Celestial Falls there is steam rising from the belly of the beast

The days were getting warmer, though she almost considered if it was because she heading south. The morning had started off thick with humidity, a haze lingering as the sun had rose steadfast into the sky. Vesper was off to a slow start that day, bogged down by more than just the sticky atmosphere. Following along the creek had proven useful in the end; she had filled her belly on more than just one occasion, and had rested up. It did meager adjustments to her morale, which for the time being had stayed in the toilet. The rise of the mountains in the west only told her that she was staying on the right path, though she hadn't decided fully when she would break from the creekside wandering long enough to venture towards them again.

Either way, she knew she had a walk still to go.

By the time she had finally got herself up and moving, the clouds had budded and bloomed. There was a tension in the air that she only half-recognized and discarded as her own mind playing games. It was warm, it was cloudy, and it was damp – nothing more and nothing less. She had barely continued her journey southward when a gale rolled through the forest around her and on its heels, a menacing growl of thunder. That certainly gained her attention.

Within minutes, it was down pouring on her and anything else in its way. The thunderstorm had caught her by surprise and sent her further into the weald around the creek. Her steps felt hastened by the bright flash of lightning, but she found nowhere that would offer her full coverage from the storm as it rolled overheard. Even worse, she thought then, as the ground shifted beneath her to reveal the waterfall up ahead. With no surefire way of getting down in a hurry, she found herself sticking close to the heavy wood, soaked and trembling from the chill that came settling in.

Was it a bit further than she intended to go? Yes. Something in Kyna was starting to vibrate, even though she knew well that Greer was perfectly capable of watching their daughter, for the better part of the day. Revon wasn’t weened yet, but she didn’t need to eat every waking moment, either – she would survive, though she may get a little hungry. It was that thought that was really bothering the redhead and turned her back towards Aurora Heights before she’d ever made it to Quaking Vale. She’d wanted desperately to visit her friend and share the good news, but it would have to wait until her pup was older until she could stay away a night or until her daughter could accompany her.

Meeting Auntie Sahalie might be fun.

Kyna found herself smiling at the thought as she stretched into a full run, grateful for the release of energy, at least, when a crack of thunder sent the woman into a graceless stumble. It was amazing that the redhead didn’t go ass over tail the way she’d been running. All the same, she landed in a heap of limbs and mud, the sudden rain pounding on her face as she tried to see straight again. The roar of water nearby filled her ears as she flailed helplessly – it wasn’t a waterfall, she thought, but a rising river nearby, like the same that had once threatened Speiden’s litter.

A wild dissertation appears!

i wasn't sure i read this right entirely so i left it open ended! :X

Chaos may as well have been in the air all around her as the storm picked up in intensity. At least that was the way that it felt – like an unseen god having a tantrum over their particular little piece of the world. Vesper pressed in close to the hardwood trees with a close-lipped whine, feeling not too unlike a cornered animal. Where it seemed there was even the briefest of lulls long enough for her to shake the water from her coat, the rain would come barreling down sharp and cold with the wind biting behind it. Everything was sent into motion as she wove her way through the thicket. She hadn't the faintest idea where to set her eyes next.

When she did, however, her gaze settled upon the figure of another skirting through the storm. Her breath hitched up in her chest awkwardly only to escape her and leave her in a breathless gasp when she saw her stumble. It fell eerily in time with the quick flash of lightning and the boom of thunder. Somewhere beyond them, Vesper heard the cracking of the forest, and rushed out from where she was. By then she had lost sight of the other wolf, who had disappeared into the greenery.

A beat followed that disappearance, and Vesper found her voice.

"H-Hey!" She called out. The wind grabbed her as she stole across an open expanse of land. She aimed for the brush she thought she had seen the she-wolf disappear into, scarcely paying mind to the terrain. The roar of the storm was ever present but so was the waterfall; it was hard to tell the two apart as she realized where she was coming up on again.

Her feet skittered one way and another as she stumbled over debris of the undergrowth, but she saved herself from finding the edging of the falls the hard way. What she could see did not reveal much – if the she-wolf had gone over the edge, she was surely lost to the elements. This was the fear that gripped Vesper suddenly as wildly looked through what she could. The turbulence below was not free from the storm that had come through as the waters rose untold, but she saw no flash of earthy shades stir there. Where had she gone? She was so certain she had seen stumble through here, but... had she gone over?

It was no small miracle that Kyna was able to hear the stranger over the roar of the nearby fall, though truthfully, the young alpha had no idea how close her call really was. The world was still spinning around her as she tried to find her feet; it wasn’t a far fall, but she’d knocked her head quite well. “Over here!” she warbled. If the scarlet wolf was in better shape, she might have not appreciated how feeble she was in that very moment.

Only when did she roll onto her belly and get some semblance of bearing did the woman realize how precariously she was balanced at the edge – that it wasn’t just flowing water, but falling water only a few lengths away…and below. Kyna swallowed hard, spreading her legs very slowly as she froze; how much would it take to send her over?

“Can you… Can you see? Is the ground stable here?”

No idea what my original intent was omg.  This seems good though.  xD

A wild dissertation appears!

