Laurel decided that in order to explore some more of the Bypass, she should learn to climb as well. She was determined to learn this, but she didn't want to look a fool in front of her new pack mates and so decided to seek out the sunspire mountain range instead of discovering the mountainous terrain that surrounded the Bypass.

As she made her way into the first mountain ridges, she totally missed the entrance of the beautiful cave that would've probably put a genuine smile on her face. Instead she pressed on, following a mountain path west. Occasionally the path was terrifying, with a sudden drop to her side, and occasionally she nearly slipped on some rocks when the path got less pathy.

Instead of finding the cave below, Laurel found herself distracted by the remnants of familiar scents as she neared the Sunspire. The scents were fading, though, and after a moment's distraction Laurel decided the Sunspire was too big a challenge for now and turned around.

Just as she did she slipped and fell down the side of the mountains with a shrill shriek, right down to the front of sunbeam lair's entrance a few metres below, where her body hit the ground hard and she didn't instantly get up.

Zaza toyed with her prey, a small rabbit growing weaker every minute of the chase. It led her near the Bypass. Maybe it hoped to hide behind the rocks and hills. Though it might slow her down, Zaza wouldn't be phased by a mountain terrain. She slowed, letting the rabbit think it could get away, then gained on its tail again. This torment seeming to bring her great joy.  

A scream from close by stopped her in her tracks. Her prey taking this opportunity to escape her cruel game. She wasn't hungry anyways. Her ears perked to the sounds of loose rocks falling. Following the direction, she picked up an unfamiliar wolf's scent. Not that she was familiar with anyone in these lands. 

At the entrance of Sunbeam's layer, a wolf lay. Zaza scanned the cliffs around them. It looked as if the wolf had fallen right off one. She waited for the wolf to stand. Must've been a bad fall... she thought when they didn't move.

"You alright?" She asked edging closer. She gently nudged the wolf before taking a step back. A panic began in her mind as to what would she should do if the stranger didn't wake up.

For a few seconds, Laurel was gone before she came to again, slowly. She stayed on the ground for another moment, until she heard the voice of another wolf. The voice was that of a woman, which instantly put her at ease — oh, it would have been so easy to hurt you if I'd been there, dearest — but the physical touch did not. Laurel's eyes sprang wide open when the stranger nudged her and she scrambled to her feet.

Still dizzy, Laurel stood awkwardly with a wide stance as panicked eyes sought the stranger. Her body ached all over, particularly the side that she had fallen on. She knew it'd be sore in the morning, but it seemed like her limbs were still working, at least. A drop of blood ran down the side of her face from where her cheek had hit the ground. She gritted her teeth and then said, her voice wary, Who are you?

Laurel felt a little woozy, but she figured she'd be fine. It was just a tumble. The wolf that faced her introduced herself as Zaza. She seemed friendly enough. As she neared, Laurel visibly tensed up, but she did not stop Zaza from nearing. I think so, Laurel answered when she was asked if she was alright. Her head still spinning just a little bit, but she didn't think it noteworthy enough to mention. She'd be fine.

Laurel found herself wondering what this other wolf was doing here, but then again, maybe she was just exploring or something. Zaza didn't smell of other wolves much, so she was probably on her own. I'm Laurel, she introduced belatedly when she realised she'd never returned a name herself.

Zaza took a few paw steps back realizing how uncomfortable the wolf, Laura, appeared. 
"What were you doing up there to cause the fall?" She sat and tilted her head."Did someone attack you?" 
This time her ears perked as she dramatically stared around the clearing for an attacker. 
"Lets get revenge!" She said leaping into a play bow. She wondered if her cheesy efforts at comedy would bring Laura at ease.

The next questions asked were rather painful, as Laurel had of course not at all been attacked. She considered whether she should make up something instead. Sometimes it was for the best, and it seemed that Zaza was very excited to go on a revenge hunt, anyway. Laurel could use some light-hearted fun, and she decided in that moment to go along with the story instead of telling the truth.

Yeah, someone pushed me, she lied with a nod. You would do that for me? Laurel got to her feet and she stretched her stiff limbs, then made to run towards the foot of the narrow mountain path again.

"That's terrible! Of course I'll help you." She barked following Laurel;s lead. A part of her didn;t expect there to be an actual attacker. Now she would have to win a fight as to not embarrass herself in front of a stranger. 
She wanted to ask but decided not to. Instead hyping herself for the intense battle being pictured in her head. 

I'll have luck on my side, revenge is a form of justice. The voice in her head cheered. 

"Karma will bite them in the butt two times, once from me and once from you!" Zaza yapped behind Laurel. At least she would know how to fight she hoped.

