Silvertip Mountain the galaxy is just a graveyard full of stars

steady paws led him up a worn trail that was covered in roots and dead shrubbery. he assumed he was among the first to trek this high up the summit in a while, for the paths closer to the base were yet clear and actively used. he imagined it was the snow that kept others away from the peak but with the warmer weather recently, he'd been given the opportunity to climb higher than any others had during the dead of winter.

unfortunately he wasn't able to make it quite to the peak, the snow still thick and not worth the risk of pressing through. so, he settled for a wide ledge instead that overlooked the ocean and everything that lied in-between. it was a pretty enough sight, one certainly worth climbing for if you didn't mind the aches and pains you were sure to have the next day.

though she hadn't meant to come quite this far from her chosen pike in the hinterlands, the deviljho managed to find another potential throne that was mostly to her liking. another mountain that was unoccupied, and well-suited to her avaricious tastes, despite -- or maybe because of -- the more precarious creases that lie jaggedly across its slush-laden face.

she was careful as she went, but not terribly so; choosing to bound across small chasms where a less sure-footed wolf would have found a way around, and sliding when the slope of the terrain made a steep enough shortcut for her way down. the she-wolf was making fast work of her mountain descent when she noticed an unnatural shape against one of the serrated outcroppings ahead, and she angled herself towards it out of sheer curiosity.

her pace slowed when she realized it was an oil-stain of a wolf -- a male of no discernible packscent, which made him fair game as far as she was concerned. "hail, stranger," she called out from an old footpath several deer-leaps to his left. "these your stomping grounds?"

the wind was rougher here, less merciful in the way it tangled his fur and shifted his weight atop the spacious ledge. though with it's whispers came all the secrets it bared, the scent of the wandering rogue among the more interesting aromas the breeze had to offer. her greeting pulled his attention in her direction, honeyed gaze roving unabashedly across her rawboned features as inky ears swiveled forward atop his crown.

"not at all" came his answer, an easygoing swish of his tail inviting her closer should she wish to do so. "just came up this way for a bit of sight seeing" he tacked on a moment later, his focus briefly shifting back to the scenery painting across his vision. "what about you? climb up all this way to admire the view as well?", he wondered aloud.

not at all.

the deviljho looked pleased. she was glad for the lack of competition, and matched the easy tempo of the swarthy wolf's wag with one of her own. she took several bold strides forward, but seemed mindful to stay just a hair out of his longest ranged lunge -- as she was open to socializing, but yet too mistrustful for more than that. "you could say that," she replied with a casual glance out to sea, which held little to no interest to her in that moment.

her drenchwood eyes returned swiftly to present company, and as the bitter wind combed through her toothy fur, she openly studied the whipping of his own pelage, and the corded, lean body that was buried within. "though i would call it more of an investigation -- to see if this mountain is suitable to own."

her approach was met with a half-smile as he took note of her purposeful distance. he didn't blame her for being wary, for they were strangers atop a mountain and one could easily slip to their untimely demise with so much as a gentle shove. fortunately for her, no such thoughts ran through his simpleminded skull, for he was far more interested in her reasoning for being here than anything else.

"has it passed your inspection thus far?" he wondered with a curious arch of his brow. if she sought to claim the mountain as her own, he wanted to make note of it.

"it is a.. decent perch," the she-wolf admitted rather dully, showing no true admiration for the peak itself or its supposed value. she looked up towards the snow-capped heights -- unreachable because of the thin air and overly sheer slope -- and sighed. "i think it'd be a place more suitable for your average overcompensating male, or a very butch female." neither of which was she.

"have you seen anything here of any worth?" harrowing  petitioned the traveler with a curious cant of her muzzle and a small fidget of her position. she was already starting to feel restless, just standing there talking -- it wasn't in her nature to quibble for too long.

an inky ear twitched when she revealed the mountain was not to her taste, in which he silently agreed. "i've just come inland from the ocean, and not much there besides water", he revealed with an upwards tip of his chin. "there is a strange forest though just beyond the base of the mountain", he began with a motion of his muzzle towards ravensblood, "it's trees bleed crimson."

had there been any other notable territories worth sharing? "i myself am in pursuit of a volcano", he revealed with an anxious sway of his tail as he went on to silently wonder if she'd heard the rumors of the fuming mountain as well.

harrowing was only half-listening -- her mind and eyes beginning to wander along a stony path beneath her; already looking for the quickest route off this tall, unremarkable rock -- and she made no comment of the ocean or the bleeding trees.

though, the latter subject did strike her to blink profusely and follow his gesture towards the supposed bloodwoods below. she made a low, contemplative noise, but wouldn't commit herself to asking more about it. she could find out on her own, if she decided to take this stranger's offering with more than a grain of salt, and she hadn't found reason to dismiss his opinions just yet. the ardent she-wolf could at least agree with him regarding the oceanside territories, so maybe there was something to this "crimson-bleeding forest" he'd thought to bring up.

she couldn't, however, hold her tongue at the mention of his own goal. volcano hunting -- a useless endeavor if she ever heard one. "why? are you planning to commit an epic suicide?" she needled with a high quirk of her own brow, now feeling a little skeptic about this entire conversation, but realizing that she was more engaged. her fidgeting had stopped, at least, as she focused on the earthy raven with renewed attention.

he took her silence as disinterest, and let a hushed sigh slip past chapped lips as he turned to overlook the territories between him and the coast. boredom slowly began to poke it's ugly head into the overbearing stillness between them, causing the very air to taste dull and dreary. his attention was pulled so much from the angular she-wolf, that he took to swatting a pebble between his paws, all up until the pale wraith finally broke the silence with a few provoking words.

"oh yes!", he declared sarcastically, though kept his face as stoic as he could manage. "i plan to toss myself into the mouth of the volcano in a totally epic sacrifice to my shit eating ancestors", he blurted out with a taunting upwards tug of his lips, tone dripping in friendly mockery all while doing so.

his mordant reply brought a wide grin to harrowing's face, which morphed into an ugly, menacing laugh as he addressed the ancestral plane with mocking disdain. she liked him, in that instance, and decided that she wouldn't expedite his suicide mission by shoving him off this mountain right then and there. "well, do me a favor and ask them for some rain while you're at it -- i like the rain," she said with impish earnesty, lashing her tail as she turned to continue her way down the pass.

she paused, as if something occurred to her, and looked over her lean shoulder towards the dust-black vagrant once more. "i did not cross any volcanoes west from here," she told him; her way of "helping". "but there is a highland out there that i am fond of -- a mountain with a lake at its top. i wouldn't mind a visit, should your.. sacrificial lambing go awry."

and with that she started plucking her way -- quick and sure-footed -- towards the base of silvertip and onwards.

usually he found laughter relieving - pleasing even. not with this pythoness though, no, for she brought forth something more akin to restlessness than comfort. the fur along his spine prickled ever so slightly at her ominous merriment, only to smooth over when she wished for nothing more than rain. he gave a few lifeless blinks as a reply, though would do well to keep her request stashed somewhere in the back of his mind should he ever go through with his joke.

curious, he watched her begin her decent down the slope, only to stop and address him once more. these words prompted a bit more fascination from the inky ghoul, in which he gave only a single firm nod in response to her offer to visit. he didn't know the mountain she spoke of, but assumed it would not be terribly difficult to find if he sought to drop by. and so, as she turned to continue her departure, he too spun on his heels and set off towards the opposite direction as she, eager to discover what else might rest atop the summit.