Blacktail Deer Plateau come with me now, i'm gonna show you how.

@Kaihra if you have the time! :D :D :D

The time had come. It had taken the sterling woman a lot longer than she had originally expected to explore all of the Kintla Flatlands, but she was proud to say she had done it. There was not a speck of dirt to be seen from the Plateau that Finley had not sniffed at, and that meant only one thing to the feisty little mockingbird--It was time to climb a mountain.

Fin had spent the entire morning traveling along the base of the mountain, searching for the perfect starting point. In the end, she chose the very place she had picked out from the first moment they had discussed the adventure in the first place. She sat there, chuckling gently. Excitement ran like a lightning bolt along her spine, sending happy little tinglies all along her nerves. She was positively thrilled for what was about to happen, even though her most bestest friend in the whole world was probably completely unsuspecting at that very moment!

With nothing left to do but get to it, Fin tossed her head back and let out a long musical note, calling for Kaihra to come and join her. As previously stated, and as cannot be restated enough, it was time to climb a mountain.

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Oh yes! :D

Kaihra rolled over on the lukewarm grass until her belly faced the patchwork sky. The sun peeked through the cloudy cover and bathed the land in a ray of glowing intensity. Kaihra closed her eyes and let the sun warm her with its dying heat. Summer was fading, and Autumn approaching; she could feel it in the wind and see it in the darkening days: the air grew cooler and the night fell sooner. Her concern over the pack's failed hunt lingered as a bitter taste in her mouth. How many more failures would they face before winter came?

She rolled onto her side and let the summer noises forge the worry from her mind. The sun disappeared behind a cloud, but she gave it no thought. Its rays would be back. She focused instead on letting each muscle lax into slumber. Her body buzzed as sleep began to drag her into a time of forgetting.

Somewhere on the Plateau, a howl sounded. Close, melodious, and - Kaihra opened her eyes and frowned.

Calling her name.

She lay still for a moment in utter confusion. Then she remembered.

Finley.

The mountain.

The Theta scrambled to her paws. Her worries of autumn and winter were quickly silenced by the lingering echo of Finley's howl and the weight of its lofty tone. Two weeks had come and gone, and she thought Finley had forgotten their deal. How foolish a thought.

Still ripe with the stupor of the onset of sleep, Kaihra stumbled to face the looming mountain with her brows creased in concern. She pawed at the ground and, for a heartbeat, debated her options: heed the call or ignore it. But Kaihra knew she had little choice. She lingered a moment longer and stared at the sky with a look of why me. But she knew it was her own fault they'd be climbing the mountain that day so, heaving a sigh, she loped off in the direction of Finley's howl with a quiver accompanying each and every step.

With the sound of her call echoing overhead, Fin set to work exploring the path she had chosen. She made sure not to travel too far up along the gently sloping terrain, wanting to save the real exploration for when Kaihra got there, but she wandered far enough to find where the cool, loamy paths began to turn hard, and the terrain began to incline at a sharper angle. She gazed upward towards the peaks. They were still some distance away from where the angles sharpened even stiffer and the real climbing would begin, but Fin grinned with a confidence only a daredevil like her would feel when such a challenge laid in her path.

They were totally going to own this bitch.

Humming happily to herself, the silver mockingbird turned back and headed down the path to where she had started to wait for her friend. As luck would have it, she arrived just as her dark-pelted friend appeared. Fin gave a happy little bark to declare her location fully to Kaihra before prancing up to give a happy, friendly nuzzle at the other girl's cheeks.

You made it! she chirped joyfully, I am happy to report that I've explored the entire Flatlands, so it's time to explore some not-so-flatlands! She gestured up towards the mountain at their back as she replied, her tail wagging all the while.

Now I hope you don't mind, but I did a little bit of a pre-exploration, Fin continued, a hint of apology in her otherwise excited notes, The trail goes on at a pretty easy trek for a little while before we start getting into some rougher terrain. It'll definitely be longer than that before we get to the real fun, so we'll have plenty of time to go over strategy and methods and all that good stuff before we get to it. I expect with a good pace, we can definitely make some good progress up the face of the mount by midday. Sound good?

Fin watched her companion's face with a giant toothy grin, not a hint of trepidation to be seen upon her own.

