Navigation - Cedar Falls

Morning light broke around the rock face and Pyralis stirred, opening her golden eyes long enough to sigh heavily.  They were making food progress in their travels through Auster and had stopped to rest at the cedar falls where food and water were plentiful but Pyralis had been sleeping fitfully.  Spring would mean the salmon run and the salmon run meant bears but she could not recall how early in spring the salmon would start to spawn and it had made her uneasy.  There was that and also the fact that she was torn.  She was enjoying her time away so much she hated to go back but that made her feel even worse.  She missed her kids and wanted to check in on them and make sure they were ok.  As much as she hated to admit it worry had been gnawing at her belly for some time.  Both feelings mixed around in her head and were making it very difficult to focus.  She reached over to nudge Alarik.  "Gooooood mooooorning…." she said in a silly sing-song voice. "Good morning, I hope you're feeling swell, good morning, good morning, you look like hell!"  She let out a laugh and got to her feet to stretch. "Talk" "You" Think

He had spent all of yesterday traveling with Pyralis, and so far they were making good progress. They'd made it to Auster early yesterday evening and had continued walking a little further before deciding to stop and rest. After all, they'd both pulled all nighters yesterday, and after the big hunt and all the warm food in their bellies, it really only made sense to settle in for a good long rest. But eventually morning came, and the first thing Alarik was aware of upon waking up was an incredibly silly song coming from the woman he'd once been afraid to turn his back on. But he'd trusted her enough to sleep beside her, which might have been stupid, but he'd survived. And now he had to listen to whatever it was she was singing. The little tune sounded quite innocent and playful at first, but ended with an insult. And there was the Pyralis he remembered. Alarik chuckled sleepily, his baritone voice even lower than usual. It was his morning voice. "Gee, thanks sweetheart," he growled teasingly, lifting his head and letting a huge yawn overtake him, tongue slowly curling as he whined and stretched out his legs. "And good morning to you, too," he said, back in character after his grumpy moment. "Sleep well?" Alarik asked as he stood and stretched his legs even further, bowing his upper body down to stretch out his back. The place they had found to be their bed for the night hadn't been the comfiest of places. But he'd slept on worse. He looked around, eyes widening a bit when he saw what this place looked like when the sun was out. It was lovely. Kind of a shame he'd totally missed that yesterday. "Talk" "You" Think

"You're welcome," Pyralis chirped happily. She was a difficult creature to gauge in the morning. Sometimes she awoke with a spring in her step ready to start the day and other times she was slow, groggy and irritable. Thankfully, for her traveling companion, this was one of her better mornings. She felt a bit of a stirring at the huskiness of his morning voice but ignored it. She had decided she had no intention of bedding the young man and she doubted very much he'd be interested in such activities in the first place. But a little harmless flirting for fun was never out of the question for this femme. He asked her how she slept and she frowned lightly and shrugged. "Not particularly well. I woke up in the middle of the night after a strange dream and remembered that the salmon run happens here and then…" She let out a barking laugh, it rolled from her belly in great waves and she flopped on her side and covered her eyes with her paws. "I was afraid we might get attacked by bears! Oh, Alarik, I am a fool! The spring weather of Boreas where we hunted has gotten me turned around. It is autumn now in Auster so we can rest easy. I doubt we'll run into any bears." She got to her feet and shook out here coat. "Ready to get going?" "Talk" "You" Think

Alarik never would have pegged his traveling companion as a morning person. But boy, was he glad she was. He didn't really feel like getting his tail bitten off first thing in the morning. He chuckled to himself at the thought of such a scene, sitting down when he was done with his morning stretch. His orange eyes landed on Pyralis again, a crease in his brow when she didn't sleep particularly well. She'd had a strange dream in the middle of the night, and then she'd remembered the salmon run... But she stopped in the middle of her explanation and laughed at herself. And Alarik just blinked in confusion, because he actually didn't know there was such a difference between the two continents. "No, really?" he said in disbelief. "So you mean to tell me, when there are feet of snow in Boreas," Alarik began. "then it's summer down here?" That was crazy! Really, the young man had never heard of such a thing! But after he'd had a moment to laugh about it and shake his head, he nodded. "Ready to go," he said, swaying his tail from side to side as he waited for Pyralis to take the lead. Now that they were in Auster, she was the expert. He trusted her not to walk them off a cliff or anything like that. "Lead the way milady." "Talk" "You" Think

Pyralis turned to stare at Alarik when he showed confusion about the seasons. The boy really didn't know? Well, she supposed it was his first time to the southern continent. She nodded eagerly. "Oh, yes! That's exactly it. It can get confusing sometimes then when you travel between lands." It was both fascinating and annoying. Pyralis continued on her way south. As they passed the falls she paused to admire them. "I love the sounds of the water falling over the rocks." She moved to get a closer look and then froze as her paws hit the mud. She looked down to see a very large track. "Oh. Huh. Alarik, you know, it occurs to me that the summer has been very dry in Auster and now that it is autumn the bears may be seeking to fatten up for the winter and well…. I do believe this track is fresh." "Talk" "You" Think

