Silverlight Terrace weight of the world

Utilizing a stranger as a guardian did not feel as strange as she anticipated, and the two of them made good time as they delved away from the coast; yet at some point Parvati separated from @Deimos — among the mountains, which took her breath away with their monstrous size and harsh beauty.

The silvered earth seemed to glimmer in the light as she moved; she was briefly transfixed, and when she returned her attention to the path ahead of her, the man's shape was nowhere to be seen. It was just as well, she muses. At some point she would be free to choose her own path without any need for guardsmen or protectors.

Parvati was eager to get on with her life, and as she hiked along the terrace with the spring sun on her shoulders, she felt the barest warmth of that freedom and basked in it.

He stayed carefully on the edge of the tension brewing among his family, but it wasn't easy. Right away he had taken to noticing Charon's departure, sniffed it out to being something involving mom, and then finally tracked his route away out vaguely into the terrace. When he didn't catch good, secure wind of him right away, his motivation to keep following waned out fast; oddly, today, he wanted to stay closer to home with everyone still there in mind.

Although there was an uncertainty stewing in his gut even still, he tried, then failed, to keep it away. What if his dad's trail led to the tuktu? Jarilo wondered when he might be back, or what the deal was in the first place. He had not mustered the courage to get the answer from his dam yet, but maybe later.. if he did well in his wanderings, so he had to focus and do... something before chaos could erupt without him to be around to see it.

But while he was preoccupied looking for focus, his casual little jog carried him towards the stranger's path along the terrace, and he realized this belatedly once he already had to be in her sight. Subconsciously he was already committing to this interaction thanks to this, so he went on and stepped forward with a curious look, his back to the spire of home as his tail waved hesitantly, lifted only at the tip. Mostly he seemed keen, maybe a little wary in light of the subtle surprise he was still dealing with, going extra the intentionally neutral, but a few breaths in and he almost had a presentable stance about himself that was supposed to say a nice greeting to help secure her attention.

She was content, at least for now, to observe the hulking mountains and the alien trees; this land was so fertile that they seemed to grow on every surface, with lush ferns woven between, and grasses she'd never seen before, flowers — it was very different from the realm of her own birth, but it was beautiful. The mountains in particular appealed to her. They were the most similar to the stonework of the drylands — different here, of course, bigger and littered with more life than she could ever fathom, but mountains and dunes were similar enough in her eyes. She was surveying the highest points from quite a distance and wondered if she should embark towards them, start heading up the mountainside even though it seemed so imposing, when she spotted a dark shape.

Her first thought was, Deimos, and she would have been glad to see him again. Their arrangement hadn't lasted as long as she'd hoped, but Parvati blamed herself for that. Her mind was easily distracted in this new space; she felt like she had energy to spare and had managed to separate from him in the process. Perhaps he had found her and returned —

But the closer the shape got, the more she could study of them. It was another ink-blot creature, but they moved with more alacrity; their familiarity with the region was evident in the way they roamed. Plus, it seemed as if their route had started somewhere south-west of her; the closer the stranger got the more certain Parvati was that this couldn't be her protector. A part of her was nervous in that moment of understanding. Another part - this freshly discovered piece that dawned upon her in the spring light - was curious, bold, and eager to learn more about the region from the wanderer.

She waited where she stood for a bit, at least until he caught sight of her - and they locked gazes for a moment - before Parvati made her approach. The route caused her to back-track a little bit, but just as well... If Deimos did manage to catch up to her, he'd find her quickly. She sniffed the air cautiously as she drew nearer to the black wolf, and then called to him from a safe distance, Hello — do you live among these mountains?

The dark Ostrega came into this light with few expectations, and felt that he didn't need to be weighed down by that for the time being anyway--it could be best that way. Without real, true business beyond his own curiosities and a want to keep himself busy elsewhere for a while where the tensions of his family couldn't wring him out, he found himself able to move forward easily--utterly unaware of what her thoughts of him may be, and deciding not to dwell, so long as it was not danger that loomed obviously ahead of him.

Willing himself absolutely into the present, and intending to stay there, he perked properly when she called out to him, and about the mountains no less. An easy place to start for him, then. I do live there, he said, testing the grounds with another small step of his own that he had to stay mindful about. Instead of more, he channeled the momentum into a rhythm for his tail to sway. The tall peak. Are you passing through? he asked, placing his best foot forward towards still, though intending his disposition to read as friendly, but sharp-looking, enough. In case that may help since he didn't feel like he had a lot to lose here.