Sorry for how late this is! School's been keeping me busy ):

She didn't know what to expect, but she continued forward with an even lope. The run hadn't stilled the gentle quiver in her legs, and her brow still pinched subtly with the wariness of the approaching endeavour. The mountain loomed closer by the second, and Kaihra looked this way and that for her bouncy companion. Finley's scent hung strong on the air, but she could see nothing of the grey girl. She felt her fur bristle as she trotted closer, faster now as she realized Finley's trail led straight up the mountain.

A small yip caught her attention and Kaihra flashed her eyes toward its origin - and promptly huffed out the breath she'd suppressed as she spotted Finley not far from where she paced. She slowed to a stop and the grey girl ran to greet her with a nuzzle. Excitement sparked from the girl's body to her own, but Kaihra nudged her back with little of the fervour she'd been greeted with, her brows still knit as she followed Finley's gesture to survey the towering peaks.

Had they gotten bigger in the past two moons?

She flashed her eyes back on Finley and cupped her ears to listen to the bubbling girl. A buzz had settled in her bones and her brow remained subtly creased, but Finley's words surprised her and she felt her mind begin to relax. Finley had clearly prepared for the trek, and left time for further preparations to be made along the way. Maybe she'd underestimated the girl. Though she couldn't flash Finley an equally toothy grin at the prospect of the adventure, she sealed her fate with a small nod. "You've prepared well." She shot her eyes back to the peaks and wondered if they'd actually make it all the way up - and if they'd actually make it down again. Her gaze darkened and she sucked in a breath, ruffling her fur before turning back to her grey companion. "Will you be leading the way?"

Finley felt a tingle rush along her spine as the dark woman agreed to her terms with a gracious compliment of her work. With a roll of her shoulders, she followed Kaihra's gaze as it lifted past her at the quest beyond. It was so beautiful. Where her companion saw danger and peril, Finley saw... Well, she also saw danger and peril. Only the Blackthorn looked on these things with excitement where Kaihra, probably far more wisely, felt trepidation.

I can lead for now, she offered pleasantly. She had already been down the path they were about to take, after all, so it really just made sense. Once they got to the mountain, Fin was all for working together to choose their path. To take on a task like this, they would definitely need both sets of eyes to determine the best path.

Once we start the climb, we can work together to find the way, Fin said as she turned and began to walk, anticipating that Kaihra wouldn't be far behind.

Kaihra relaxed at Finley's offer to lead the way and agreed with a nod. That the grey girl knew at least part of the land that lay before them provided some comfort to the woman, one that Kaihra seized and stashed away before it could disappear.

Despite Finley's obvious excitement, Kaihra didn't sense the grey girl operated on a spirit of recklessness, and at this Kaihra found herself surprised. Finley appeared to be ready to strategize before making any movements up the face of the mount, and had already proved her ability to do so by exploring ahead before they began their journey. Though Kaihra's paws still tingled at the peril they could face on the path ahead, she chose to take confidence in her packmate's willingness to calculate their movement and slipped into a steady pace behind her companion.

The ground felt solid beneath her paws, though she kept eyes fixed on her feet to ensure she landed on the sturdiest parts of the winding path. Loose rocks lay here and there, and even the smallest could prove hazardous if stepped on at a wrong angle. The last thing they needed was a twisted paw. For a moment she flicked her gaze past Finley toward the mount, before returning her eyes to the ground again to watch for loose stones. Something in Finley's words set her stomach churning, and she replayed them in her mind. The grey girl expected to make good progress by midday before the real climb would begin. The mental and physical strain of climbing the peaks would no doubt weary them out, and night would likely fall by the time they reached the top. Kaihra felt her brows knit and her voice rang cool on the air. "Do you imagine we'll be sleeping on the mount tonight?"

Finley did many, many.. many many many, many many, many, many stupid things. But if she hadn't been smart about doing them, she would have been killed when she was two months old. The memory played in her mind as she walked along, causing her to chortle softly. Kaihra's voice brought her out of her reverie and brought her back to reality. She gave the girl her glance and smile combo move.

