Whats this here?

Azure · 05-07-2022, 02:35 PM

The pair moved forward, weaving through the unfamiliar woods onward toward the mountain range that had caught the Warlords’ eye. Azure trailed alongside him, taking the opportunity to leap gnarled branches and exposed roots before the forest began to thin. Living here, one could close their eyes and imagine they could fly. The Champion was already sold.

As they neared the mountain it became apparent how much larger the rocky mass was up close. It towered over the direwolves straight into the heavens above, bringing Azure to hesitate as they exited the woods. Defensible surely, but where would their wolves live? It was a far cry from the Armada’s shores, and none of their members as far as he was aware had experience scaling cliffs so sheer and dangerous.

It wasn’t until they neared the shallow valley between the mountain’s fork that his hesitations began to lessen. He remained quiet, observing with a mixture of anticipation and fear as they continued their exploration. “There’s an underground river of lava not far from here, perhaps it’s close enough to share it’s warmth.” He commented in reply, drawing on a nearly-buried memory of his trip to the ice bridge with the Armada Queen.

Sirius had begun to poke around in the caverns and Azure idled briefly at the southern cave’s mouth as his father disappeared within it. The Long Night had cursed him, and so far Az’d had little success in banishing the lingering fear of darkness that had remained when the sun returned. A den was one thing, but a series of tunnels deep beneath stone? His ears pulled back with uncertainty - an expression he rarely allowed another wolf to witness - and he forced himself to follow, venturing into the expansive cavern just as far as the light could spill in. “Don’t get lost.” He called after his father, forcing a tone of boredom to counteract the stress in his words. “Mother would be quite cross with me for allowing it to happen.”

Azure knew he had to put his own fears aside to provide for his family and his pack, it was expected of him as a leader. The mountain was defensible, hidden, private - everything the Armada needed to prosper. Climbing the ridges would build strength in even Ophelia’s thick legs, the battlefield was near enough for any member to make frequent trips to and from, and then there were the woods… for the woods, Azure could endure the darkness. “Seriously though, neither of us are any good at navigation and from scent alone we know no pack has laid their claim here. Without a navigator or a source of light, it’s not safe to explore too deep.” From the bits and pieces he’d learned on his trip across the continent with his mother, Azure knew enough about cave-ins and landslides to have a healthy respect for the caverns. “We should get a rough picture, make our decision, and return more prepared to map out the deeper tunnels later.” Zee, he was sure, could navigate the passages with skillful ease without risking both the Armada alphas accidental deaths beneath a mountain of stone.

"Speech"

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