Look Out!

Aponi heard her mother's call but made no movement, she was moping miserably in a small den she had found, a hole in a pile of rocks. The stones that pressed around at all her sides were cold but she didn't mind, anything was better than being around her mother the traitor. Besides, there was no snow in the den and the wind couldn't reach her here so she was content to stay here for hours on end. Shifting slightly the princess rested her muzzle upon her paws as it had been before the call, if her mother needed her that badly she would come and get her, plain and simple. Eyelids fluttered shut over the blue eyes as the girl tried to lull herself back into the nap that had been interrupted.

Suddenly eyes flew open and ears stood at alert upon her head, surely she had to be dreaming there was no way that Karpos was here. He had a pack down in the forest, and a sister he said he needed to take care of, it was just her nose playing tricks on her. Still....could that be footsteps she heard muffled by the snow? Cautiously the princess stood, stooped so as to not knock her head of the ceiling of her den. Icy eyes stared out across the landscape, squinting as her pupils adjusted to the glare of the sun off the snow. A black smudge appeared over the crest of the path, moving steadily towards her, could this possibly be her Karpos? Or was this a trick of the light?

It wasn't until he spoke that the princess was sure he was real, and at this point he was standing parallel to her hiding place. Leaping from where she stood Aponi flung herself onto the boy, effectively tackling them both into a nearby snow bank. Laughter flooded her body once more as a happiness filled her that she hadn't felt in many months. The princess had quickly grown bored of her mountain and her rules and she had lost the sense of joy and wonder she had felt as a pup, and after a quick state to her adventurous side she had been left feeling depressed and betrayed by her mother. Now all was forgotten, her Karpos was here and this time she would make sure that he was here to stay she wasn't letting him get away. His body had landed half on top of her own but the princess didn't care, she didn't care that she was now covered in snow and half squished, all she cared about was this boy.

Aponi beamed up at the boy, all the misery and moping forgotten since the moment he had crested on the path. Giggling she nibbled playfully at the boys chin, "Hi yourself," shoving him playfully with her front paws she escaped from under his body. Standing the princess shook all the snow from her fur, probably raining it down upon her friend. Giving the boy a devious smile the girl answered, "Oh she did, did she? Well we better get started, might take you all day slow poke!" Brushing past him the girl started walking upon the small path that was laid in paw prints in the snow. The snow at its highest points reached past her chest but luckily when the adults moved through it they carvings trenches that were much easier to walk in.

The girl caught the scent just after the boy, her own nose raising into the air and twitching as she took in the scent of fresh meat. Wordlessly she chased after Karpos, saliva already building in her jaws, she was hungry. Blue eyes shone as Aponi looked upon the carcass, it looked as if it had just been placed there for the two of them to feast upon. Smiling at the boy the princess walked past, happy to claim her place eating before them, a rule of etiquette she had learned, higher ranked ate first. Teeth began to tear at flesh and soon the girl was gorging herself on the deer, still fresh enough to be warm in her mouth. Looking back the princess smiled at her friend and motioned him forward to join her, he would be her equal from now on.

After a few minutes the princess found that her hunger was satisfied and the carcass had almost been picked clean by the two pups. Pulling away Aponi smacked her lips as she licked her jaws clean, ever so lady like as always. Where should they start their tour? To Karpos the territory was sure to seem large and confusing but to the princess it had been like a prison. She had explored every rock and crevice, every hidden tunnel, short cut every cavern, walked every inch of the border a hundred times. Should she show him the communal den first? Where her father had been forced to tell her a story every night to lull her to sleep and her mother first taught her to hunt. The far border? Where Aponi had once tried to dub her uncle into thinking that she was allowed off the territory alone. The entrance to the Ghastly Woods? Where the princess had secretly followed her father on countless border patrols, mimicking his actions. Perhaps the bolder where she had once tricked her sister to jump off of, leaving Nova with a bruised side for a week. Aponi thought ashamed of her crevice that she had been calling a den, so childish it seemed now to shiver at night alone in a pout.

There was one place that would let Karpos realize how much this mountain meant to her, how it was her home, her kingdom no matter how much smack she talked about it. The silver face lit up as she cried, "Quick! Follow me!" before sprinting off. Running is what made her happiest, Aponi had been honing her skills, running as far and fast as she could whenever she got the chance. Nothing felt better than that moment between paws landing when she felt like she was flying, like nothing could slow her down or catch her no matter what she did. Snow severely limited this running however and soon she grew frustrated and had to slow. The powder slid beneath her paws and ice often lurked beneath, this was not the firm stone she was used to when she travelled and the princess couldn't help the boiling frustration that built inside her. It didn't matter, they were here.

The highest point, where the waterfall crested over the sheer bluff and plunged down into the stream bellow, roaring as it went. To either side of them mountains stretched out, below the lake gleamed and intricate paths were carved through the snow by the Pass wolves. For miles you could see forest, see the snow capped trees and frozen rivers, and yet no one could see her a top her stone throne. This was hers, and now it would be his too.

The princess stared over the edge, for once in her life silent as she let the view remind her of everything she was destined for. The roar of the crashing water suddenly seemed deafening in her ears as Karpos' voice brought her down from her thoughts. Nodding once her icy eyes swept over the horizon once more, taking a mental catalogue of the land she already knew, "One day it will be mine, now that my brother @Datura has abandoned us." Aponi was sure her mother wouldn't like her talking about this, but it was the truth, her brother was a traitor. There had been hushed whispers amongst the pack for weeks now that silenced every time the girl walked into hearing range, but she was no fool. Datura had vanished, leaving behind @Taima and the rest of them, he had given up his whole kingdom and now it was hers for the taking.

The princess considered his question silently, the answer was a complicated one, one that she wanted to answer properly. In truth she used to come up here all the time and stare over the edge, proud of her destiny, but as she aged she found the mountain more of a prison. Aponi had avoided the cliff because the view merely reminded her of all the lands she did not know, of how much of the world she was missing out on, of how her mother held her captive. The silence stretched between them before the girl's voice uttered expressionlessly, "I used to," but she offered no more explanation. Aponi knew that if she told the boy of how she felt he would run for his own freedom and that would leave her alone in this torment once more. It was better he didn't know, at least not yet.