Horizon Ridge sunny, money, keep it funky
we don't need another ruler
all my friends are kings
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#1
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The last place Mallaidh wants to visit again is the ridge. After Roarke’s encounter she wanted to put the place behind her for a long time but she, Max, and Saarthal had spent a few weeks there. Maybe, if anywhere, that’s where she’ll be. If she wanted to be found, maybe.
 
Her head lifts slightly to look up at the sky, clear, and a slight breeze coming in from the sea. The salty air gives her comfort and she inhales deeply, holding it as she moves along the familiar path. Unfortunately, it’s the same way she’d been going when she ran into Roarke and she tries to shake it off entirely and focus on what she’s really here for. At some point, she’ll have to give up if she never finds anything, and as nothing of importance comes to her attention, she feels enough on the verge to turn back that going any further would be silly.
 
But her feet do not stop an onward she goes.
 
Having lost Varinril weighs too heavily on her and without Saarthal, she does not have the promise at someone by her side. If they’ve left, so will Max and, once more, she’ll be on her own and her friends will be… who knows where. So, Mallaidh releases the breath, sucks in another, and continues. She’ll find her.
 
She has to find her.
i'd give anything to hear you say it one more time
that the universe was made just to be seen by my eyes
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Ooc — slimestone
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Darkmoon had never seen the sea before. The salty wind was harsh and stung his eyes, and the roar of the ocean flooded his senses. It was also much colder out here than in the cover of the forest, and the gale chilled his frail body to the bone. He had not eaten a proper meal in a while, surviving off scavenged rotting carcasses instead, but it was far from enough to fill out his frame. Malnourished, weak and starving, he was willing to go anywhere to look for food.
    So it was that Darkmoon trotted, wraith-like, along the pebbly shore of the beach. He was approaching a large mess of boulders, the after math of some tragedy it looked like. He did not know much about coastal ecosystems, but he knew there must be shelter among the rocks and where there was shelter, there was often food. That much Xolea had been able to teach him in the short time they had known each other, before she left him. Alone.
    As he approached the rubble, however, the movement of a white shape high above him drew his attention. It appeared to be another wolf, although it was too far away to glean any more information, and so far seemed not to have noticed him either. Darkmoon was not sure what made him climb the rocks to confront her - maybe he thought she would know of or be a source of food - but he picked his way up the boulders anyway, trying to clamber up the boulders as quickly as he could before she got away. "Hey!" he called out, trying to grab her attention.
we don't need another ruler
all my friends are kings
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#3
Mallaidh moves up the rubble, following the familiar path she’d familiarized herself with Saarthal and Max. Would her friend even come back this way? Would she go all the way to the plateau? She closes her eyes and thinks, breathes, and her ear twitches slightly behind her. Rock moves beneath another’s food and the sea air brings her the scent and the second before he speaks, she starts to turn.
 
Down the way is another wolf, tall and thin, dark in color, and she doesn’t recognize him. Her heart skips a beat, thinking her brother has remained on the ridge and he’s back. She goes through the whole series of whether or not they’d fight again, what she would say, and how she’d get him back in a matter of seconds. Anxiety takes off like a Boeing, straight into the sky, and she has to shake her head to get any clear thought back into her mind. 
 
“Hey,” she calls back, looking down at the rubble beneath her feet to retrace her path back down.
i'd give anything to hear you say it one more time
that the universe was made just to be seen by my eyes
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Ooc — slimestone
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#4
The wolf turned around to face him, and Darkmoon instantly regretted calling out. Damn, he thought, stopping where he was. The whole thing was a stupid endeavour; he questioned why he had tried to gain her attention in the first place. He glanced around himself furtively, but saw no real out. He had put his foot in it.
    "Err," he offered stupidly, not knowing what else to say. He wanted to beg her for food, but knew that sort of behaviour was beneath him - at least for now. He may have been starving, but he was not completely pathetic. Tongue-tied however, he remained silent, awkwardly standing a few boulders below her.
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#5
When she turns around, expecting an answer, she doesn’t get one. Err. She blinks a few times and then clears her throat. She looks to the left, then right, and sniffs the air to see if he’s the only one or if someone else is with him. Is this a ploy to distract her? Her jaw tightens and she stays up high, even if it corners her. She knows the ridge enough to be comfortable on the loose stone and she can only hope it stays in her favor.
 
But nothing happens.
 
He stays in his position, looking up, and she shifts her posture just slightly. If he’s going to be useless and distract her, she might as well get something out of it.
 
“Have you seen a girl ‘round here? All grey, orange eyes, a little smaller than me? Goes by Saarthal?” she decides, barking down at him. She won’t make the same mistake she had with Ford but she’ll get right to the point with all the details.

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i'd give anything to hear you say it one more time
that the universe was made just to be seen by my eyes
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#6
"What?" He said instinctively, without really thinking about the question. It took Darkmoon a few moments to comprehend what she had asked, not really expecting to be questioned on another wolf's whereabouts. He had only just arrived here, after all; not that the other wolf would know that, he reasoned with himself.
    "Oh-um, no, haven't seen anyone," he answered in a dismissive manner, looking around himself again, "I'm out here looking for food, not some wolf." He tried to play off disinterest in their conversation, although the hypocrisy was evident when the words escaped his mouth. After all, he had done nothing other than approach a wolf this day - in the search for food, of course.
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Mallaidh’s brows knit together when the stranger responds. She doesn’t much like the answer, finding it useless, especially considering he doesn’t understand the importance. He brushes it off. Fur around her nape bristle, thickening her mane, as he claims he’s only looking for food. Ugh. She rolls her eyes.
 
She opens her mouth to say something but decides against it, snapping her teeth together and shaking her head, turning to move back up the ridge. If he can’t be more useful, then she needs to move on and keep looking.

90
i'd give anything to hear you say it one more time
that the universe was made just to be seen by my eyes