Ravensblood Forest you'll always feel as though you tripped and fell.

@Fox <3 So today I learned that cave diving is actually scuba diving in underwater caves, not jumping into caves from a great height. The more you know...! >____O;

I really hope I don't get her killed... is what FInley should have been thinking as she trotted merrily alongside the fire-furred alpha. But if she possessed the ability to think such things, she would not be Finley at all but some much less interesting version of herself. Someone lame who looked at death as an actual potential consequence and not just another exciting part of the game. Caution had no place in Fin's mind except as a tactic--nervousness (however rare) an obstacle, bruises and scars, trophies. No, it was far safer to say that Finley was thinking something more along the lines of ...I hope this nearly kills us. Because if it didn't almost kill you, then what fun really was the game?

"There we are!" Fin chirped brightly as she put on a burst of speed, bringing she and her counterpart to the "arena". The journey that had taken thus far had been very bland--nothing but rock and dirt to be seen as they made their way along the summit that ran between the Plateau and Ravensblood Forest. No doubt Fox may have been wondering why on earth Finley had ever traveled through that bleak landscape in the first place. The Blackthorn had her reasons though--she always did. And the gaping hole in the earth they now stood on the edge of was one of them.

How far down below them water was, Fin couldn't even begin to guess (partly because she's a wolf and doesn't know how to measure distance, secondly because I personally have no concept of distance either), but it was far enough down to light the wildifre that shone behind her eyes when she was facing a challenge that was truly a risk to her well-being. Across the crevice on the opposite side from where they stood, a wide stream flowed down and spilled its water down, down, down into a pool that had formed below. The sound of rushing water echoed out from the darkness, and it was the strength of this sound and the height of the drop that made the Blackthorn fully confident that what she was about to propose they do would not be their bane.

"What do you think?" Fin asked, turning to look innocently at Fox, as though she were merely asking if the patch of grass she had chosen for them to lay on looked comfy enough.

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In many ways, Finley was not unlike Fox. It was just that they went about their thrill-seeking in different ways. Fox preferred to ruffle the feathers of the wolves and pack around her, while Finley preferred less political conflicts. When Finley led her to a gaping hole in the ground with water flowing in it like no tomorrow, Fox cocked her head to one side. She was no stranger to danger (buh-dum, tish!), but this was even a little crazy by her standards. Still, she wasn't about to be out-couraged by her fellow pack-mate.

“I think you should go first. You know, for the honor,” Fox suggested, her tone hinting that there would be little honor in getting themselves killed. If Finley managed to survive the dive (poet and I didn't even know it!), Fox would hop in after her. But she wasn't about to risk her life for mere thrill-seeking... at least not when it didn't involve getting in scuffles with other wolves.

Finley gave a wide grin as Fox suggested that she go first. There wasn't a chance that she was going to shy away from the opportunity to show off for her alpha--and also potential friend. Well, potential friend was a little dumb to say. Finley made friends very, very quickly--often times quicker than her friends made friends with her. Fox was already amongst those ranks. After all, she had said "hi" to Fin once. That counted as friendship. So really, all Fin was doing was trying to earn that friendship back, by risking her life. Cause that's how you do things.

"Gladly!" Fin responded. She turned her attention back to the crevice, trying to determine where the best spot to jump would be. Too far to the left or the the right and she would be just a splatter of used-to-be-a-wolf on the rocks below. After a couple of minutes, she made her choice and she crept forward to the very edge. She paused there, giving her companion a glance. "If I die..." she said with a completely serious look on her face, "...tell Peregrine, that his is still coming."

A grin flickered across her muzzle, and she dove.

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Among all the wolves of the plateau, Finley was definitely up there in Fox's list of wolves that she liked. Peregrine, of course, held the top spot. And Lasher's recent actions had shoved him quickly to the bottom. Blue Willow and Dante lay somewhere above Lasher, but below Finley. So perhaps Finley was her closest friend at the plateau outside of Peregrine. What a strange thought, considering they really hadn't even spent that much time together. It was just that they clicked so well.

“His what?” Fox asked, but by the time the words left her muzzle, Finley had already taken her leap of faith. Eyes wide, Fox peered down into the dark hole, trying to see if she could spot her pack-mate... dead or alive. Squinting, she could see nothing. Just the darkness that gulped up any light that might have helped her to see Finley. And how, exactly, did Finley intend to get back up here? Had she even considered that? Fox thought not, especially since she was only considering that question now.

