Thunder Dome What is beauty?

@Maia

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Howl had set himself on a little adventure for the day. To climb this rather tricky mountain. Finding a correct route through the steep rock terrain was hard enough as it is, but in addition to the heavy, chilly early morning winds, it was rather aggravating. But Howl stuck with it, determined to reach the top. His motivation lay in the unknown, unsure of what might be at the top and really hoping it would be worth it. Luckly there was nothing other then wind to combate him today. These mountains were known for thunder storms and lightening. Howl was getting off easy.

It may have taken him some time but he found his way to the top and with it the entrance to a cavern. When he looked into the cavern he was shocked to find a fully vibrant forest hidden away. It's uniqueness and rarety only increased the caverns level of beauty. Sunlight from every angle beamed through the cavern and reflected off the many streams flowing through it.

He walked in the cavern slowly, looking all around. A true beauty of nature, and Howl thought to reward himself with a refreshing drink from one of the streams.

wow, sorry!! I forgot about this ^^; mind if we assume it's closer to present? It was an awkward timeline point I think

Maia's spirits were looking up as she got past her baggage and kept on keepin on, but she still figured a little space might do her some good! She'd never been much of a wanderer back home mainly because her sense of direction was pretty notoriously awful, but there was a definite perk to living on the tallest mountain in the area.  As long as she didn't stray too far, it would be pretty hard to lose track of the way back.

The valley she had passed through was gorgeous, but now she was at another mountain and had decided to go for a climb.  Thank goodness they lived on the tallest one, right? She remembered cursing the number of mountains in this place back when she was searching for Moonspear and laughed.  At least that she could look back and laugh on.

By the time she spotted the cavern, her mood had improved right up, to the point where she approached it with her usual brazen openness.  "Helloooo" she called, peering in as the sound reverberated a bit.  Righteous, this place looked awesome!

Yay!!! You replied. I'm ok with dating it later. Maia's avatar is just sooo gorgeous I can't resist her. I don't think Howl will be able to either xD! 

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He had walked some ways into the cavern before lowering his head to take a drink. As his head was down he looked up and around him, still taking in the beauty of the cave and saw how it sparkled. But his refreshing drink was interrupted by the echoing sound of someone saying 'hello'. He lifted his head and allowed his ears to swivel trying to pinpoint the direction of the call as it bounced off the cavern walls. He knew one think about this other wolf calling out, that they were more than likely a female or a very feminine sounding male. Howl hoped it was the first option.

He began to walk in the direction he thought the sound was coming from, though he couldn't be just 100% accurate yet due to the echoing. Even if he couldn't yet see her, he thought that calling out to her might cause her to respond, making it easier for him to find her. "Hello there Malady"  he responded loud enough for his voice to echo as hers had. He kept walking with anticipation hoping to come across her and that she might respond.

My lady!?  Her ears perked when she heard the response and she grinned, stories from her mother coming to mind.  Maybe he was a lost knight, or some kinda lord.  She was hardly the damsel type (Cassie always said she was too guyish to play the princess when they played, much as she argued!). But she could play along - this might be fun! Stranger danger nonwithstanding.

"Good sir.... is this your kingdom?" She called out, mimicking Cass's prim and proper voice that she used to take in their games.  It had always irked her then, but this was her game now, and she was gonna play it fully.

She did in fact replay and it brought a smile to Howl's face when her response was somewhat old worldly. Howl knew that at times his vocabulary seemed old and outdated, but he thought it was just gentlemanly to treat those, especially women with nothing other than respect. Often shown during the older times. He suspected that she was just mimicking this old way of speaking rather than it actually being the way she spoke, but it was fun none the less. 

He shifted the direction at which he was walking, towards her words, continuing to track her down. Something about this cavern did seem to be out of a fairy tale. A forest hidden away within a mountain sounded like a fairy tale to Howl. "Fraid not Malady. The Kingdom seems to be unclaimed and free to be discovered by all. What brings you here." he spoke again loudly. Normally he wouldn't have been that elaborate, but he wanted to play along as she did.

"Oh!  Well then."  She stepped into the cave, taking in the beauty with wide eyes and a huge smile.  This place was sick.  Were those trees?  UNDERGROUND?  How did that even work?  Nevermind she didn't care, it looked awesome and this was amazing.

"I claim this land in the name of Lady...."  she needed a good name.  No queen would have a lame name like Maia (ok she loved her name but she needed something truly cool).  "Lady Dragoneye."  She finished, thoroughly pleased and not realizing this conversation had echoes to Osprey's time in these wilds.  No one would mess with a lady with that name.  No matter it was definitely not a lady's name at all.

"But you can stay, so long as you swear fealty, I suppose." She said, grinning at the concept of that.  Imagine, her commanding anyone?  Hilarious.  She liked this game.

