Nova Peak you think i'll be the dark sky

night has begun to settle over the wilds, painting sky in a myriad of vibrant darks as the sun finishes it's descent into the horizon. punisher is tired from his journey — he's spent almost all day traversing through varying heights of snow and he figures that the steep ridged peak is a good place to bunker down for the night. a low grumble of a complaint leaves his lips as he studies the half of the forest that is burnt.

it appears — though his sight is not the best in the night only having one eye that actually functions correctly — as though the other half of the forest was spared by the fire. when-ever it had been it'd been some time ago, he thinks. there is no lingering scent of smoke or ash and he trudges through the snow — thicker without the canopy of the forest to ward it's fall — with another grumble under his breath.

he feels a disturbance of weight in the junction between his shoulders and the slither of vor as she uncurls herself and tries to bury herself into his fur for warmth. ow. he snarls and whips his head towards his left shoulder of which the beautiful serpent is retracting her fangs from. that hurts, y'know. he can never tell if it's a form of her own non-verbal form of displaying annoyance like the snake equivalent of shut up or stop complaining, or if he's accidentally unsettled her and she's letting him know that she thinks it's a form of attack or if it's her sign of affection. it wasn't like she came with a nifty little guidebook of how to care for her ...and having her around is still a pretty new thing for him.

his scarred ear flutters back as she scents the air and he lets out a huff, swinging his head back around as she buries herself once more into his thick fur, trying to relocate her spot of preferred warmth, his breath leaving his lips in a plume of white steam that unfurls in the air before him and evaporates. he continues forward, wondering how hard it might be to find a temporary shelter of refuge beneath the unburnt half of forest for him and vor.

Sif had accidentally wandered way too far from home, and as night started to fall, she realized with sickening worry that she wouldn't be able to try and find her way back until the sun came up again. She wasn't even sure how she found herself in the eerie place because she had been startled by something at the base of the mountain and had just sprinted away without paying attention to her surroundings. All she noticed were the scorched trees creating dark, ashen blurs as she whipped past them in her frantic fleeing. 

As she came around a large rock formation, she saw the stranger too late and came to a sliding stop in the snow a few feet from him. Panic and fear squeezing her stomach, she crumpled to the ground, wincing as she prepared for the attack she was sure would come next.

there is a blur of motion caught briefly out of the peripheral of his right eye that becomes a vague shadow as his focus tries to switch to his blind eye. his steps slow to a halt, startled and confused as his moves his head towards the small and lithe woman that has come to a stop a few feet from him where she has crumpled to the ground, her body looking like it's as taunt as a bow string about to be loosened. he blinks owlishly at her, throughly confused, and lets out a noise as vor stretches and climbs up for a view and to smell the air. he knows she's smelling the air because his scarred ear shivers at the anticipation of her forked tongue touching it. it doesn't but he always anticipates it nonetheless.

when the sun is down she rarely leaves her favorite and warm perch, but it would seem that her own curiosity got the better of her. punisher lets out a soft grumble before asking, are you alright? on instinct his right eye scans the landscape to see if anyone is following her but deduces, contentedly, that she's not being chased when no one else appears.

The miserable moments passed by almost unbearably as she waited for the repercussions of her actions, but they never came. Instead, the stranger asked if she was alright. She opened her eyes and glanced up taking in his appearance for only a few quick seconds before dropping her gaze again. She noticed the black snake peeking at her from behind his large head, but she was too ruffled to ask about it now. He was a pretty shade of red from what she could tell by her brief glance, but what she noted most was that he was big--much bigger than she was, and he could easily hurt her with minimal effort. So far, he seemed to mean her no harm, though, so Sif slowly unfurled herself from the ground, careful not to meet his gaze, and settled into a slightly-hunched sitting position. 

She swallowed hard. Um, I-I don't know, she answered first, her voice shaky. I heard something and--and just ran, she admitted, ears falling a little in embarrassment. She had been startled, so she ran; it's not like she could have really stood up for herself anyway if it had been something aiming to hurt her, so her next best defense was to get away as fast as possible. I, um, I'm sorry if I intruded, she offered next, eyes lifting just barely before darting back to the ground.

Out of habit, she took a slow step back, wanting to place more space between them. She hadn't realized how close she was to the edge of the cliff until her rear paw was sliding down it, throwing off her balance and causing her to tumble down the mountain side. Seconds later, she would land at the rocky bottom of the peak, neck breaking with a snap as her body landed with a thud, lifeless eyes looking back out of her body at the area she would rot. She knew no one here, and no one would look for her.