I Will Not Quit

She practically glowed under his praise, her chest swelled greatly in pride for herself and with love from her father. She picked up her pace to dog his heels against the terrain but just as he mentioned not to let herself get cocky she slipped on a plate of slate and slammed her chin into the earth. Can't have everything, she guessed with a huff, picking herself up. No one to blame but herself for that one. She rubbed her chin after that reminder to watch her step.

"Right."

The terrain was full of many lessons this day, and her paws had started to hurt. The dry air held a bitter bite against her summer skin, but the ground was rough and sun-baked.
The dry trees down below looked brittle enough to snap if the wind dared blow through them hard enough, perhaps a spark of flame would engulf the valleys below.

She glanced at her father every time he paused and swiveled his ears. She would try and do the same, silently naming the noises each time she caught it. A stranger hawk calling out to her father's companion. The bleat of mountain goat off behind a hill somewhere... It was much easier to hear these noises outside of the screaming cicadas. She looked up as her father's hawk called overhead. They had left her mother's ravens behind. She had felt a little exposed away from her mother's ravens at first, but she liked her father's hawk.

She carefully sidled alongside him, curious as to what he was looking at. Her eyes scanned the terrain below them, full of sharp angles and dusty corners. He spoke and she lifted her gaze up at him and then followed his line of sight. She could barely see the slate peak with its falling cascade of water. The roar was more subtle at this distance than the smaller falls of the Polar Sound at home. But at this distance, it meant it was huge!

"Woaah." She was awed. Could they really make it all the way there? She made to quickly jump and race her father there but after two quick steps her shoulder met the ground and she slid extremely close to the edge. Her breath caught in her throat as she froze and carefully scrambled back to safety, letting him help if he did. Perhaps the only one of the family she allowed to help her.

"Okay, THAT was close." She curled her lip like she was angry, but again, the only one to blame was her own self, and that pissed her off more.