Sex: Female| watch while i spontaneously combust Pale eyes studied the mountains before her, looking up towards the sudden incline of misshapen rock with determined eyes. It was one of those days, the ones where she just needed a good ol' pick-me-up—a quick ego boost to lift her spirits and motivate her to keep going, to grow and improve and flourish. The rocks before her were massive and would most likely prove to be a good challenge to climb, and nothing was better than the feeling of triumphing over something extraordinary. She climbed slowly, determinedly up the rather minimal incline, flat rocks jutting out from the surface to provide a series of steps for her. After a few minutes, the Tainn girl paused, looking down at Riddle Heights a little anxiously. Was this really the best of ideas? Aw, nevermind that, it hardly mattered! This would make her stronger and she needed to be stronger as opposed to constantly relying on her elder siblings. Though, maybe she should have held off, gotten a bit of lunch first or something... No, no that was just plain stupid—now she was just being a scaredy-cat. <b style="color:#125d7c;">“I just gotta stop bein' a baby,” she told herself resolutely, brows furrowing as she turned her back to the forest below and aimed her sights for something more, something greater. Instead of a destination, however, hooved animals dominated her vision, making their way most elegantly up the mountain. The seemed to have little trouble finding good footing or moving quickly at the peculiar angle, and Junai's ears pulled back most childishly, leaving her to pout, <b style="color:#125d7c;">“That ain't faaaair.” She remained still for the moment, envying their prowess at simply walking and at the same time admiring the odd grace they possessed. |
TOGETHER WE'RE INVINCIBLE
The Riddle Heights had been one goal to reach but after spending some time loitering around the rocky plateau he could not keep his eyes off the biggest challenge of them all. The Dire Mountain was indeed the finest place in the lands for the explorers to venture. With so few wolves in this region he was beginning to wonder if it had ever been scouted at all by wolven kind. It's steep sloping paths dangerous and unstable. Not to mention the strong winds and colder climate the higher up the mountain one dared to traverse. But it was just another mountain among many, he had traveled over worse before and it was only because most of the forest was so flat and easy going on the pads it made the mountain appear to be some kind of out of place monster.
As he continued moving onwards and upwards two scents came his way, yet he was no fully sure what or even who they were until he decided to climb a little higher. Sharp blue eyes finding the same spiral rocks jutting from the face of the mountain as Junai yet upon reaching the same platform he almost fell backwards onto his haunches in surprise. <b style="color:#153059">"Junai!" He exclaimed softly, a little surprised still yet regaining his normal posture as he padded a little closer to peek over the edge. He had noticed she had been focused upon something before he had leapt up and caught her attention. Only then did he find the source of the second scent that drifted through the air. A herd of mountain goat, common upon this mountain and its surround foothills, were climbing with easy strides.
Quirking a single brow slightly he once more returned his twilight blue gaze upon the Swift River yearling. <b style="color:#153059">"You weren't thinking of trying to catch one were you?" He questioned politely, although he could not see any safe or possible way of hunting goats on this terrain. A wolf would fall and break their necks long before any mountain goat did.
| watch while i spontaneously combust The scratching noise of claws on rock were ignored, nonexistent to her currently distracted mind. Only words managed to tear her from her childish envy and at the shout of her name, Junai practically jumped, snapping her head around to look at the visitor with wide eyes. Black, gray, blue—her mind took a moment to work, her head tilting to the side with a mix of confusion and annoyance. <b style="color:#125d7c;">“Weldering Darksidy?” Or perhaps simply Weldering would have been more preferable to the easy-going male, but she was hardly comfortable enough with him to move on to a first name basis. Instead, eyes narrowing most suspiciously, she asked, <b style="color:#125d7c;">“Were you… following me?” It was a rude accusation, though Junai hardly cared. Did it or did it not seem peculiar for him to show up in the exact same spot she was? She was hardly a woman who believed in coincidence or chance, but she supposed it was merely an odd occurence—a bunch of “same place, same time” garbage. In this case, it was probably more like “wrong place, wrong time,” now wasn’t it? Straightening most indignantly at his words, Junai looked back to the small herd most stubbornly. <b style="color:#125d7c;">“No. Why, don’t you think I can?” she retorted stiffly, though she was uncertain she really wanted an answer to the question… Of course, the monochromatic male seemed hardly the sort to dish out insults, which was certainly a relief. Not to mention, he wasn’t part of Swift River, so he couldn’t walk around like he owned the place like her brothers. (Not that she didn’t love them, but she had noticed that the two highest rankings in the pack were given to men—sexism at it’s finest, in her childish opinion.) Either way, looking back to him, she replied lightly, <b style="color:#125d7c;">“I bet I could catch one, though; my brother’s gave me hunting tips just the other day. I mean, they can’t be much stronger or faster than a deer, can they?” Leave it to Junai to look at something entirely ridiculous as a perfectly plausible goal. She gave the goats a sideways glance before looking back to him, looking as if she wished to bolt after them but being respectful enough to wait and hear his thoughts on the matter. |
TOGETHER WE'RE INVINCIBLE
He had not intended to make her jump, though now that it had happened an amused chuckle escaped his maw. Though the sound of her accusation made he recoil slightly with a single step before realising he was nearing the edge in which he had originally came from and thus shunted forwards a safe distance. Once again something so innocent like exploring was being turned into something to make him appear as though he was a creep chasing after this girl, the notion was ridiculous and for once he thought before a hasty and snappy reply. instead he decided to throw back some of her own sarcasm to try and bring himself to her level. <b style="color:#153059">"Miss Junai Tainn, why of course I was stalking you. But don't get a big ego, eh?" He smirked.