"Probably," Fin admitted, "What I'm really hoping to do is to target that area a little to the East where there's that low point between the peaks. I've been to the tops of mountains before, there's really not much to see except for a really cool view. There's a lot more to discover in the low areas--caves, valleys, falls. If you're looking, all three in one! Then we can do some cave diving." Her paws tingled from excitement at the prospect. It never occurred to her to wonder if Kaihra would be up for that sort of thing. After all, why would she wonder about a question with an absolute answer?

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There was something in Finley's smile that unsettled the dark woman, but for the time she shuffled it to the back of her mind as she flicked her gaze to the East. Though the shallow dip stood a high way up the mountain side, the lowest peak still towered over its path. The grey girl's strategy to make for this spot reminded Kaihra of the time she'd crossed the mountain range that had separated her from these lands. Those mountains had shadowed these, yet she had pursued a path of similar characteristics and had safely made the journey over, and the dark girl felt a small confidence return to her step at the thought.

She could have lost herself there if Finley's voice hadn't brought her back to the present. She began to register the final words of the grey girl and felt her paws steps slow and her brows begin to knit. She'd mentioned caves and valleys and falls - yes, everything she'd have expected to find in a fertile land between mountains. But then Finley had said - "Cave diving?" She realized she'd slowed to a near stop and picked up pace until she fell in step behind her companion again. Confusion spiked her fur and knit thin creases across her face, though those seemed to be a ready part of her expression these days. What exactly were they climbing this mountain to do?

Fin failed to notice that her friend had slowed to a near stop, nor when she had quickened the pace to return to her side. She also failed to notice the concerned undertones that twisted beneath her query, instead thinking she had heard excitement because that was what she expected--and wanted--to hear. "Yep! Maybe, anyway," she said with a wag of her tail.

"Have you done it before?" she asked, glancing over her shoulder at the dark girl, "It sounds scary, but it's really just thrilling. The pools of water that form inside of caves are usually deepest at the opening where the rain and rivers fall down into it, especially when at greater heights because it hits the surface with greater force and shifts the rock and dirt to the sides." The memory of her most recent diving experience came to mind and she another excited smile flit across her lips. It was the one she would one day be taking Fox to. Then they would see what the new alpha was really made of.

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Finley did not seem to take note of the concern in Kaihra's voice. "N-no." She did her best to swallow the rising panic that tightened her throat. "I haven't." And she did not plan to try, but she bit her tongue before the words could slip from her lips. No doubt they would have been laced with a sharpness she couldn't afford, and she felt unconvinced that she would be able to give any words that could sway Finley to think of a different way to spend their time between the mountains.

As she listened as Finley described the art of cave diving, Kaihra found she didn't like the sound of the grey girl's explanation and took the liberty to change the course of their conversation. "Was your family as... adventurous as you?" Kaihra's own curiosities lingered only as distant fantasies of her puphood. Maybe then she would have found excitement in cave diving, but she felt far removed from the girl she once was. Her mother had been quick to discourage her whimsical interpretations of the world and with it any want to explore for the sake of adventure.

The trees were beginning to thin the further the pair ventured towards the distant peaks. The dense foliage they moved through too began to fade to just grass and the occasional bush dotted here and there amongst the trees and rocks that began to jut out from the ground that they traveled through. Soon the grass would be gone as well, leaving nothing but dirt, and then that too would disappear and there would be only rock and gravel to walk upon as they began to climb with the earth up towards the sun. There were many miles yet before the Plateau wolves made it that far, though. And plenty of talk to be had in the meantime.

"Gosh no," Fin replied with a small laugh, "A couple of my brothers were, I guess. I usually had to drag them along to the more fun stuff, though. They liked to act all big and strong and brave, but they were little wimps when it really came down to it." She shook her head fondly remembering them. She felt the pinch of homesickness against her heart, but it was gone as quickly as it had come. Fin didn't regret her choice to leave for an instant, but she did miss those she had grown up with every now and then.

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The changing landscape registered in Kaihra's mind, but she knew they still had a ways to go before they braved the mountain's rougher terrain. For now she found herself content to distract herself from what was to come by learning more about her companion, and so far Finley seemed to welcome the conversation. If she thought of the trip as a means of acquainting herself with her younger packmate, she realized she could trick herself into not feeling so foolish in going along.

