Mountain of Dire Heaven below me

The temperature had been edging slowly upwards with each passing day, and with it, Lucien's sights lifted. The ice on the mountain paths was beginning to clear, and their call was nigh irresistible. Up and up he went, answering them, and turning his back on the mist-shrouded forests and the packs that lay below and to the west. The young man barely knew the place, but it was already beginning to feel unwelcoming, with its ghosts and thorns and secrets. It had been the mountains that had lead him into these lands, and to them he would return - the great peak watched over everything else from it's commanding perch. From there, he must be able to see where to turn next. His breath still steamed bright in the cold air, but the sky was mostly clear, and the snow felt soft and wet underfoot. Hunger burned in his gut, but he ignored it for now - he needed to go higher. Maybe he could just live up there, on top of the world. It looked inhospitable, but who knew? Or perhaps some greater land lay on the other side. He would never see if he didn't at least try to find out.

Since winter's beginning, Lucien Chastain had been traveling with no clear goal in mind. He professed to cherish that freedom, but lately it had begun to ring a little bit hollow. He had survived the winter, but with no clear purpose, no true friends or home, how much longer would he be so lucky? Luc wasn't sure what he was looking for, but he felt he'd know it when he found it - or when it found him. And so he climbed, because he didn't have any better ideas.

The mountain was proving steeper even that it looked - as the day wore on, Luc found himself straying further and further south in the quest for navigable terrain, the peak subtly but surely turning him away until he was circling round it rather than scaling to it's top. Muddy paths were left behind, traded for harder paths of stone and rubble, and still he went on. At last he found himself, not withing reach of the towering peak, but at least drawing near the sharp horizon of a ridge-line. The true giant still loomed just to the north, victorious, and probably unconquerable for all Luc knew. Still, a smaller sense of victory thrilled in him, for he felt sure that once he crested this ridge, he'd be able to see the East in all it's glory. There was a spring in his step, and his eyes were locked on his goal, when he faltered. The stones beneath a paw shifted and he lost his footing, sliding several yards down the slope of stony scree, legs splayed wide as he tried to bring himself to a halt, to stay upright. At last he came to a precarious stop, but every new movement sent a chorus of pebbles laughing down the mountainside, teasing him with the threat him with a further fall if he tried to move too boldly. Now the young wolf searched frantically in every direction, not just to the top, but for any safe path.

For far too long, the young she wolf had been cooped up in the confines of the CeadarWood Forest. It had become her home, a place of comforting familiarity. But after a while, the same repetitive surroundings grew boring to the wolf. Up until recently, Jynx had only ever known the life of a loner, a wanderer. While she was settling in quite nicely with her new pack, that wanderlust to which she had become familiar with was still alive and well. A few days ago, she acted on her instincts. With nothing more than a quick check of the borders and the caches, she broke free of her home, setting out into the wilderness to explore. She had no particular destination in mind....she would simply go where her paws chose to carry her. The great mountains in the distance from her home in the forest had caught her eye from time to time, but she had never given them much thought. From afar, they were an admirable sight, but nothing too memorable. But now it was different. When her paws had brought her to the lower slopes and craggy edges of the rocky giants, littered in a soft layer of white snow, it was only then that Jynx could truly appreciate the sheer power...the untamed raw beauty of this new land.

Throughout her short life, the russet yearling had experienced many different environments. Sparse tundras, open plains, to densely wooded forests. But never the harsh extremes of a mountain. Never one to turn down a great opportunity, she happily welcomed the new challenge of the climb with open arms. It was slow going at first though. Her legs and paw pads were unaccustomed to such rough terrain. Instinctively, she knew that she must step carefully. The accumulating snow added a somewhat tricky, potentially dangerous element of slipperiness to the rocks. To think she would meet her end by having merely slipped, and not even very high up yet! That would be most embarrassing. She did not know if she would run into any other wolves all the way out here, but that is not what she had came for. She had come for the thrill of adventure, the taste of freedom. As she stopped a few miles up the mountain slope, she paused to take a glance back down at the land below her. Bright yellow eyes flickered over the snow covered landscape out to the west. "Wow, I wonder what the view must look like from the top?" She thought to herself. Perhaps it might be worth the little extra challenge to push herself, if just to see how good a view she could actually get.

Turning to begin moving forward again, a slight burning in her chest made her realize how strenuous the climb actually was. Her breath came short and fast, smoking into the air before her face. She hadn't even realized she had been panting up until now. A short breather was in order, she decided, before moving on. Without any idea just how tall this particular mountain was, she just might have to find a temporary overnight shelter. A glance to the sun told her that it was probably early afternoon by now. Just as she spotted an ideal little ledge to sun herself on while recuperating, a noise a little ways ahead of her forced her attention elsewhere. A multitude of stones and pebbles came tumbling down the mountainside, and she had to swerve to the left to avoid getting caught in their path. Some sort of disturbance. It took her only a moment to pick out the butterscotch fur amidst the gray of the rocks. Another wolf, and one who appeared to be in a bit of a bind as he looked around hurriedly. Breaking into a trot, but minding her footing, she diverted to the right along a widened path that snaked up the side of the mountain, past the other wolf. She paused midway, letting out a low chuff. "Hey, need some help? Up here! It should be safe." She called down to the male, who seemed in need of a hand.