Navigation - The rock garden

As someone who was basically super grown up now, Caelestis felt it was appropriate for her daring adventures into the world beyond Abaven to start taking her further, out into the great unknown! She might find cool things, like, uhm... Okay there wasn't a lot that was cool here right now, but like, somewhere there might be. She saw some pretty flowers she might have recognized as herbs if she had an interest in them. As it was she would trample right over the plants, seeking something to amuse her tireless young mind with.

So far she'd found flowers, an ugly beetle that made her fur stand up, and rocks... Stupid rocks. Huffing the irritable huff of a troublemaker with no trouble to make, she paced through the boulder-infested land. Onyx topped skull lifted to stare up at one very large boulder, so big a dozen of her could lay in it's shadow even at it's shortest quite comfortably.

With several smaller rocks huddled around it, the thing looked like ti was having a secret meeting with it's short friends. Never one to be left out, she scaled the smallest, aiming to hop from one to another and climb her way to the top, unaware of the view that awaited her.

He decided to try and explore some of the East, though he couldn't see anything, his companions described the things he used to be able to see. The weather was warm, parts of the east felt humid, but not too uncomfortable. He preferred to be in the warmer region right now anyway, without a pack, the cold that plagued Auster right now might have been a bit harder for him to deal with. Especially considering it would have been his first winter blind, and that was just something he didn't want to have to deal with right now. Besides, he was enjoying his wayward travels. No real destination in mind. He could go where he pleased without the responsibilities of a pack, and he had to admit he sort of liked it. His companions led him on a worn trail through the rocks, the earthen male occasionally stumbling on a loose stone, but he didn't mind as long as he didn't go tumbling to the ground. This sort of setting would help him learn how to use different terrain, and from the feel of the ground beneath his paws, he could tell it was quite rocky here. As he followed behind Kimahri, he suddenly came to an abrupt halt by walking right into his companion, "Watch it! The feline scolded him, causing the earthen canine to narrow his eyes and scoff. "Well if you hadn't stopped so suddenly, I wouldn't have walked into you! Why'd you stop?" He questioned. "We've stumbled upon a little girl," she purred. Shiva perched on a boulder, watching the young girl hopping along the rocks a few yards away. Dragon came to stand beside her, ears perked towards the girls direction as he listened. "Dragon"||Kimahri||Shiva

She climbed higher and higher, legs trembling slightly when she glanced down once on her way to the top. The girl had to stop and take a deep breath to stead herself. Press on, don't look down. The ground was another world and all that mattered was where she could safely put her paws to continue gaining altitude. Alright, a little to the left...

It only took a few minutes to reach the top of the largest boulder, and when she did a soft wind buffeted her plush gradient pelt. Bi-colored eyes widened as she stared out at the landscape. It was so pretty! She could see all the rocks, and the sparsely growing grass that sprouted up through the rough terrain. Maybe if she squinted she could see all the way back to Abaven...

Staring for a while, Caelestis was glad to have come to such a beautiful place. It was only after she'd surveyed the landscape from her new vantage point for a lengthy amount of time that she caught sight of someone out of the corner of her eye. Glancing down from her place closer to the clouds, she grinned at the man and the cats, chirping, "Did you come here to explore too?" she slid to the edge of the high rock, sitting precariously with unearned confidence as though she wasn't being stupid by laying that close to the edge.

He waited, sightless gaze turned towards the direction where he heard the soft thud of paws. Was she climbing the rocks? She was young, he could tell. Her scent told him she wasn't even two yet. A yearling perhaps? Her question brought him to tilt his head slightly more in her direction, her voice sounded pretty young. Definitely a yearling. "Sort of, mostly just passing through." He couldn't exactly explore without his sight, it wouldn't be much fun. But the lands he did pass through, he could feel what was around him and he could smell it. This place, smelled earthy and rocky. The wind gently tugging at his fur and the incline that they climbed told him it was higher elevated then where he had come from. And of course, Shiva and Kimahri often described the land around him, particularly if there was something interesting worth knowing. "And you? Are you exploring?" He would return the favor, wondering if that was what she was doing, or if she was out for some other reason. Walk, "Talk" Think "Kimahri" Shiva