Though he smiled at her response he was more excited to see the face behind the voice. His walk turned into a trot as he became confident now of the direction he took. She claimed to be lady Dragoneye, though she did pause a moment before saying it. Perhaps this was part of the game they were playing, or she was hesitant to reveal her name to a strangers voice echoing in a cavern. Either way, it didn't seem like a first name, perhaps a surname if that was her true name.

He was very close now, so close that he could hear her words from the source rather than from echos off the walls. When she finally came into few and finished her statement Howl stood still. Taking in the sight of her. She had a larger form than most females, but Howl saw this as strength rather than bulkiness. Her coat was mostly gray with unmistakably decorative black marking across her body. And her face... oh her face was beyond gorgeous. The black that framed her eyes, the tannish brown around her face, and her silver eyes. She was by far the most beautiful female Howl had ever seen. He had fallen in love with Heartha's, his fallen mates, personality despite her age, but even she couldn't be mad at his instantaneous fondness for this individual who he currently knows as Lady Dragoneye.

Still standing still, some meters apart her gave her a gentlemanly smile and a bow.  "Then I, your humble knight, Howl Pendragon, shall swear to the lavishly exquisite Lady Dragoneye."  he said before rising from his bow. Gazing upon her once again.

When he came into view, Maia was completely oblivious to the effect she had on him.  She was too caught up in the fact that this guy had just pledged fealty to her (take that, Cass! Who couldn't pull off princess now!) and that meant she had to come up with something super cool for them to do.

Lavishly exquisite.... she liked that.  Though she gave him a long look, wondering if he was making fun.  It didn't seem like it?  Keeping in character, she gave her estimation of a very regal 'hmph', then let a bit of her excitement leak through with a smile.  Ooooh she had an idea.

"Well, fair knight.  What say ye....." ye?  Yeah that was right.  "To some dragon hunting? Surely a kingdom like this has at least one."  And if not it was an excuse to have a rollicking good time exploring.  "They say they grant wishes," she said, as if he would need a reason.  He swore didn't he? But she wanted to up the ante too, and whose to say they didn't say that?  Even if she'd never heard it.

'ye' now that was definitely outdated. But she was doing her best to play her part in this game that she had started. When she suggested dragon hunting he wasn't sure what that would transfer into nowadays, only causing him to be curious as to where it would lead. Were they meant to catch this dragon so it might grant wishes or would killing it grant the wishes, all questions of this fantasy world. 

"A dragon hunt. Now I haven't done one of those in years."  he said playing along. "Though I will leave the wishes to you. I have meet Milady today, so my wishes have been granted... What wishes were you hoping to grant?" he asked after his small complement before they did whatever dragon hunting meant.

Now she was sure he was having one over on her... but she was gonna take the compliments because she was everyone's wish.  Duh.  What would she wish for if wishes were a thing?  She didn't really want anything.

"I can't say or they won't come true," she said very seriously, though that didn't necessarily apply in the case of Dragon wishes.  It sounded better than 'I have no idea' anyway.

"We'll have to look for signs, c'mon!"  Dropping the voice momentarily in favor of the chase, she took off towards the forest.  On arriving at the trees she slowed down, though, momentarily taken by the way they grew within the cavern.  This was a super cool place they had stumbled upon.  Maybe a dragon really did live here; if they lived anywhere, it would be a place like this.

He chuckled a bit at her first response. It was very cute and childish but not in a bad way. It was rare to find someone with such a filled imagination. Though maybe a bit young for her he still appreciated it. It also allowed him to relax and truly take in the surroundings of this forest.

Soon after she was off and inviting him to join her looking for... clues he supposed. She stopped in front of a large tree, which had no discernible features other than being a magnificent tree in this cavern wood. He glanced around and saw something that had caught his eye. "Hey. Check this out."  he said walking over to a tree that wasn't too far away. This tree though was hollow and had a large opening at its base. 

He found a hole in one of the surrounding trees, and she was quick to come investigate.  "Aha, a clue!  Good work!"  She crowed, giving him an encouraging nudge with one paw before lowering her nose to follow the 'trail'.  "One definitely passed by here."  

If she had realized his age, she might have been embarrassed by the game, but she was in too deep now, and the story was too fun to let go.  So she kept it going, heading past a tree with worn bark on one side, likely the work of insects.  "Look! I bet it rubbed its scales here, with an itch!"  The trail was laid out before them! They should follow it, and explore the cave in the meantime.  It was a beautiful spot after all.

 

Super sorry for the late reply. RL has been hitting me really hard recently. Should be back to normal now .

