forward yet again, quick to brace himself with his paws as he fell flat on his chest.

Before she could open her mouth to retort —her eyes shot open, the sight of her brother falling right before her eyes nearly causing her to lose her footing. 
"Koa!”
She yelped, sliding down further and skidding to a stop, taking a few steps back and peering down.
"Are you alright!? Hey— Koa!"
She paced back and forth against the edge of the rock, gazing down with a strong look of concern plastered onto her face.

Koa was quick to stand back up. He was okay this time, but clearly needed to be more careful.
"I'm alright - it was just a slip."
He responded, holding back a sharp retort. He could feel his own heart beating rapidly, and was sure it had scared Zitari just as badly. "I just need to be more careful - we're almost there."

"A-are you sure? Maybe we should just go back — this isn’t safe. What if you really get hurt next time?"
She questioned, her ears pinning to the sides of her head as she stared down at him. 

Her body remained unmoving as she stood on the ledge with her tail drooping low. His reassuring demeanor being the only thing keeping her from turning tail and just choosing dehydration.

"You’re positive we’ll be fine?"

Koa nodded, remaining patient while he waited. He was agitated from the recent heat and the looming threat of malnutrition, but he knew better than take it out on Zitari - she was well meaning, and her worries were warranted after what they had been through back home.
"I'm sure. We need water now, and this is the closest source. A bit of risk is worth it."
He reassured, looking down at the lake below. They were almost there.

"If .. if you say so.”
She nodded reluctantly, taking a deep breath before taking a cautious step forward. Koa was a lot of things, but Zitari surely didn’t think of him as a liar.

Koa says it’s fine, so it’s fine. She reassured herself, making her way down slowly. They’d been through way worse together. This was nothing. 

"That’s right. This is nothing."
She thought to herself out-loud.

He gave her a gentle nudge before returning his focus to the task at hand. He carefully inched forward, letting out a sigh of relief when he kept his footing this time.

With that he was able to take the final few steps, hopping down onto the shore of the lake.

She leapt down after him, finally releasing her kept breath once she made the final step down onto shore. 
"Hah..!"
Her wobbly legs finally buckled as she slumped down onto the ground.

"Psh. That was nothin'."
Her gaze flicked over towards him, a sly grin forming on her muzzle.
"You were totally scared out of your pelt weren’t ya?”

"You're one to talk."
He sighed, lightly smacking her with his large paw. He then turned his attention to the lake, quick to approach and dip his tongue into the water - deciding if it was safe to drink.
"It seems safe enough - come on, you can rest when we've both had a drink."

"Don’t gotta tell me twice. I thought I was gonna die from dehydration before I even managed to fall down a slope."
She padded up beside him, quick to lap up the water. It felt like it’d been ages since the last time she’d drunk actual water, and not just the dewdrops forming on leaves. 

She glanced up towards the sky, noticing that the sun was beginning to fall.

"Looks like sundown time is upon us. Good thing, too - maybe we’ll have a better chance at finding prey."

Her mouth watered at the thought. Fresh deer meat was all she’d been thinking of since they’d left their mother — and now seemed like a better time than ever.

He gave a careful nod, taking a few laps of the water before responding to her.
"We should see if there's any fish here - just to hold us over until we find something bigger."

He was quick to return to drinking afterwards, lifting his head back up after a moment. He would never admit it, but travelling the idea of travelling through territories in the area made him somewhat nervous. At home they usually travelled in large groups - but now if they had to confront someone it would just be him and Zitari.

She nodded.
"Sounds good.”
Moving along the side of the lake, she kept her eyes on the water. She wasn’t exactly a big fan of fish, but food was food. 

"By the way, when we finally reach our destination .. what’ll we do?"
She questioned, breaking the silence. 

"I mean — will we never search for other wolves? Don’t get me wrong, I’ve got no problem staying with you. That’s why I came in the first place. It’s just like — I kinda miss being around a large group to depend on too.”
 Her gaze flickered towards something moving in the water, causing her to turn back towards the lake.

Koa sighed, laying down to watch her. "It isn't that easy - we need to find somewhere that's right for us, and we don't know that they'll take us in when we do."
He responded, laying his head down.

She crouched down beside the lake, her paws jerking into the water not even a second layer. After a brief pause, she clamped down onto something, pulling it out.

A mid-sized brown trout danged from her jaws. She placed it down beside them, sticking out her tongue in an attempt to get rid of the slimy taste it’d left in her mouth.

"I guess you’re right. Maybe I’m just feeling a bit home sick."
 Perhaps that was exactly what it was. Home sick or not, though, there was no way she would ever go back to that place again.

"Anyway, we should eat this and go. It’s about time we continue on our journey.”

He nodded in agreement, gesturing her over.
"Hurry up then."
He responded. He planned to eat quickly and move on to their next destination - they would need to find something bigger to eat, but this would hold them over until then.