Bearclaw Valley Be Prepared

Clary's size made her ideal for squeezing into tight places and getting up to no good, but when it came to running fast, her sister had her beat. Not that Clary cared too much. The air filled with her laughter as much as it did with Steph's, and whether she'd win or lose didn't matter, so long as they were together.

They reached the mountain, and breathless, she stopped and craned her neck to stare upward and upward. She had never seen a rock so big, and Clary turned to Steph at the same moment her sister turned to her. Wide eyes met the light on Steph's face, and Clary shared her smile. Any worries of what mama might do when if she found out where they'd gone fell to the sheer wonder of being here, and to the thrill of the adventure they were about to undertake.

At first the going went well enough, but Clary found that while the slope was clear from roots and bushes, the rocks acted in the same tripping manner. After a near stumble when staring wide-eyed at the peaks, she decided to keep her eyes trained steadily on the ground, tongue poked from her lips and brows knit with concentration. Every once in a while she looked up to catch Steph's eye, to make sure her sister was doing well in her own climb. A sudden noise jerked her to a stop, in time to watch the final stretch of Steph's slide, and she bounced with a yelp and a sudden the hammer of her heart. But her sister righted herself, and Clary met her approach with a shower of licks, hoping to still her own heart as much as to still Steph's.

Okay, so maybe straight up wasn't the best way to go. But she wasn't gonna turn back now, and Steph didn't seem to want to either. They could do this, together. Still pressed close to Steph, their pounding hearts in rhythm, Clary turned to the left and right, until her eyes settled on a path that looked a lot more level than the haphazard one they'd begun to strike.

"Let's go that way," she said with a nod of her nose and a slow wag of her tail, "Maybe it'll go up slower, or maybe somewhere even better." What else could you find in a mountain? Clary didn't know, but a look to her sister said she wanted to find out.