Having a pet was fun! If she had known about how delightful it would be dragging someone else around with her, she would have done it sooner. Not that Finch could do everything herself. It did suck a bit that the girl was quite smaller so she had to hunt them food and what not, but she was smart. Like really smart at all that healing stuff which Calliope was not. If she wasn't quite the bitch to Finch, she might think that she and Finch could actually make a good pairing team.

They hadn't found out much at those spires. Sure, there were those carvings, but from the throngs of wolves leaving to head south into Auster, Calliope had a suspicion there was more down there to investigate. At her persistence, Calliope herded Finch down toward Shimmering Shore. She attempted to be somewhat nice, but even then, Calliope was testy and temperamental at best. At least they made it in one piece.

She pulls up short beneath that red sky and still air to see the ground collapsed. Lines strewn across the land burrowed this way and that way in no certain way. Calliope looks, eyes narrowing a hole in the ground that seemed to lead into the channels that now left scars through the dirt. Could there be something of use down there? More so than those wailing and hideous spires? Glancing down at Finch, she smirks.

"Little Birds first." She lifts a paw and points to the entrance, insisting that Finch take the lead.

"Speech"

Finch had begun to play her cards closer to her chest. Insulting Calliope had gotten her into hot water and compliments only went so far, so she'd decided on being generally amenable to whatever the larger girl wanted. It seemed to be the best way to get by. Finch had been somewhat reluctant to cross the Bifrost - this would only be her second time in Auster, the first having been for the Hallows bonfire festival. Crossing the bridge felt very final in a way she hadn't anticipated, but even as her heart sand further with each paw step towards the other continent, she hadn't figured out an alternative. Auster it was. Calliope wasted no time in laying down an order disguised as a cute quip once they arrived at their destination. Finch wanted to make a joke in kind, but she wasn't ready to test her limits again so soon. The memory of Calliope's open mouth centimeters from the side of her face was still seared into her psyche - those sharp, shiny teeth had been so close to her eyes. "This little bird will fly down into the tunnel for you, but there's no telling how far or deep it may go once I'm down there," she said mildly. "The earth has been moving in unpredictable ways. For all we know, there's a tunnel beneath the sea straight back to Boreas. I'll go down and get my bearings." There, the innocent seed of doubt was planted. If Finch went down there, would she come back? Would it really be better to beckon Calliope down in after her? Finch wasn't sure, but she hated the thought of being down there alone in the dark. It was good to have even a monster for company. She carefully observed the edge of the pit that opened in to the tunnel and scrambled down the edge that was most intact. Dirt fell down behind her in her wake, but the wall held. Finch landed lightly on her feet and stared ahead into the dark, unsure of what laid in wait. "Use the same way down I did, but be careful and light on your feet," she warned, looking back up at Calliope. From this angle, with the red sun outlining her against Auster's sky, she looked startlingly beautiful - and frightening. A vengeful angel or a gracious demon. Finch kept that one to herself. It wasn't quite a compliment, after all.