“Did you make it?!” she yelled, her voice echoing off the walls of the cave.

Finley fell for what seemed like an eternity, but once she landed with a giant splash, it felt like it ended all too soon. She kicked her legs to send herself shooting back up towards the surface, gasping for air as she broke free. For a moment, she simply tried to take in her surroundings, as though doing so would convince her that she hadn't died. Weirdly, it had, and a huge smile burst across her face as she turned her gaze upward to answer the question she had barely heard.

"Come on in, the water's great!" Fin barked with a laugh. She paddled and splashed happily around for a moment, basking in the afterglow of the rush of adrenaline from the jump. Finally, she swam off to the shore where she twisted around and settled to watch Fox take the leap, smiling just as eagerly and excitedly as she had when she herself had done it.

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The barking, splashing, and encouragement were all that Fox needed. With an ungraceful belly-flop, she landed in the water with a loud and obnoxious slap that would surely send waves going in all directions. Fox had plenty of swimming experience from residing in the creek for so long, but nothing could possibly prepare her for the strange thing that was cave diving. The hole from which they had entered was like a strange portal to another world, looming above them, and Fox paddled her way to the shore where Finely was basking in the cave glory.

When she managed to lift herself from the water, Fox came out looking more like a wet rat than a wolf. Shaking her coat only made her look like some kind of mad hedgehog. So, when she was finally done doing all that, she looked at Finley. If she'd had a mirror, she would have realized what kind of red horror she looked like in that moment.

As Fox began to jump, Fin tensed at the heat of the moment, the thought of all that could go wrong flashing through her mind in those brief seconds that her alpha's legs were propelling her away from the rocks. But when the flare of red came sailing down towards the lake, Fin was grinning like mad and barking her excitement--the wolf version of a drunk girl shouting "WOOO!!" when some crappy song came blaring out of the club's speakers.

Fin pulled back to brace herself against the splash that swelled as Fox's body hit the water. She blinked water out of her eyes as she looked to see the alpha paddling towards her. A wide grin was waiting for the fiery wolf as she climbed up into the rocks next to Fin, her delight making it impossible to keep it hidden.

"You dead?" Fin asked as Fox stepped up beside her, still shaking slightly with gentle wakes of laughter.

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“Do I look like I’m dead?” Fox jested, bumping her head playfully against Finley's ribcage. What Fox didn't realize is that she looked like something out of a horror story. And not in the spooky, cool Halloween costume kind of way. More in the "looks like she's been binge-drinking for three weeks" kind of way. Not cool at all. Fox took a minute to check out their surroundings again. There were plenty of slippery, mossy rocks beneath their feet, and the hole that they had jumped from was above. The way out was less clear.

“So how do we get out of here, anyway?” Fox asked nonchalantly. Surely there had to be a wolf-sized exit that didn't require them to sprout wings. Now that the dive had been accomplished, she wasn't really sure where they would go from here.

"You never know," Fin quipped back as her friend nudged her, "We could both be dead. This could be Heaven..." She took a look around as she said it as though she were serious, but it only lasted for a moment later she was laughing about what horrid luck it would be if this dark, dank cave turned out to be the afterlife they had in store.

The gamma turned back to her companion as her voice echoed into her ears. "Oh, we just go--" Fin hesitated as she glanced over to the ledges she had thought would be their staircase back to the surface, realization coming over her like a cold bucket of water, "--up.. the....... huh..." She blinked stupidly at the wall on the opposite side of the cave. Her "stairs" actually ceased to exist rather high up the wall. Instead of steadily sweeping in towards the pool, it actually swept suddenly backwards so that unless they leaped into an M.C. Escher painting and learned how to walk on ceilings, they were not coming back out the way they came in.

After her gaze swept around the rest of the cave, they landed on her alpha's expectant face. Fin's ears slipped back upon her head as she lowered it and gave an innocent smile. "Heh... Guess it's good we see in the dark, eh?" Fin said with a slightly nervous laugh. The only way they were getting out of this was to follow the river wherever it lead them into the dark, which would definitely work. The water had to be flowing somewhere, right? Probably? Oh god she'd killed them both. Maybe Fox wouldn't notice...

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Fox quirked a brow at Finley, realizing her exploration companion really hadn't thought this through. Fox had given her the benefit of the doubt, but it was becoming clear that Finely did not know how they were going to leave this place. Not that it was the worst place to be stuck... but Fox wasn't keen on staying here forever. She was fairly certain there were better places in the world. Sure, this place had a certain charm to it, but it was nothing compared to some of the other landscapes Fox had seen.

