"We'll be very careful I promise," Draven told his new friend, tail beginning to wag behind him again. "If you want, I can even go first so you can watch me climb and see what's safe to do and what isn't. That way, if anybody gets all banged up, it'll be me and not you - then when you go home again, you won't get in trouble for being all cut up!" Well... in trouble was probably the wrong way to put it, or at least not a very good way of putting it. Nobody was ever mad at Draven for getting hurt, just upset that he had done something that got him hurt in the first place. Still, though, Rose didn't need to go home to someone being upset with her.

That still left them with the issue of how, exactly, either of them were going to get high enough to reach the bendy part of the tree. The logical idea was to stand on top of each other, with whoever was climbing using their buddy as a step to bounce off of, but Draven wasn't sure how polite it would be to ask Rose to let him stand on and then jump off of her. For one thing, he'd only just met her, and maybe she would get upset about the request. For another thing, what if he was too big for her? What if he hopped up and only managed to accidentally flatten her?

Well... he guessed the best way to be sure was to ask Rose point-blank and see what she wanted to do. Hopping back down from where he still had his front paws braced against the tree, he looked over at the fae and said, "I think if one of us stood on the other, we could get up there okay. Like if I let you climb on me and then hop up," he said, purposely offering the reverse of his plan first, "then you might be able to get up there okay. Or I could get up there, if I hopped up from you." That sounded so much worse when he said it out loud, but there, it was out there. Now it was time to see what Rose thought. If she thought the whole thing sounded dangerous, well, he guessed they could just do something else, then. They had a whole couple of hours to play and lots of ideas and new space to run around in, after all.

The level of kindness that Draven was willing to share with his new friend was one of which Rose had never experienced before. Now, the wolves back home were definitely warmhearted, but something wasn't quite the same in this scenario. Perhaps it was the way they chose to express their feelings that differed. The amber-coated fae found herself unable to stop smiling, how long had it been since she'd experienced such bliss? It was almost too easy to forget all of the troubles that patiently awaited her safe return, why couldn't life be like this forever?

Attentively listening to the raven-esque male's plan, the young Hervok couldn't help but wonder if the pair would be able to handle each others weight. With Draven there was possibility, as for herself there was only hope. 'If it weren't for these darn.. legs!' she hissed at the thought of those scrawny noodle-like limbs of hers suppressing such a dire experience. '..I gotta try..' Rose nodded toward her company, all the while attempting to convince herself that everything would work out in the end. "I-I'll climb up first, then we'll do you next!" she offered, though her voice was almost laced with something similar to a plead. "I bet maybe we can see my house from all the way up there!"

Draven held his breath, more than sure that Rose was going to say she didn't want to climb after all and that they should do something else, so he was relieved to hear instead that the russet girl was willing to go first, even if he did feel bad making her do something she was so obviously nervous about. Maybe he shouldn't have promised her that he would go first before he thought about how they should do this. In hindsight, it had been an awfully unfair thing of him to do, raising her hopes like that and then suggesting she go first after all. And she really sounded like she would rather do something else, and anyway he was the one who wanted to climb the tree in the first place, but now he was making her climb up first instead, and even if that was because he didn't want to squish her, he still felt badly about that.

Of course, he stopped feeling bad about it when he realized she sounded genuinely excited just a little bit later, even wondering if she could see her house from the tree, and anyway she didn't have to go higher than she was comfortable with. Tail still wagging, he nodded excitedly and then moved around to stand with his side to the tree. "If you hop up on my back, I bet I can hold you up long enough for you to get up there," he told her. "Then I'll stay close so if you fall, you'll land on me. I'm squishy enough we'll probably just get a little bumped up if that happens - except it won't, because I'll bet you're a really good climber," he added sincerely.

Draven's words made Rose blush a bit under her already quite red pelt, but why? Given the right circumstances, the fae was almost positive her brother Korrin would say something similar, so how was it that this situation felt so.. Divergent? She giggled, closing the distance between the two. "T-thank you! I've never climbed before, though! B-but I bet I'll be fine!" grinning, the young female attempted to observe the best way to climb onto him without causing injury.