A young deer has been separated from the rest of its herd. Hunt Opportunity

Vesper felt a lump form in her throat as the seconds ticked on. She couldn't help but let a little mournful whine slip out, as the situation passed from confusticate to dread in full form. The rain had done more than just soak her to the bone now; it weighed her down like the emotions that bubbled up into her features. Her ears slid back as she prepared to get away from the edging herself, when a voice called up to her from below. Instead the agouti yearling held still as her eyes scanned the water again, waiting to hear that voice once more. She had to be sure she heard it.

There was no more than a couple of beats of silence, and then, she heard it.

Carefully, Vesper peered over the edge of the damp ground. She went supine against it, leaning out over it against every warning her mind gave her. The roar of the water seemed to intensify though this was more her own mind than anything; the hard droplets of rain against her back seemed like stones intent on driving her back. She let out a shaky breath as she finally spotted the she-wolf.

"I see you!" Her voice sounded far more triumphant than she felt – if she had been standing, she would have no doubt shook like a leaf. "Can you see me? Can you see a way out?" she went on, not daring just yet to take her eyes off of earthy canine. Maybe asking her if she could see a way out wasn't the right choice of words, but Vesper didn't know what else to suggest. She seemed so close to the water there that she doubted she'd climb back up.

But... if she could find a way along the water's edge, maybe she'd have a chance.

The thought dawned on her and she stole a look further along the rush of the swelling current.

Calm.  Calm.  She had to remain calm.  Nothing good had ever come of a panic.  For a moment, Kyna simply closed her fire bright eyes and took a deep breath – now was not a time to think of the things she could lose and the things she wanted to keep, now was not a time to think of all the things that could go wrong and the price she would pay.  She had to be an alpha, and think.  See her way out of this.
 
The stranger’s voice brought her back to the present and her orange ears tipped forward, gaze following as she squinted through the rain and mist.  Eventually, she found a wolf-shaped object, and her tail gave a hopeful wiggle.  “I see you!” she called in return, gathering her legs to her body once more.  The ground still hadn’t moved, and Kyna had to assume it was safe to stand.  She did so slowly, oh so slowly, in case she needed to spring – but the mud held until the female was standing tall.  But now what?  She looked at the roaring water, and the rest of the drop; she did not want to go all the way down.  “I can’t see much!” she yelled to the other wolf.  “Do you see a path?  Or…rocks?  Something?  The ground seems stable enough!”

A wild dissertation appears!

Unbeknownst to them both, their thoughts briefly mirrored one another. Vesper found that she was trying to keep herself calm but that was an uphill battle on ice. The relief she had felt in finding the she-wolf was now replaced with the thought of what would happen if she couldn't find a way out of where she was. Which as Vesper soon learned, she didn't see a quick solution to the problem. Once again, her breath felt caught at the back of her throat; she fought the urge to choke and sputter as though she were the one who had gone over the edge.

As questions came hurdling up to her, her eyes frantically searched along the muddy edge for something that would have been useful. A path, some stones, whatever! Any of it would have worked at that point! Instead what came out of her mouth and under her breath were a few uhhs as she searched. And then an idea dawned on her.

"Wait there! Just a moment!" The storm was still raging on overhead of them as Vesper sprang up to venture along the jagged edge. She thought that perhaps if she went to another vantage point, she'd see something. Anything. Another great clap of thunder shook through as the rain evened out -- in a matter of what had been no more than a few minutes, the worst of the storm had rolled by. It was still a threat with the lightning and the rain, but she cared about it less as she stopped near the edge once again, this time further down from where she had been before.

From that angle, she could see the she-wolf better, and found the predicament she was in clearly. Panic threatened to flood in again as her gaze jogged to the waterfall; Vesper forced herself to look ahead and away from it. "What about those roots over there? I think they're from a tree! Can you climb them?" The latter was a stupid question -- she had to get to them first. And that was even assuming they were sturdy and not sun-dried and summer rain rotted. But it would beat standing on a mud platform, wouldn't it?

To herself, Vesper whined. The last thing she wanted was to send someone to their death.

Wait there!
 
As if Kyna had much other choice than to stand between rushing water and a sharp drop – but she was far too polite to say as much, even if it flittered across her mind.  So she waited, ears straining forward to pick up any sound, any hope at all (that the stranger might just turn around and decide this wasn’t her problem didn’t occur to the alpha just then, as she wouldn’t have been tempted by the possibility herself).  Thankfully, it seemed such things didn’t occur to Vesper, either, and the she-wolf appeared a few seconds later with an idea.
 
She looked from Vesper to the roots, mouth twisting to one side as she contemplated the idea – frankly, shuffling over to the roots (or vines?) wasn’t the hard part.  Kyna lifted herself onto her hind legs carefully before taking the thick roots in mouth and pulling; when they didn’t snap or crumble immediately, she felt a small pang of hope.  But she couldn’t scale a wall.  Not without help.
 
“I think…I think I’ll try,” she shouted back up to the lone wolf.  “But – I’m not sure I can do it myself.  Do you think…you could try to pull up as I try to climb?”

@Vesper -- Sorry for the wait!  D:

A wild dissertation appears!