This Love is Gonna be the Death of Me
Lies
Exploring a new land; Cryer's Ravine 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
Autumn he had found had hardly touched the West, particularly not in Lirium. It was a relief then that he found the ravine and the multitude of trees lining it. He walked beside the edge of the crevasse, admiring the rubricating leaves and recalling his home as he did. There had always been a grand festival in Capena to celebrate the harvest ides, and a grand hunt that would feed the people of Carpena and visiting travelers alike. The harvest ides had passed long ago and Pegasus sorely reflected that if he had stayed in his home, he would have been old enough to join the festivities.
He had set out long before the sun rose that morning for no other reason than to see the constellation his father had shown him several months ago when he had been much younger and much smaller. Standing on the edge of the crevasse he could see the familiar shape in the sky, even though the multitude of stars. “What does that look like?” His father had asked and he had excitedly piped that it looked like a dead deer. His father had chuckled and told him it was a horse; but not just any horse, it was a horse that had been given wings by the glory of Ley to help his children smite the evil from the world. When the beast's work had been complete he flew into the sky and became the constellation known as Pegasus. Standing on the ravine, so far from home the prince watched his namesake with wide blue eyes and wondered if his family did the same, worried and heartbroken that he had left.
With a sigh he wove his way through the trees, moving away from the precarious fissure to walk between them in the hopes that he would clear his thoughts. All around him small animals scurried to and fro, gathering food and storing it for the winter while stags rubbed the summer velvet from their antlers against the bark of trees. He observed the behaviors with a small twinge of curiosity that none of the animals seemed to notice a wolf as large as himself prowling in their midst. Perhaps they were simply too preoccupied to notice him, or perhaps they had simply grown to fear something far worse than wolves that had vanished long ago, or maybe in the darkness of the night they simply hadn’t seen him. Whatever the reason he took a small comfort in knowing that although he would not be traveling to Capena Autumn had still brought a boom of activity to Boreas.
The sun began to rise, casting a golden flush over the crimson trees and brought a smile to his face. Above him he heard the honks of geese as they flew in formation toward the south, his ear twitching as a cool breeze lifted his fur. His winter coat had already begun to come in, and although his fur had been vibrant in the spring and summer his coat had dulled out slightly with the turn of the season. His coat was still primarily gold, but the color had paled slightly while the black on his shoulders and tail had deepened. He wasn’t sure if the change of color would offer any benefits to him as a fighter and traveler, but it hardly bothered him. Silently he wondered if Célestin’s coat would change as well and found himself oddly perturbed by the thought of him losing the vibrancy of his coat. With a snuff he moved on, his tail waving slightly behind him as he continued to wander.
His paws had become damp with his exploring, the small crystals of early morning frost melting under the warmth of his padded paws. Even in the desert the cold chill of the coming winter was present, although he suspected it would be unlikely, they would see snowfall. That was a shame he supposed but he was sure if he wanted to see snow so badly, he could simply travel North and see the white landscape winter yielded there. Hell, he could travel North now and see the early snow if he felt like it, but he supposed that would only make him feel even more homesick.
He had found his way back to the fissure, the red early morning sun now visible beyond the horizon and sighed. As much as he missed his home and his family he couldn’t convince himself to leave Boreas, not until he completed his mission or died trying. His expression steeled itself as the sun slowly continued to climb into the sky. The Abraxas would pay. Without a word he turned and continued to walk along the edge of the fracture, his thoughts and expression now determined rather than wistful.
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While Autumn could be seen from her new home in the Weeping Woods, Aspen enjoyed journeying beyond the borders of Kesali to get a better feel for the turning of seasons. So the young woman decided to head out west along the ocean borders, letting her legs stretch out as she turned her casual outing into an exercise run, before returning to her normal pace. She would travel through a fair amount of different environments but none seemed to really show the beauty of fall like she knew it could. That is, until she came upon a surplus of large trees. "Ah, now this is what I'm talking about!" A great big grin spread across her maw as she entered the forest, pleasantly surprised to find a layer of leaves already fallen to the forest floor. As a pup, Aspen could recall spending times like this with her siblings, running about the world without a care, bursting through the leaves like a bat out of hell just to see them fall once more. She had a great puphood of course, but the memories she had with her family in autumn, those could quite easily be one of her favorites.
This forest was just as grand as she needed it to be. Where maple and cedar trees held beautiful colors, the pines stood as green as ever, making a stunning contrast. Even the woodland creatures, like the chubby chipmunk that wobbled by with a face stuffed of winter provisions, added to the whole appeal of fall. She was especially moved by the geese that flew overhead, honking their characteristic honk, southbound for the winter. It was a sure sign that autumn was in full swing, and that winter was approaching quickly. She was so infatuated with the birds, her head tilted nearly vertically, that she hardly had the chance to react when her footing was suddenly gone, and her body was lurching forward unexpectedly. "Geez-oof!" Her voice cried out as she stumbled down a, thankfully, short stretch of the ravine. By the time her body landed in a heap on the ravine floor, there were several cuts and scrapes along the curves of her body, along with an impressive amount of dirt and debris.