It was a little awkward, but with a bit of effort Rose managed to reach a decent spot to begin her climb. 'Slow and steady...' the fae was concentrated, determined to end their escapade without any physical harm done. "H-hey! I think I got it!" She yipped, keeping a steady pace up the tree, though it hadn't taken very long for her exploration to come to an unexpected halt. She had appeared to reach the very last bit of 'climbable tree', leaving nowhere else to go but the branch before her. It overlooked the pond, so worst case scenario she'd at least land there, right? Feeling daring, the pup squirmed out toward the end of the branch. "Woaaahhh, It's weird bein' up here!" she cried down to her company, excited for him to live the adrenaline-filled experience next.

Rose couldn't help but sit in awe for a minute, the view was truly impeccable. It had never occurred before to the fiery pup that she'd actually enjoy being lost. In fact, she'd even be willing to stray from her home more in the future, if it involved seeing Draven again! "Hey.." she cooed to the boy, maintaining the warm grin from earlier. "I'm really glad I met'chu today, Draven.."  

Draven grinned up at Rose and moved away from the tree, padding around to follow Rose until she had managed to climb all the way out over the pond. The darkling pup couldn't help the quiet, "Woooaah," that escaped him as he watched his new friend climb all the way out to the very end of the branch. It sagged a tiny bit under her, but it looked stable enough and there was all kinds of water just below her, so if she fell she'd land right in that and be a little cold and really, really wet, but probably okay besides that.

"You're really far out there, Rose!" the boy called, his tail whipping back and forth behind him like a banner caught in a fierce wind. "I betcha you can see everything from there, huh?" She even sat down to look back down at him - he knew he couldn't ever be that brave, not up on a high branch like that!

His ears pricked up a bit more at her next words, and for a second he felt a tiny bit warmer under his pelt. "Well, I'm glad I met you, too," he finally managed to say. "You're lots of fun to play with. We should play again after today!" he added with more enthusiasm. "Maybe if we ask Cal nice enough, she'll let me come outside the territory again and we can--"

Cal came racing up then, demanding with a sharp, upset bark that Rose come down out of the tree before she got hurt. Ears flattening against his head out of embarrassment that they'd gotten caught doing something dangerous - even though he really hadn't thought it was because they knew what they were doing and they were being careful - Draven padded back to where Rose could climb down and said, "Sorry, Cal. We were only playing."

A sense of pride overcame the pup as Draven complimented how far she'd gotten. "I can!" Rose screeched in excitement. "But it's all tree's!" giggling, the small fae began to relax a bit on her new wooden perch. Today was turning out to be one of the best days of her minuscule little life, and she was positive that the event's she'd experienced with her new friends were ones she'd remember for years to come. There was a sense of relief that came with being away from home, and it saddened her knowing she'd have to depart from the warming company she'd discovered soon.

As if it were actually possible, Rose felt even happier with Draven's exclamation toward wanting to see her even after today! She wanted to begin making plans with him immediately, though before her friend could even finish his sentence, Cal stormed up. The woman hadn't appeared very happy, but her words still held some sort of kindness to them. "Yes ma'am, sorry ma'am.." the pup frowned, she hadn't meant to displease her elder. Squirming down slowly from her comfy spot on the tree, Rose soon found herself once more on the soil's flat surface. "L-let's do sumfin' else!" with a sheepish smile, the Hervok poked at the other pup.

As the day progressed, surrounding area's grew dark. Rose knew it was about time to start heading back, though that didn't stop her from feeling, well, rather depressed. After their round of hide-and-seek had came to a close, the fae locked eyes with her new friend. "I should pro'lly go home now.. Mumma's gon' start worryin'.." she sighed, why couldn't it just stay light out forever? "I think I can sniff my way home from here now that I'm not scared no more, so you don' gotta worry Cal!" turning her back, Rose tried rather hard not to upset herself further. "And hopefully we'll see each other again soon!" slowly walking her way toward the path she'd traveled earlier, the fae began her unwanted trip back home.