Hours Left Behind

They had gotten a small glimpse of what was to come from the top of the cliff, but when they did finally finish picking their way down the narrow path the shielded expanse of valley really presented itself to them and she gasped softly with awe at the view. It wasn't quite as cold down here now that they were out of the worst of the wind and this seemed to be where the pine trees and short shrubbery of the north could really thrive. Cerberus took the lead for a bit in finding them a sheltered spot to set up their camp and she helped with getting everything arranged, but she kept stealing glances at the wide inlet that let out into the ocean and the thin waterfalls that ran down to the water below from the sides of the valley. While she did prefer the warm, tropical weather of their former home, she was throughly enjoying exploring the north. There was nothing like this back in Auster and she couldn't wait to see what else they could find in this part of Boreas.

As they finished setting up camp, she was looking out toward the valley ahead of them before she looked back over her shoulder at Cerberus and realized his eyes were on her and not on the scenery at all. Her ears perked a bit with the realization and a grin pulled at her lips, her tail wagging gently behind her. "Quite a view, huh?" she teased as she turned to face him, a playful grin across her muzzle. If there was one thing that she enjoyed more than exploring and taking in the sights it was the attention Cerberus gave her. Going out and exploring with him really was the best of her favorite things and she couldn't have asked for a better way to spend the day together. Giggling softly, she closed the small gap between them to press a light kiss to his lips, peering up at him with a smile. "Lets go see if there's anything else interesting to see here before we get too distracted," she insisted with another grin before she turned and started to make her way down to the edge of the water–but not before she lightly flicked the end of her tail under his chin as she went.

Refocusing her attention on their surroundings, at least for a little while longer, Ruse went down toward the edge of the water, but before the got there she spotted a cluster of animals that were lounging on the rocky edge. "Seals!" she said in a whisper to Cerberus, keeping behind some of the plant life and shrubs so they wouldn't disturb the basking, blubbery animals. She had never seen seals before, but they were one of the many animals she had gotten descriptions of from her mother in the endless stories of the world outside of the island they were raised on when she was a pup. Now she was old enough to go out and see all of these things for herself. She was glad to have Cerberus to see it all with, but there was a little bit of bitter sweetness to it as she thought of her parents and how long it had been since she had seen them. Scylla had brought the news that their father was doing better, but she still didn't know when she would get to see them again. "We'll get to see the rest of our family again soon, right?" she asked quietly, glancing away from the seals to look up at her brother.

"Rusalka Alondra Klein"