The young man still couldn't quite believe that the seasons could be so entirely opposite between the two continents. He looked at Pyralis and nodded when she said how confusing it could get when traveling between lands a lot. "No kidding," he chuckled. The two of them walked along a little longer, heading south and making their way around the falls. Pyralis took a moment to appreciate the lovely sound of the water falling over the rocks, and Alarik smiled softly at her. Maybe the woman had a soft side after all. But he didn't dare say that and spoil the moment. He patiently waited, watching Pyralis as she moved in for a closer look. But then she froze, her eyes on the mud below, and her words made his soft smile fade instantly. "Fresh bear tracks?" he asked, coming up beside her and taking a look himself. Sure enough, that was the track of a bear. He leaned in to sniff at it, and it certainly smelled recent. Maybe a few hours old. Which meant the bear hadn't been far from where they'd been sleeping. That was a worrisome thought. "Where do you think it was headed? South, like us?" The smart thing to do would be to avoid the bear, if possible. But if it was headed in the same direction as he and Pyralis were, well. What could they do then? "Maybe we keep going, and keep a sharp eye out for more signs of the bear," he said. "I really think it'd be smart to avoid it if we can," he said, trying to laugh a bit. But this was serious. He didn't know how close they were to where Pyralis had left her pups, but he knew some bears got desperate in a pinch just like wolves did. He wanted to make sure her pups didn't turn into a snack for the huge beast. And so, while he knew Pyralis could handle herself and her pups, he still felt the need to say it. "Are your pups a safe distance away? And are they protected?" "Talk" "You" Think

Pyralis bent down to sniff at the track, her brow wrinkling. Yea, this was definitely fresher than what she would've liked. She lifted her head and scented the air, her ears twitching but she couldn't hear anything to suggest a bear was nearby but the scent… her eyes followed scanned up the rock face over which the falls fell as Alarik asked her which way it was heading. "I'm not sure. I think it may be have a den in one of the caves near the falls. Either it returned to the den or it headed out. It's hard to tell from the tracks, it stopped here to drink but did not cross. The surrounding ground didn't leave a print." Pyralis dipped her head low to the ground, trying to track the scent. It was difficult to untangle. She needed to find the freshest scent then pick up the trail and determine which way it was going but either way she didn't want to stick around a potential densite. "Let's keep going. I don't think we want to stick around here if it comes back." She nodded as he asked about her pups. "Yes, they're well tucked away and where a bear would not be able to get to them." A bear would never be able to climb the sheer walls of the canyon. "Talk" "You" Think

She gave the track a sniff as well, and then scented the air. Alarik would have done the same, but he chose to watch Pyralis for any signs of alarm. She knew the area better, after all. And Alarik had found several bear tracks in his lifetime and had seen a couple from a distance, but other than that he couldn't claim to know much about them. Pyralis probably knew more than he did. So he watched her carefully, and then nodded when she said that the bear might have a den in one of the nearby caves. That would make sense. "I don't think we want to stick around here if it comes back." Alarik completely agreed with that. The young man gave the track one more careful sniff, to help him recognize the scent if they encountered it again, and then he nodded and started south once more. "Good," he said, when the woman said her pups were safely tucked away. He wanted to ask about them; how many she had, what their names were, things like that. But he had come to understand Pyralis and her personality pretty well over the last couple of days. He knew she probably wouldn't appreciate the prying. So the two of them continued on in silence for the time being, their senses on high alert. "Have you ever come face to face with a bear?" Alarik asked. "Talk" "You" Think

Pyralis shifted their course southwest, both to distance them from any potential run-ins with a bear and also as a bit of a short cut. They could cut through the wraith's woods and indeed it was the best way to gain entrance to the canyon. Climbing straight down the cliffs was treacherous and could easily end in one of them falling to their death. They continued in silence for awhile before he asked her if she'd ever come face to face with a bear. Pyralis grinned. "Funny you should mention it, I have a few times. Once when I was younger but…" She let that memory slip in favor of the more amusing story. "I did encounter one last autumn in Boreas. I was playing coyote ball with a gal I'd just met and we'd apparently caught the attention of a bear that was fattening up for the winter. We fled and it did not pursue us very far. What about you? You ever run into a bear?" As they carried on something shifted in the wind and she felt her stomach drop a bit. Something cracked and shifted and she froze suddenly. "Did you hear that?" "Talk" "You" Think