"Your brothers sound charming." She quipped as a smile quirked her mouth. Kaihra found it easy to imagine Finley's brothers, though the accuracy of her fantasy was crude at best. She found little surprise they'd been less than eager to indulge the girl in her wild escapades, but word of their false bravado brought memories of her own brothers to mind. They'd been neither broad nor strong, yet even as yearlings they'd put on brave faces only to turn tail and run too many times to count. Their antics faded as they'd entered adulthood, but sometimes she wondered if the strength they showed now was all a facade, and if under everything they felt as scared as she did but just knew how to hide it much better than she. She shook herself of the memories and let her gaze linger on the ashen girl. "And do you have any sisters?"

If Finley were ever so slightly less self-centered, she may have had the notion to turn the questions Kaihra was posing back on her once she answered. As luck would have it, Fin was plenty self-centered, so Kaihra would not have to suffer trying to avoid answering any personal questions she did not want to. Considering how secretive Finley had thus far completely failed to notice her dear friend was, that probably actually was lucky for one of them after all.

"Oh yeah, plenty of sisters too," Fin replied merrily, "The Blackthorn family really is quite large. My parents started having puppies as soon as they were able, and mom'll probably still be popping 'em out while she's on her death bed." She laughed gently at the thought of little puppies trotting out of her mother's--oh wait god that was awful what the crap. "I actually wonder sometimes how many more little baby brothers and sisters I've gotten since I left." It was weird to think that there were little Blackthorns out there that she had never met before, but that was the life of a wolf.

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Due of her upbringing, Kaihra felt perfectly content listening to Finley's life story without giving any insight into her own. It wasn't that she had anything to hide, per se, but she feared what could happen if she let another wolf get too close. So when Finley did not return her questions, she came to take pleasure in their one-sided conversation. She gradually found her attention fixed more on the ashen girl than on the path, and she let loose a nervous laugh when her companion described the rather morbid image of her pup-popping mother. "She can't have birthed too many more." Kaihra said with a gentle shrug, but bit her lip soon after. Finley appeared at least a year younger than she, meaning the girl could easily have a dozen little siblings by now if the girl had not exaggerated her mother's habits of reproduction.

Kaihra shook herself of the thought and realized the ground now sloped at steeper pace than before. She could feel the extra effort in every step and wondered if Finley felt it, too. "We'll be reaching rougher ground soon." She shot an uncertain glance at her companion. It was not so much the climb that scared her - she'd been up enough mountains to know herself capable of travelling along the terrain to come - but rather the uncertainty of what they would face along the way. That was what set her nerves on fire.

"Eh, I wouldn't put nothin' past mom... Her last litter will be 30 strong, just to spite everyone who thought they were finally done babysitting for her," Finley said with a grin. The thought of her birth pack made her feel a little melancholy, so she allowed the conversation to fall by the wayside after that. Fin shook her head lightly and turned her attention back to the ground that they walked upon, which was indeed getting rougher. She acknowledged her companion's words with a nod and a flash of a grin before upping her pace. She was certain Kaihra would follow suit, since she hadn't a doubt that the dark girl wanted to get to the mountain and the real fun just as badly as she did.

It was a couple of hours later that the pair finally slowed and Finley dropped onto her haunches for a nice break. She shuffled around to look back at the path they'd taken thus far to get where they were, and she was actually quite impressed with them. "You know, I'm pretty impressed with us," Fin said--proving that I told you so. The land that stretched out behind them was a beautiful sight to see from the height they'd climbed to thus far, but the Blackthorn turned away pretty quickly from it to look ahead. The path they were about to take was far more interesting to her than where they'd come from.

"What do you think," Fin asked, as though she were about to see if Kaihra wanted to call it for the day when instead... "What direction should we head from here?" She glanced at her friend with a smile, fully welcoming it if Kaihra wanted to take the lead for a little while and find their way. Fin was fully confident that from here, they could maybe find a pass between the peaks, but whether it was on their level or yet above was yet to be seen.

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Forgive me. I know nothing about climbing mountains D:

Kaihra found her statement met with a quicker pace, and took a moment to pull herself up to speed. She felt a small churning at the rising ground that flashed by her paws. She would have kept the slow climb all the way across the mountain range, but she could see the advantage in moving quicker now despite her desire to do anything but. Jogging along the easier ground could half their time in reaching the hardest climb and give them ample daylight to pull through the more perilous paths.

