Mountain of Dire miss unafraid, miss out of my way

Whether or not it worked didn't matter, he just needed to make sure that repeating his horrific mistake wasn't on the agenda. Wasn't anywhere near the agenda, in fact. She initially questioned him, not being sure what to say, but it wasn't like he had any better idea than her. "I'm sure you'll think of something," he muttered to himself as he navigated a particularly steep bit, heart leaping into his throat as he hopped down all of eighteen inches and saw his life flash before his eyes.

He was right. The disembodied voice identified herself as Sahalie, and continued to ramble on aimlessly, the contents of her speech far less important than the fact that she carried on. "Yep, doing great!" he yelled when she paused for affirmation, but he was far too preoccupied with not falling to a gruesome death (or causing anybody else's) to offer much else. He hopped from ledge to ledge with soft grunts, and padded down the more slopey-bits, determined for this plan to work. Apart from her name, almost everything else went in one ear and out the other, the only thing he was focused on being the sound of her voice. He might have thought it quite a pretty voice if his mind wasn't full of the thought of innocent wolves crushed by the rocks he had so carelessly sent tumbling.

"... Swift River or something," she said, just as he felt he was getting closer, and suddenly there she was. "You!" he yipped, still stood on a level several yards above her, but now the large rock was no longer in his way and he could see what looked distinctly like a dark-pelted wolf! No blood in sight! Realising that his cry could have sounded kinda accusatory, he scrambled to recover, peering down the mountain's side as he tried to make himself as obvious as possible so she could spot him back. "I mean, hey! I see you!"

uhm i blehhhh @Tomen

Her head twisted back at the sudden shout. Me? The girl wondered if she had done something. A dark mask leaned over one of the rocks above her head. She turned her body without moving her head as the boy amended his statement. "Hey yourself, you" she giggled, throwing back the same unfamiliar name they were calling each other by. "Looks like in spite of everything, ya found me," more giggles and a quick, almost suggestive wink for the boy. No one had taught Sahalie to be this flirtatious and she was unaware of what she was doing or what it might mean to anyone else.

 It was a little hard to make him out with all the sun in her face. "So are ya gunna come down?" Squinting a bit she was at least able to confirm that the boy was, in fact, that: young like she was. He seemed pretty relieved to see her, and she couldn't think of why that would be. Maybe he was just glad to be done searching. It had taken them long enough. "I mean I could climb up there and meet you half way, but you seem like you were really determined to do all the heroic stuff." He had, after all, forebade her from moving and left her to do all the rambling and talking. It followed that he'd want to do the rest of the work himself. 

last post july? jesus. sorry :C

Despite the relief at discovering that his potential manslaughter victim was utterly oblivious to his careless - and mercifully unsuccessful - attempt on her life, the guilt and stress still pounded through his chest enough to distract him from the fact that she was teasing him. It was only when she winked did he realise that the girl was toying with him and he swallowed and flushed hot beneath his fur, though whether that was more from guilt or shyness in the face of her girl-ness couldn't be certain. She wasn't like Nineva, that was for certain, though if they shared one quality, it was that they both liked to mess with his head...

Her suggestion-question snapped him out of it and he blurted an incoherent agreement as he hopped down another ledge, just happy to put all of... that... in the past. Nobody had to know! She was fine! She was fine! If only he could tell his heart that everything was okay and it could stop punching the inside of his ribcage.

Heroic stuff, "ha!" Ohhh whoops he actually did that out loud, didn't he? What if she found out how awful he was? The sudden panic almost made him lose his footing, and skid only a foot down one slope when his footing turned out to be nothing more than a jut of hardened dirt - but he recovered in a bout of pure luck, sending a fresh dust cloud floating off down the mountain for his mistake. At least there were no rocks in that. "... hahaha, I m-mean, uhhh, it's only climbing, nothing a, uh, uhhh..." Nope, lost that train of thought. He bit his tongue as he hopped down, and was at her level now and faced with her couldn't help it: "... you sure you didn't get hurt?"

don't worry we've all been there. me especially lol.

If it weren't for the fact that this boy clearly was not as capable a climber as Cernan had been, Sahalie might have assumed that all mountain boys were violently shy and unsure of themselves. The boy—casually known as "You"—seemed to lose his footing with nearly every step, sending puffs of dirt up into the air. She quirked an eyebrow, feeling as if there was some dots for her to connect before suddenly the sensation passed and was forgotten as Sahalie listened to the boy mumble and stutter. Both eyebrows raised with concern, now, she tried to send a reassuring smile his way. Perhaps he didn't like the mountain at all and was quite worried about how he was going to get down once he had gotten this eye. Now that the thought had come to her she didn't really like the idea of having to bounce down the rocks, and her ears flopped about on her head as she gave it a shake.

"I mean I've had worse bruises," she breathed, still smiling. "What is it they say, no pain no gain? Pretty sure I got some of the bruises just coming up the mountain. It's an exercise for sure!" A bubble of wry laughter left her mouth. God, the boy looked so uncomfortable it was beginning to worry her. Tilting her head, her eyes scanned him over: he didn't look hurt, just mentally frazzled.

"Are you alright? You seem... a little rattled." Her tail flapped behind her encouragingly. "Wanna stay here and take a breather? Idunno if you have anywhere to be or whatever, but I'm guessing I'll have to spend the night here." Way too tired to go down the mountain. She wondered what the stars would look like from up here. Would she be close enough to touch them?

asjfdksdhkf i have no idea what to do about this thread anymore i'm so sorry. wanna fade with like a 'they kept each other company and chatted about pointless stuff until daybreak'???

It was fortunate that his face was covered in fur, otherwise she might have seen the subtle draining of colour as she talked about bruises. It might've all been flippant talk to her, but he couldn't bear the idea of leaving any lasting harm like that because of his own carelessness, even if she did seem to think that she had a bunch of others anyway... when he thought about it, Tomen supposed that he had tripped a few times himself, and his left hock did ache a little. Maybe he was the same.

Though what 'gain' she might have gotten out of it was a pure mystery... Tomen preferred his lessons without getting hurt, thanks much.

"I'm okay." And despite everything, her consistent cheerfulness was finally catching on, his own tail giving a little wag in faint echo of her own. "I think, uhhhhh..." And when he glanced beyond her and saw only more down, down, down, he knew that he was quite done with starting rockslides today. While he didn't fancy staying on this mountain longer than necessary, if he tried to escape it now who knew what more damage he might cause in his tired, anxious state! "I think that's a good idea. Staying here for now. My legs are kinda tired anyway."

He smiled shyly, finally letting himself believe she was okay. "I'm Tomen. Sorry if, uh, I seem weird. Just... finding out I don't like heights. At all."

"I think there's a cave I saw a little over that way," she was gesturing, thankfully, to her left and not up or down, to where she had spied some sort of darkness while she had been standing here, rambling, waiting for the dark-masked boy to find her. It was better than standing out here baking in the unseasonable weather in the unbroken sunlight. "If we're in there you won't have to, uh, stare out over the valley or anything." She figured that might ease the phobia that had sparked in his eyes as he had agreed to stay with her.

"So... where are you from, Tomen," she began as the two walked toward the cave and would chat the night away.

BEST FRIENDS FOREVER. MAYBE. STAY TUNED.