Alarik followed as the woman altered their course, directing them more southwest to hopefully avoid a run in with the bear they'd scented. Of course, he didn't know it was a shortcut. On the contrary, he assumed it would make their journey a bit longer, and he was surprised to find that he still didn't mind. It was nice to have someone to consistently spend time with, instead of the usual wandering around, finding someone new, saying hello I'm Alarik it's nice to meet you and making small talk for a few minutes before parting ways again. And while his instincts still told him Pyralis wasn't the nicest and most compassionate woman, he found himself able to look past it. She was enjoyable company for him. As he was for her, hopefully. In response to his question, Pyralis gave a slightly unnerving answer. She'd come face to face with a bear on a few occasions, evidently. And one of those occasions involved something called coyote ball. He interrupted her to ask, "What the heck is coyote ball?" But then she finished her story, and he shook his head a bit as he chuckled. This woman was full of crazy stories. What a life she had lived so far. "No, I'm quite happy to say I've never run into a bear," he said in response, when she turned the question around on him. "I've seen a few from afar, but obviously I didn't trot up and say hello to them." He laughed, but then there was a sound. The snapping of a twig. Alarik fell silent, and froze just like Pyralis did. His ears pivoted every which way, trying to catch any sounds that might follow. "Yeah, I heard it," he whispered. Something didn't feel right. "Talk" "You" Think

Pyralis listened intently, it felt like her ears were trying to pop out of her skull with the intensity of her listening.  Alarik had heard what she had.  She remained like that, frozen for a moment but the sound did not return.  Pyralis wrinkled her brow. "Maybe we're just a bit jumpy because of the tracks."  She pushed on, seeking to pick up the threads of conversation to distract herself from her own nerves. "Coyote ball is a game you can only really play in the late winter and spring.  You find yourself some coyote pups and you toss them back and forth.  If you fail to catch the pup and it drops your opponent looses a point and then it's whoever is first to whatever amount you set.  I like to do first to 10 points personal-"   Pyralis froze again, her hackles raising. "Alarik," she whispered, "I think there's definitely something out there." The cedars were thick here but she heard the rustling and shifting of needles.   "ggrrrRRROOOAWWWW!" Pyralis skidded back just as a massive grizzly bear came bursting through the cedar trees.  "Shit! Run!"  Pyralis took off, not paying attention to the direction and heading north.  She didn't have a desire to tangle with a bear.  Maybe in her more reckless youth, before she'd had children she might find it amusing to try but sure as heck not now. "Talk" "You" Think

They listened intently for a moment, but there were no other sounds, so Pyralis tried to shake it off and say that they were probably jumpy from the tracks they'd found. But Alarik frowned. He wasn't so sure. It wasn't just the noise, it was more than that. That dreadful feeling of being watched. Still, he listened to distract himself as Pyralis explained the basis and rules of coyote ball, which honestly sounded like an awful sport to play. Alarik was about to say that, actually, but then– "ggrrrRRROOOAWWWW!" Needless to say, the topic of whether or not coyote ball was ethically acceptable was long forgotten when the massive grizzly bear came crashing from the foliage. Alarik turned tail and ran as fast as he could away from the bear, generally following the direction the woman had taken but still veering off on his own a bit so the bear would be more confused and (hopefully) more likely to just leave them alone. His heart was pounding. Like, holy shit! He'd come face to face with a bear! His blood was probably eighty percent adrenaline at this point. But he continued to run and didn't dare look back. "Talk" "You" Think

"Oh fuck! It's gaining on us!" Pyralis couldn't help it, she just had to look back and see the dam thing getting way to close. Bears certainly didn't look like it but man could they sprint. Bearing her head against the wind she glanced at Alarik and the kicked it into high gear. She pushed her body to its limits, the blood pounding in her ears before she sharply veered to her right. Dirt sprayed into the air at her sudden change in direction. She hoped Alarik would do something similar and that the bear would decide they simply weren't worth the trouble. Either way Pyralis had no intention of stopping and as she shifted her course back to the direction she was originally heading in, in the hopes that Alarik would assume that's where she was going, she hoped he'd be alright. -exit Pyralis via running like a woman possessed. I'll start the next thread in the god's garden where she'll stop. See you there!- "Talk" "You" Think

Like Alarik said before, he'd never come face to face with a bear. Which meant he had no idea they could move so fast. He wasn't looking back, he refused to look back. So imagine the feeling of panic that seized his heart when he heard Pyralis shouting that the bear was gaining on them. "WHAT?" he all but screamed, looking back for the first time. Sure enough, the bear was right on their heels, its teeth bared and eyes dark with the intent to kill. Oh, gods. Oh, sweet and merciful gods. This was something out of a nightmare. But that's when Alarik saw Pyralis sharply changing direction, and he did the same. Turning his path in the opposite direction to confuse the bear even more. He weaved back and forth to try to shake the beast off his tail, and then– -exit Alarik- "Talk" "You" Think