The south was home to her, but that didn't mean she knew every inch of land in the area. A storm decided to hit while she was hunting a meal, and she wasn't very fond of storms. Lightning cracked overhead and thunder shook the heavens as a torrent of rain fell upon the earth. In turn, it forced the woman to seek shelter. She raced through across the ground as it quickly turned to mud, and in her bid to get out of the thick of the storm, a yawning hole stood before her. She races towards it and dives right in without hesitation. Her coat was drenched, the dame looking pitiful and smaller than ever. She shakes herself off, but it's not quite enough to completely dry her off. Dainty paws carry her to the cave mouth, the babe peering out and scowling. What luck...now she had to wait until the storm passed, whenever that would be. But she would be waiting cold, wet, and hungry. "Talk" "You" Think

She wished winter would hurry up and end, she hated the cold, the snow and the dreary season. But, to take the cake, she hated freezing sleete, and rain that was barely warmer then the snow. She had been trying to make her way once more to the swamplands, her last exhibition there had yielded good results for the healer, only to find that a new pack stood blocking the entire way. She had skirted around it as best she could, and overshoot her mark.

She wasn’t entirely sure where she was now, but the storm that had been threatening nearer the end of her journey finally broke. Forced to find shelter, her eyes fell upon the caves, and she scampered towards their unknown safety.

She would quickly discover that she was not alone, a stranger stood there, shivering and miserable, half again as tall as the small healer. She scouted into the mouth of the cave regardless, and shivered herself. “s-s-s-orry” her teeth chattered. “Mind s-s-s-haring well the s-s-storm passes?”

The babe sighed, resigning herself to sitting and waiting. She supposed scowling and staring daggers at the rain wouldn't make it stop, so staying at the entrance wouldn't help. It was colder there, so she figured she should try to find a spot away from it so she could settle down and dry herself off. Just as she was about to take her eyes off the weather outside, however, she spotted a blot of a figure outside. She narrowed her eyes, trying to figure out what it was. The figure got closer and closer, and before she knew it, it burst into the cave. She whipped her head around, hackles raised as she faced the potential danger. But it turned out, there wasn't any danger at all and she had just reacted for nothing. Standing in the cave uninvited was a shivering wet she-wolf that was smaller than her. She asked through the chatter of teeth if she could stay until the storm passed, and although she wasn't too happy, she wasn't unhappy, either. At least she wouldn't be bored. And at least this she-wolf looked more like a wet rat then she did, which boosted her ego. Sure she was wet and stuff from the rain, but she still looked better than her new companion. "Sure, I don't care." She quipped, eyes remaining on the woman. Not like I'm gonna go outside trying to throw you out anyway. she thought. "Talk" "You" Think

Miserable and cold, Rive bedded down against one wall of the cave, eyeing the stranger and her lackluster response. She didn’t seem bothered in the slightest in sharing her space with a stranger. Her coat was wet, and the stone was hard, and cool to the touch. The tiny healer shivered, and struggled to find any warmth. She had been a fool to get caught out in this storm far from home. She considered her options, and knew she didn't have any. She had no fur coats on her, they being something to big and awkward to lug around. She didn’t have much in her pouch that would warm her.. Well.. she did have a fire-starter kit, but she doubted she would find any dry wood to burn, and she still carried a mistrust of fire.

She huddled down for a little while longer, shivering, and feeling her body heat seep into the stone beneath her. Dammit, this was getting her nowhere. “Do you see any wood in here anywhere?” she asked the stranger.

