Moonstone Quarry black vultures circling the sky

Tag for @Ridgeback. Day 1 of oestrus. Scouting thread 1/5.

Frøya had felt unsettled most of the afternoon. The young female had gone for a run through the netherwoods, the woodlands which stretched along the lower mountainous slopes of her new home, in attempt to shake off some of her pent up frustration and energy. Relief had only come briefly however, and after spending some time digging vigorously at the earth around her recently claimed fox-den, and tossing and turning inside it in a failed attempt to sleep, Frøya finally decided to stretch her tired legs once more. 

The female felt hot as she slipped away from Moonspear territory, a prickly heat tingling down her spine despite the bitter afternoon chill and the clouded sky above her. She shook her dark coat repeatedly as she moved, as if trying to shake away the feeling of irritation that seemed to cling to her that day. Frøya headed north, curious to investigate the other smaller rocky formation that she had spied in the distance. 

After cutting through the wilderness, her paws eventually loped along the hard stone which formed the top of a rocky quarry. Further down, at the bottom of a steep limestone cliff, her deep orange eyes spotted a large clear pool of water. Even with the skies clouded over, the water seemed to glisten and shimmer as if reflecting the pale light of the moon. Intrigued, and desperate to cool off after her impromptu expidition, the female set about finding a safe trail which would lead her down to the water.

ridgeback doesn't mean to follow the scent trail — the scent of heat speaks to everything primal within him that he has never attempted to stifle. he had come to the quarry to explore it; as he's done with every other territory he's ventured into thus far. he catches himself slipping a second — a third time! — and in a last ditch effort to force himself to go a different way, he tries to focus his fiery gaze upon anything. the steep incline he would have to climb back up. the moonglow touching upon the stone and water —

it winds up futile. primal instinct will always win out. like a moth drawn to a flame he finds her easily enough; careful to keep a more than acceptable distance between them. this little bit of control he can exert, at least. but he lets out a chuff to announce his presence all the same, hoping that she might beckon him nearer.

The sound of tumbling rock echoed against the steep limestone walls of the quarry. Instinctively the dark female paused in her tracks, her hackles rising defensively as her head turned about in search of its origin. Some distance behind her, she spotted a dark grey figure now moving to follow along the same path that she had taken. 

Frøya sniffed at the air curiously, breathing in the scent of the loner on the crisp early evening breeze. The female had not expected, nor wanted, for company — but now that the male was here, she would not run him off. He had kept a respectful distance and, from the sounds of it, he could use some direction in navigating the quarry paths. Jumping down to join onto another trail, she trotted along the narrow path a few metres before glancing back over her shoulder. "This way." She called, an instruction for the stranger to follow after her if he should posess the nerve to jump from one path to the next like she had.

She loped further down the path again, her deep orange eyes now dancing along the pale crystalline water of the pool below, and then back to the trail she was currently taking. She could see no clear way down, but she knew the path would at least get her closer to her destination. Perhaps if the male should dare to follow after her, he might offer some insight of his own. She stopped again and glanced behind her in search of his dark grey figure, interested to see if he had kept up or decided to turn back the way he had come.

at her beckon, ridgeback follows. she is but a stranger but primal instinct begs him to follow her like a loyal groupie all the same. no matter how hard he tries to ignore the pooling of warmth, of heat in his abdomen as her scent wafts back his way; lifting upon the soft breeze that touches upon the quarry as he leaps to precarious path after precarious path in her wake. as his paws make contact with the next path, the rocks slip and slide and he presses his shoulder against the rockface so he does not lose his balance and tumble below. are you part mountain goat? ridgeback asks her in jest as he pushes from the sharp rock face and leaps to another path drawing him ever closer to her leading form.

The familiar sound of tumbling rocks echoed once again behind her, though this time the noise was considerably closer. The grey male must have decided to follow her after all. She looked for him, glancing back over her shoulder only to see him pressed up against the hard stone walls of the quarry, looking rather uneasy. Frøya raised a brow at him, a teasing grin spreading across her charcoal lips that quickly widened into a smile in response to his question. "No, just more agile than you it seems." The female jested back with a playful wave of her tail, a daring look flashing in her deep orange eyes before she bound forwards again, as if proving her point to him.

