Riddle Heights see what we can find

for @Lunette but open to any as well :)

The world was a wonderful, fantastic thing and Ismena had no intention of wasting a single day of it. Though she longed to explore beyond the reaches of their mountain home, to see what new things waited for her in the forests and meadows below, she knew that today wasn't necessarily the day for such things. And Lunette was hardly the partner for such things either. Her sister probably wouldn't want to stray too far and although Ismena may reluctantly admit that she was right, surely there was only going to be a small window when she would willingly allow herself to be rooted to the ground by her little sister, right? Eventually, the growing pup was going to need to see more. For today, though, she wouldn't complain. The sun had risen somewhere to the east but the world was still just grey and white around Ismena as she carefully paced among the rocks - pausing for a moment to cast her gold and green eyes around, seeking the form of her sister who (theoretically) shouldn't be too far behind her. One of her fuzzy ears twitched as flakes of snow landed on it, listening intently for any movement. Their journeys had brought them to the snowy slopes of the mountains - there was nothing but rocks and snow all around her and trees below. Her mismatched eyes drifted away from the slopes of the mountains and to the hazy world beneath, obscured by the gentle snow that was falling around her until she could almost believe that these mountains were the whole world. A white world, crisp and clean with fallen snow and just waiting for two young explorers to stake their claim on whatever they could find. Which, really, right now was snow drift after snow drift. Rather boring, from Ismena’s perspective, but she was willing to let her imagination take the lead. The fresh blanket of snow was brimming with potential too. Anything could be hiding underneath it.

(This post was last modified: Dec 19, 2016, 10:30 PM by Ismena.)

Lunette Vuesain

I’ve got my love stuck in my head

So, she had let herself be talked into something...

She was further from home than she had ever been. The furthest she'd gone on her own, before today, was the abandoned packlands with the nightshade plants, and that was practically on Fallen Tree Cove's doorstep. But today.. they were so far away, Lunette was sure they'd reach the end of the world soon. They had made their way along the lakeshore, heading south straight as arrows, and she couldn't even see the Lost Lake anymore. It was gone, trapped behind the bends of their path and the snowfall screening the world. It was white, white all around, a white sky, a white rain, white ground, white slopes. Ismena was a tawny blot ahead of her, and dark rocks stuck their sharp spires out from the deceptive cover, but aside from that? White.

They had set out early, before the true first light, and the gnawing in her belly told her they'd be back after dark. She only hoped mama and papa wouldn't be angry with them, for being away so long... And what if the snowfall worsened, into a storm, a blizzard? They'd be trapped out here.. on the snow and the ice and the rocks and the rubble.. heart in her throat, she lengthened her strides, muscles tired and aching from the trek, and her voice called into the gentle snowfall. "Ismena! Issy! Wait up!"

Ismena was always so fast, a bundle of muscle and energy and stamina, while Lunette's breath pounded harsh and hot in her lungs and her heart beat furiously to try and keep up with her body's demand. Exploring was exhausting work, nothing like her trips around the lake with Kajika, and how her sister could do this.. and just bounce on ahead.. Lunette pushed herself again, breaking into a lope to catch up with her older sister. She was surprised at how steady she was over the uneven terrain, how her paws seemed to simply slot into the right places and give her traction—but a pseudo mountain goat or not, it was tiring, and her paws and paw pads ached from the constant grate of ice crystals.

Stop being so ungrateful! she thought to herself as she ate up the ground to catch up. The world was beautiful, even though the snow fell, she was with her sister, she was off on adventure.. why was she just thinking of everything that hurt, and could go wrong? Panting, she fell in next to her sister, and then collapsed dramatically in her path. "I d-don't.. get how y-you can do.. do this.. so much," she forced out, rolling over on her back in mock defeat and batting a front paw in the general direction of her sister.