Dragoncrest Cliffs a hundred degrees, the hottest if we're being honest

i am so sorry to be so slow! chucking this in here to get it in everyone's threadlog that wants in on it - set after astera rescues miette from the grotto. some light PP of @Astera, plz let me know if that is not ok! <3

they'd made it.

miette let a small cry escape her lips when she saw the familiar ascent of the cliffs. from their vantage at the floor of ankyra, the cliff looked impossible.

but astera was there to help her. they marched in tandem uphill. miette was tired and weak, fueled by her desperation to make it home.

they howled to announce their return - what a bittersweet sound it was!

anyone who came to see her would get a tired account -- she was ashamed to admit her spelunking had cost her weeks, and that she had been too short, of all things, to escape!

make no mistake, the hours spent in the ankyran crypt had changed her -- and likely astera too.

that night, miette dreamed of loa, the boneflower held close to her chest.

Home. Heart?

While exploration would always be second nature to her, Astera momentarily put the idea to rest. The climb was grueling, but they made it. Her paws cracked and bleeding, her voice hoarse, she let Miette do the talking.

Stumbling to her den, she was lost in a deep, dreamless sleep. Home, but Astera was forever changed.