Broken Boulder and he will drag the whole universe into war

though vilkas does not mind exploring on his own — he's been doing it for weeks now — he's glad that she accepts and does not appear to mind the role she's been temporarily assigned to him. the firebrand follows her as she motions for him to, eyes sweeping to the infamous cracked boulder. in a brief lapse of attention he idly wonders what caused the fissure to form. lightning, maybe? or some force of extreme trauma. vilkas does not spend too long pondering it ( for he's no geologist and those sorts of questions are better left to others ), simply accepting it for as it is. a unique landmark that evidently, according to his dark counterpart that is, marks a cave network where the pack dens.

she mentions that it's like where they first met and adds that it's cozier and the firebrand can't help the low chuckle that slips from betwixt his lips. it's hard for him to imagine any sort of cave as cozy. "i liked the waterfall cavern." he remarks simply, perhaps even with a hint of fondness, unsure if that's what the locals called the inner territory or not. regardless, it was what he called it. his gaze flicks to the rock that she calls 'star rock' and mentions that someone named Korei likes to stargaze there. no doubt, he would meet the others soon enough, especially if he takes the opportunity she just gave him to meet Korei.

the shadows of the yawning cave mouth greedily welcome lily into their arms and vilkas feels a rise of deja vu as he lets out a low, amused snort. like last time, he is rejected by the shadows. not entirely, of course, but he remains a fiery silhouette, like smoldering embers that refuse to die out even as their oxygen begins to deplete. her voice echoes and throws off his ability to locate her based on sound. it's almost disorienting and he keeps his pace steady to the pace he adopted while following her in the light of the day. "you have a particular talent of blending into the shadows, you know?" he informs her in a matter-of-fact tone.

"you'd be absolutely deadly in a fight under the cover of night." he was conditioned to analyze tactical advantages from a very young age and it didn't have an off button. he makes a sheepish noise. "just don't stop because i might walk into you." despite the light tone that could be considered teasing, he's quite serious about accidentally walking into her if she paused. he has no idea how close or how far away he is from her and though it should make him uncomfortable on the premise that he was a warrior alone, it surprisingly doesn't. she's comfortable despite that, in all respects, she is still a kind-of stranger.