But as they travelled, the patchy sky filled with a light layer of clouds that blocked the sun from sight. Kaihra searched for the orb's position with increasing difficulty as the day ebbed on, and soon she turned her face from the sky altogether. She trained her frustration on the stony path instead and tried not to wonder how much daylight they had left.

Kaihra felt grateful at Finley's decision to rest, but she remained standing, knowing if she sat now she'd never be able to make herself move again. Finley spoke, and Kaihra turned with the ashen girl to survey the land they'd left behind - and pulled in a sharp breath at the sprawling land that met her. The flatlands stretched on an on, giving way to mountain and then flatland again. The Plateau's scenic view could not compare to this, and she lifted her head trying to catch sight of their territory below. She hadn't realized how far they'd climbed, and the dark woman felt a strange tingle through her nerves she'd not felt in many moons.

Finley's voice cut her from her thoughts and she turned, resting her gaze on the ashen girl. Though glad for the rest, she felt ready to keep moving, not willing to spare the daylight they had left. She felt surprised Finley would hand her the reigns to lead, but responded with a light nod. Taking confidence she could choose the path for the hardest climb, Kaihra suppressed the dangerous tingle she still felt within and lifted her gaze to the land before them. She first sought out the pass they aimed to travel through, but could not see it over the rise and fall of the land. In fact, the dark girl could see no clear-cut path across the range at all, and could not anticipate when a gentler slope would turn to jagged rocks or a dead end. She knit her brows and turned the other direction, but as she did so flicked her gaze briefly to the sky. The clouds loomed dark overhead and hung thick with the threat of rain. Kaihra frowned and felt an uneasy stir. The last thing they needed was a rainstorm.

The threat of a storm prompted Kaihra to turn left again in search of a path that looked to be their safest bet. She remembered how the Western range had looked gentler from the Plateau, and the dark woman glanced back at Finley with a nod at the path to take. "Let's head West." Maybe they could find an easy trail between the peaks, or a different pass not too far from where they wandered now. Anything that would get them across the mountain range in the quickest time, and before the storm clouds marched over their heads. She began the trek forward at a slower pace, leading them along a shallow dip in the land that boasted a small rock barrier to protect them from the mountainside's steep slope.

I added some links to images so you can see what I'm trying to describe, since I will very openly admit that I kind of suck at such descriptions lol I have an image for what they'll see at the edge too :P

The storm growing overhead was not something Fin felt all too concerned about, even though it would have been much wiser if she were. It was fortunate for Fin that she had Kaihra along with her, who seemed to be cautious enough for the both of them. They were of a like mind in one respect, however. Neither wanted to linger for too long resting, though for the black wolf it was due to the brewing thunderstorm. For Fin, it was only because she was eager to get back to the fun of the climb.

She fell into step behind her packmate easily, her attention turning to the view since Kaihra was now the one mapping their path. It really was an incredible sight to behold. She liked to imagine she could see her willow somewhere down below them, even though it would have been impossible to tell one top of a tree from another. Once she decided on which tree belonged to her, she allowed her gaze to wander along to where she knew some of her other packmates denned. There was Peregrine and Fox, there was Blue and Atticus, there was Finn...

This was enough to keep the Blackthorn entertained for quite a while as the pair continued up, up the mountain. It was only as the world began to grow darker from the sun setting somewhere beyond the clouds in the sky that Fin slowed to a stop, her ears perking and head turning around. "Hey... do you hear water?" Fin asked her companion. It was quite an unexpected sound for them to hear so high up above the ground, but one that excited her immensely.

With a grin, Fin danced forward across the rocks to take the lead again, twisting across the cliffs until a path peeked suddenly out at her through a crevice between two tall peaks. The Blackthorn paused and glanced behind her to make sure Kaihra had kept up. Then with little hesitation, she slid between the rocks into the passage.

The pass was barely wide enough for the two wolves to slip through side by side, but it was only a short jaunt before the land unexpectedly opened up. Before them stretched a flat spanse of land, layered with rock and dotted with sparse shrubbery. The tall peaks of the mountain bordered the clearing so that the entire space was walled in but for the landmark's Northeastern border where the land sloped very gently downward and then disappeared completely into what Fin could only assume was an impressively large drop. Nestled right in the middle was a small, clear lake. The waters of the tarn flowed into a river that swept steadily down towards the open edge where, judging by the sound of it, they churned into a magnificent waterfall.