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She came up beside him to smell the ground and claimed to have picked up its scent. She was being very committed to her role he thought to himself. It was fun to think of this as a fantasy world. Not only was this a truly beautiful secret part of nature, but it allowed him to temporarily escape from his reality. Finding a purpose in his life at the moment wasn't proving as easy as he thought it should be. He had completed his first step of joining a pack and contributing, but it had all become very routine and uneventful. It gave him too much time to dwell on this thoughts.

He shook his head as he began to think again of his past, putting on a smile. "Right as always Lady Dragoneye."  he said stepping back into the fantasy. "I believe the trail leads this way."  he said continuing on their way. But then the scent of a none fantasy animal came to his nose. It smelled of deer and Howl thought to himself how a nice taste of deer would be rather satisfying right about now.  "Perhaps we could grab lunch during our exploration."  he explained looking at her to see what he thoughts would be.  

He continued on, now following the trail of the deer until he caught the sound of something. A whining and wailing noise. He followed the sound and came across a deer, but...

Rather than finding a deer standing within the forest of trees, it was laying down. Panting on its side gently moaning in pain. The color of red instantly caught Howl's eye when the full image came into view. This deer lay on its side disemboweled and in pain.

The sight made his stomach turn and he followed his initial instinct which was to run to the deer and clamp down on its neck. It was over in seconds, and the space around them seemed quiet.

She could really get used to this guy callin her lady.  So much so that when he took the lead, she gave him a small and totally ladylike nod of approval.  Embracing the role - the girl was always theatrical, and games like these really gave her a chance to enjoy it fully.

Lunch! Hmm.... ok.  She was suddenly super hungry.  But princesses didn't say 'omg yeah', at least not by Cass's definition.  So she went with a better "As you wish, Sir.... " oh heck.  What was his name again? "Good sir."  She corrected, letting him lead the way as she ambled after.

Woah... seems like lunch was already caught, and from the look of it, by something big.  The game had been in fun, but Maia suddenly wondered if there was actually a dragon here.

"Dyou think we should, or is it still here?" She asked, but he was already moving to finish the job.  Still, she hung back, and looked around warily.  She was no scaredy cat, but it usually took something more than one wolf to do that to a deer.

Once the animal was out of its misery Howl took a step back. One might look at this situation and think that it was a free meal, but Howl was far more intrigued and cautious about how it came to be in this state. He sniffed around searching for any possible scents. The strong smell of blood sat heavily over the body. Not only because of its wounds but because of the amount of time it had flown out from its body saturating the ground beneath it.

Threw the scent of blood he could smell nothing of a wolf. Other than the faint scent coming from himself and her being in the area. Then he caught the slight scent of a feline, a cougar he assumed. The only thing big enough to catch an animal of this size on its own.

Cougars were known for leaving their food and coming back to it time after time, but they usually hid it or at least killed it. Which made Howl very uneasy about this situation.

She asked a question. He asked she meant should they stay and have lunch or leave before the cougar could come back. Howl wasn't too hungry, but couldn't speak for her. Perhaps she was a lone wolf and hadn't been able to find food recently. He didn't like the risk, and he wouldn't have taken it on his own, but...

"I sense it was a cougar who did this. They are known for leaving their kills behind and coming back for them, but not often in this way. If it is your wish to stop and fill up, feel free to indulge yourself. I will stay on the lookout to see if it comes venturing back. But I do not think to stay here for an extended period of time is the best idea." he declared.

Perhaps their little kingdom of theirs was taken. Claimed by a large cougar so confident in his world that he cares not hide his own food. Howl thought unlikely but possible. He would leave it up to her and no matter what she answered would make sure that they both got out of there safely.

mind wrapping this? <3 I'm enjoying! but Maia is my lowest prio so I tend to get slow ;.;

Oh uh.... "yeah, you're probably right."  She said quickly enough, now looking about with increased frequency at the surrounding cavern.  She had zero interest in taking on a cougar, and it seemed her hunter agreed, because suddenly it was at 0 again.

"I should probably actually get home anyway.  No use testin luck, right!?"  She laughed nervously, but did genuinely enjoy hangin out with this guy and playing games with him.  "Thanks for hunting dragons with me.  You're pretty cool, I guess."  She gave him a bump with her shoulder before heading towards where she remembered the exit to be.  He could follow if he wanted, but it was time for her to get back to the mountain.

Lucky for Howl's chivalry she agreed with him that they shouldn't stick around to see if this cougar would come back for its meal. Her words aligned will with Howl's thoughts; no point in testing their luck when neither of them were starving for food. "My thoughts exactly."  he stated.

She thanked him for hunting dragon with her and he politely nodded. It was a fun fantasy filled day today. He still didn't know her real name but he didn't think to ask with part of his mind still thinking about the possibility of a cougar ambushing them. But there was no possibility of him forgetting what she looked like if their paths were to cross again.

He walked her out and he said his goodbye, wondering when they might see each other again in the future.