Given their initial brief, and incidentally heated encounter, she would have taken no offence from the male had he chosen not to take her offered paw. Experience had shown that even the sensible could be ruled by a grudge, and though she too could be swayed by it, she tried her hardest not to live such a way. Regard one’s actions in the moment rather than carry it onward into the future. Though there were some instances better remembered than forgotten.
Admittedly she was surprised by his acceptance, having learned that he too was raised on a terrain much like this. Regardless of the severity, no mountains were without their challenges when scaling the unknown.
Smoothly she turned with the intention to guide him but paused suddenly when the last of his retort bent her ears. The fur of her nape bristled and lips shuddered slightly as they clenched tighter. Given the trespass he and his companion had committed on her territory, she was being quite lenient if not kind in offering a chance of redemption and perhaps a blank slate. Rather than bite her reply, she breathed deeply through flared nostrils and in turn took a step forward to begin their crossing.
“I will be mindful not to let you fall in the struggle,” she huffed softly over her shoulder, then crouched down but a little before springing for an adjacent rock to grip underpaw. “This way. Mind the slope.” |