Moonspear onwards to the edge

@Kerosene

What do I desire? The question plagued her very existence, every word burned into the back of her mind at any given moment. She'd always assumed what she sought was power, but how could that be when the energy it would take seemed more than she could ever give? It appeared she had some commitment issues. Not that this notion was any news to her. The slightest smile tugged at her lips and cracked along the side of her muzzle, feeling a bubble of amusement take her rather than the threat of frustration. 

Tilting her crown back against the rough rock of the mountain, her body twisted towards the point of the cliff. Eyes wide they wandered the expanse of the stars above, blinking wildly at the sparse sprinkle of rain that clashed against her eyelashes. Not ideal conditions for stargazing only getting small glimpses between thick bloated stretches of clouds, it certainly was a challenge to connect the constellations. But her heart wasn't up to the task either way, and it was only a distant habit of looking busy that she even attempted to do so. 

Pessimistically she knew that whatever answer she was looking for wouldn't drop down from the heavens anytime soon. The weight of that possibility allowed her bi-colored eyes to shut suddenly, disillusioned by her trek up the mountain in that moment. 

He was awake. It was nighttime, but he was awake. It didn't help that a smattering of rain was causing the wind to whip through his little makeshift burrow. He shivered from where he lay curled, up into a ball. And then the rain happened. More of it. Wherever he was, the sky decided to unfurl. Sleep was so not coming to him if he stayed here all exposed like this. 

Kerosene toughed it out for a while before his resolve broke. He lifted to his feet and trod out of his muddied hole towards a direction where he thought the clouds above were thinning. Patches of starlight were visible in the distance. If he could make it there, he'd be free of the rain. If he was free of the rain, maybe he could find a dry spot to rest his head for the evening. Something. This lone wolf thing with no place to settle down for the night was definitely one of the downfalls to this rogue status. Then again... he could do what he wanted when he wanted. That was almost worth the fight for survival. 

He picked up the pace a bit as he chased after the holes in the sky. The rain was thinning, its droplets further apart and significantly less dense than the storm he'd been caught in. Kero shook out his pelt, freeing himself from the extra weight and making himself significantly more comfortable. He could mostly ignore the dampness in his pelt now, but cleaning up his mud covered paws would have to wait until another time. He'd survive a little bit of grunge.

His journey led him higher. Farther. It was a distance greater than he anticipated, but the rain was slowly dwindling to a stop. It the winds didn't shift, he might be in the clear for the rest of the night, but he wasn't going to risk it. He didn't know the weather well enough to guess what would happen. It would decide on its own. All he could do was make sure he was prepared for it. Shelter. He'd need to find something if he was going to sleep this evening. 

The red wolf slipped along the side of the rock wall, looking for any sort of overhang or cavern entrance that might work well enough for a temporary home. What he found instead was another wolf. Stargazing, perhaps. Perhaps not. He didn't know and he couldn't guess. What he could do, was pick her brain and see if she knew anything about this place that he didn't. "You find a place to escape the rain yet?" he asked, breaking the ice and cutting to the chase. "Storm's a bit unpredictable tonight."

She heard him before he spoke, but only smelled him through the ill weather only after formally announcing his presence. Rogue. Peeling open a cerulean eye, Jaguara unconcernedly rolled herself from her back to her side to gaze at him. A rain battered mess of spices, her other eye opening only to reflect the gold of his gaze. His expression didn’t give much away but by his tone she could only assume he was quite anxious about the weather. Jaguara was unambiguous in the same way, but her own energy did not echo any notable concern.

“Wrong.” She corrected, ignoring his first inquiry for the moment and being just as brisk about stapling her answer, “The storm will clear out. Fog after… but we’re too high to be caught in it.” She stated without a hint of hesitance, as if it was as true as fact. What she didn’t care to mention about it was how’d she come to much a conclusion. Since she’d yet to unlock the potential to see into the future, the she-wolf had been taught to be as adapt at reading the weather as much as she was about connecting the stars.  The clues stitched up together, with the slight drop in temperature, the wind fizzling into no more than a breeze, and the clouds dissolving into tired wisps the storm couldn’t possibly turn at this point—it would die out.

