Dragoncrest Cliffs I'm all the way up

For anyone who hasn't met hushie-plushie @Xan @Kendra @Arlo @Tirgatao

The redwood forests never ceased to amaze them. He had been made miniscule by the mountains before, but never a living creature, never a tree. He stared up their trunks, his eyes squinting as he tried to find their canopies. He wondered if any creature, other than the birds, had even seen the heavenmost branches. Would even a squirrel have the strength and stamina to climb all the way up there? He wondered.

*crashes in*

Tirgatao wandered the far reaches of the territory in a languid fashion, her path meandering—winding in lazy curves between the massive trunks of the redwoods. It had come to her attention that there was still more members of Drageda she'd yet to actually introduce herself to and so she hoped today would gift her with the chance. She rounded a corner, ears twisted back, and came across the slim, russet figure of who she assumed, at first, to be Wildfire. But her nose told her otherwise a beat later. A male! 

She lowered her head to hang near her legs, and lashed her tail left and right in an affiable display. Tir slunk a few steps forward and extended her nose to sniff at him with a kind smile.

He turns with a start, briefly startled by the woman's appearance. The sheer girth of the trees hid her physical presence well. He was too interested in the height of the trees to recognize anyone else's presence, but after a moment, the mute settled. He chuffed, his tail wagging in greeting as he moved forward to sniff her in turn.

He whips around at the sound of her voice and she, too, startles a bit. She hadn't meant to interupt him so rudely him, and even feels a bit bad of it, but she's glad the former splita of Drageda are the type to ask questions first before biting. Tirgatao's smile grows when he mirrors her action and she flipped her ears back to a more casual posture. The logical assumption to make here was that he was of a higher rank than her, for she hadn't met the other two who'd joined and he smelled only of Drageda. 

"Hello, I'm Tirgatao." She said warmly, "Formerly of Trigeda." The second sentence, of course, was to politely test his knowledge of Trigedasleng. The pale woman found it a bit odd that he hadn't said anything but, really, she hadn't either on her first approach.

Hush snorts, acknowledging her past. He knew of Heda's former pack, having met many who followed her to Teekon. But he truly wondered how many of them would come. How many were there to start? His questions remained unasked, rather than unanswered, as he smiled apologetically, raising a pack to point at his throat.

When he lifted a paw to his throat, it took Tirgatao only moment to realize—this was the Hush Heda mentioned. The one who couldn't speak. She suddenly felt very foolish for not remembering sooner, and felt the heat of humiliation on her face as her eyes went wide with surprise—she slicked her ears back flat against her neck, closed her eyes, and shook her head in a very clear display of embarrassment until a sheepish smile crept upon her lips. She tilted her head to the side, and twisted one ear up to half-mast. "Sorry, I completely blanked. Hush, right?" the question was, for obvious reasons, rhetorical.

Tirgatao quickly moved on from her mess of an introduction, and glanced at the massive redwood with an openly curious expression. Her gaze wandered up, and up, and up, and up until she felt her head spin from the sheer immensity of the tree. Her warm brown eyes flickered back to Hush's own blues. He was handsome in a curious way; she couldn't make heads or tails of it, but it all culminated into a sharp physique. She could understand why he was Drageda's Rauna. "I imagine the view up there is incredible." She remarked with a soft chuckle.

Hush smiles, long past being angry at anyone for the belief. It was rare to find wolves who did not, could not speak, disability or not. Hush snorts gently, his tail waving behind him gently, as he nodded in response. The woman had nothing to be guilty of, and he reinforced that with a gentle nudge. 

The conversation went from his lack of verbal ability to the trees above them, which was a far more impressive topic. His head craned back once more to admire them, just as impressed as the woman. He walked to one of their trunks, raising up to see if he could grab a foothold of any kind, but there was no such luck. He collapsed back to his feet, hmphing. The view would be left to the birds and squirrels.

Tirgatao was soothed by Hush's gentle touch and smiled, glad that her occasional failings were not taken to heart by the russet male. The topic moved on quickly, and the faux pas forgotten. She, too, followed his gaze back up to the canopies. There was no way they could ever enginneer a way to climb to the top, but her imagination was enough to keep her entertained on the thought of it. Truly, Heda could not have chosen a better place for Drageda to settle after the geological upheaval at Sleeping Dragon. She'd never seen the mountain peak they once called home, but Tirgatao was automatically baised towards old growth forests.

An expulsion of air from her companion drew her attention and she faced him again with cupped ears and raised brows, having missed his attempts at finding a foothold. "You know," she started slowly, "when you stand at the edge of the cliffs, it kinda feels like you're flying. They're so high up, you can see the whole ocean from them." the soft woman explained with a wave of her tail. "It's not the same as this, and maybe not as safe since the cliffs tend to give way sometimes, but occasionally life requires taking risks." Tirgatao had no way of knowing her commentary about cliffs would have a great deal of relevance in the coming weeks. It was only coincidence (and not her writers fondness of allusions).

Though he loves the trees here, he is still not used to the sea. The salt air still felt strange on his body, trapped in his fur, wearing him down. He felt that weight in every part of the shoreline as he moved. It wasn't like an actual weight, more like he was swimming, a pull of something against his body. 

She speaks with reverence towards the ocean, about the cliffs. Hush snorts, looking uncomfortable at the thought of the cliffs. The ocean did not frighten him, but it did not fill him with awe. Disgust? He can't understand why he doesn't enjoy the ocean as the others do, but he does. He hums in response to her last phrase, at least agreeing with that.

When his expression contorted into something resembling dislike, Tirgatao laid her ears against her neck and smiles bashfully. "Sorry, I just—I tend to overshare a bit sometimes." She admitted with a slow sweep of her bushy tail while making a note to not talk about her imagination so much. Instead, she decided to direct their conversation into action. The pale woman swept low, her elbows kissing the snow, and her rump raised high as she slapped the ground with her paws. "Up for a run? Go rustle up some unsuspecting rabbits, maybe catch a few grouse for the caches?" She paused, "Maybe show me a bit more of your favorite spots here?"