"Wow..." Fin said breathlessly, "Now this is one hell of a find, eh?" A grin was plastered across her muzzle as she said it. And it remained there as she whined eagerly to her friend and bounded down into the clearing towards the lake, heading straight for the edge to see just how far the falls fell.

:D Those pictures so far are gorgeous <3 Pictures do always help to visualize. All I've imagined so far are rocks. And crevices. And more rocks. xD

Kaihra tried to forget the storm. She turned her focus on the rugged terrain instead and trained her eyes on the ground a number of steps beyond her own four feet. She spared no talk, for that would only stifle her concentration, and the journey remained wordless as the two wolves ventured further up the mountainside.

Whether the sky darkened from the fall of the sun or from the thickening clouds, Kaihra knew they needed to find shelter soon. So she led their caravan further into the rocks, in search for a crevice between cliffs, a cave, perhaps, to rest in for the night and wait out the rain.

But Finley's voice broke her thoughts, and Kaihra turned with a furrow to her brow. Water? At this height? Kaihra pricked her ears. Impossible. But she didn't have time to search out the sound. Grey fur flashed by, and the dark woman staggered aside as Finley pushed on past. "Finley!" She felt her voice come out as a hiss and she leapt after the girl with paw steps still too cautious to keep time with the grey girl's pace. She took small relief in the direction they ran - deeper into the mountains, and further from the cliffside - but cursed herself as the ashen girl disappeared between the mountainous rocks.

Kaihra plunged into the musky crevice with a tremor of apprehension. The air hung damp about them, and she strained to see through the dimly lit light. She could hear the water now, and soon found Finley by way of plumy tail in her face. Kaihra gave a grunt, but otherwise slipped beside the girl without a word. As the moved along, the sound of water grew, and Kaihra felt a growing curiosity take hold of her mind.

The discomfort of the tunnel lasted only a short while, and soon they reached their unknown destination - and Kaihra felt her eyes widen at the sprawling land before them. It was like a whole other world squashed right between their mountain peaks, and the dark woman fell stunned at the sight. Finley was right: it was "one hell of a find". But the initial wonder quickly wore off, and the dark woman turned to observe the dangers of the area instead - the rocks that would prove slippery from the light drizzle that began to wet the land, the plunging drop as the river fell into a towering fall -

A whine rose from her companion and Kaihra turned to see Finley tearing down into the clearing below. Kaihra felt her shoulders sag. Finley was a whirlwind, and one she wished she could keep up with. But the dark woman could not overlook her caution, and Kaihra followed at a timid pace, picking her way across the rocks with growing apprehension. While she trusted Finley enough not to get killed, she trained her eye on the grey girl anyway and felt her stomach churn as her companion drew closer and closer to the plunging falls. "Just don't get too close!" Kaihra warned, and picked up her pace until she drew up behind her tireless friend. The dusk made it difficult to see the edge of the cliff, and Kaihra stopped on an outcropping rock a good distance away from where the river plunged off the edge of the earth. She flashed her eyes to Finley and felt her stomach churn. "And be careful." The rain and the darkness didn't help the situation at all, and she knew with one wrong step either one of them could be plunging toward whatever lay at the waterfall's base.

Lol, I wish I had a picture to show what I'm attempting to describe in this one, but alas. I'll probably have to draw my own lol. Wanna start steering this to an end here? :)

Kaihra's warnings fell upon deaf ears as the silver mockingbird sped forward into the little valley. She led them quickly along the edge of the tarn, dancing across the rocks in artful twists and bounds until after what seemed like an eternity, she was snaking along the little river to bring herself to the very edge of the cliff. A light sprinkling of rain had begun to spill from the heavy clouds overhead by the time Finley's steps ceased upon the edge, but that too went unnoticed as she beheld a sight that took away her breath.