“These last few minutes of rain won’t bother me.” As for what it did for him, she assumed he’d be clear about that without her having to inquire. She was still attempting to read him, feel out his character, pulling together a profile with only so much as a few seconds of interaction to go by. It would determine how hot and cold Jaguara would be, for now she remained neutral watching him with only the slightest lift to her expression, open to his next move. 

"Wrong." Her correction snapped out into the air. He glanced at her, lifting a brow in question before she continued. Ahh. She happened to be paying a bit more attention to the skies. He paused and took a better look around. Glancing skyward, he noticed she was right about the storm passing through. It was easier to see the thinning clouds now that he'd broken free of the trees. If he'd paused to take a second look, it might have broken his focus long enough to redirect his energy. His tendency to hyper focus often led to overlooking things.

"Mm," he murmured, agreeing with her with no more than an amicable sound. "Morning fog might be fun." No doubt, the cool moisture of the morning would reach its dew point when mixed with a little early morning fun. "Never experienced night fog before." There was, however, something rather intriguing about that kind of thing. "Don't suppose it's possible, now is it?" he asked. She seemed to be something of a weather expert. Maybe she'd know.

Nevertheless, he was still a bit damp. She commented on her own status, mentioning that the wetness wouldn't bother her. To each their own. But, he did know that there were quite a few hours between now and morning. He also knew, that without the sun and with the bonus amount of wetness in the air, drying completely would take a hell of a long time. "Maybe not," he commented, "but someplace a little less wet sounds pretty cozy right about now. You haven't happened to see a cave or outcropping or something of the sorts around here have you?"

With how quickly he seemed to roll the conversation, Jaguara still found it an effortless task to keep up. She echoed his intial agreement with a quiet “Hm” of her own, eyes widening in acknowledgement when he took up the prospect of morning fog. She wouldn’t fathom what about any weather would be fun, despite her apathy towards the rain, but if that was the excitement he took out of life, who was she to judge? Of course, she very much did, only to comment appropriately, “Being this North I assume night fog isn’t too rare.” She really didn’t know, able to read the weather but the regions response to the season was something she could only truly know by studying it  through time.

Appropriately a drop of rain hung at the edge of her nose as he continued on, and in silen d Jaguara listened swiping her tongue across her maw to catch it.  Despite his personal preferences about the wet weather, Jaguara's own carelessness stemmed from the fact that her fur was lengthy enough to deflect most of the rain off of her rather than chill the bone. This though could change the longer she chanced the weather, and the humidity was becoming a tad uncomfortable. She decided to relent her position taking the responsible stance, and rolled over completely to lift on to her paws only to give a swift shake.

Tiptoeing around the male, she maneuvered over the edge of the cliff and onto a beaten trail that slanted at a dangerous angle.  She didn't seemed phased, traipsing neatly over the carved side of the mountain.  “The mouth of the cave is a little south from here.” She explained, revealing her intentions though she didn't save him the courtesy of stopping to wait. 

She either knew what she was talking about or was simply good at giving off the impression that she knew. Regardless, he cast his eyes out towards the distance, wondering if the rain would rise and form wispy clouds between the mountain ranges. A small part of him wished the moon were brighter so he could see the valley's fog in all of its glory. Then again, maybe it was too cool for fog to form. If he slept, perhaps the morning would come sooner and he catch the fog when there was something more to gaze upon.

"But have you seen it before? Night fog?" he asked, turning as he caught movement in his peripheral. He watched as she hopped down onto a trail as if she'd done it a number of times before. He turned his paws to follow her, jumping down into the spaces she'd claimed only moments before. His bulky movements weren't nearly as refined or effortless as her own, but this terrain was new to him and he wasn't fully confident in his footing at these heights. With time maybe he'd be as swift and elegant as she, but he was in no hurry. He'd landed. He was walking again. In his head, that was all that mattered. 

