Sunspire Mountains Cities soaked in ashes

@Kesuk I set the thread in NSV, but they can start at the edge of BDP.

Rising above the Plateau was the rest of a mountain, unexplored. Saena could boast of being an Outrider, but most of her adventures took her well beyond the confines of the pack. Her knowledge of the areas directly bordering it paled in comparison to what she knew about the outskirts of the Wild, a fact that she hoped to rectify today. Of course, travelling in a wide circle around the Plateau would take days, given that the mountain wasn't necessarily passable, but in small spurts she hoped to explore the regions around her home.

Today, she stood at the very southern edge of the plateau, and though a sheer expanse of sloping stone and snow rose up ahead, there was something resembling a pass that disappeared into the face of the mountain. This was where she hoped to begin.

She was about to set off on her own but, remembering that she was an integrated member of her pack now and needed to be a team player, Saena tilted back her head and howled a low summons for anyone looking to explore the nearby mountain range. She seated herself patiently at the edge of the cliff and found her mind wandering to faces that might accompany her—maybe Dante? Lasher? Maybe Pura would make another rare appearance and come with her, or maybe it would be on of the pups!

No, stupid, she reminded herself, they can't walk yet!

Kesuk's chocolate ears pricked at the sound of a nearby howl and she dropped the little squirrel she had been carrying. After hastily burying her catch, she set of towards the source of the howl. The voice had been unfamiliar to the recent returning female and she padded towards it's owner with the hope of meeting a new friend. She didn't have many friends in the plateau and it was getting quite lonely. Aside from Koda, she never really talked to anyone else. How pathetic.

So when she was indeed greeted with a new face she smiled happily and walked up to the girl, dipping her head respectfully. "Hi, I'm Kesuk. Do you mind if I join you?" she asked lightly, hoping she wasn't calling for someone in particular.

Saena was grateful that someone responded quickly. Unlike Kesuk, Saena was familiar with the chocolate female: she'd seen her at a meeting or two, and she'd recently been part of the pack hunt. She knew the other female was ranked higher than Saena, at least for now, and that she'd been around a while. Still, as far as familiarity went, there was almost none. They'd never really spoken to one another, and Saena didn't even know her name.

She was glad, then, that it was Kesuk who showed up and not one of those wolves Saena was most familiar with. In her quest to achieve a high, respectable rank in her pack, meeting all the wolves was important, and she was turning out to be an exceptionally social creature anyway.

"Hey, thanks for coming," she said, beaming at Kesuk. For a moment, she studied the other wolf, noting her bright blue eyes and thinking how she didn't really know anyone with eyes like that. "I'm Saena. Have you been up over the mountain? I kinda wanna see what's back there, if you wanna come?"

When she saw the girl's face she recognized her from the pack hunt, but she still didn't really know her that well. But from the way she acted so happy to see her made the blue-eyed girl beam right back at her. Saying that she wanted to explore the mountains made the chocolate girl's eyes sparkle with excitement, because she had been wanting to do the very same thing for quite some time.

Her tail wagged enthusiastically behind her as she quickly agreed. "It's super nice to meet you and that would be amazing! I've always wanted to know what they were like." she explained happily, glancing up at the snow covered peaks. It would be fun to wash the mystery away from them.

She found the other woman's mood infectious, and soon was grinning herself as she scoped out the mountain ahead. It would be taxing to climb, she knew, but they were wild wolves built for endurance. There was nothing they couldn't conquer if they wanted it badly enough. Saena believed this with all her heart, and knew it contributed greatly to her recent ambition.

"I think that looks like a good place to start," she said, gesturing at a deep trench carved in the mountain that wound up toward the peak. It was a towpath not unlike the Plateau's own; perhaps steeper, but familiar in a way. Without hesitation she began loping toward it, swinging her tail in a jovial invitation for Kesuk to walk alongside her. For the time being, Saena had nothing to converse about, but that would probably change soon enough.

Since the hunt ended so badly, should they talk about that? Kesuk is pretty pissed at Koda lol xP

Her crystal eyes traveled to the trail that Saena had pointed out and she nodded in agreement. It looked like a perfect place to start. She smiled and quickened her pace to keep up with her new friend, a smile on her face. The silence wasn't awkward at all, it was comfortable, filled only with the pfts of their pawsteps on the snow and the light breeze that ruffled their fur.

Suddenly flashbacks of the recent hunt blurred the feeling of peace that had settled in the chocolate girls mind and she turned to Saena with a worried glance. She remembered her getting a kick from a scared doe and she hoped it had healed.

"Hey, how are you doing, after, ya know, the hunt?" she asked, almost awkwardly. It wasn't really a comfortable topic, but she really was interested in how she was doing.

They made good progress and soon were climbing up toward the hidden wonders at the mountain's heart. For a while the only sound between them was the crunch of snow underfoot and the quiet whistle of the wind, but then Kesuk spoke.

Even thinking about the hunt left a sour taste in Saena's mouth that had nothing to do with the kick in the face. "I'm okay," she insisted, "I just have a headache most days. It'll probably go away eventually." She wanted to leave it at that, she really did, but it wasn't in Saena's nature. Besides, she didn't even know Koda and Kesuk were mates, and felt that bonding over mutual disbelief—or being the victims of sexism in this case—was a valid way of making friends.

"I could've done without the rudeness. Could you believe that guy? What a jerk!" Huffing, she took a few quick steps up over a steeper part of the path, then turned her head back to Kesuk, fully expecting the other to agree wholeheartedly. "I mean, what the hell? Since when did girls have to be storytellers and stargazers and crap?"

