intrepid explorers experience an impasse

Oxide had been a loner all of his life, though he remained close to his mother and his uncle a lot of that time. Nysa had always been overprotective of him and despite being the freest of wolves he didn’t feel like he’d ever had freedom. There was always the stipulation that his mother had to be there over his shoulder. Both to praise him when he did well and crack down on his failures. The later more often than the former, one of the reasons the boy had been so eager to shed her presence. If he didn’t see his family again it wouldn’t have bothered him, they were nothing to the selfish boy. Just a hindrance on his path to where ever he chose to be next.

The Nightingale boy lacked purpose, now he just traveled. He explored the land laid out at his toes. Despite the danger they were in Ox felt truly alive here in the pits. He didn’t miss that Eris had come close to running into him, but he stifled his amusement as they continued on. She hesitated, but he didn’t look back at her this time as she eventually went on, careful with her words. The Ademre were looking for a new home, though Ox might have decided on this treacherous place as a nice stop for the night he could see what a family wouldn't want to linger here. Pups were stupid, and liked to try and kill themselves.

The boy had no intentions of finding a place to settle down. There was too much out there he hadn’t seen yet. He startled suddenly as one silver paw sunk alarmingly deep into the ground ahead of him, before he could be sucked down too far he returned his weight to his other three paws. ”Stop, veer left.” He told her before she could find herself back in the muck as well. ”I can’t see you settling here.” Ox offered amusedly as he recovered from his own near trip. Tracing the edge of the pit he urged Eris on with a flick of his tail.