Riddle Heights nothing can be done

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Random Event: Some kind of blight seems to be affecting the berries of the lore; what is normally ripe this season is rotting dead on the branches and the ground.

The mountain had become cozy in a way she admired greatly. Yet she needed to know that it was right and that it felt true. So she had ruffled @Mika awake in the early hours and prompted them for a day of sightseeing. They didn't have to come along, but Adora had held hope that they would.

She had become nimble along the paths of the Heights, practiced in the trails they had taken. She doubted that made any of this less dangerous but she had grown into another bit of confidence. It was why she roamed in a nonchalant direction, followed only her whims. She wanted to see more of the lands that touched around their currently humble spot.

The growth was a touch scarcer here where she had slowed her pace which she might have been willing to ignore, for that seemed only natural on a mountain. Only the place seemed to stink around what growth remained. Sour like something had rotted, but not like meat. Berries that struggled to cling to life. In fact, it seemingly hadn't clung to life at all. Dead on the ground and the branch if it had managed to hang on. She was hardly a botanist but she struggled to even see what kind of berries it had once been mushed against the ground by scavengers and nature alike.

She might have become embarrassed by it later but, in that moment, her face carried a stricken look of fear.

Mika was both surprised and delighted when Adora woke them up that morning. Following her around was no chore - they were more than happy to be her little shadow, tailing her as she made her way over mountain paths in search of something and nothing at all.

They were getting pretty good at navigating the place, too. Less stumbling, less pain in their bad leg. It was getting much easier to adapt to mountain life, but they found they’d be willing to put up with a great many things if Adora was involved.

Embarrassingly enough, when Adora stopped, a fearful look on her face, Mika was too wrapped up in her to pay attention to what she was looking at. The smaller wolf frowned and tilted their head to the side as they approached her, watching her face instead of where they were going.

“Adora? What’s-“ they began, and then stepped in something mushy and, they now realized, smelly. Mika wrinkled their muzzle and stepped back, trying to shake the rotten berry off of their paw. “Oh. Ew,” they complained, not sure what had her so worked up. It was just some gross berries… wasn’t it?

Mika seemed hardly bothered by it, beyond the mush they had stepped in. Adora would not blame them one bit. No, she felt only a bitterness towards herself.

I should have known, Her face and tone had sobered drastically in that moment. None of this should be rotted already. It's this mountain. Words that had crept into something sharper, but she had been careful to not raise her voice. Mindful enough that she didn't want to make matters worse.

Only wanted to make things right. The mountain seemed to think that now that it had lulled her back into comfort, it could start to warn her.

ᴠᴏɪᴄᴇ || ᴛʜᴇᴍᴇ

The whole situation was a little confusing, to say the least. Mika glanced between Adora and the berries almost frantically, not sure why a little spoiled fruit had made her so upset.

Should have known what? What was wrong with the mountain? Wasn’t this just some berries?

Mika frowned deeply and tilted their head to the side, brows drawn together. “I’m… a little confused,” they began, studying their companion. “What’s the matter with ‘em? Other than they’re rotten.” It wasn’t like they were going to eat them anyway, were they? Mika wasn’t well-versed enough on plants to know what was safe and what wasn’t.

“What’s wrong?” they tried, tentatively brushing up against her side. If they could fix it, they’d like to try.

"I have watched this mountain destroy things for a long time."

It seemed to slip free, out there now before she could stop it. As if someone had turned on the kitchen sink and walked away, she could not be stopped once it started.

"I once lived on the lake. These people had so much stripped from them but refused to budge and the mountain — it would just take and take. Lives, food, happiness. It was hungry for it all."

It still was.

Her features had grown dark and thoughtful, gaze turned somewhere far away from Mika. Something heavy hung over her now.

ᴠᴏɪᴄᴇ || ᴛʜᴇᴍᴇ

Mika had never seen Adora like this - she always seemed so confident, like she had all the answers in her paw. Even when she was unsure and nervous, calling out to them in the fog, she felt like a beacon. Like something solid and firm and unbending.

It hadn’t occurred to them that she might be struggling with something, too. That she needed support. They’d been inconsiderate, they realized, and it sent a wave of guilt sweeping over them.

But they could fix it, couldn’t they? If Adora needed them, they wanted to be there for her. It was a strange emotion, but certainly a strong one.

“Well… yer a lot smarter than them, right?” they asked, tipping their head to the side and seeking out her gaze. “If we settled down ‘round here ‘n the mountain wasn’t good t’ us, we’d just go somewhere else, wouldn’t we?”

They offered her a small smile. “But ya never know until ya try. ‘N I think we can make it work.” Mika studied the taller wolf, searching her expression. “If we can’t, then we can just find a better place.”

She laughed, something dead and hollowed out like a fire burned tree.

"They are-" Were they still? She knew no real relations there, not like she might have once. It felt like Macieo had become a crossed out name. If not all across the lands, then at least along the mountains. "They were family. Maybe the mountain has it out for the bloodline." It was stupid and she knew it even as she sank down to her rear.

Deflated, defeated.

"Maybe, um, maybe if it's okay with you we...go look around further. Just for -" She felt like a child scared of monsters in the dark. "It would help me, a lot. I think."

ᴠᴏɪᴄᴇ || ᴛʜᴇᴍᴇ

It was hard to know the right thing to say - if there even was one. Mika was suddenly struck with the knowledge that they didn’t know anything about Adora’s background at all, and that she didn’t know about theirs. It would be hard to talk about, but maybe… it would be good to share.

Their ears pressed to their skull and, strangely, realized they were angry at the berries that caused this in the first place. It was irrational and ridiculous, but they suddenly wanted to stomp on them, squish them into the dirt for good measure.

Adora just looked so sad. It made something wrench deep in Mika’s chest.

”I told ya I’d go with ya. Doesn’t really matter to me where we go,” they assured, creeping back into her line of sight and letting their tail wag behind them. ”Y’ wanna go to the mountains, fine. Y’ wanna go to the forest, that’s fine, too. Hell, we could try underwater and I’d do it if ya asked me to.” Their face warmed a bit, but they continued smiling. “If it makes ya feel better, I’d do it.”

She couldn't describe the feeling that bloomed within her chest. For how childish she felt, Mika made no ordeal or fuss of it. There were no attempts to quell her or minimize the flare of emotion she had experienced. There had been only...support. Comfort. It overwhelmed her enough that she made a move to attempt to quickly pull Mika into her chest with a wolven hug.

"Thank you."

Relief washed over her as if it was rain. It softened her features, her voice. Adora had not realized just how much she simply needed someone to be there.

Sheepishly, she aimed to plant a kiss on Mika's forehead too.

ᴠᴏɪᴄᴇ || ᴛʜᴇᴍᴇ

Mika made an undignified squawking noise when Adora pulled them in, and they were suddenly lost in monochromatic fur. It wasn’t like they’d never been close to her or anything, but it still brought familiar warmth to their cheeks and chest and… well, all over, really. It was comfortable, though, this time, and they peeked up at her to gauge her emotions…

And were rewarded with a “thank you,” and a kiss on the forehead.

Their eyes widened a little and they gave a soft laugh, leaning further into her. Normally, this kind of closeness would set them on edge - make them bristle and stiffen and freeze - but not like this. Not with Adora.

“What’re ya thanking me for?” they asked, nuzzling against her cheek.