There wasn't a world in which Imogen wasn't going to investigate this! Even better if she got to drag someone along with her! She'd never been up to Boreas before and she'd made sure to promise her dad she'd bring a friend, the last thing they needed was for her to go missing so shortly after he'd returned. Unluckily for Jiro he was that defacto friend.

They'd just made it a bit north of the land bridge when they'd settled down for the night. Not that there was going to be much sleeping. Not with the earth quaking as much as it did. And when dawn had finally broke Imogen had been surprised to not be greeted by the same friendly yellow glow she expected... It was red. Imogen wasn't typically someone to question things, but even she had to admit something about it felt... Off.

But there wasn't a sense of foreboding that she couldn't quash with a little adventure and she knew exactly where she was going! Overnight the peaks of something she couldn't make out from that distance had risen over the horizon. Getting there hadn't proved difficult it seemed she wasn't the only wolf who'd decided to let their curiosity win out. As they arrived and Imogen got a good look at the spires for the first time she couldn't help but feel a little awed. Too young to have learned to fear when the continents changed like this all she could feel was a surge of excitement at what they might find.

"Imogen"

Art by Rott-Gutt

Leaving home for days on end was becoming more and more frequent for Jiro. Whether he was out exploring, gathering supplies, or spending time with his friend, Imogen, (which happened the most frequently), he was enjoying it. Out in the wilds of Auster, there was no suffocating expectation to be perfect or live up to impossible standards. Out here, he could be... Jiro. Just Jiro. And Imogen liked it when he was himself.

Happily hunkering down for the night just north of the Bifrost on their journey into Boreas, Jiro didn't hesitate to curl himself around Imogen to help keep her warm. It was what friends did. Sleep hardly came though and not for reasons someone else might think. As soon as the sun began to set, the tremors began. Soft at first, a gentle rousing of the dirt beneath them. Earthquakes weren't unheard of, but this many and all night long? Something definitely had to be wrong. Nervousness clearly lined the contours of his face as he tried to keep Imogen and himself distracted throughout the night.

But unfortunately, that feeling would only heighten when the sun rose, but in a different color. Bright, crimson red washed over them the higher the sun rose. In a way, Jiro could see the beauty in it, but it was also terrifying at the same time. While he wanted them to turn back and go safely home, Imogen managed to convince him that they should go toward the spooky things now sticking up in the distance. Of course, Jiro couldn't allow his friend to go alone and dutifully followed her with a sort of tenseness in his step that was unusual for him.

When they approached the sudden rise of the spires that from what he could sense from others definitely weren't there before, he too lets his mouth open in awe. Truly, the spookiness of the whole thing was beautiful in its own right, but that foreboding feeling was a tad too powerful to be ignored. "Genny, I don't think we should be here," Jiro whispers, leaning his head down so that his quiet voice could be heard.

One of the downsides to Imogen's enthusiasm was that it often led to her not noticing reluctance in others; to say she often steamrolled others would not have been an understatement, even if it was never intentional. It was only as Jiro came up beside her, his form easily dwarfing hers, and he leaned down to speak that she noticed the trepidation in her friend. Imogen turned sea foam green gaze towards him, eyes wide though mostly from realization rather than from fear. "Oh- Uh..." Imogen started to shift back and forth restlessly, glancing back at the dark shapes rising from the ground and finding her desire to explore wasn't diminished...

But Imogen also didn't want to make her friend do anything he wasn't comfortable with. A slightly more grounded wolf might have also pointed out that Imogen had a history of not grasping the danger of a situation until it was too late, and maybe it would be prudent to listen to a cooler head. But Imogen didn't really have that sort of self-reflection so all she could feel was antsy to go slake her curiosity. "Are you sure?" She tried to keep the whine from her voice, only partially successful, as she turned to look back at him. "Sometimes being somewhere you're not supposed to be can be fuuuuuun." Was she trying to bribe Jiro? Yes, yes she was and she wasn't subtle about it at all.

"Imogen"

Art by Rott-Gutt

Jiro sees the realization and disappointment in Imogen's eyes. Instant guilt fills him. Was he being a party pooper? His face scrunches up, hesitation and concern all sorts of filling the lines as his ears turn backward. Even though she tries to hide the whine, Jiro can tell. They've hung out enough that he knows sweet Genny is never satisfied with her adventures. And really, this place was almost too interesting to turn away from now.

With a resigned sigh, Jiro nods slowly in acceptance to Imogen's bribery. Not that she needed to try all that hard. She was his best friend after all and saying no to that face? Well, heck, it was impossible. "Just gotta be careful, okay?" He warns, silver gaze lifting from her to glance around the eerie landscape. Awash in red with the metal spikes basically touching the sky just screamed bad news. This was nothing like the runestones down in southern Auster.

"Think its here for a reason?" Jiro asks tentatively, unsure where to look next. He'd rather Imogen lead the way anyway...

It was probably good for Jiro that Imogen was ignorant to the power she held over him, and even better that she would have had no intentions to abuse if if she ever found out.

Despite herself when Jiro relented she her face broke into a grin and her tail started to wag behind her. She turned her attention back to the scenery and with a glance over her shoulder to make sure he was following started towards the nearest spike. Jiro's question bouncing around in her head. "I dunno..." She tilted her head to the side, trying to puzzle it out. "Maybe they were lookout perches?" She rose onto her hind legs and placed both forepaws onto the spire. The angle of this one felt too steep for a wolf to climb at least.... So maybe not?

"Imogen"

Art by Rott-Gutt

As long as he could keep Imogen relatively safe, he was content to follow her to the ends of the earth. Or at least, the edges of Boreas. So that's what Jiro did. Keeping close to her side, he lets his eyes wander over the spires and the ground. Being so tall and with such large paws, he notices the changes in the earth beneath him. Sometimes it was soft and sometimes it was hard which was odd. Was there a pattern?

With a scrunch of his brow, he looks down at his paws when Imogen stops to peer at the spires. Scuffing his toes along the grass, he overturns some of it to notice that perhaps its softer here when it shouldn't be. When Imogen ponders if its a perch, Jiro looks up with a tilt of his head. "I dunno about a perch unless its for birds," he muses, his nose wrinkling. Definitely too steep for wolves to climb up, right?

"What if there's more down below? Like it hasn't come all the way up?" He looks back down to the ground, using his paw to move a bit more of the dirt.