The drop down was immense--far higher than anything she would ever have dared to leap off of. It was very nearly a clean vertical drop. Just one long stream of water spilling down, down, down until it crashed into a wide pool far below. Fin's gaze traveled along the path of the water to watch it wind into a river that snaked through what appeared to be a deep ravine. High above the river was a plateau that held back the edge of what looked to be the tall, fiery trees of Emberwood whose limbs stretched out wide over the ravine further north to create a canopy of flame. The opposite side of the ravine was not quite as steep as the walls that lead up to the aspen forest, but even from the distance, Fin could tell that the height was substantial. As the river progressed and wrapped around Emberwood to the Southeast, it seemed to disappear under a thick mantle of pines, alders and elms, finally dumping into what Fin suspected was the lake at the far Southeast edge of the woods.

Fin simply gazed for a few minutes in silence, taking it all in. After a little while, a somewhat louder crack of thunder brought her out of her reverie, and she turned to Kaihra with a smile. "Jump on the count of three?" she said suddenly with a grin. She was kind enough to allow Kaihra to squirm only for a few seconds before she shook her head with a laugh and looked back down. "I'm just kidding, not even I'm that crazy," she reassured the dark furred woman. Lightning lit up the sky briefly to illuminate their view followed by another growl of thunder. It occurred to Fin then that they ought to find somewhere to rest for the duration of the storm, but the feisty, adventurous part of her wasn't quite ready to let her good sense take over yet. At least, not without the urging of her fellow traveller.

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If you ever draw up a picture for it, I'd love to see it! (: And sure, this seems a good place to end (:

Kaihra hung back as Finley neared the edge of the cliff and eyed her friend's every step. She had little desire to approach the ledge, but found the longer Finley marvelled at whatever stood beyond the land's sudden drop, the more the dark woman found her paws inching closer to where her friend sat. At first, only the tips of distant trees peeked into her line of sight, but soon those tips became a forest of flame, a sight that spurred Kaihra slowly closer to the edge.

But she did not make it far when Finley turned to face her with a suggestion that threw ice into the dark woman's face. The silver girl's expectant silence did not ease the bristling discomfort rising in the deepest pit of Kaihra's gut, and that the girl could be joking went by unnoticed. Kaihra shuffled from the ledge on frantic paws, a look of blank horror drawn taut across her face as she tried to register Finley's words.

So when Finley confessed to the joke, Kaihra hovered in skeptical silence, fully expecting the silver girl to shout just kidding! and throw herself over the ledge for Kaihra to follow. But a flash of white light tore the dark woman from her thoughts and she flattened her ears to block the sound of thunder rumbling through the dusk. The light drizzle now streamed as weighty pellets from the sky, and Kaihra turned around, blinking water from her eyes so she could search out the cliffs that overshadowed the tarn. "We can't go any father in this storm, and we are not jumping off the cliff." She shot Finley a dark look before turning her head to search the cliffs on her opposite side. "We need to find shelter." She bit her lip and hesitated, recalling Finley's affinity with cave diving and the silver' girl's apparent desire to drag her along for the ride. Kaihra felt uneasy at the thought, and hoped the shelter they found would be a normal cave, for a normal night so they could wake up alive in the morning. With these thoughts she turned to Finley, knowing she could not voice them. No, she needed Finley enthusiastic about finding shelter, or risk not finding it at all. "I'm sure you have lots of experience hunting for caves."

Finley couldn't help but snort with laughter at Kaihra's reaction as she barked to her that they needed to turn back due to the storm. She surmised that maybe she had been pushing the girl too hard, especially after such a long day of mountain climbing. She supposed that it had had to be rather nerve-wracking for Kaihra, especially since she was clearly a much more reserved and cautious wolf than Fin. Which didn't deter Fin's liking of the woman at all. Especially since... Well, it was actually pretty common that others of her species were more cautious than her.

Kaihra's continued words elicited another laugh from the Blackthorn. "Come on, I actually spotted one a little ways back," she replied with a chuckle as she turned to head back towards the river. She lead them a ways back towards the cliffs that they'd entered the clearing through to a spot along the outer wall where the rocks hung further out above than below. The pair crept down beneath them and snuggled up in that wolfy way packmates do, no matter what their level of closeness to each other.

And as their eyes began to drift closed, Fin kept herself awake for just a moment longer. "Hey," she said suddenly, eyes closed and head upon the cold ground, "Thanks for coming today." And with that, she was off to sleep, not to wake until it was time to make the journey home.

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