Nightingale Palisade Slippery Slope

He had not intended to get separated from Lykopis, but still felt as if this whole mess had been his fault. It was him that hadn't wanted to be the Aura'kin, and he had wanted to see the world. Would he have been better off staying on his island? Maybe not better, but a lot less lost, and a lot less without his friend. It felt weird, exploring this new place without her. He'd just have to try and remember as much as he could, then tell her all about it. Plus, he'd made a new friend, and one that had even gone so far to save his life. Sahalie wasn't so weird after she was done pretending to be a sponge, and he'd enjoyed her company.

But he had a quest and sometimes you had to do quests alone. There were literally no trails to follow, no scents to catch up on, and from those he had asked, no sightings of his missing friend. Tumblebelly knew that staying positive would give him good results in the end, so focused on what was important right then. Mainly that was not falling into another icy river. Or, well, the same river. He'd decided that following it would be a good start, though the snow was slippery and the sides a bit too steep for him to be really comfortable. Tumbles trudged on, but this time with a little bit of caution.

@Castel

Cas, for all that she adored the Lowlands, also adored heading south and exploring further into the unknown. She loved her packmates, but she didn't like how confined she was feeling, and she didn't really have anyone else her age to spend time around, and meeting new wolves was hard, considering the strained relationship the Rye wolves had with the Monadnocks. She'd never been to the Palisade before, but she'd wanted to for a while. It wasn't even that cold today, Cas mused, only feeling the slightest hint of a chill through her thick, plush pelt. She still missed the springtime, but this type of weather wasn't so bad. Especially when she was going on a long trek, like she was doing today. She was glad that she was allowed to go so far off of the pack's territory - Drestig wasn't so strict, only telling them not to go to the north toward Monadnock territory. Of course, she'd broken that rule. She trotted her way down the banks of the river, admiring the location. The ground was... treacherous? It certainly wasn't safe, but Cas rather liked that type of thing. She was not aware that other wolves did, though, which is why she found it odd when she saw a small male making his way along the riverbank, as well. Fearlessly, Cas loped her way over to him, tail wagging happily. "Hey, there!" she called, skidding to a halt not too far in front of him. "I wasn't expecting to find anyone else down here tonight!"

He saw the girl leaping about, without a care in the world and his heart dropped. "Careful! You could freeze to death!" in his hurried warning, he had skipped the whole falling into the river part, which then would be followed with her freezing to death. The girl seemed agile enough to not slip, and he returned her greeting with a smile and a tail wag. He was thankful for the friendliness of the wolves in Relic Lore (all two of them, anyways). "I mean, uh, you could fall, then freeze to death," he wasn't really sure how the whole freezing to death thing worked and sort of regretted not asking Sahalie. He felt uneducated. Was it just when you went in water you froze? Or could you just be standing in the middle of a cold night and then.... die?

Tumblebelly's face was twisted in deep thought as he came up with more scenarios that you could be cold and possibly freeze. How cold did you have to be to really die? If you could freeze to death, could you burn to death? He remembered his own scar, an ugly burn that marred half of his face, and concluded that yes. You definitely could burn to death.

Right, he was with company! A new face, and a new friend. "I'm on a Super Important Rescue Mission," Tumblebelly explained. "I lost my friend somewhere up the river," he motioned towards the direction he'd come. "Or, I think I did," the gash in his head looked ugly, but didn't hurt as long as he didn't scratch at it. He couldn't exactly see it, but it didn't seem to be bothering him too much. "Anyways, her name's Lykopis, have you seen her?" Tumble decided sparing the details -- ones he was sort-of sure of but also sort-of not sure of -- was in his best interest. Sahalie hadn't believed him when he'd said the girl was green, which had him second-guessing himself.

"I'm Tumblebelly, professional adventurer, savior of damsels in distress, dragon hunter," he grinned, "and today I'm head of my missing wolf case, I guess." It wasn't a game, but it helped make him feel a bit better if he pretended it was.

@Castel

Her less-than-ideal eyesight had not allowed her to see the gash in his head until she approached, and worry crossed her features. His concern for her wellbeing had been kind of funny, considering he had been in such a rush to warn her of the danger of freezing to death that he'd kind of stumbled over his own words. She would've mentioned the gash sooner, but it didn't seem to be hurting him too much, so she let him talk rather than fuss and worry. This wolf reminded her of @Cottongrass, the wolf she'd met her first day in the Lore so many weeks ago, now. She resolved herself to not make the same mistakes she'd made with the white wolf with this one. "True, but I am pretty good at not falling," she informed him with a grin, then let him continue talking. The poor boy, she noticed, had scars on his face, a gash in his head, and was missing a portion of his tail. She wondered what kind of life he'd led to have so many things wrong with him, and how he seemed so sweet in spite of that. Wow, okay, he was more like Cotton than she'd originally thought. Looking for his friend. "A Super Important Rescue Mission, hunh?" she asked, blue eyes lighting up a bit. "Well, I've never heard of a wolf named Lykopis; sorry about that. But, I, too, am a professional adventurer, although I've never really saved any damsels or slayed any dragons," she informed him with a grin. "Maybe I can help you look for her a little. My name is Castel, but you can call me Cas, or Cassie, if you prefer!"

He inspected her paws before giving her his signature Tumblebelly Nod of Approval (it was like a stamp, but without the mess of an actual stamp). She seemed sure-footed in the right way. Tumblebelly was sure-footed in the wrong way, being that he never really looked before he leaped. Perhaps that was how he'd ended up in the water the other day, and maybe how he'd hit his head. The idea seemed to fit, but wasn't ringing any bells. It was the most important part of his mystery, and he was pretty confident that as soon as his head injury had cleared up, he'd remember exactly what had happened. Then he could continue his search a little less blindly, which wasn't that good of a feeling.

He had anticipated that the girl hadn't seen his friend. Lykopis was out looking for him, just the same as he was looking for her. Eventually their paths would collide, and they could explore all of Relic Lore together, as they had originally intended. Despite that, Tumblebelly was still very much in his element. His adventure had started in a quest, and wolves of all sorts (okay, again, just the two) seemed eager enough to help him in one way or another.

It made him feel welcome, if only because Tumblebelly had made it this far with only the help of wolves willing to offer a hand. He was more thankful than he ever could have expressed, and so tried to give when he could.

"There's always damsels in need of saving, and dragons in need of slaying," she didn't look like much of a professional adventurer, though already could feel Lykopis scolding him for judging the girl so early on. "Alright Cas," her name was hauntingly familiar, "So I can only assume she fell in the river," he explained. "I don't really have any evidence, because I don't really remember any of it, but I've got good instincts. So I was just following it and seeing if I could find any other clues. She, uh," he seemed hesitant. "She had flowers with her, I think? Little yellow ones. I think if we find some, then we'll be on the right track," an additional set of eyes would be helpful, and the girl seemed like she'd be good company for the day.

He took the lead, sniffing here and there as they walked. Not wanting to skip ahead, Tumble settled to walking somewhat beside his new companion. "Do you live around here?"

@Castel

(This post was last modified: Jan 30, 2017, 05:58 AM by Tumblebelly.)

There is a rabbit's nest nearby. +1 Health