Bearclaw Valley the warning he caught from your eyes

merrick walked beside @Snowskip on their trajectory from lake to meadow, pacing proudly through the sodden wildflowers. they thinned, skimming back and back until the red-mud trail spread bright before them. 
at the entrance to the valley, the sentinel-boulder, atop which any member of ursus stood to watch merrick accompany the dazzle of snowskip's bearing.
they paused alongside the great rock; he called sweetly for @Astara, wondering if she might come to judge their joiner. an amused grin lit his lips. "what do you think?" merrick asked of their sprawling forests, the way moss-edged slabs of stone dripped with the constant rain.