She could only follow the path for so long before it led to a dead end, requiring her to find another trail to follow that was accessable from her position. Below her she had spotted a large boulder, its size ample enough to provide a suitable platform to look out from, but the rocks surrounding it looked unstable. Unsure whether to risk sliding her way down to boulder or finding another way to proceed, she turned back to the male. "Can you see an easier way down?" She asked him, her dark brows furrowing in consideration of their options.

obviously, ridgeback quips back with a snort. herculean and agile were not two words that necessarily went hand in hand. ridgeback is all hard muscle, broad shoulders and sturdy framed. well built for fighting but not precisely for elegant balancing ...especially over such a precarious ledge that keeps drawing his attention out of the corner of his eye despite his best attempt not to. as distracting as her estrus is — very distracting — he is not so intoxicated that he is entirely unaware that one misstep could cost him his life. he squints, gaze searching before he motions to a partially hidden path with a steep step down, concealed by spindly cliff brush. what about that path there about ...four steps behind you? he gestures to it with a soft motion of his muzzle.

The snort offered up by the male roused one from Frøya in return. Though she hadn't had the chance to properly inspect him, given the distance that remained between them, she could tell that the male certainly was much larger than her in size, standing both taller and broader then her shoulder to shoulder. She imagined how big and imposing he might seem when standing up close to her, something she would have to find out once they reached less precarious ground at the bottom of the quarry. 

Dark ears lifted up to listen to his suggestion, feeling her cheeks grow hot with embarassment as he pointed out a path that she had neglected to notice in her hurry to advance down to the water. Silently, Frøya turned about herself and stretched down past the brush to place her paws on a path further down the cliff. With an awkward hop her rear limps followed, before she bounded forwards again, feeling pretty pleased with herself as she looked to see how the larger male would get on. 

The path she now stood on was much wider than those further up the quarry, easily allowing for two wolves to stride side by side if they so chose to. Noticing this, Frøya decided to linger for a moment to finally allow the dark grey male to catch up to her. He had proved himself helpful in navigating the trails, so perhaps now he deserved not to chase along after her quite so much. She would even give him the opportunity to lead the way, if he so wished.

ridgeback feels an amused smile tug at the edges of his lips; slow. her scent cloying the air that hangs between them. it is plenty of distance. not enough. too much. a deep breath is taken; slightly uneven. the deep inhale through his black, leathery nostrils rapidly makes itself known as a bad idea and ridgeback feels his paws drift forward, seeking to close some of that too much, not enough distance between them. she diverts down the path but — gods — waits for him.

he considers, through the haze fogging up his brain as it begins to make the unfortunate switch into secondary function, that perhaps it is best if he leads; less likely to smell her that way.

it requires, he sees, sucking his breath in thru clenched teeth, brushing past her. the path is a bit wider than the others they pirouetted ( well she pirouetted, ridgeback was far less graceful than that ) across but still. if he touched her ...ridgeback shudders, ears fluttering back against the crown of his skull. he wants to touch her. he shouldn't touch her. he takes a step forward, numbly. another. another yet. closer and closer until his breath hitches in his throat and his heart begins to hammer against it's prison of flesh and bone.

cruel.

you should keep going. he rasps in grim statement; the idle threat that he is a hot blooded beast and will be tempted to do what all hot blooded beasts do when in the wicked grasp of the season.

Frøya watched the male with obvious interest as she lingered on the trail further down the steep cliffside. The large male seemed hesitant in his movements, moving forward for a few steps and then stopping suddenly, his brow furrowing in serious thought. Frøya's head tilted to one side, her deep orange eyes gazing up at him in mild concern. "Come on, you won't fall." She called up to him, her dark tail lifting to sway with gentle encouragement behind her. 

However, even with her words of encouragement, the male still hesitated to jump down to join her. Instead he ordered her onwards, his voice more rough and less playful than it had sounded previously. A snort was given, and with a flare of her nostrils and annoyed sweep of her tail, the female stormed onwards — her dark ears pressed back firmly against her head as if to further display her irritation. Males, she scoffed to herself with a roll of her eyes. All they seemed to care about was their pride. 