Anyway, she technically was a stargazer, which she supposed made her useful in Koda's twisted version of the world despite his sexist behaviour toward her and really meant his argument was completely moot, but even so... she didn't feel Naturalism was as important or useful as Gamekeeping.

Kesuk couldn't agree more with Saena about Koda being a complete and utter jerk and she nodded her head with a sigh. What he said was completely uncalled for and just thinking about it made her blood boil. She had actually been avoiding him since the event and it hadn't been all that hard actually. She had always been out on some outrider mission and he was off doing hell knows what hell knows where. And what bugged her the most, was how he thought he would be just perfectly okay with him basically saying to her face that she was useless.

"Yeah, the next time I see him, I am so going to whoop his ass." she half growled, completely unaware that her exploring partner was oblivious to their mateship. To Saena that probably sounded weird as hell.

"I mean, what makes him think he can treat anyone like that, let alone females, who probably do more in the world then males do." she huffed grumpily.

"I know, right?" sighed Saena as she pulled herself up the last few feet of towpath. She wanted to say more on the subject, but found she couldn't find words when she finally set her eyes on the heart of the mountain. A giant, bowl-like valley spread out before them, covered in a gentle and undisturbed blanket of snow. Along the northern and western edges spanned a forest, and somewhere near the center rose a giant, twisted tree.

"Oh, wow," Saena breathed, letting its surreal splendour wash over her. She felt her hind hit the ground as Northstar Vale literally floored her. Mouth agape in silent wonder that this veritable paradise lingered just beyond their doorstep without attracting any attention, the stout little female turned her muzzle toward Kesuk, hoping to see a similar reaction.

Kesuk's reaction almost mirrored her fellow outrider's. Her jaw dropped as she took in the surreal view. The soft blanket of snow that lined the hollow made the lines between reality and imagination blur. A huge, gnarled tree stood tall in the center, looking like the guardian of the secret realm. A thick forest coated the edges of the valley and made it seem even more protected and secret. A little paradise.

"How come we've never been here before?" she asked, her eyes still fixed on the gorgeous scene in front of her.

Suddenly a flood of wanderlust crashed through her and she trotted into the untouched meadow of snow. She turned and called back to her companion. "Let's check it out!" she called.

"Dunno," breathed Saena. It seemed like a place that the Blacktail pack would frequent at times, and yet it was removed from them. Perhaps the task of climbing the mountain to find it was too taxing for most individuals. Little did the juvenile know that she had been here before, in the warmer months when Junior and she got lost beneath Pied's old whelping den and ended up in a grotto. The exit led out into this valley's adjacent ridges. It was so long ago, she didn't even recognize it.

Kesuk was already loping down into the valley when Saena took her first step forward. Let's check it out, called her fellow Outrider, and the dappled female was all too happy to oblige. Grinning, Saena picked her feet up in a lofty trot and called, "race you to the tree!" before allowing herself to canter down the slope.

Sorry for the short post! On vacation :D

A grin lifted the corners of Kesuk's cheeks as Saena suggested racing, taking off in front of her. Kesuk picked up her pace and chased after her, her paws flinging snow out behind her, the wind ruffling her fur. She sped across the open snow, her eyes sparkling as she looked around at their surroundings. The looming mountain peaks surrounding the vale casting the little haven in shadows, the sun hidden by their sharp silhouettes.

"It's on!" she challenged, her paws spinning to catch up.

Where Kesuk was a sleek, fitted line of lean muscle, Saena was petite, but a little chubbier. She thought herself a pretty good hunter, but knew as soon as Kesuk began catching up that she wasn't the fastest wolf in the world. It never hurt her before and it didn't hurt her now; she still put in her best effort to reach the tree, even though Kesuk pulled ahead in the end and stopped at its base first.

"Nice run," she said with a grin as she slowed and stole a glance over her shoulder at their line of prints in the snow. Then she tilted her snout back to stare up at the great, gnarled tree. "D'you think it grew like this, or was hit by lightning or something?" she asked. With winter still in mid-stride, it was hard to tell whether the tree was petrified or not. The way it twisted around itself seemed to suggest it was.

Kesuk was surprised when she actually caught up with Saena, reaching the base of the tree and turning to her competition with a light smile. Saena did have shorter legs then Kesuk, but she had still been tough to beat. After all, she had become an outrider before the chocolate female, and she wasn't even full grown yet. She must be really hard working.

"Same to you." she said with a breathless grin. When her shorter companion reached the tree she joined her in looking up at the huge tree. It's gnarled branches arched out from the trunk, their sharp angles giving the tree a ghostly, dead vibe. Kesuk shivered as a cold spell passed through her as she observed it's blacken bark and considered Saena's question. It was hard to tell if it had indeed been struck by the sky fire, or if the endless winters had just worn it down to it's knotted state. "Dunno, it looks pretty screwed up." observed, peering up through the branches.

Saena silently agreed. She pitched her ears forward and slowly leaned forward to take a few apprehensive whiffs of the air surrounding the tree. There was nothing to suggest it had ever been burned. Settling back to a neutral stand, the young female frowned and looked up at its twisted bough. There was no foliage in the winter, so it was impossible to say what sort of tree it was. Its bark was nearly white, now that she looked more closely.

Saena was unable to identify it, even with her Naturalist training. There was no one around any longer to tell her that it was named Chenrezig, and that it once stood sentinel over a paradise pack that fell to ruin at the hands of a "dragon". She inspected it for a long while, but at length drew back and said, "maybe it's special." Her best guess, and it wasn't a very good one.

The pair explored the vale some more until the sun began to sink in the sky. Taking Kesuk's suggestion that they head back, Saena led the way back up the mountain and down the thin path that led to the plateau.