Northstar Vale Essential yet appealed

Mesa had never been away from the mountain. Nothing really tempted him from the familiar paths or the silhouetted peaks, at least not so far. He had been trying to keep up with his mother initially; there was talk that they were going to be migrating and Mesa didn't know what that entailed, what to expect, or what his role could be throughout it. What would his father have wanted of him? So he had been a diligent soldier and patrolled; following after his mother's scent even as it drifted from the limits of Diaspora and in to the unknown. She was much swifter than he was, of course. As doggedly as he followed after Takiyok, Mesa knew it was dangerous to have slipped over those limits without even speaking to his siblings - let alone to ignore Mahler as he went. He didn't look back.

Then, the ground began to quiver. It was as if the mountain was angry that the boy should sneak away in such a manner, further convincing the imaginative youth that Arrow Lake (and its surrounding peaks) were alive, that they were a danger to them all. A frightening few minutes passed where the earth shuddered and groaned, and Mesa paused to hold himself low and small against the dirt, as if that would help. Once the calm resumed he rose up again, slow and steady and a mess of nerves unto himself; but the scent of his mother was stronger, so that helped to calm him.

He continued to tread along - this time with more of an insistent, purposeful gait - and paused when he spotted the pale figure just beyond. That had to be his mother! The thundering of his heart increased as he sped towards her, calling out, Mother! And as he came up alongside her flank, dipped his head with snake-like flicks of his tongue, seeking reassurance.