Empress Riffle halcyon

Anyone is welcome! <3 If you're fine with it being back-dated to mid March, I am too, but it is up to you. :)

Lunette Vuesain

I’ve got my love stuck in my head

Life down from the mountains was so..different. The wind whispered through naked branches and evergreen needles. No sharp slopes threatened. There was no crater, embracing a lake hard to find—there were no pockets of hot springs, few outcrops, and the air just felt different. The deep snow wasn't windblown in the same way it was out on the Heights (not that she'd been there often, mind), and there was no risk of avalanches going off when the sun melted the top of the snow and re-froze it and it slowly began to creep over edges, just waiting for something to set it off.

But this place was lethal, too. It was full of animals she wasn't sure of how to tackle, but fortunately, she was told most of them were asleep. Bears, and the like. Lynxes and cougars she knew how to avoid, and even get away from, but bears..? There were no huge, murderous bears on the mountain. Nor were the herds of caribou or bands of deer, and hunting them was entirely out of the question.

The wolves of Charred Ash Draw had been much too kind to her. They had given her shelter, a promise to return her to the mountain when she was ready, and allowed her some food from their caches. Since she couldn't help replenish them, she only took what she needed and always felt guilty about it. She preferred to scavenge instead, or fish in the gentle creek running through the Wildwood. Heartleaf Creek, it was called, and the many days spent staring intently at the surface for signs of scales had allowed her to perfect her technique. She wasn't as good as Moonshadow or Kajika (ouch, I miss you), not by a long shot, but she was decent. Aside from the fact that fish was boring, she didn't really need to take much from the caches anymore, which was a relief.

A spring sun, unaccompanied by clouds, was rising over the horizon when Lunette made it to the wide, open space of Empress Riffle. Golden light bathed the scene, gilt steam rose from the creek into the air, and the snow clinging to the banks shimmered in it. The Riffle itself was unfrozen, the shallow waters defying the season's temperature and running in spite of them. Lunette smiled to herself. She liked this place—it had become her Poison Path, her hideout, her refuge. She liked sitting on the banks and watching the water trickle past, so different from anything she had seen on the mountain.

Distance mattered less here, too. She felt like a burden on the pack housing her, and it drove her away. And, besides, there were no difficult foothills to descend, no sharp slopes or dead-drops to avoid. She could actually go far here, without fearing for her life, and it brewed a certain kind of courage in her soul.

More relaxed than she had been in a long time, Lunette sat down on the banks of the Riffle, and watched the spring waters rush past.

(This post was last modified: May 04, 2017, 06:19 PM by Sahalie.)