Rise To The Stars [Cairo, Domari, Caelia]

Miles and miles of keeping up with Aurielle’s brisk pace and he felt like his legs might fall off. Every time he’d gone exploring eastward he’d taken his time, not set a forced march. But he was too curious to complain, and even failing the curiosity, he wasn’t one to complain.

The mountains loomed closer and closer, and he wondered if they’d be scouting Mt Volkan before winter set in, but then, Aurielle made a detour up a rather precarious goat path, up and up, until she stopped and warned them that their climb was only to get harder.

Cai’s tongue lolled as he ducked after his glowing white mentor, heeding her suggestion readily. The darkness and tightness of the caves was… oppressing. And he had hours of the weight of the mountain around him. His hackles lifted under his armor several times as he spotted the gaping maw of chasms on occasions, brushed by Aurielle’s luminous fur, or heard a rock clatter below… after a very, very long silence.

Finally – Finally – Aurielle’s fur wasn’t the only light ahead, and as she stepped aside, he clambered gratefully into the bright moonlight, rump plopping to the ground once he’d stepped out of the way of the others. For a long few moments, he just focused on catching his breath, eyes glazed.

Every muscle burned, and the air felt weird up here. And then, as he slowly regained his bearings, he actually took notice of what ‘up here’ really looked like.

“Whoooa….”

It came out as a hoarse breath as he actually looked at the place. Somewhere he could hear water trickling, and his mouth watered, but for the moment his eyes drank in the incredible surroundings, and the veritable ocean of clouds beneath them.

He slowly rose to his paws and padded around the courtyard, then right up to the cliff edge to gaze down—and quickly retreated several steps at the dizzying height. He retreated several steps, back to Aurielle, in fact, then spun to stare at her as she spoke up at last, and finally made it clear why she’d hauled them to this place.

His tail began waving slowly through the air. They were getting promoted?

As she nudged them to rest for a few hours, and go explore, he felt an itch of anticipation as he threw a grin at Caelia. They were getting promoted!

He padded away from the Spirit, leaving her to her own devices as she’d suggested, and began to explore the strange, peaceful place slowly, marveling at the sights he could see. Occasionally he’d spot Aurielle’s ghostly figure padding through the temple or lounging in the moonlight.

The pool of water in the main chamber was definitely welcomed.

Eventually, he picked a room and sprawled out on the icy stone floor. He slept for quite some time, but moonlight shafting through the window brought him blinking awake.

Quickly, memory returned and he shot to his paws with a scrape of bear claws, trotting quickly out and down the flights of stairs and out into the court yard. Aurielle was already waiting and he bounded forward, haunches slapping the ground as he came to sit in front of her, earning a bemused smile from the Spirit. He reined himself in, let his excitement settle, then straightened with a smile, voicing with much more serenity than he was feeling,

“I’m ready”

Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Hear" ---- Think