Riddle Heights tonight it's ready set go

Hagar, a shooting star flies overhead and you're left with the following prompt: In the distance, a large ball of light falls slowly to the earth. It fizzles out just before touching the horizon line, upon which the wind picks up in a roar that almost sounds like cheering...
All welcome!

Hagar scaled the lowest point of Serpents Pass, curious about the mountainous terrain but unsure of how wise it was to traverse. There had been towering ranges in the distance back home, but no one had been to them - they only had stories about others who had done so. He topped the Ridge, and the view was stunning to his eyes even if it wasn't the heights of Mount Dire. The air was cold and thick, but in the way that Hagar liked. The forests' many trees blurred together, so oddly small, and the night sky stretched further open than he'd ever seen it before.

It was wonderful, until he saw the light.

It caught his eye as he panned over the starscape, and the sight chilled him to the bone. He'd never seen anything like it, and while he wanted to believe it something completely separate from the Earth he stood upon, it was plummeting directly down without fading immediately as dying stars did. Something celestial was about to strike the very same ground he stood upon, he was sure of it, and all he could do was watch, gawking in horror.

Trailing after Hagar wasn't difficult, the rocky and snowy path not quite jagged and jutting at the lower levels, and little obscured the bear-like wolf as he ascended the slopes. From a distance, Moore would have even gone as far as to mistake him for a bear, had his friend's scent not filled the air. Maybe it was rude to follow without saying anything, but a wrong step and a startle could send someone stumbling. And at the height, perhaps it wouldn't kill him, but he'd certainly feel it, and the umber-furred wolf would prefer not to be responsible for such an event. He'd announce himself when he caught up, he'd decided.

Thick and muscular legs pulled up over the rocky terrain with ease, large paws capable of maintaining balance. It didn't take long for the thick-furred man to get up and near where Hagar stood, pumpkin eyes peering past his friend and packmate to the world below. Perhaps they were higher up than he thought… Regardless, Moore opened his maw, a greeting about to pass through his lips, before something happened.

The bright light descended, as if it were a hawk diving for its prey, hurtling towards the earth at incredible speeds. Even with his unfearful nature, the sight played out on the horizon sent hackles and the fur along his spine straight up. A loud gasp escaped his mouth, but rather than shrinking back and turning tail in fear, Moore determinedly rushed forward to stand beside Hagar, ears pinned back against his skull and pumpkin eyes wide.

It felt like the next instant that Moore was at his side, and Hagar tore his eyes away from the end of the world to regard his friend and think, what a wonderful companion to die with. He did not see the light finally fizzle out, instead closing his eyes as the wind picked up with a roar he was certain was the impact of what had struck the earth.

Nothing but cold and sound swirled around him, and as the seconds pressed on, he eventually gathered the will to peek back out at the world. It was all still there, like nothing had happened. He took an impulsive stride forward, paw pads curling over the edge of precipice while his stout neck stretched even further ahead. No matter how hard he tried to, he could see no evidence of what he'd witnessed. Finally, Hagar looked over his shoulder, back at Moore, blinking his confusion.

"Did you... see that too?"

(This post was last modified: Feb 08, 2022, 04:41 AM by Hagar.)

Moore stood frozen beside his friend, eyes wide as saucers and ears pinned to his skull. Even with them pinned, the wind howled in his ears, a cacophony accompanying the thing as it plummeted towards the horizon. Motion in the corner of his eye showed Hagar looking towards him, and instinctively Moore pressed his side against Hagars', a form of comfort for both his companion and himself as he willed himself to be brave and watch the thing fall.

The impact he had expected to rock the world never came as the light burned out, leaving the two standing there expectantly. There was no way that was a dying star; he hadn't seen any up until recently, but gauging Hagars' reaction, there was no way that's what this was. All he could manage out as Hagar moved away from him and closer to the edge was a very confused "huh?".

" Did you… see that too?"

Finally able to tear his eyes away from where the thing had been, he looked back at Hagar as he spoke, looking as confused as his friend sounded. "I… did? What the fuck was that...?!" A thought crossed his mind, and his wide citrus gaze returned to the forests below. "D… do y'think it landed?" He wasn't sure he quite liked the idea of something like that wandering the land below.

Hagar couldn't help a breath of relief as Moore confirmed that he'd witnessed the falling flare as well. Many horrible thoughts were racing through his mind, attempting to explain what he'd just experienced. Briefly he wondered if he was succumbing to the insanity sickness that was rumored to have once torn through a neighboring pack back home, though his friend's words allayed this fear.

Briefly. What if Moore had it too?

He wasn't normally a paranoid creature by any measure, but he'd never before seen something so staggering. He could only swing his head back an forth, shaking it to show that he did not know.

"We'd know... right?"

Guesses, just to make himself feel better. Hagar felt the first urge in his life to erase a memory from his mind.

"Should we tell the others?"

Something that big and that loud would have made a noise, an impact, something, if it had landed, right? Moore let out another breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding, pumpkin gaze sweeping the horizon once more. There didn't seem to be anything that signaled distress or trouble in the forests below. Maybe…

"I… I think we'd know, f'sure…" Moore let the tense air settle around them, before looking to Hagar. "It kinda looked like a dying star, or at least acted like one… maybe it was ancient?"

The suggestion was made to soothe ruffled fur, not because Moore knew anything about the lifespan of stars. But if one got big enough and old enough, would it not reflect that when it died and fell from the heavens?

Then remained the question of if they should tell the pack. If it was nothing, what good would it do them to rile everyone else up? On the flipside, if it were something, they'd regret not telling their packmates later.

"Maybe we should tell 'em, just in case," wide saucer eyes briefly returned to gazing at the forests. "Are you, uh… are you okay, Hagar?" Lightly nudging his friend with a shoulder, the concern shifted to the bearlike man.

Moore confirmed his sentiment, and the familiarity of heavenly death helped to ease his nerves. Ancient, old and nearly incomprehensible like redwood forests. It made enough sense for him to latch onto, his head now nodding in agreement. That had to have been it, because here they were still standing, the world below utterly intact and unchanged.

Are you okay, Hagar?

He blinked back at his friend.

"Yeah, I just... thought we were gonna die for a moment there."

As he spoke, the corners of his mouth snaked upward, bemusement marking his expression. What a relief they hadn't!

"You?"