He followed along after her, noting the way she appeared to know where she was headed. Her words spoke of their destination and implied she'd been in the area long enough to have discovered such a place. "Hang around these parts much?" he asked, speaking his thoughts out loud. "You seem to know this place a bit. Did you leave a pack to become a mountain goat?"

Distant from the task of finding the cave, Jaguara was quiet for a moment deciding judiciously what she would respond with. She’d carried the lesson that with certain words it was better to be careful, and that saying too much could leave her vulnerable. The she-wolf was resolute about not leaving weak spots, for reasons she’d cared not to think on too thoroughly.

Passing it off as if she’d been focused on climbing over a particularly damp ledge of stone, she opened her maw to speak  casually, “I was raised in a swamp; I lived in night fog.” The romantic, tucked far away from her out being could appreciate the hushed nature of such an event. The mystery involved in navigating such terrain, the edge of adventure and danger that could quicken the heartbeat with a misplaced sound in the smoky distance. Nostalgia had a way of making mundane things glitter. She didn't dwell on it longer than was necessary. 

“I’ve been here for seven moons—nights.” Lapsing back into old habits briefly, but assuring herself that the slip was harmless, as was the information. If anything she’d cleared any intentions he might have been assuming about her, because in ignorance there was pinch of innocence. “But I came to this mountain about a day ago.” Not enough time to become an expert in the area, but the scent markers she'd left while exploring did help her navigate smoothly. Pausing to sniff, she turned the corner. 

Silence hung between them. She seemed to concentrate, working her way up a damp ledge before she parted her muzzle to speak out her reply. "Swamp, eh?" he repeated, eyeing the rock face she'd climbed and pondering the best way for him to follow. "Can't say I've considered a place like that a home. You like it there?" He was guessing not. Mountains like these seemed a far-cry away from the damp underbelly of a swamp.

He followed her up and over as she continued leading the way. He was putting blind faith in her guidance. Wether that was a wise decision or a mistake remained yet to be seen, but for now, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. His ears were lifted. His nose was making the most of moist earth. He figured he'd be searching these parts anyway, with or without her. Why not make the most of a guide and a little company?

Kero caught her slip. "Moons or nights?" he asked, looking for clarity. The difference in time between the two was significant. "Swamp queen become a mountain goat in that amount of time?" Seemed like a pretty vast change in scenery. "Get an itch to travel?"

“I was going to say moon’s faces.” She confessed easily, not expecting him to understand the term as she’d come to recognize that it was a turn of phrase mostly associate with her native pack and their practices. She was aware that a single full moon was the common tongue for 30 moon’s faces, but it translated poorly in the opposite direction. “It’s the same thing as nights.” Jaguara elucidated a moment after, although she was beginning to resist his intrusiveness and hungry curiosity, her fangs hanging over her ebony lip in a slight bite—though his went unseen from his angle.

“And it doesn’t matter what I liked about it. Most wolves leave their birth pack, I’m no different than you.” Electing to remain casual but otherwise being vague. He seemed didn’t seem so thickheaded that if he pursued and she was blunt enough to tell him it was none of his business, that he probably would understand. It was better not to escalate things either way. Despite him being ‘lost’ as she saw it, the environment was still undesirable for a brawl with a stranger. Besides, he was bigger, and in the natural order of things that was enough to make her slightly wary.

Coming to a sudden halt, Jaguara lifted her slender muzzle to test the air. A second after she swung low once more her paw jutting out to claw against the gap between two boulders. Besides the small resistance the roots curtained over the entrance offered, the cave was easily accessible; but not for the faint of heart. The entry was comfortable enough for her to slip through, but for him it would be a tight fit—still he should be able to wiggle in. Despite the constricted entrance the confines opened up to high ceilings and the wide belly the mountain presented. 

