Blacktail Deer Plateau I See Clearly Now

He didn't humour her with locations; though he knew of a few, his word on that had mainly been a way to get her down. With his gaze steady on her descent, Malachi couldn't spare a thought to anything but her safety, anyways. She at least seemed to know her limits, or so he judged by how she moved from ledge to ledge with caution and ease.

But his breath caught when a loose rock snared her path, and before he could think Malachi covered the ground that separated him from the mountain's base. Pearl landed just as he pulled up, and he stopped for her to take the last few steps toward him. "Going up usually is." Trouble filled his eyes, and he searched her. He appraised the ooze of crimson on her shoulder with a flashing glance before he passed to her dirtied face. The clear look of shame in her lowered gaze made his stomach twist.

"No, no. It's alright." Guilt stabbed his chest, and his words betrayed him. "It's just, with the damage of the fire and all the rain, I don't want to take any chances." Now that she was safe on the ground, and the mountain hadn't crumbled away, maybe he had overreacted. Malachi felt an equal burn through his own two cheeks at the thought, and he cast his own gaze to the ground and scuffed the dirt with his forepaw.