Redsand Canyon vorago

for @Glaukos & @Kallik! also tagging @Nakida so u can toss her here depending on how our thread goes :D

before dawn, germanicus stepped from his austere den. he called the auxillia before him.

when they had gathered, the imperator strode before them. "today we will be climbing as high as we are able. we will start at the floor of the canyon and go straightways up." it would build many things, but most of all, he knew it would engender a sense of depth and width.

Kallik had already been long awake when the call came, and so it did not surprise him to be the first to arrive in front of the imperator. 

His greeting was a silent but respectful nod. He watched silently as the others gathered and then listened as the captain addressed them. They would climb as high as they could make it; Kallik was eager for this challenge. He had climbed many mountains, and he was willing to push himself far past his limits if needed.

PPing glaukos!

glaukos grunted. kallik nodded once. germanicus was relieved to be again in the company of such communication.

he set his paws against the first rise of redrock, hauling himself upward.

"the saints knew this place as their own. we must do the same. and we must learn more quickly."

germanicus would say no more for a time. his climb was measured and observant. he paused in the footholds, looking toward each auxillary in turn to assess them. 

and then onward the eagle went.

Germanicus wanted them to know the canyon as the Saints did, and he wanted them to gain the knowledge quickly. Kallik was eager to earn the respect of the imperator. 

So he began to make his way up, skin gliding over muscles and chest taking in deep lungfuls of air as they got higher. His stamina was good and his physical condition was excellent; he had been on his own for some time, and it had made him well adapted to situations like this. So he wouldn't stop until he was the last one climbing.

the pale younger wolf had been made by hard stones such as these.

this ability was noted in the man's mind. he glanced around for glaukos and then continued up.

when he had come to another place with a foothold, he took the air. it had grown thin and bitter with cold. and yet the wind told the story of life in higher places. "what do you smell?" he asked of kallik.

Kallik slowed when he heard the question, pausing to inspect the air. He drew in the scents around him and picked up something interesting, something that made him want to go higher and check things out.

Mountain goats, he answered. Higher up, Kallik added. He had seen the animals a few times, but he had never tried to hunt one. They had quite the advantage up here, and he didn't have a death wish. 

The auxillary looked to Germanicus once and then higher up the mountain, the intent clear in his expression: he wanted to keep climbing.

germanicus nodded. "one of our lessons will be to hunt them." but not today. he looked around for another path that might avoid the goats.

it would cut to the left. he grunted, toes holding along the sheer precipice that was surely not meant for wolves to cross. and yet he meant for them to do just this. their prize would be a respite in the form of a wider ledge, one all of them might rest upon.

Kallik looked forward to this lesson and was mildly disappointed that they would not learn to hunt the goats today; he was careful to keep this from his expression, though. 

Silently, he followed the imperator across the narrow cliff. His paws were large, and he had to tread very carefully and slowly, one foot in front of the other. He tuned out everything else and just focused on making it the other side. An icy gust of wind made his paws tingle as he was forced to hold his balance against it. 

But he finally made it to the other side and was greeted with a much larger ledge, better suited to safely hold the three of them. Kallik took a seat, his shoulders lifting and falling with his panting. It had been a while since he had exerted himself like that; it felt amazing.

the three of them settled upon the shelf of stone. "it may not be necessary to use this skill. but you will have it all the same." his breath rose in a plume. germanicus looked up to where the goats resided. "have you hunted them before?"

glaukos was quiet. his yellow eyes were on kallik now.

Whether or not he would need the skill didn't matter much to Kallik. He was eager to learn from the imperator, as well as keep busy and build muscle. 

Germanicus asked if he had ever hunted one of the mountain goats. The auxillary shook his head, his gaze trained on the mountainside below. I have been on my own any time I've seen them. They were not a prey you took on by yourself. I would like to try, though, his gaze lifted to the imperator. Whenever it is appropriate. The northerner didn't want to imply that he didn't respect whatever timeline Germanicus had.

can continue or go on! <3

"mereo will hunt them." germanicus would leave the timeframe for this rather open-ended. 

the eagle came to his feet. "we are going to go on," he told the pair of auxillia, motioning to a deer-trail not far beyond them. "we will come down into the canyon again after an hour's time."

it was best that they learned to measure the trajectory of time. the imperator stepped past the two and went on.

i'm fine fading here <3

The answer was a bit vague, which made frustration swirl within his deep chest, but he knew the feeling was irrational. He would just have to be patient. 

Kallik was ready to move again when the imperator pointed out where they would go next. Another hour of this was fine with him. With a brief glance to Glaukos, he followed behind Germanicus, ready to explore what was ahead of them.