Hidden Grotto One Way or Another

for @Nathaniel

If she was going to do this she needed to build some core strength. She had passed the Falls on several occasions, never offering them more than a passing glance but this time she thought she could discern the faint outline of what might be a path to the top. The climb wouldn’t be an easy one but if she started shirking away from challenges now she may as well quit while she was ahead. The spray from the falls slowly soaked through her fur and made parts of the narrow trail (more a series of ledges up the face of a cliff) slippery underfoot. A mis-step threw her weight forward as blunt nails struggled to dig into the slick rock face, the realisation of just how high she had come lurching into her mouth as she eyed the distance to the pool below anticipating the weightless feeling of a free-fall.

But it didn’t come. Her legs turned to jelly, her lips drawn taught as she tried to regather her nerve. She could sit here on the side of the mountain and starve, or she could take on the next ledge, climb just that little bit further. She was closer to the top than the bottom now and all she had to lose was her life. Her teeth clenched in a determined fashion as she forged on, finally breaching the upper lip of the cliff. She was thoroughly exhausted, her muscles ached, her breath came in heavy pants and stars danced before her eyes. But she wasn’t at the top yet. Before her lay a serene little pool, a smaller waterfall feeding it before it made its final descent. A displeased groan left her chest as she realised there was more climbing to be had, and she decided this place was better than a narrow ledge to rest. She moved forward to lap at the crisp water and looked about for a place to lay her head. She would have to take the long way home.

Sorry, first time writing an accent, hover over for translations. Im sort of imagining it being a Scottish accent if that helps!

i watched a fiery forest

He kept traveling onward. No real reason for going anywhere except to try and find his certain someone. Part of him thought he was wasting his time with this. The trek had been going on forever and some nights the young Sauda find himself falling asleep hopeless. Or getting no sleep and worrying what had become. He knew that Craw had to be out there, Craw had been a strong male capable of anything - or so Xian would like to believe - so what would bring him down in the wilderness?

The sound of water called him. While he had reached the first pool at the very bottom he became aware that something might await him up to. That was where the water was flowing from, wasn't it? Setting off his paws weren't use to the damp floor. Mist coming from the falls kept him agitated and on edge. Tiredness would set in soon for the male, but he had to make it to the top. "Paw here, put weight here, step over that." Mental directions he was giving himself in order to keep track of things better. To make sure he didn't in fact sign his death on these ledges.

The top was met with a heavy sigh of relief but his fur standing on edge. There was something, no someone moving. She must have made the climb too. Perhaps there was something awarding to be had.

"Ah see ye hae come haur to see mair too."

and wept over things i could not fix

(This post was last modified: Oct 16, 2015, 10:49 PM by Enloexian.)

It was purely an adventurous itch that had brought Nathaniel this far, urging him to crest the mountain ridge itself. The view was beyond breathtaking, the man having never encountered true mountains before the search for his siblings had brought him to the Lore. Exhilaration, or perhaps it was just the thin air, thrummed throughout his veins and he wanted to press further, to see more. But where to? His pale green eyes scaled the ridges to each side of him, before turning downward to spy what was below him on the other side. Down didn't seem a very fun way to go, but directly below him was a series of waterfalls, and his vantage point only made them appear all the more fascinating. What tipped the scales, however, was the emergence of a dark colored woman over one of the ledges. A damsel all alone here on the mountains? Don't mind if I do.

Carefully picking his way down, Nathaniel beelined for the Hidden Grotto where she rest. It wasn't until the last few stretches that another emerged, disappointingly male. Had he come across two rendezvousing lovers? Or was this some chance encounter of three? Whatever it was, Nathaniel began to regret the decision he had made. However, he had come too far to turn back now, and so completed his descent, dropping onto the same platform that they rest upon. He was able to catch the man's words, but his accent was so thick that Nathaniel found he could not understand him. The hell did he just say? There's a mare up here? Perhaps the lady would understand him.

I'm not a choice, I'm a natural selection

Her breath had evened out once she had managed to quench her thirst, but that did not ease the burning in her limbs or the shakiness of her joints. She was about to settle herself in the shade when a strange voice came from the ledge she had just crested. She didn't remember seeing anyone follow her but then again, after her almost fall she had turned her attention to the cliff face alone.

Seamare? her Nonna had told her tales of far off oceans, and the strange creatures that lived there but why this stranger thought to find water monsters here was beyond her. Sure there were small pools but surely not anything deep enough to conceal any sort of beast. Before she managed to question the stranger and figure out what he meant, another strange male appeared, this one smelling of a pack that wasn't her own. Well this was unexpected. allowing her eyes to drift from one wolf and back to the other, she realised her precarious position - with a long drop on one side and a steep climb on three other fronts, if things turned nasty she would need to be faster than either of her opponents.

Already her legs were screaming in protest and she could only hope the one that followed her was just as exhausted as she was. Resigning herself to this encounter she remained on her feet but finally spoke "I don- think there are any seamare's -ere."