Silvertip Mountain I don’t see how he can ever finish, if he doesn’t begin

for @Val and @Aventus

Val was well overdue for his last phase of initiation. He had already proven his strength and his bravery; now it was time to prove his allegiance to the bear. 

Arielle hadn't told Val where they were going or what his initiation would entail. She had asked Aventus not to tell him either. He would know when they arrived. Part of this test was whether or not he would follow them with the little information they had revealed, which wasn't much; just that it was time for his final test. 

They had been careful in the mountains when it seemed likely that a few packs had settled there somewhere. She had chosen to move only at night where they could more easily hide themselves. She was not out here looking for a fight, though if it was what the bear demanded then they would have no choice. 

The Journey had taken three days without much stopping—only to sleep and eat. 

As dawn turned the sky pink and lit up the mountain, Arielle stopped in front of the mouth of the cave that held the remains of the bear. Deeper inside would be a very much alive bear readying herself to wake from her hibernation. She might even have cubs. Soon they would know what the bear had planned for Val. 

She turned first to her husband and offered him smile. Then her focus was on Val. You will enter the cave and wait for the bear, however long it takes. If you run, you will be considered a traitor and killed. But if the bear blesses you with her favor and allows you to live, then you will forever be a part of Ursus. The bruin-heart studied Val closely. How he reacted would determine everything about his future. The healer had felt he was meant for more within Ursus, but only the bear could truly determine that.

Aventus was doing a lot better since the raid, but the journey was still taxing. Long hours of walking in the cold lit his side aflame, leading him to believe the bone was not healing as well this time as it had when he was a cub. His luck had run out.

Despite that, they made good time to the mountain, likely because he refused to breathe a word to his mate about being in pain. It was a dull ache most of the time. Easily ignored. This entire trip was about initiating Val into the ranks of Ursus proper after his bravery coming on the raid, and Aves was loathe to take any of the attention away from the dark seawolf. Concerns were allayed with vaguery. He tried to convey a friendly and upbeat attitude about the whole thing.

They stood now in front of the cave. Inside lay the sacred bear whose spirit had twined with Merrick's so long ago. Aventus was privately glad this ceremony was not for him; he was the blood of Ursus, but even he did not like the idea of entering a bear's den. He was not as far gone as his father down that road. He knew Val would find this trial excruciatingly difficult, and turned his silver gaze to the man now.

The bear has touched you, he reminded Val. I have full faith in you.

I rolled for outcome in table top here but if you had something else in mind LMK <3

val had been informed it was time for his final test. his scrape in the ruinwood was but the first step -- now came the true hour to test the mettle of his soul.

he smiled an inward rueful smile. he thought of pandora, and how easily killing had come to her.

so val followed his friends for three days and two nights. conversations were kept vague, a remark here or there about scents and weather and the turn of winter to spring. val felt it all within him: a budding rawness he had never actualized.

the dawn of their third day they were back in silvertip. val knew the significance but did not yet understand. not until they came to a cave did he realize he would not be slaughtering a coyote or fox.

no, his test was far more ferocious.

val paused and looked at both in disbelief. then, a settling of discouragement and defeat sank its claws into him. he was meant to face the bear. not the dead one, but the one very much alive and exuding its reek from the cave within.

val rounded his shoulders in a shaky breath. aventus spoke, but to val the world was clamoring around him. sounds synthesized, colors took shape and pulled away: a buzzing roared to life within his ears and somewhere came the distant sound of clip clip clip of water.

the faces of his friends were forgotten as val descended into the darkness of the cave.

Aves spoke of his faith in Val, and the bruin-heart smiled. I have faith, too, she told him. She could sense the spirit with him even now. She was not afraid of the outcome because she knew the bear would decide what was best. 

We will wait here for you, she promised, though she had already made it clear that it would only be with open arms if the bear deemed Val worthy. 

Despite his his fear and uncertainty, Val entered the cave. Arielle thought that was a good sign. Now all they could do was wait. 

Arielle looked to her husband and sat down beside him. She was glad he was here even though she knew the journey had to have caused him pain. She also knew he would never admit it, so she wouldn't waste time bringing it up. He was strong, and if he needed help, she was there.

There was a small voice in Aves' head that whispered how cruel this was when Val turned his back and disappeared into the dark. The other wolf had confessed to him about the bear that chased him from his family and hunted him; how could they send him into the maw of another bear?

But that voice was the part of Aves that was not a cultist, the part that might have grown to be his entirety if he was not raised in Ursus. Like any other time it whispered to him, it was easily quashed.

He took a seat with his mate and fixed his gaze on the cave mouth. Once, he had fantasized about snaking his arms around her in the dark, heedless of the bear spirit looking on, but knowing Val was in there alone with a bear that might kill him made Aventus feel uneasy about the place. Could he actually turn on Val if he failed? He will do well, he said, unsure if he was trying to convince Arielle or himself.