Laurel did not know how to fight, but luckily she was also convinced that she would not have to. Unless some other wolf happened to show up, there would be no attacker on top of the ridge as they trotted up towards it. Laurel easily lead the way, with confident strides, considering she knew that there was no attacker and so she wasn't in any real danger.

She chuckled as Zaza said that karma would bite them in the butt, once from both of them. Yeah, we'll get 'em! Laurel said good-naturedly, perhaps giving away with her optimism that maybe there wasn't really any danger going on, as she followed the path up until they almost reached the place from where she fell. There wasn't anyone there yet as they walked up, just like she expected. Hopefully Zaza wouldn't investigate the smells to find out that nobody was there, but if she did, well, Laurel would have another story ready in no time.

The two wolves made it to the top of the ridge. Zaza tested how far her eyes could see, searching for any wolf who hadn't escaped far enough yet. Laurel appeared just as excited as her for a quick round of fighting, making her more desperate to find the culprit of the incident. She stuck her nose to the ground hoping to pick up any trails that hadn't yet disappeared. 


"Did you see what they looked like?" Zaza called back. "I've barely seen any wolves around here, they must be great at hiding." 
She picked up the scent of the escaped rabbit from her earlier chase. The attack would have happened around the same time. Both scents should be just as fresh. Wouldn't that be funny, if they've hit their head so hard they hallucinated this whole scenario. Zaza held in a laugh, returning to the search.

Maybe she should have admitted that she was lying about being attacked, but Laurel was having too much fun with this little hunt going on. Perhaps because she knew that it would amount to nothing. It was just some good natured games.

Zaza asked what they looked like, and Laurel barely took a moment to think about it. I didn't see, they pushed me from behind, she said as they reached the crime scene, and she started to sniff around as if looking for a trail.

She couldn't pick up any trails. She'd even found Laurel's scent from the way she must have came. The rocky ridges made for a difficult path for almost any wolf. She couldn't imagine a wolf sneaking up on anyone from here.

"You must have a secrete enemy!" Zaza finally said. "What could you have done that would anger someone?" She turned and nudged Laurel's shoulder, a sly look across her face, "Don't worry partner, I won't judge for your crimes."

They searched around for a bit, but found nothing. Zaza eventually concluded that Laurel must have a secret enemy. Oh, dearest, if only she knew half of what you have, Laurel heard his poison-laced voice whisper deceitfully in his ears, but she shook it off. Thankfully she'd had her back turned to Zaza at the time, anyway.

She turned around, a grimace on her face. The fun of the search was suddenly gone, it seemed. What indeed, dearest, what could you have done? When Zaza touched Laurel's shoulder, she tensed visibly and bit her tongue to repress the urge to shout. If Zaza'd been a man, Laurel would've. As it was the tension was just clear on her face. I should go, Laurel said tensely, her mood flipping over all of a sudden. The rocky mountain path they'd come up from suddenly looked dangerous and she was afraid she would fall, otherwise she might've already ran past Zaza and away.

Thanks for your help. Laurel didn't leave just yet, though she turned towards the way they'd come from, clearly intending to go.

She could feel the shift of energy between them that happened in only seconds. Forgetting how uncomfortable the wolf was when she got too close. Oh I messed up. She groaned. She had been too friendly too soon and scared a potential friend away. 
As Laurel turned to leave back up the rocky path Zaza dipped her head, tail low. Fortunately she was turned away from her to not see.

"Yeah no problem, sorry about that." She replied as the woman gave thanks. Still unsure of to believe a wolf was out there or not she offered a final dose of help. "You can navigate through here safer if you move sort of sideways on rocky paths. It helps keeping balance, especially when going down." She straightened her posture ready to leave back to the willows after seeing her off.

"It was nice meeting you." Zaza, still trying not to leave too bad a lasting impression, added knowing it was mostly too late.

Laurel felt a twist of guilt as she turned away, but at the same time it was the only thing she could do. What a preposterous thought, anyway, that she could have some fun, a new friend maybe, even.

The last words stung, though. Laurel wasn't quite ready to admit that through all of her years of life she hadn't accumulated the skill to navigate mountainous terrain. She was quite a big of a generalist, but mountains she hadn't often needed to travel through. It was why she'd been practising in the first place.

Laurel halted in her tracks and she gritted her teeth while she swallowed away something insulting — such as 'are you saying I don't know how to walk on a mountain path' or 'are you saying I'm lying' — as she didn't want to get into a fight. Instead, she just said, Thanks, but it came out withered and defeated. It was not often that anyone got to see a glimpse at Laurel's soul, and it wasn't a pretty sight.

She continued to slump off, not heading any of the advice that she was given, though using careful steps. Her paw slipped on some loose rubble once or twice but she managed to recover herself without any more falls, thankfully.