Secret Falls volsunga saga

October 3rd, 2021; early morning; Secret Falls near Red Fern Forest/FGC, for Enera and Vasilisa

Rhae was excited to get more time with her daughter. Naturally, she got all the time she wanted with her daughter, but today was special because she was taking her on a chaperoned field trip to one of the nearby territories, outside of pack borders. She wanted her to be able to see more of the world, but she was also still very young and Rhae was hesitant to let her go off and wander. She was still a pup, more independent than when she was a newborn but still dependent on the adults.

“Come on, Little Dove. We’re almost there.” She cooed softly with words of encouragement. It didn’t hurt to get her out of pack territory and away from Woya. The woman had thoroughly scared her daughter and she was still quite miffed about it. Children were children, and sometimes it did truly take a village to raise them, not just a single lone mother, thank you very much. Perhaps Rhae was just a little too uppity but the woman had rubbed her the wrong way.

The frost had lightly settled on the plants of the forest floor as she made her way north, the sun barely peaking through the foliage from the trees above as the weather started to warm for the day. By the time they reached the falls, it would be warm enough to dip their paws in for some relief… but it would not remain in the coming weeks. Winter would be settling in soon.

Enera was excited. She was so so excited and today was going to be the best day ever. Mama was taking her outside the territory! She'd snuck out once, of course, but mama didn't need to know about that. She and Aweho had returned home safe from their encounter with the stranger, and no one had to be any the wiser.

As long as @Aweho didn't snitch.

The young girl bounded along after her mother, sometimes stopping to play in the grass or examine pebbles and wonder if her friend-brother would like them. Maybe she could bring him something back from this trip and apologize for how scared he'd been during their last excursion. She hadn't meant for him to follow her, really.

"Where're we goin', mama?" she asked. She'd probably asked this a dozen times, but who was keeping count? She still had so much energy and was enjoying this little adventure very much. "Are we going to see something cool?"

Sorry about the wait y'all!

The agouti woman had separated from her salt and pepper friend with the promise to meet back up again. The Artemieva went north, skirting around the mountain, too intimidated to attempt to scale it. So Vasi took her time exploring the foothills. When the mountain tapered of she headed east eventually happening upon river. Creamy limbs followed the water until the sound of roaring water reached her audits. Soon Vasi came upon a beautiful waterfall. The water thundered down over the cliff creating a mist right around where the falls crashed into the river below. Her cerulean orbs lit up at the sight and her charcoal tail began to wag excitedly behind her. The sun was almost at its highest point in the sky so it should be warm enough to take a dip right?

Vasilisa took a step to the waters edge and gave it a sniff before dipping her toes in. The river's edge was already warmed by the sun. Her grin widened as she decided a swim would be so much fun! The beginning of fall was upon them and this was probably her last opportunity to swim for the year. So she wadded in, the water becoming cooler the deeper she went, but she didnt mind. The young woman swam about the pool where the falls poured into without a worry in the world.

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She knew her daughter, her little princess who could rarely do wrong in her eyes, was excited to venture outside the territory for what she assumed to be the first time. She had no reason to think otherwise, but she was getting older and it was time for her to start to gain these experiences. “We are going to see something so cool.” She promised with an excited edge to her own voice. She was looking forward to seeing Enera’s reactions to the outside world beyond the safety and comforts of the Chasm. She offered her a light and playful nudge before they kept moving.

Everything was going smoothly and they were almost to the water’s edge, just out of sight but Rhaegara knew the way well. Her head tilted to the side, and a brief hint of alarm flashed across her features for only a moment when she caught an unfamiliar scent. It would be fine. There was only one, it seemed, and Rhaegara was more than capable of keeping her daughter safe. Her parents had made certain she could defend any young she had. “Who’s there?” She called out, her head still dipped to the side as she took a step in front of Enera, placing herself between Enera and any potential threat. So long as the woman she could see within the falls wasn’t a threat, then their adventure would be fine to continue as normal, and could even be a potentially excellent learning experience for her daughter.

Enera was excited to simply trot along with her mother, sometimes racing ahead and waiting, sometimes racing back and circling her before bouncing around her feet. It was so hard to contain herself when Mama was promising something so cool.

"What is it, mama? What are we gonna see?" she begged. She didn't want to wait and see, she wanted to know now!

Then Mama paused and called out, and Enera stopped beside her, head tilted as she watched Mama's face. She didn't seem overly concerned, but she did take a step in front of the pup. Enera pouted and tried to dodge around her legs to see what had mama stopping. She was a big girl now! She could handle it! Her nose twitched as she sniffed the air, and like with the strange man who'd found her and Aweho, Enera noticed a scent that was like her family but different than their overall shared markers.

"Who's that?" she asked, proud that she could tell there was someone else out here before they could be seen.