OOC.

IC.

There were moments, like currently, when Mercury was reminded that he very much detested altitude. He had never been a very large fan of mountains, not even as a child. He had been born and raised upon flat earth broken only by the occasional hill, but he had always feared the mountains in which he and his father had hunted upon, despite that the goats was a rare treat and (almost) worth head butting his fear. Despite that Mercury was well aware that some wolves enjoyed living up high, he, however was not one and felt that wolves belonged on solid, flat ground. If they were meant to live on mountains they would have hooves and look like snake eyed mountain goats. Currently, his fear, increasing he knew by the pressure he felt building in his chest, the quicken in his heart beat and the effort he had to put forward to take even the smallest of breaths. Legs stopped, paw pads scraping against the hard earth as he shook his head, as if to clear it. Keep it together. He needed to pass through here. It was not something he could walk around or put off he just needed to do it to get it done. Ears slicked back to half mast atop his head, tail flicking uncomfortable, against his back haunches as he studied the path laid out before him.

He was a big man and his steps were heavy. How many times as a child had Santana told him not to go venturing up the mountain on his own? Each step could easily be his last if he lost his balance or took a simple, tiny misstep. His father had never spoken those words to intentionally strike such fear within Mercury, the Frostfur knew, but still. The fear had been instilled within him and while it got the point across and kept a little, adventurous Mercury from scaling the mountain before he was old enough to attempt it on his own, it also had repercussions even to this day. Salmon pink tongue flickered out to draw across his lips as the Frostfur steeled his shoulders and pushed himself further, figuring it wouldn’t be nearly as bad as he was making it out to be. All he had to do was look forward, tell himself he was half way there and avoid looking down. Simple enough, he attempted to convince himself as he took the first slow steps onto Riddled Heights.