“C’mon, then,” Fox advised, “Let’s start figuring out where these caves go.” It would probably take a few hours (or more) for the couple of them to find their way back to light, but Fox was confident in their ability to get out of this without too much trouble.

Even though Fin had given her friend the never-fails-ever puppy dog sorry face, she was actually surprised that it had worked. She stared after the cinder-pelted female as she slipped into take-charge mode and... took charge of the situation. Her eyebrows lifted in pleasant surprise as her alpha turned away to devise a plan, her head canting slightly and then slowly nodding as a smile slipped across her lips. This lady was worthy. No matter how it was she had ended up as alpha of their pack--abandoned her old pack, super-banged the alpha into dumb obedience, what have you--she was a woman worth following.

"I'm right behind you, lady," Fin replied with a confident smile. "And not that you need my obviously flawed input, but I'm thinking that if we follow this river, it'll eventually lead us somewhere worthwhile."

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Do you mind if we wrap this up in the next couple rounds? Trying to close off old threads. :)

Fox paused to consider Finley's suggestion, and then the young leader began to follow the river with Finely at her hocks. They had gone on a few minutes before Fox's voice broke the silence. “You know, there are few wolves who are willing to tolerate my shit,” she said, “and I’m glad you’re one of them.” At least, it seemed to be that way. Finley had asked her to come out adventuring, so she must not have loathed the fireball. Not only that, but Finley had that extra personality jazz that Fox couldn't help but like. Maybe Finely was one of those wolves who got along with everybody.

As they continued, Fox began to see telltale signs of the outside world, most notably the smell of fresh grass and flowers. When the duo finally made their way outside, Fox blinked in the bright afternoon sunlight right before sneezing and spraying flecks of snot in every direction. The girl licked her nose, and then glanced back to ensure Finley had made it out as well.

GET OUT OF MY HEAD, REM. I had the same thought :P

Fin stared curiously at Fox's behind (it was all she could see, okay?) when the woman spoke to her. Tolerate her shit? Fin wasn't certain what shit Fox was referencing exactly. She hadn't had any personal experiences with the woman that suggested anything... intolerable. How strange. She supposed there had been some gossip when Fox had first arrived, some altercation between her and Willow and a... birdy... or...

Luckily, the thought process ended when Fox finished her sentence with something Fin took immediately for a compliment. She whined softly with pleasure, wanting to actually say something but completely failing at actually coming up with anything. So, she let the conversation drop and instead their talk meandered between a few frivolous conversations of little consequence until a long while later, they were blinking again into the sunlight.

Fin shared a happy grin with Fox as she trotted forward, further into the outside world and took a deep breath. "Ah, I forgot how good trees smell," she said with a little laugh. She pressed forward along the river as it wound its way down the cliffs until it melted into another and began a new journey through a place that looked... awfully familiar...

"No way..." Fin said softly as she looked up towards a ridge high above them on the opposite side of the river. A row of tall alabaster stalks lined its edge, reaching up towards a canopy of yellows, oranges and brilliant red, as though the sky were alight with fire. "That's Emberwood," she said to Fox with delight and surprise in her voice. "I've been here before! Kaihra and I found a pass through the mountains beyond the Plateau and we came upon this lake that flowed down this huge drop into a ravine. This is that ravine. I think it sweeps around Emberwood and dumps out into that big lake at the edge of the forest. From there we could easily get back to the Plateau."

They weren't going to die! And even better, they hadn't gone through a time vortex and ended up in some alternate reality they'd never escape from! Wait, that wasn't better.

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Feel free to fade or just archive here. ^__^

Fox listened as Finley explained where they were, glad that somebody seemed to know. The thought of being in strange territory with no guide back home made Fox feel uneasy. She was not sure she could stand to be away from Peregrine if that were to happen. In fact, the thought of him immediately made her miss him, and she could already feel herself being pulled in that direction without trying to. “Shall we?” Fox asked, bumping Fin's hip with her nose.

The plateau wasn't too far away, but the young leader was eager to return. It would be a good story to tell Peregrine, as she had an inkling he got along well with Finley. Really, who wouldn't? Only the most sourest of pusses, that was who. And Fox couldn't really see Peregrine being much of a sour puss. Then again, she was terribly biased. With their noses pointed in the right direction, Fox began to lead them back home.