Larksong Grotto She is frequently kind

Her tour took her from the tangle and toward the peak that lay between the Glacier and the ocean. She saw the spot of evergreen nestled in the mountain's ridges, and was drawn toward it out of curiosity. Hardwood trees stood bare of leaves, but the evergreens brought colour to the area which was otherwise either covered with snow, or drab grey from stone. When she followed the decline, she found herself peering down into what appeared almost like a sunken lake. 

It was glacier blue, and she could smell just how fresh the water was. Something about the scent of snowmelt always made her feel calm. It appeared even more vibrant in the daylight, on a day such as this where the sun shone bright and the sky was blue. Wondering how she might get down to taste some of the water herself, she began to traipse along the edge of the crater, trying to suss out a safe way to pick her way down to the grotto.

It was a bright day, and the wolf was in a bright spirit to match. She traced old paths through the snow and carved new ones when she found something worth exploring: a slim icy stem to chew on thoughtfully, a crumpled feather in the snow, a suspiciously-scented pile of leaves that turned out to be some small creature's abandoned home. Little details, each one committed to memory. All the while, the patch of evergreen flashed around the periphery of her attention and her line of sight, until the wolf found herself wandering near enough that it seemed worth investigating.

The first thing she saw, however, was another wolf! A slim, dark creature who appeared to be searching for her own path down. She stole a glance over the dark wolf, then looked down and saw the blue expanse, and she understood. The wolf stood still and scanned the perimeter of the grotto, searching for a place where the slope gentled and the path looked stable. There was none. Only a series of uneven ledges, some of them jagged and others unsteady by looks alone. She looked openly at the other wolf for the first time, only briefly to see if she would accept the challenge too. Then she started toward the path.

There were some options, though none of them looked really reliable, especially not in winter. Ice glazed the ledges, making them shine. Lilia continued to move along, considering what looked like the most feasible path until she caught sight of another wolf- a yearling, slightly larger than her, but with a friendly look to her hazel eyes. She regarded Lilia with an expression that seemed curious, inviting. 

Lilia waved her tail. Scouting and travelling smoothed her temper; she learned to respond first with humility. 

"You know thith area?" She asked, hoping perhaps the other wolf might be more familiar with the terrain.

The dark stranger stopped with a friendly wave of her tail, and spoke to her, but the wolf had no use for words. She paused in her own advance to look again, acknowledging that she had been spoken to with a grateful tilting forward of her ears but making no attempt to respond in kind. Then she gestured, beckoning, and started again. Her own tail swept through the air behind her. The blue lake waited for them below, but first they would have to brave the treacherous climb down.

The first step of the descent was a small drop from one ledge to the next. The second ledge shone with ice, but only across half of it; a well-placed hop down would guarantee a safe landing. The wolf looked again at her black-furred companion, and noticed that her ruff was pretty and golden as she regarded her. She looked back at the stone below, and carefully made the first drop down onto the ledge. One of her paws caught the ice slightly and slid, but she righted herself without much of a stumble. Again, she looked at the other girl, and this time she was expectant.

Friendly, but quiet. Lilia didn't mind; some of the wolves she admired the most were wolves of few words, so she simply acknowledged that this was yet another one who spoke more with motions, expressions and actions. When she moved forward, Lilia assumed that she did know the way down. She'd put her faith in someone who seemingly knew the way. 

The agouti girl hopped down to a ledge, and Lilia crouched to see roughly how far down it was. It looked slippery, though the other wolf hadn't seemed to have much of a problem with traction. Her feet looked dirty- perhaps that'd helped. Lilia gave each of her pawpads a quick lick- clearing them of the snow wedged between her toes that might otherwise make her slip. She teetered, gauging her landing, before she too dropped down onto the ledge. 

Freshly moistened, her pawpads gripped just enough. She was surprised, and pleased with this discovery. She tilted her head to look back up- she'd have to make sure she didn't jump down any drops she could not get back up. Pleased with the light thrill, though, she looked to the other and gave her a faint smile, ready to proceed.