She watched as the woman moved to her own spot in the cave, so Paradise took back her seat and settled her haunches on the stone floor. The ground was cold. The cave was cold. It was cold outside. Everything was frickin' cold! She sighed her discontent as she looked outside again, cursing the rain that fell. The rain only got stronger, falling faster now and in its wake, the mouth of the cave started to look like a waterfall. Focused on the weather outside, she didn't notice the water started to make its way into the cave as it flooded the world outside. It wasn't until she felt it touch her paws that she quickly stood and took a few steps. "Ugh! I hate getting wet! Fuck this rain!" She scowled, but resigned herself to moving away from the entrance. The water moved slowly, but it didn't go much further than where she had been sitting...so far. Her irritation with the rain was momentarily torn away as the she-wolf that she was stuck with asked if she saw any wood. Paradise looked at her for a long moment, wondering why in the hell she wanted wood of all things! What was she going to do with wood? Why not ask for something useful like a den? Or food? Or someplace warm? She didn't voice any of her questions though, and instead looked around the cave only to see stones...rocks...and some moss. She glanced behind her, wondering if there might be any back there somewhere. "No, but I can check back there," She gestured to the tunnel behind her as she stood up. "Talk" "You" Think

She noticed the girl get up, cursing the wet, and was able to rise herself and step back before the rivlets could come towards her. She huddled further in the den, not sure she would have noticed if the rain had seeped towards her, she was so wet as it was!

She glanced back up at the ember toned wolf, and somehow managed to offer her a half smile through chattering teeth. “If you can find some wood, I’ll show you a neat trick that you might appreciate” she teased her reluctant companion.

And in saying that, Riva settled in, not too far from the entrance of the cave, but enough that the water wouldn’t reach her. She knew starting a fire in cramped spaces would be bad if she didn’t keep it near the entrance. The smoke would need somewhere to go. Assuming her companion would take a look, she began to set out her supplied, and carefully picked out her fire starting kit. She collected stones and began to make a small pit, placing some dry leaves and grass in the center.

While she had no idea what the other woman intended to do with the wood she wanted, Paradise couldn't help but feel curious about it. "A neat trick huh..." She tried to act like she wasn't curious at all, but she couldn't help it. She was a curious and naive creature, only because she had spent her whole life alone in the South. Stupidly waiting for her sister and father to come back. Her father had once or twice, but it was brief. This was the first time she ventured away from the place she called home...at least before that pack moved in. She gathered herself up and shook out her fur, trying to get rid of the remaining water that clung to her before turning around and headed towards one of the tunnels. "I'll be right back!" She called over her shoulder and then flinched for a moment as her voice echoed loudly around her. Woops. She hadn't realized before that this cave seemed to amplify sound, but at the moment she didn't care too much because she was already heading down one of the tunnels in search of wood. The babe carefully and steadily made her way through her chosen tunnel, her shoulder touching one side of the wall so she could feel her way through the dimly lit space. Her claws clicked on the stone floor, though it wasn't the usual dull clicking she was used to, instead, it sounded louder with every step. "Looking for wood..." She whispered to herself, and even that seemed to echo loud enough to where it sounded like she hadn't whispered at all. Interesting. This cave was certainly interesting. Probably would be a good place for a pack or something, they'd be able to hear anything that tried to come in, right? Making her way down the tunnel, she spotted some light ahead along with water falling from above. She approached it, stopping for a moment to look up. She saw the cloudy sky above her, the rain falling through the skylight and leaving a puddle in her wake. She sidestepped it and continued on. She might have tripped on a few rocks here and there, but she made it to another skylight that, luckily, had some twigs and branches lying beneath it along with other debris. Whatever sat above them was a godsend! Whether it was a forest or a few trees, she was lucky that their pieces had fallen into the cave. She inspected them for a moment, grabbing a few of the drier large sticks in her mouth and proceeded to follow the path back where she came. She had gone in maybe a mile or so, but she followed her scent and was back quicker than when she had left. She saw the other woman organizing some rocks and stuff, which only earned her a questioning look from the fiery wolfess before she dropped the sticks near her. "There you go. There's more where that came from, too." If more were needed, she would gladly take the opportunity again so she could explore some more. "Talk" "You" Think