"Where and the heck did that come from?" She coughed in disbelief to herself, craning her head back up the way she came. In truth, there was really no one to blame for her clumsiness than herself, but she wouldn't let Branch know that. No, before she returned home, she would have to come up with a far better story. Maybe she was... chasing a rabbit? Yea that's good. Then the rabbit... dove into it's hole and... Aspen went tumbling down a ravine. It wasn't a great lie, and it still held truth, but it would have to do until she could figure out something better. When the raven girl moved to stand, there was a sudden, sharp pain at the base of her front paw causing her to hiss. When she had lifted it to inspect it, figuring there was some sort of twig or rock wedged between her toes from the fall, she found only a few pebbles. Shaking them quickly, she once again turned to be on her merry way, when the pain again shot up her leg causing her to flinch. "Bumbling bees that stings!"
Exploring a new land; Cryer's Ravine 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
He paused mid stride, his train of thought derailed by the calamity of something falling into the ravine. He peered over the jagged edge and looked down at the night black woman resting at the bottom. “Are you alright?” He asked, cocking his head to the side as he watched her slowly right herself. The outcry of pain and her apparent discomfort sent a wild panic through him and in an instant, he was bounding nimbly down the rock walls to join her. “Is your leg broken?!” He barked, fear and worry plain on his face. He supposed he could have been more delicate when approaching her, he was after all quite large.
“Can you climb?! Do you need help?!” He pressed, far too frantic to worry about what she might have thought of him in that moment, or to even attempt to greet her non-threateningly.
The bottom of the ravine he found was an entirely different world than the lush forests above. The ground was littered with bones of prey and wolves alike that hadn’t been as fortunate as the woman who had survived the fall. Almost as an after thought he raised his head to gauge just how far she had fallen and saw that the ravine ran far deeper than he had anticipated. The trees above them seemed so much smaller from the bottom of the sheer drop and the sun that had been shining before him was now completely obscured by the rock walls.
He turned his head left and right, searching for an accessible way he and the woman could escape, absolutely convinced that the woman’s paw had been broken.
Speaking Thinking You |
Finally her mind would settle once again and Aspen could start thinking more clearly. Blue orbs widened as they turned to the sudden stranger, finally realizing just what he had done. "Goodness gracious, you could have just as easily hurt yourself coming down here like that. Then who would help us?" She would huff, but the second she could hear her own words she shut up. Gods, I sound like my mother. Giving a light shake of her head she would gently lick the top of her paw, wishing her tongue could whisk away the throbbing pain it radiated. A feeling of guilt washed over her once she realized how rude she was being, making the tips of her ears lay flat against her skull in a sulking manner. "I'm sorry, you came down here to help me, didn't you? That's very kind of you. Thanks." Aspen never was the best at accepting help when she needed it, but hey, at least she was trying.
Exploring a new land; Cryer's Ravine 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
He was momentarily stunned by her apparent indifference to what he had been sure had been a terrible injury, and immediately began to think of himself as a fool for fretting as much as he had. "I'm sorry, you came down here to help me, didn't you? That's very kind of you. Thanks." She said, and finally Pegasus could find words to his frayed nerves.
“You’re welcome.” He said automatically, and forced himself to return to reality. It was only then that he realized that although he’d had an easy time scaling down the sheer ravine walls climbing them would be next to impossible. He was stuck just as much as she was.
“There has to be a way to climb out of here.” He thought out loud, his focus on the narrow passage before them rather than on the girl.
“Can you walk?” He asked again , his stomach now churning nervously. The passage before them had an uneven floor, with piles of bones skewed with the tilted and craggy base. With Peg’s great size it was likely he would have a hard time squeezing through the narrow passes, but he simply had no other choice other than to die a slow death or break his bones attempting to scale the smooth steep walls.
Speaking Thinking You |
You would think, having her grow up in a pack full of healers, Aspen might actually know a thing or two about injuries like this. But she never quite got the medicine worked out in her head; it didn't make sense to her that a blue flower with red thorns could be deadly but a red flower with blue thorns could be useful. That being said, she would bet good winnings that her paw was twisted or sprained, broken being the worse case scenario. But considering she would at least put some pressure on it without crying out, she was leaning more towards a sprain than a break. But it still meant no walking for her, but she wouldn't give up that easily! Blue eyes roamed over the tall brute beside her, an idea working its way through her mind as she did so. "Maybe with you pushing me along... I think I could manage?" She couldn't be certain, but she would rather die trying than die next to the already picked bones. Climbing to all fours, well three and a half, Aspen tested out her hobble. One step, hop, two step, hop. The jolt of hopping gave her a good sting but manageable. Lifting her head up with a lopsided grin, she motioned over her shoulder with her head. "What do you say, shining knight? Gonna help this damsel in distress?" Ha! Good one.
Exploring a new land; Cryer's Ravine 1 | 2 | 3 | 4|
Speaking Thinking You |