Though as his attention was once again drawn to the sight of the moving goats below he was not so confident. <b style="color:#153059">"I'm not sure Junai.. they may not move as fast as a deer but they don't need too. On these rocks they won't fall so easily..." His voice trailing off worried by the determination in her eyes, he was not going to agree on that dare. For one thing if anything happened to her Indru would skin him alive.
| watch while i spontaneously combust Well, wasn't he just hilarious? And original, too? She briefly pondered giving him a gentle—ahe, playful!—push that just might send him tumbling down the mountainside... She couldn't manage doing it and he was lucky she was at least somewhat nice—nicer than Ioni or Borlla, anyhow. Instead, she replied shortly, <b style="color:#125d7c;">“Ooh, you're cool, aren't you? Stealing my lingo, good job, chap.” He thought he was just a riot, giving her a taste of her own medicine—he was lucky that she couldn't retort further, considering she had earlier interrupted him when he was bathing. In fact, Junai got the rather sickening feeling that she would regret that later. Whatever—her attention shifted to the mountain goats, which were far more interesting than him, whether he was bathing or not! While she asked for his advice on the matter of perhaps hunting the beasties, Junai didn't really care for his advice. Perhaps if he were Indru or Ruiko... But, nope, he was just some random stranger—what did he know about hunting, huh? Giving a dismissive flick of her tail, Junai started her slow ascent up the mountain. She paused upon finding what she believed to be steady ground and looked back to him, saying most confidently, <b style="color:#125d7c;">“You a scaredy-cat? I think a baby lynx has more courage than you!” She paused, grinning down at him most jeeringly, secretly hoping he'd follow. Yeah, he was annoying, but Junai had always found verbally harassing others to be fun... Not to mention, she was curious, though she hardly cared to admit this fact, so she kept it to herself. <b style="color:#125d7c;">“C'mon, Weldering Darksidy, I wanna go kick one of those mocking jerks' butts!” She turned then, following the path the creatures had made, glancing back every now and again to make sure her new acquaintance was keeping up. |
TOGETHER WE'RE INVINCIBLE
At least she had caught his use of lingo, it could have been just another awkward repeat of a few nights before when Indru had taken his words and twisted them, even when he said nothing at all. Though right now the incident with her brother and her Alpha was barely touching his mind as he increasingly begun to worry about the prospect of having her hurl herself off the cliff after goats that he perceived would be impossible to catch. Yet Lynx's, baby or otherwise, were mean little buggers with nasty sharp claws... but he was not going to randomly start admitting that he had the backbone of a feline. Ruffling up his lengthy silver fur along his sides he yet again paced forwards with a more dominance and confident swagger.
<b style="color:#153059">"No. I'm not scared at all." He announced, tail twitching behind him while he stood there bold as brass. <b style="color:#153059">"Kick one?" He chuckled slightly. <b style="color:#153059">"You couldn't even get one of your paws near to one of them." He continued to chuckle lightly yet it was only then he realised that although he never used the actual word dare he had more or less accidentally and inadvertently dared her to catch one. Though by now she was already trotting after them as he quickly followed to try and catch up.
| watch while i spontaneously combust A backwards glance proved he was following her and with an ego to match her own at that. At the sight of his gait, his steps self-assured and void of the uncertainty hers held, her tail rose slightly and her head lowered childishly, her posture both confident and sulking all at the same time. First those haughty goats and now him—stupid show-offs. <b style="color:#125d7c;">“Uhhh-huuuh. You wouldn't even come with me until I insulted you.” He was all bark and no bite, really; if she didn't pester him, he'd probably just go back down to the foothills like the coward he was. In any case, she paused and took a single step back, narrowing the distance between them to little more than a foot. <b style="color:#125d7c;">“I'd surprise them, sneak up on 'em; they wouldn't know what hit him. See, we'd be havin' nice conversation and theeennn..” One of her hind legs lifted and she jerked it back quickly, her paw kicking (more like tapping), his foreleg. It hardly painful, but she hoped it did, for she amended, <b style="color:#125d7c;">“Bam! I've showed them who's the head honcho around here. Understand?” Perhaps he could use the move to his advantage on the goats, because he didn't seem capable of fighting—he seemed more the "grin stupidly while tagging along" type, which wasn't exactly an insult but was hardly a compliment, either. Moving forward confidently, dismissing his doubts and insults entirely, pale eyes seeking out goats that seemed to have disappeared thanks to someone taking forever to get his tushie in gear. Puzzled, she remarked aloud, <b style="color:#125d7c;">“Well, hmm... They ran off. I guess they were afraid, huh? What now, though?” She turned slowly so as to face him, uncertain as to what to do after so epically failing at their mission. |
TOGETHER WE'RE INVINCIBLE
He was not following because he particularly wanted to help or even to watch but he felt a minor duty of responsibility to care for her. Just so that she did not fall from the side of the mountain because if that was the happen then he would be just as dead, even being around Junai was a dangerous combination due to her fiery eyed brother and while a single male wolf alone was little of a threat he did command a whole pack. It was only by pure coincidence that he had come across here up here on the mountain and he had still yet to conclude whether this was a good thing or bad. He will still thinking quietly to himself that he did not even realise Junai had slowed up and extended her foremitt bringing it back as he stumbled slightly.