Crouching she dipped inside without another word. 

Why was it... that every black wolf he ran into said something that made him think they were a bit of a nutter? Moon's faces. Alright then. Either he was oblivious to the subtle changes in the moon's phases each night or he'd rather count the days by sunrises which were a little more distinct and very difficult not to notice. Saying nothing, he thought back to another black female who thought she was a ninja feather warrior princess of the fighting black birds. Okay okay. In comparison, counting by moons was a hell of a lot more normal. He was going with the benefit of the doubt with this one.

Ambling along behind her, he made no comment towards her defensiveness. It was fine, really. He wasn't expecting much of anything from her at all. That she was leading him somewhere, anywhere was already more than he could ask for and he wasn't about to press his luck. However, he did know, from experience, that most others enjoyed talking about themselves. Whatever they were into at the moment. Wherever they were going or wherever they came from. Those were things that were easy to pull out of others. It kept them talking about themselves. Made it easier for him to say nothing about himself. For some reason, he didn't think that tactic would work well on this one. She seemed to like keeping things to herself. 

He grinned as he walked behind her. His poker face was virtually nonexistent, but he had no interest in trying to hide whatever he was thinking. "You get bored too then?" he asked, but whatever answer he might have gotten was erased as she stopped suddenly to scent the air. Slowly, he lifted his nose to do the same, wondering what it was she was smelling for. He didn't pick up on anything unusual, but if she was looking for something specific and personal, he was likely not to pick up on whatever she was looking for anyways. 

Either way, he got his answer as soon as she pawed at a gap between rocks and disappeared through a curtain of roots. He stared at the swaying barrier for a moment before nosing between the tangle of roots and peering inside. Blinking, he waited for his eyes to adjust before he slowly worked his way inside. She made it look so easy. He was determined to try making it similarly as simple for him, but his shoulders were broader and his bulk scraped against the edges of the hole. He exhaled, deflating his lungs a bit as he squeezed through and made it inside. 

His feet stabilized on the ground and he looked around. His eyes were still accommodating the darkness, but it was notably less damp in here. He appreciated that much. He'd asked for an escape from the rain and she'd delivered. "You explore this place much?" he asked, breaking their silence. "How far does this thing go?"

Like she had undertook the mountain Jaguara didn’t change her façade when tramping into the cave, only this time she was faking her confidence, only having poked her head in previously. Though she was honest with her words, “I don’t know.” The she-wolf answered simply darting her gaze into the dark expanse that drove into the inner depths of the Moonspear. “If a bear does happen to live here though…” Pausing for effect as she turned her attention back towards the male, “Well, we know who makes for the better meal.” She was, of course, 100% certain no other large predator occupied the wide den, but after their brief time together she began to doubt his skills for detecting such a threat. 

Slipping a distance away from his front, she hopped  onto a large flat stone tucked neatly against the wall. With her familiar grace a swift movement had her curled on top peering down at him to watch. “Why did you come up a mountain in a rainstorm?” She inquired abruptly her first question towards him in the entire conversation. She'd been digging around the rocks for a day now, something Jaguara was chosen to give away. But what he had done seemed out of place and unwise, especially if he really was as lost as he came across. Whether he really was just stupid or not, she assumed either way she wouldn't know how to figure out the stranger's intentions unless he chose to allude a bit more about him. 

Hmm. No idea how far this place went... He glanced around now that his eyes were adjusting. For a cave it seemed pretty roomy. They could fit a few more wolves in here easy and still have enough room to turn around. He took a few paces forward, sniffing the air here and there as she went on about a bear. He smirked. No doubt she was teasing. If he could barely fit through that crevice, a bear didn't stand a chance. "Mm. I'll let you distract it while I push through that hole." His voice was light, jesting.