Stretching out one front limb that dangled out in the open air, toes splaying and muscles shaking slightly as she held the stretch for a long moment before relaxing and repeating the action with the other front limb, Cael smiled absently. "Hm, well don't miss anything cool 'passing through', that'd be no fun at all," she mused. She'd noted the unfocused look to the man's eyes and the ever so slight sort of glazed quality along with the scars. Blindness. She didn't know any blind wolves, but they could still appreciate cool things too anyway, right? Especially with those feline friends of his, he was in better shape than some she figured.

Sitting up a little more, she suddenly recalled a conversation with her mother from when she'd been quite small. Remembering to answer the man's question, she focused back on him and beamed, eyes shining as she declared, "I sure am! I'm going to explore everywhere, and get real good at it. And probably be an awesome fighter someday, I dunno." The call to wander was often stronger than her desire to seek out spars, but she sure wouldn't pass up any that presented themselves. That just wasn't even possible for the fiery youth. Her tail swatted the rock several times as her mismatched eyes went from sparkling to blazing with excitement as she suddenly asked, "Hey, wanna explore together? I could walk with you for a bit while you go wherever you're going." Was she too trusting? Maybe. But she was also happy to tear into anyone who aimed to hurt her, so she felt comfortable enough being far to friendly at times.

Without waiting for reply, the girl would begin her descent, carefully hopping down the rocks in an intricate path until she leapt the last few feet down and stood proud of her climbing abilities, and ready for more fun times if the man was up for it.

The earthen male chuckled a bit at her comment, a grin spreading on his face. "Easier said than done, I'm afraid." He said jokingly. He could feel Shiva moving up beside him as she sought to get a closer look at the yearling. "This kid has spunk," She mused, tail flicking as deep purple eyes looked her over. Dragon nodded in agreement, even though he couldn't see her he could tell by the way she spoke with so much energy that she had spunk. "Those are great ambitions to have. I ventured all over the place when I was younger too, there's a lot of cool stuff to see out there," He was glad at least that he had seen almost all of Boreas and Auster before he had gone blind. He had seen enough, and he was okay with not seeing anymore. "And I'm sure you'll be a great fighter! Heck, maybe she would be interested in a spar with him later!

The girl offered to walk with him and do some exploring. Before he could answer, he could hear her paw steps descending from her perch on the rocks, and he couldn't help but feel amused. "Sure, I'm never one to turn down good company on my travels." He nodded and began to continue his trek. Kimahri remained behind the group, while Shiva walked ahead with Dragon and the yearling in between. "By the way, what's your name?"


"Dragon"||"Kimahri"||"Shiva"

Her ears perked at the bit about there being "a lot of cool stuff to see out there". Eyes wide and excitement thrumming through her lanky body, the girl couldn't help but blurt, "What kinda cool stuff? Anything close? I wanna see every last land!" it was almost like sparks were flaring in those determined eyes as she babbled. She was serious about her ambitions. It'd take ages but she was pretty sure she wouldn't let that stop her. Nope, not a chance! Beaming almost bashfully, she giggled, "I hope so! I don't have a lotta wolves to practice with though. That's part of why I go exploring lots, to find someone to spar with. Sometimes I try to watch fights too, my mom said you can learn lots that way." All energy and no off button. It was a wonder she hadn't driven her parents mad with the way she prattled on when she got excited about something.

Cael was glad the man said it was okay for her to walk with them a while. Woulda been no fun if he said no. Prancing along between one Jaguar and the blind man. "I bet if we go north we can see the ocean," she mused, tail wagging as she bounced along, hopping over smaller stones that littered the ground, and once opting to bounce off the side of a larger one in a rare moment of athleticism for the still growing youngster. Normally her legs got all tangled and awkward at the worst possible moments. Mismatched eyes turned back to the man as he asked her name. Oh, right! Manners, yes. "I'm Caelestis! I live in Abaven, my mom's Caelum and my dad is Zephyr. What's yours?" she asked, glancing not only to Dragon but to his companions as well. They all seemed pretty nice thus far, so she decided she rather liked the lot of them.

