Pasos al Cielo get down, get up again

@Skylark - backdated to Sept. 2nd, before Kip runs into Odin

This thing was big and steep. It was so obviously a bad idea to climb; so obviously tedious and treacherous and all those other terrible 't' adjectives. And yet, here Kip stood, for twenty minutes straight, stock still as she stared at the cliffs and sheer drop into the valley that she stood. Her inner mountain goat was urging her to try and climb it, but her inner rationale was trying to convince her not to. But the stupid, damnable pride and youthful energy was enough to push her over the edge, and up she went.

She did not get very far.

About one-sixteenth of the way up, her paws slid and she immediately toppled head-over-tail, gracelessly, down into the valley below. Greenish eyes flashed as she turned to stare at the escarpment, still wanting to climb it but also not wanting to hurt herself (or her pride) any further. But of course she could do it. It might just take a little bit of time - that's all. Her tail lashed angrily and she narrowed her eyes, surveying the obstacle in her way.

The worst part about this was that she had no clue why she even wanted to do it in the first place. She didn't want to be on the mountain - she didn't want to climb it. Her best guess was that it had to do with some kind of pride and the knowledge that it was possible, but perhaps she needed to come up with a different angle.

The medium sized wolf let a soft grunt escaped as she pulled herself up and from under the bush she had sought refuge in for the night. Her pelt, a soft mix of white grey and light cream laid in a disheveled and matted tangle of fur, a couple of twigs entangled within gave her the vague appearance of a bush coming to life. As the thought crossed her mind, Skyla paused, her sage green gaze widening at the thought of her bed this past evening suddenly coming to life and entrapping her. With newfound vigor, she scrambled away and scooted back a few steps, suddenly weary of how close she could have possibly come to dying.

With dying being very high on her list of things to not do today, she stepped away, her black splashed tail wagging gently as she grinned, filled with a new found energy at simply being alive. The yearling planted  her forepaw firmly into the ground before letting out a soft bark and yip. “Not today! she declared, though as to what she was referring to, she wasn’t quite sure, she had an ever growing list of things to not do, almost as big, but still outshadowed by the list of things she wanted to do, and at the top of that list was living.

Having made her dailey declaration, Skyla turned, her ears perking as she caught the faint sound of a running river, at least she hoped that’s what it was. Following the noise toward te source, she eventually found herself coming closer and closer to the base of a almost sheer cliff side, she turned her attention upward, toward the massive cascade of water pouring over the edge, Then suddenly her head snapped toward the side, where she caught sight of a small white shape tumbling, her heart started to race as she watched the unknown wolf pull herself up slowly.

Skyla paused, watching a few moments longer before doing the only logical thing that came to mind, she took off at full speed, charging toward the other youth, skidding to a stop when she was only a few paces away, grinning like a madman as she looked Kip over slowly, it was courteous to make sure someone was alright before you assaulted them with questions, her mouth opening “Want some help? she asked suddenly, her gaze turning up toward the cliffside, if This small wolf has reason to get up there, then well, Skyla couldn’t just leave her alone, she felt duty bound to help the random stranger of whom she hadn’t even asked her name, assuming ti was a female as she hadn't even paused to try and figure it out.

Not two seconds after she'd taken such a tumble (which had disoriented her, so this was much more acceptable than her getting spooked in recent days. At least, that was how she decided to rationalize it,) pawsteps thundered after her. For a moment, she thought it was just the blood rushing in her ears, but it soon became apparent that it was not the case. Seemingly from nowhere, another pale wolf appeared, looming over Kip and looking way too freaking big for her taste.

A very dignified, very very tough yelp passed the girl's lips, and she twisted to get her paws underneath her, even though she was still shaken from the fall. She shook her pelt out and took a look at the newcomer, who had kindly offered to help her. It was a wolf around her own age, with surprisingly similar coloration. Though this girl lacked the tufted ears and had much more black in her pelt, whereas Kip was mostly golds, gingers, and whites.

Even their eyes were similar, though Kip had more blue in hers.

"Uh, no," she finally got out, glancing to the side in embarrassment. "There's no reason for me to be up there. Just wanted to see if I could do it, I guess." That was the best explanation she could come up with at the moment. But then it occurred to her that it would probably be polite to introduce herself, so she went for it. "I'm Kip."