Following the wider trail as it snaked down the side of the quarry, Frøya was relieved when it finally led down to a large flattened area which met the clear shimmering water. Now her tail lifted to sway excitedly again, as she moved quickly to the water's edge, giving her dark pelt a thorough shake as she approached the water to drink. The water a cold, refreshingly so, and the female wasted no time in quenching her thirst before thinking back to her tag-along male. Lifting her head, she turned to look around for him, the cool water still dripping from her chin.

it's not that. ridgeback is quick to protest. his eyes close for a moment, black leathery nostrils flaring as she waves her tail — and that damning scent — 'round them. he considers, for a moment, that she might not be aware; aware that she is, in the here and now, his own personal hell. that each step closer to her he takes, eliminating the too much not enough distance betwixt them everything archaic and primal screams out at him. ridgeback watches as she, steps ahead of him, finally reaches flattened land and he steps down upon it with a soft sigh; forcing his legs to carry him as far from her as he can manage around the pool's edge. beyond his protest he offers no further explanation and bows his head to take his own drink from the fresh water.

Frøya observed the male, water still dripping from her chin, as he passed her by and circled around the edge of the pool. It was as if he was purposefully trying to get away from her, or ignore her entirely. The young female's shoulders stiffened and her hackles lifted only briefly as she glared across to him, her deep orange eyes not hiding her displeasure. 

As far as Frøya was concerned she had done nothing to offend him, so again, she was forced to put his behaviour down to his wounded pride. With a disgruntled huff of her nose, the dark female turned her face away and then placed her back to him, ignoring him just as he had chosen to ignore her. A frown still pulling at her face, she refocused her attention back towards the crystalline clear waters. 

It was so beautiful the way it shimmered and glistened, the water so clear she could spy the rockbed underneath, one that was scattered with pale stones that too seemed have a shine all of their own. Intrigued, the female leaned in closer, her nose hanging above the water as she balanced precariously on the edge of the bank. Further she leaned, her orange eyes straining to see more of the strange stones which lay beneath the water, and further still, until — SPLASH!!! — her body plummeted into pool, water rising up to crash down all around her. 

Now she stood, her body trembling from the cold, drenched wet and thoroughly unimpressed.

ridgeback picks up on her annoyance easily enough and feels a surge of confusion. he was trying to be a gentleman by keeping distance between them. ...women, he thinks with a roll of his eyes. she wasn't the first woman to be annoyed with him and he sincerely doubts she will be the last. ridgeback's attention drifts then; a pleasant reprieve from focusing near solely upon her despite his best effort not to. a fox darts past him in the shadows and he watches with some modicum of interest as it darts into a bush, bottle brush tail the last thing to disappear into its hole. he's half turned away and looks back in the woman's direction with a start as a loud splash echoes. she stands in the water, trembling, looking very much like an unamused cat that slipped and fell in the bathtub. a snort escapes him; last ditch effort to avoid outright laughter before he does laugh. loudly.

Laughter erupted all around her as the male's voice echoed against the steep walls of the quarry. Frøya's ears pressed flat against her head in embarassment as her cheeks grew hot and her damp fur bistled in clumps along her back as she considered how rude it was for the stranger to laugh at her misfortune. 

A part of her wanted to drag herself out of the water and drag the male right into it, however after a moment's consideration she concluded the he was much to large for her to stand a chance of throwing his weight around. Instead, she decided to play coy and pretend as if she had planned to enter the water all along. Suddenly, the female jumped up and splashed down once more into the crystalline clear pool, her tail waving in mock amusement behind her as she tried to seem as if she was just messing around like a pup might do. 

After leaping around a bit, confident that her dignity had been somewhat saved, Frøya turned her attention back to the shiny stones beneath the water. A few of them lay exposed in the rubble beneath her paws. Pushing her head under, she attempted to dive down and grasp a couple in her jaws — a task which proved somewhat difficult with her eyes closed.

ridgeback allows her the remaining shreds of her dignity as she plays it off — but he knows. he saw; it's in the coy, mischievous glint of his fiery gaze — and rolls his shoulders as his head turns away to survey the part of the quarry's bottom they had yet to explore. even so, ridgeback can't entirely fight the smirk that curls the corners of his lips as she splashes around in a manner that reminds him of a small, excitable cub. he shakes his head ever-so-slightly and stretches before lowering to his haunches and then to his belly at the bank of the pool. he watches as she dives under in an attempt to get something. ridgeback's first thought is fish but he doesn't see any and is left wondering only to ask — because he can't seem to help himself — are you part otter? teasingly when she comes back up for a breath. he can't recall seeing anyone dive under water like that except for fish and even then doesn't remember seeing any of his siblings fish like that before.