Alright, he had to admit this girl was pretty entertaining! She was full of enthusiasm, and that was a good thing in his mind. "Oh, there are very cool things out there! I used to live in something called a castle, it was created by humans many years ago! It's in Auster though, but maybe one day you'll get to see it. I'd even be willing to go with you to see it if you want." He hadn't been to his beloved castle in a long time, perhaps it was soon time for him to visit. "On the way there, there's also a bridge that connects Boreas and Auster together. It's way down south, there are tons of things to see! And up North where my ancestors lived, there's an old ship frozen into the land. That's another thing that humans built a long time ago. Not far from that is the ocean, and there's also a place where you can see trees that touch the sky, lots of geysers, and all sorts of amazing things!" Heck, now he wanted to go and re-explore all these lands! Honestly, he was getting homesick for both Auster and the northlands!

He listened as she told him about her want to fight, and he nodded along. "You can learn a lot from watching, but you learn better by doing." That was probably obvious information, but it was true to him. "I learned how to fight before I lost my eyesight, but I haven't stopped trying even after. There are always new ways to learn, watching has benefits, so you can learn how others fight. After all, not everyone has the same fighting style." He certainly didn't have the same fighting style every time. At least, not anymore.

As she pranced along with them, Dragon could hear Shiva growl with amusement. "Would you like to take a trip to the ocean? Ocean prey is quite tasty," She licked her lips just thinking about it, and Dragon smiled. Then, the girl gave her name and even mentioned her parent's names. He paused for a moment, the name Caelum ringing a bell. "Huh, well what a coincidence...I sparred with your mom once, she sure kicked my butt! Which means if you're anything like her, you'll be a great fighter Caelestis!" He wagged his tail, pleased he had ended up in the company of someone he had come across before, especially from Abaven! "My name is Dragon, by the way, these two are Shiva and Kimahri."

"Dragon"||"Kimahri"||"Shiva"

Her eyes got real wide at the mention of this 'castle'. Built by humans? She'd only hears brief mentions of those creatures, they sounded like a bit of a myth to the point that she wasn't entirely certain they were real - after all, she'd never seen any of the things they supposedly made. Still, a chance to see such a thing would not be easily passed up. "Auster's really far, right? I'd like to go there eventually. I do wanna see everything, after all." Every last thing, no matter how far she had to trudge across the continents, Caelestis was determined to see it all eventually. Her parents probably wouldn't like the idea of her running off for even longer lengths of time, but that never stopped her before! As Dragon spoke about more of the features of the many lands out there, she felt her adventurous nature being fueled further by the pictures that filled her mind. Oh, it was going to be so much fun to be grown up and seeing the world someday.

Listening with rapt attention as Dragon spoke about the benefits of both observing and participating in spars, the girl canted her head a bit before sighing, "I guess that means I should at least visit the battlefield a little more often. Maybe eventually somebody will wanna be my sparring partner." Her words were hopeful, but her tone betrayed the fact that she wasn't so sure she'd find such a wolf anytime soon. Her eyes did light up a bit at Shiva's suggestion and Dragons recollection of her mother. "Oh, I'd love to go to the ocean!" she chirped to the Jaguar before looking back to Dragon and adding, "Oh, wow, I've never seen her fight before. My parents teach me sometimes but they never really spar."

A sudden surge of energy had her zipping forward, leaping and bounding along before whirling back to face her newfound aquaintences with a grin and a cheerful bark. Tail wagging, she locked onto Shiva and jumped playfully towards the cat. "Can we go to the ocean now? I wanna do something fun!"



OOC: If you want we could maybe make them a new thread a little closer to present and wrap this one up :P