She watched the girl with sharply attentive eyes, her gaze following each movement with ears flicking back and forth all the while. The wolf saw the moment her companion thought to follow her own example, and stepped back to give her more room to jump down. When her landing was successful, the wolf let out a little bark and stomped her front feet in quick succession. Yes! That was it! She smiled back and then looked forward, to the next obstacle.

The path down was a little less clear now. Their ledge was stable enough, but the next drop would bring them down onto a crumbled mess of sharp rocks and ice. That would not do. The wolf peered in the other direction, where the ledge was covered in ice. If they could clear the ice with a leap, another patch of stones waited, but these ones were bigger and smoother. More importantly, that specific pile led down to another flat ledge where it looked like they might be able to step down to the next, rather than hop. She sidled past her companion with a beckoning wave of her tail, and looked pointedly at the mess of stones she had in mind, then to the girl. The wolf tilted her head questioningly and waited.

Lilia peered past the girl's shoulder, to see what awaited them. At first, it didn't really look all that possible to her; the ledge didn't go very far, and the next obstacle did not look as though it could support their weight for very long. She followed the other wolf's gaze, which led to a sizeable slick of ice. Lilia frowned, and doubted the girl's judgement for a moment until she realized that beyond the slippery ice was something that looked a lot more stable, and grippy. Trailing her gaze along that, she saw the next ledge. It looked like their best option. 

But the ice was formidable. It looked almost a bit too far for her to leap, but even if she mostly made it, and got her front paws onto the rocks, she figured she might be able to make it. Coming back might be easier, as their ledge was flat. She looked to the other, as if to say you wanna go first?

The wolf continued to watch, taking in the frown and then the slow growth of confidence as the other girl put the pieces together. Then those blue eyes were on her, expectant, and she understood. She gave herself a little more space to make the jump, braced, and aimed for the largest stone she thought she could reach. It didn't go exactly as planned. She cleared the ice, but landed awkwardly between two stones; one foot slid and her leg folded awkwardly, while the others desperately scrabbled for purchase. The wolf kept her footing just barely, and paused for a moment in that uncomfortable position just to regain her bearings.

She picked herself up slowly, and carefully moved further away from the ice to clear the way for her companion. Then she turned, keeping close enough that she could reach out to grab the girl if she slipped. The wolf rather liked her new friend, and did not want to see her splattered across the jagged stone path. Blood and a body would make the way down harder besides, and the wolf was determined to explore the bottom of the grotto this day. So she watched and stayed ready.

Lilia’s heart leapt with the wolf. She leaned forward and her tail waved. For a second, she was convinced that the wolf would have cleared the ice and would land fine- and her scope was indeed good. She cleared the ice, but she jolted when she landed. Lilia couldn’t clearly see but let out a sharp bark of encouragement. The wolf steadied herself, regained her balance, and found her footing. 

Now, it was her turn. 

She was shorter, and her legs were not nearly as long but she figured she was strong. She backed up to give herself a bit more momentum, and set her sights on the rocky landing spot. She crouched, and scrabbled forward. 

Her hind paws hit the ice patch and sold her short in her leap as they skidded out from under her. That cut her distance down, and she landed on her belly on the icy ledge, nearly knocking the wind out of herself. She splayed her legs, using her long, curved claws to keep herself from teetering off the edge of the ledge. She still had several feet left to go.

Fear gripped her. She couldn’t even look back over her shoulder for fear she might overbalance and tip off the ledge. She looked forward, her eyes wide, and her lips tightened. 

Slowly, she began pulling her feet beneath herself, but the ice was slick. Several paws slid right out from under her and she banged her chin on the ice when she slipped. Again and again she picked herself up only to lose her grip. 

In a humiliating but quite ingenious change of tactics, she began to scoot forward, using her belly for traction, moving like an inchworm. Her front paws reached the boulder- and once she had her midsection clear, she pulled herself to safety and panted, relieved.