Himself. Of course. Arielle was twice the devotee he was, she always had been.

we will wait here for you. val hoped more than anything the last thing he held in his mind's eye would not be arielle and aventus' forms, hovering above the mouth of the cave.

he held this image tight as he felt his way along the dark. arielle, give me the strength to believe in myself, val chanted in silent half-beats. aventus, give me the strength to withstand the bear. and of merrick -- give me the strength to define the bear.

down the black-throated tunnel he went. the air was dank and musty. small creatures scurried away as he brushed past hanging roots.

the muffled grunting of a bear ahead slowed his steps but not his heart. now his heart took off like a startled horse, thud-thud-thudding untethered;

that great shape blotting his murky vision as it pulled from the cavern walls -- small, piggish eyes inspecting him with dull interest.

he thought of raleska's crumpled form. oh, fuck, val quailed, remembering how disintegrated and limp she had been as shardik delivered her body to sapphique. aventus, arielle, merrick all left him as that poignant memory rose like a rapier against his spine, cutting any sense of bravery from him.

the bear's long muzzle sniffed, stirring the stale air as it brushed against val's crawling skin. he felt it drag down along his shoulders, to his flank, and finally his hips. any moment now he would be struck down; his eyes closed shut in fear, his skin alive with a thousand poised and startled neurons transmitting fear, mortal fear --

then came the shuffling of feet away, down the corridor where he had come.down past the mouth of the cave with a mighty stretch, down past arielle and aventus -- into the sunlight and the thin early spring air, where it sleepily blinked against the freshly assaulting brightness and strolled on into the deepening forest.

val collapsed in shaky breaths, clutching soil between tremoring paws.

She smiled at her husband's words and leaned into him. The waiting was difficult, so she drew on her bond with the bruin-jaw for strength and patience. 

For a while, she heard nothing. She tried to listen to what was going on in the cave, but she heard nothing. It wasn't until the bear started to move towards the cave mouth that her ears perked. She heard its heavy paws against the stone floors of the cave—then she saw the mother bear in all her magnificence. She moved from the cave and paused. Arielle held her gaze and felt a humming in her blood. The bear's eyes held a secret that the bruin-heart was suddenly dying to know but something within her heart told her she was not ready yet. 

Arielle bowed her head to the bear before it started to move again, heading away, likely to find something to eat. 

She lifted up and trotted to the cave then, looking back at her husband to make sure he followed. Val? she called out. She prayed he had been deemed worthy.

The wait was excruciating. Aventus took comfort in the absence of sound coming from the cave mouth. Surely if the bear was mauling Val, they would be able to hear every gory detail? Those claws couldn't rip through flesh in silence.

His belief was confirmed when the bear parted from the shadows, pausing only to eye his wife before moving on. The entire time, Aventus held his breath. He was faithful. He tried to be, anyway, despite the knowing in him that bears were dangerous, unpredictable. Suppose it attacked Arielle? Would he stand aside and allow it to happen, knowing it was what the bear spirit decreed, or would he step in and sully his good standing with the bear?

If the spirit knew his secret heart, then it knew his standing was already unsteady, so at the end of everything, he guessed it wouldn't matter if he intervened or not. Aventus let out a quiet breath when the sow went on its way, glad that he would not have to test that theory out.

He thrust his ears eagerly upright and followed Arielle toward the darkness where Val was hidden, his steps slower but no less hopeful than the Bruin-heart.

scant light entered the cave. val had never been so grateful to hug dirt.

the sound of steps ahead encouraged him to rise, albeit shakily. shadows moving along the wall turned into the form of his companions -- first arielle, then aventus. when she spoke he had to withhold his every impulse to yell, to romp and cheer -- but this was a somber occasion, and they served a somber god.

hi. val murmured breathlessly, tail low and wagging.

When she heard Val's voice, her steps picked up speed. She trotted through the darkness until she found him. He looked mostly unharmed, which had a wave of relief spreading over her. She was almost certain he had been worthy, but this had been the only way to know for sure.

The bruin-heart smiled and pressed her face into his neck when she reached him. The bear has chosen you, she said softly as she pulled back to meet his gaze. Now you must work every day to honor that gift. Her heart was still racing, but now with excitement. 

Arielle looked to Aves and stepped back a little more, her smile still present.

He had known all along it would be this way.

It was no divine knowledge, only the certainty of an arrogant believer. When they first met, Aventus felt that Val had been touched by the bear in a way that made him singularly suited to Ursus. Where he might have otherwise questioned his friend's mild-mannered approach to things, he believed more of him. Val wasn't so different from Ashlar, but where Ashlar was a coward and nothing he ever did could change Aventus' opinion of him, Val simply needed to learn.

I told you the bear made you stronger, he said with a warm smile, remaining stoic where Arielle swept forward to embrace their friend. Now you know it, too. Let us go home and celebrate.