The goal in this had only been to find someplace dry. As that mission was accomplished, he scoped the area out for a nice little spot to settle in. He found something and pushed a few rocks aside with his still muddy paws. With the area clear, he spun a circle before sitting down rather lazily. Man. It felt sooo good to be mostly off his feet.

Her question rang out in the air. Kero glanced upwards to where she'd made herself at home on a fancy looking rock. It suited her, he realized. She held herself in such a way that held an air of mystery. The distance was appropriate for her level of detachment.

"Following the clearer skies," he said simply, wondering how much of himself he dare share. He could babble nonsense for days, but there was more to him than his mouth even if he did like to hear the sound of his own voice. "Actually. These mountains are far less steep than those in the north. The clouds were headed that way; gathering there." Clouds liked mountains for some reason. Likely because that was where the warm air from the valley rushed to meet the cool air of the mountain altitudes. Made rain easier.

"Besides, all the water is rushing down there. Higher, dryer ground makes for better sleeping." He glanced at her. "Make sense?"

last post for me! (unless kero does something that demands a reaction) thanks for the thread!

His joke had managed to tug a slight smile from the corners of her muzzle but otherwise she continued to avoid any direct eye contact, her expression explicitly serene. Part of Jaguara regretted showing him the cavern, if only because now she’d made the decision to share the space with the stranger, even wide as it was.  Despite his unequivocal gift for grab and a pinch of nosiness, she didn’t not enjoy him filling in the silence. Time had pooled into a messy cloud of memory and she couldn’t recall with the exactness she was use to when exactly she’d held a conversation for this long. But, she reminded herself, she could live without it.

She murmured a sound of agreement, shifting lightly from her folded position. “If you wanted to, you could read the weather too.” Jaguara commented, noting his ability to observe the heavens with some sense behind it. Too often wolves took things as they were, accepting there was no predictability to the winds or stars. And it was true, there was no real way to be certain without a doubt, but with the right teaching theories could knit together more smoothly than faith would have it. Whether or not he had any interest in being a Naturalist Jaguara could not know, but the skill was there if he chose to pursue it. 

 “Anyways” She began again, finishing her movement by switching sides and showing him her back as she settle for some actual rest. “If I were you, I'd leave by morning. I've been told I make a horrible roommate.” There was no claim or reason to drive him off, but she wanted to give him the sense of being unwelcome in the hopes it would deter him from lingering longer than necessary. The she-wolf still had leagues of exploring to do, but the sloped mountain had grown on her quickly and she began to favor it as a makeshift base for the time being. 

Facing the wall her eyes fell shut and although she listened for his response, Jaguara had already drifted into a familiar state of silence. 

No, thank you! These two will have to run into each other again in the future. Feel free to archive after reading!

He lowered himself to the ground, curling into a ball as spoke his last bit on the weather and his thoughts behind escaping it. As far as shelter's went, the most dangerous thing in the area appeared to be his roommate. For now, he decided to trust her. She'd settled in her own space and he'd taken up residence in a spot of his own. It was privacy enough within the intimacy of the space, no matter how vast a cave such at this was.

"Maybe I'll learn," he said, letting the words fade into a yawn as he tucked his nose upon his hind paws. Curled, was the usual way of things, but he realized he had a night mostly to himself and he slowly gave into the comforts of safety. He sprawled, rolling over to his side as he stretched his legs out and sank into the cool, dry earth. He barely caught her comment about how she made for a terrible roommate. He wasn't sure if he said the words out loud or if he thought them really hard, but it had been something about how he would keep that in mind.

-time skip-

He woke early, slipping away in the pre-dawn hours. The world lifted from its slumber and woke as he descended from this spire. By some stroke of luck, the morning doves were cooing and snacking upon beads of dew. He caught one and doubled back, dropping the bird through the tangle of roots into the cavern below. Whether she'd stuck around or not, he didn't linger long enough to find out. Either way, the day was young and he had plenty more ground to cover.