Leander was sick of eating snow in place of water. It was cold, and he was cold, and when he ate it too quickly it made his head hurt, so he'd set off that morning in search of a drink. You'd think with spring on the horizon there would be more thawing puddles, but alas, another storm had rolled in over night, coating the Earth with even more snow, and forcing any melted ice to refreeze.

It wasn't long before the soft lilt of flowing water drifted into Leander's ears, beckoning him through the trees. Cream-colored paws carried him haphazardly over the unfamiliar terrain, occasionally sinking into holes camouflaged by soft patches of snow, and sliding on ice he hadn't noticed. Leander wasn't ever.. particularly graceful. He'd always assumed that grace would come with age, but so far.. not so good. Of course, it didn't help that his excitement had him in a bit of a rush, and he had been paying less attention to the ground below his paws, and more to finding the water's source.

He spotted the falls first, almost completely frozen in time, save for the very middle where the current had been the strongest. The river was much the same as well, thick on the edges, and thin towards the middle. The boy worried his bottom lip as he considered his options, or lack thereof. He had no idea how deep the water might be, and he didn't want to find out by plunging into their depths. "Hmm.. Maybe if I can get close enough to the falls.." Trying a new approach, Leander walked along the riverbank hoping that a wayward drip might have made a puddle of it's own. That's when he noticed, just behind the falls there seemed to be a cave. How.. interesting.

Leander jumped at the unexpected voice, turning on a dime to face the newcomer. Bright blue eyes were quick to find the source, landing on a greyscale woman whose stature seemed to be just under his. Though she was pretty, she was, for all intents and purposes, in rather bad shape. Her ribs and bones stuck out more than they should have, and from what he could tell—and smell—she was injured. Russet-tipped ears came to sit against his tawny crown. His dad would have been able to patch her right up, and perhaps if he could find some redcedar... No. Probably not. At the very least, he knew that if she was up, walking, and talking then the wounds were probably not infected yet.

His brow furrowed as he considered her words. "Oh, I uh.. didn't think about there being ghosts down there." And maybe he wouldn't have, but now there was no avoiding it. Huffing a sigh, the boy cast another glance at the cave's entrance, suddenly concerned with just how dark it was in there. But he really wanted to know what was down there! Bright eyes fell once more on the woman as an idea formed in his head. "Do you want to come with me? Ghosts can't get you if you're not alone." There was very little science behind his statement, but it felt right.

"And I can get us something to eat after, as a thanks if you did want to." It was a win-win really, though he would probably try to find her something to eat regardless. It just wasn't in him to let an injured wolf walk away with an empty stomach.

Leander did not doubt the woman's words, especially after coming across that bone pile. There was no way that whatever had created it hadn't left behind a wake of angry spirits... Another shiver ran up his spine at the thought. "Remind me not to go wandering around alone then." And it certainly didn't help that he would have to walk home alone... or well, he didn't really have a home.. so it just didn't help that he had to sleep in the forest all alone. Perhaps he should have stuck himself a little closer to Landon.

Whatever motion, or lack thereof that the injured woman made went unnoticed by Leander. He was too intent on the mouth of the cave, and the darkness within. Perhaps there would be some cobwebs in there.. and if he just.. tried hard enough then maybe he could help her out a little more than.. No. No. He couldn't. He wasn't a healer. He couldn't be a healer. His dad would have known what to do, or Landon maybe, but not him.

He shook his head quickly at her insistence, having absolutely no intention of treating her like either. "Don't worry, I wouldn't dream of it." She certainly wasn't a baby, and old would have been even more than a stretch. From what he could tell, they were almost of an age.

Upon entering the cave, Leander squished himself as close to her as she would allow, taking care to avoid her bad side, while also taking advantage of the safety she might provide from ghosts. "No, but I always wanted to. What about you?" His bright blue eyes squinted through the darkness, blinking fast as his eyes tried to adjust.

Leander had to suppress his grimace as a jolt of empathetic pain cut across his shoulder. The wounds she had sustained seemed irritating at best, and agonizing at worst, though by the looks of them, the male had a feeling that they were teetering towards the latter. Whoever she was, she was strong. There was no denying it. Perhaps that's why he felt so safe by her side.

He was happy that she seemed satisfied with his answer, because the last thing the Stark ever wanted to do was to offend someone, or make them feel belittled.

As his eyes adjusted, and the cavern came into focus, he turned his attention back to the stranger. She was smiling, which was a good sign, both for her health and for his conscience. He certainly didn't want to make anyone do anything that they didn't want to do just for his own personal gain and if she was having any sort of fun, then he was happy.

He gave the small cavern a good sniff as she asked her question, noting only the overwhelming taste of stone and water. "I don't know. It's so hidden, I don't think I would have noticed it if I hadn't been looking for water." In some ways he hoped that they were the first to explore the cave. How cool would that have been, to be the discoverers of a brand new place? "If anyone has been here, it wasn't recent."

His brow creased as something caught her attention. "Yeah. I thought so too." He tasted the air again, curious as to what she had noticed, but there must have been dust in the air, because he couldn't help but, "A-A-Achoo." All was still for a moment, and then suddenly he heard a sickening crack above his head. Blue eyes panned upwards just in time to see an icicle crash and shatter along the floor of the cave. Shit. "RUN!"

Everything happened in slow motion, the running, the falling of the icicles, the sound of paw-steps against stone, and the shattering of glass. It was probably the most danger Leander had ever been in, well, at least since he'd been on his own.

By the time they stopped his lungs burned with effort. He panted, panic and exertion exiting his body with every exhale. "I.. I hope so too." Only then was he able to process what had happened. Water-blue eyes swiveled back at the shards of ice smashed across the floor before returning to his companion. She didn't look hurt, well, no more than she had when they met. Still, all that running couldn't have been good for her injuries, and it was all his fault. If he hadn't goaded her into the cave, or sneezed, or needed water then they wouldn't have almost gotten killed.

Rust-tipped ears flattened as guilt overtook him, but his head bobbed at her question. "I.. yeah, it's Leander. What about you?" At the very least he needed to know her name so that he could apologize properly.