The thing with Weldering was he was a large and fairly haughty build, a single nimble paw from a yearling merely caused a brief trip and was enough to cleanly take one of his four paws from the ground yet he caught himself using the other three before glaring sharply towards her. Adding a huff as he then took in that she was trying to make a point, trying to come across as the boss. Weldering was no random follower and he would make that point obviously clear. Though as the goats scattered she still did not seem to notice, actually she was still looking towards him as he sighed. <b style="color:#153059">"You can't sneak up on anything by having a conversation. When hunting you have to be as quiet as possible."
Finally she had whipped her muzzle around and spotted that the goats had taken off down the slopes. It was fairly easy to prognosticate that the herd noticed them with their voices and antics above them, it was not as if either of them had taken serious hunting roles. Weldering had not because he secretly wanted to scare them off in the first place to prevent her from going after them down the unstable rock face. Goat at least was now off the menu yet when raised with the query of what to do now his bright blue gaze was fixed up ahead on what seemed to be an opening of a cave. <b style="color:#153059">"What's that?"
| watch while i spontaneously combust Her kick left even the great Weldering Darksidy stumbling—it was hardly a great accomplishment, but it left Junai grinning deviously nonetheless. <b style="color:#125d7c;">“Like you know anything about hunting,” she commented haughtily, amending but seconds later, <b style="color:#125d7c;">“My big brothers taught me how to hunt, so I think it's safe to say I know more than you.” Her expression turned to one of pity, as if she genuinely believed that he was some moron that couldn't do a thing for himself. Perhaps it was true, Junai hardly cared to know; it didn't matter, really, because Indru and Ruiko had given her tips on hunting, which surely meant that her skills were superior to whatever ones he had acquired in his travels. It was only when she turned around and looked for the goats that she realized that, oops, Weldering had been right. She turned back around, appearing more willing to listen to his advice while he appeared... distracted. <b style="color:#125d7c;">“Eh?” She turned her head back around, trying to understand what he was talking about. It was then that she spotted the dark indent within the rock wall and, puzzled, she stepped closer to it. That wasn't familiar—that wasn't familiar at all! It was not often that she even bothered to venture past Riddle Heights, but one would think that she would have seen the place before or perhaps heard of it. Hmm... <b style="color:#125d7c;">“I wonder if there are any bears in there...” It seemed a big cave as she took another couple steps closer, big enough for a grizzly... Did they like caves? Black bears liked trees, she knew, but Junai had never had any real desire to figure out where a grizzly bear might dwell and for good reason. In spite of herself, even Junai Tainn sounded uncertain at the idea of encountering a grizzly bear. <b style="color:#125d7c;">“Uh... Be a man, Weldering, you go first!” |
TOGETHER WE'RE INVINCIBLE
She was very sure of herself, overconfident perhaps. He could remember when he was her age only a year ago he had been quite the opposite character quiet and timid. He had never joined a pack as a yearling in fear that he would be no good to anyone, just a leach living off the pack rather then helping to support. Though time changed his opinions and with that time he became fully grown and a lot more wise and mature. Various others had taught him a great many tricks to survive and when he finally did join a pack he leapt ahead of everyone else with progress. Now hunting was not one of his stronger skills yet he knew how to do it. <b style="color:#153059">"I can hunt, how else do you think I've been able to survive alone? Besides, I've been in several pack hunts too." He added, though Weldering would never pretend to be some kind of expert. <b style="color:#153059">"I know enough to survive."
Were there any bears in there? Well the answer to that question only lay with going inside and finding out. A thin and daring smirk crossing his handsome black muzzle as he boldly stepped forwards towards the entrance and peering inside. <b style="color:#153059">"I hope not, because I'm going in." He announced, nose inclining to try and see if there were any fresh scents, bear other wolf or anything. Yet so far there was no indication that the cave was inhabited. The lack of scent still did not deter Junai from taking a backseat from her usual boldness suggesting that he should go first, he was planning to do so anyway but he did find some amusement in her words. <b style="color:#153059">"Hmm and I thought it was meant to be ladies first."
With slow and cautious steps he begun to make his way into the dark tunnels, his azure blue eyes slowly adjusting to the changing light. The cave itself was fairy dry, least in this section and as he roamed deeper and deeper he realised this was not just a small cavern they had stumbled upon. <b style="color:#153059">"Did you know these tunnels were here?" Maw turned back over his shoulder to address Junai.