She wasn't certain her words would be enough to spark an interest in the stranger, so she was pleasantly surprised when the older girl said she would be right back, and headed deeper into the cave. She tilted a head curiously at the echo, but other then that concentrated on what she was doing. She arranged the kindle, which was dry and crinkly herbs from her pack, some leaves and the like, and messed around with it until she was satisfied. A lot of rock and stone was around the things that where flammable, and there was the stream of water that had made its way into the cave. She quickly scooped some up into a jar and stuck it next to her pile. She had a healthy fear of fire, and wouldn’t make it without some serious precautions. The girl returned by the time she was done, and she looked up at the autumn wolf with a smile. “That’s perfect, thank you” she complimented her, as she carefully arranged the wood around the kindle. With that done, she grabbed her fire starter kit and got to work. It wasn’t easy work, and took some time to bring out a spark, but once she did the leaves caught easily. Riva took a quick step back as the fire took to the kindle in earnest, then lapped at the wood. In moments, a cheery golden glow had started to cast shadows around the cave. Riva could already feel a slight warmth coming from her fire, and basked happily in it. “The more wood we have, the bigger or longer we can keep this going.” she explained, indicating that the 'more' the stranger had indicated existed, might come in handy. "Speech"

Paradise stared at the small ring of stones and the dry kindle that was arranged within it. Her brows knit together as she tried to figure out what it was for, and watched curiously as the smaller woman started to arrange the wood she had brought. Before long, a fire flared upright before her eyes. She jumped back out of surprise, molten gaze growing wide as the fire danced in her eyes. "Did...did you just make fire?" She questioned in disbelief. She had never seen another wolf start a fire before. She had seen lightning touch the earth and start fires a couple of times during her life, but she always kept her distance until it died away. But this...there was a fire contained within a circle of stones, and she was completely enthralled with it. "How did you do that?" She asked, the babe breaking her gaze away from the dancing flames to look at her cave companion. "Talk" "You" Think

The woman's reaction was just as surprised as she had anticipated, and there was an impish grin in Riva’s voice as she looked up from the warm fire, to the woman who’s golden tones where amplified from the glowing light, “It’s a trick a travelling crafter showed me, I haven’t had many chances to try it out.” she admitted, her tail giving a little wag behind her. She leaned into the warmth, feeling it heat her wet fur in wonderful ways. She moved a little closer to the stranger and splayed out the kit before her. “You spin this bark against a larger bit of wood, near the leaves, eventually it makes a spark. Sometimes it works better than others.” she admitted. She hadn’t had to labor over it too long this time, and the dried leaves had caught easily enough. “I’m Riva, by the way” she introduced herself. The bored expression from the other woman seemed just about entirely gone now. Her little trick had definitely captured her attention. Riva was more than happy to share the knowledge with her, as well as the warmth from her cheerily growing flame. “A fire can get out of hand very easily, and burn down a forest with nothing you can do about it, hence the stones, and the jar of water” she explained. "Speech"

“It’s a trick a traveling crafter showed me, I haven’t had many chances to try it out.” Her gaze returned to the fire, watching as it danced around and created shadows all around them. "Hm," She was completely enthralled. Fascinated. Wowed. She had never seen anyone start a fire before. She tore her gaze away as the other woman got closer and showed her the tools she used, even explaining a little about how to do it. Paradise certainly wanted to learn how to make fire...it would certainly come in handy if she ended up in another situation like this when she was on her own. Or...stuck with someone else who didn't know how to make a fire to warm them up. The new girl introduced herself as Riva, but Paradise waited a moment until she was done speaking. "Yeah, I've seen really bad lightning storms strike the fields and forests," Her gaze studied the stone circle, taking note of the placement. It seemed...simple enough. "Paradise Elementas, a pleasure to meet you, Riva!" She grew thoughtful for a moment, gaze moving between the fire and Riva for a few heartbeats. "Hey, do you think you could show me how to start a fire?" "Talk" "You" Think