The vague notion that her companion may be in danger became very real very quickly as the dark-furred girl made her leap. At first the wolf only echoed the bark of encouragement the girl had offered her just moments before. That wasn't enough. Nimble as she had proven herself so far, the other girl just didn't have the advantage in this situation, and the wolf's ears slicked back to have not realized this sooner. The other wolf was slipping and failing to right herself, and there wasn't much time to act.

The wolf with dirty paws darted forward, but she didn't think about how slick the stones were! She scrambled to rescue herself from her own rescue attempt, regained her footing, and reached for the other girl's scruff just as she scooted within range. Whether or not the wolf managed to be of any use, it was clear she had not saved the day as she hoped. When the other girl cleared the ice, the wolf sniffed over her thoroughly, checking her for scrapes or cuts and attempting to clean any she found. Quite intrusive, really, unless her companion warded her off with snarls and snaps.

Lilia froze when she felt teeth sink into the fur at her ruff. She didn't panic, didn't react, but kept inchinc forward, the gentle pull at her loose skin and fur helping her maintain her direction. But with every inch she crept closer, her face just inches away from the woman's chest and dirty feet, she had to convince herself not to lash out. 

It was wrong. Someone grabbing her by the scruff...It felt wrong. She felt as though she'd lost a fight- though consciously, she knew that it was only something the other wolf was doing in order to help. She was quick to jerk her head back as soon as she could, and flashed her teeth in an ungrateful way. When she was sniffed, she uttered a thin, low growl; just enough of a warning, she hoped, to ward the other off. 

She moved forward with a slightly stiff gait, hoping she could just forget the whole intrusion pretty quickly. It would have been more satisfying to knock the other flat on her ass just to establish herself as the boss, but down here, where the footing was so icy...It'd probably mean they'd both get injured, and get stuck in this pit together. Even she had enough common sense not to give into that instinct. 

Their pathway from there, fortunately, looked pretty gentle. She moved forward, taking the lead this time, and skirted along the ledge, toward the last spot that remained before she could hop down gently to the ground. Once there, she lifted her head, and looked back up. 

She'd never been in anything like this before; a great, sunken pit, it seemed, as if caustic water had worn away at the stone over thousands of years to create such a low-lying lakebed as this.

Rebuffed with flashing teeth and a rumbled warning, the wolf skittered back with ears slanted and tail tucked. She whined once to placate her companion, and stood back as she took the lead. They were close to the bottom now, and the wolf was quick to forget the brief tension as she trotted forward in pursuit. Still she kept a distance between them, understanding that the other wolf had no desire for contact. They would travel together for now, but they were not friends! The wolf kept this in mind and followed carefully.

She practically bounced from the last ledge to the ground below, tail waving airily. The wolf, in stark contrast to her companion's careful observation of their surroundings, charged ahead. She circled the perimeter of the lake in ever-tightening loops with her nose to the ground, tail low and swinging wildly, until she reached the water. Delighted, she lifted her head to catch the other girl's eye and barked from where she had halted across the water. Then she dunked her whole face into the cold lake, and immediately regretted it.

 
Thought ya might like a wee av for Dirty Paws <3
archiving this for now- but if you bring her back, I'd love another thread!!

Maybe she'd been a bit harsh- but her warning had had just enough of the desired effect, she thought. She moved forward, toward the water, content to be able to dictate how close they got, while the other seemed to be more mindful of their proximity. 

The water smelled clear and fresh- but Lilia wanted to examine the walls of the cavern they'd entered before approaching the lake. A smile tugged at the corner of her mouth as she watched the other run circles around the lake in her peripheral vision. She was funny- and she had a lot of energy. She was altogether nice to be around, especially now that Lilia felt they weren't getting too close too fast. 

She approached the water when she was barked at, but huffed a laugh when the other stuffed her entire face into the water. The water itself was a cool, pale blue- almost a perfect reflection of the sky's colour- but given the fact that it was glacier-fed, Lilia knew that the water was going to be cold. She inhaled a breath and grimaced; waiting to see the look on the other's face as soon as she pulled her face out of the freezing water.

The grotto was likely one of the most intriguing places she'd gone to on her scouting tour- and it was an adventure and a meeting she would not easily forget.