Ok, so in truth Harbringr had never meant to take them this far. Once his feet started going he was finding it hard to stop. It didn't help that he and Zee were a toxic mix when it came to enabling and trouble-making and he was only too happy to escort her past the volcano to irk her husband. Would Sirius kick his ass later? Probably. Was it worth it? Fuck yes.

Harbringr continued north into the southern area of Firefly Lake. He had been here once before when he'd first arrived in Boreas and found himself in the sights of a large and men grizzly bear. He'd just managed to get away. Hari stopped and glanced back. He half expected to see wolves from Ashen on their tail but hopefully they'd gotten enough of a head start. By now though he was sure their absence had been noticed. He did feel a bit guilty about not telling Deathbelle they were going for a walk first, but they'd left in the middle of the night and he hadn't wanted to wake her.

Hari's grin slowly started to fall as they neared the once pristine lake. It was thick and dark with ash that clotted its surface and despite it being summer he didn't see many signs of life. The Firefly Lake hadn't been all that far from the volcano and it had suffered the consequences. The ground around the lake was charred and dark. Here and there a few resilient plants were trying to push through the thick coating of ask that was now a sticky, mud-like substance after the spring rains.

"Well, this is depressing." He kicked lightly at a charred branch. "Not sure what I expected though." He turned to Zee with a lopsided grin. "Think ole' Sirius is tracking us?"

Zee's husband was an infuriating, frustrating, suffocating brute of a man. She swore he was messing with her hormones and emotions on purpose, first demanding she ride in the cart like an invalid infront of both Ashen and it's Armada and then manipulating her to tears with his damn flowers. It was driving her insane, and on the pack's first rest stop she'd slid away from her husband in the night to seek out one of her best friends, Harbringr. It didn't take much convincing for him to escort her on this little adventure, and truly she didn't have to go so far as to actually path past the volcano... but the mere fact that she'd vanished in the night would be enough to piss of Sirius and at that moment it was all she'd wanted from the trip. The only thing she didn't consider in their adventure was how much pregnancy hurt. It was a long-ass walk and by the half-way mark she was well and truly beat. Of course she'd never mention it, because Hari was taking enough of a risk to steal her away in the night that she could at least make it to the destination. However it took quite a lot of willpower to not bitch and moan about the state of her poor paws the entire walk. Once they'd reached the lake he turned back at her and Zee peered out across the land. It wasn't like she remembered it from the festival, but that was to be expected with the volcano's influence. She bit her lip and tsk'd lightly. "I didn't realize how bad it'd be up here so close to the mountain." She admitted softly. While the areas Ashen inhabited had suffered too under the volcano's wrath, it somehow was different to see such a glorious lake shrouded in darkness and ash. "Eh, just ignore him when we get back. If he tries to bite you I'll go for the balls while you distract him - we've got the kids on the way he doesn't need them anymore." Zee returned his grin with a laugh, before padding forward closer towards the lake. "Think Lucretia would kill me for drinking that?" She motioned her head towards the water, her lips parting to allow her tongue to swipe across them thirstily. It had been a long walk. "Speech"

Harbringr was struck by the silence of the area but he supposed that made sense. Where would the birds live with the trees so decimated? What about the other smaller creatures? Could rabbits and such make a den in the burnt, charred earth. He nodded at Zee's words. "Yea, I mean I thought it would be bad but I can't say my imagination went to this." He strode closer to the lake, paws walking over mounds of decaying plant life. "I wonder how long it will take for this to grow back." It was probably going to take a long while if the ash was any indication. Though he seemed to recall hearing that volcano soil was so fertile. He didn't know what that meant or how long it took this mess to turn into soil for at the moment he couldn't imagine anything growing in the ash.

Harbringr let out a laugh as Zee talked about Sirius. "I'm quick, if I'm quick enough on my feet he'll never catch me." Sirius was a difficult opponent, especially with his special gifts but Hari still felt confidence in his own skills. He was certainly no pushover.

Hari felt a sting of guilt as Zee asked about the water and he frowned. "Umm… maybe let me test it first." He padded to the edge of the water and sniffed carefully at it. There was ash floating on the surface and the water had a bit of a sheen to it but it was much better than the land that surrounded it. Harbringr lapped at the water then wrinkled his nose. There was a slight chemical smell. "How about we not drink that. It tastes weird." He glanced around, looking for something more suitable to drink when he spied a puddle in an area on slightly higher ground than the lake. The benefit was the spring rains had washed the ash farther down to where they were and some later storm had filled the divot with water. Harbringr swiftly moved over to the puddle and bent his head down to lap at it. He nodded. "Ok, that's better. Boy, I hope the lake does get cleaned out though I'm not sure how. If you want on the way back you can ride me." He chuckled at the thought. "The triumphant queen upon her noble steed!"

Somehow the state of the land was more depressing then Zee had expected, and she gave a small sigh as she looked over it. Firefly lake was previously such a happy place, the land that held a weird festival and brought all wolves together peacefully no matter what pack or walk of life they were from. To see it now dreary and ash-ridden, it's water contaminated and it's plants and wildlife gone brought some sadness to her... though she definitely blamed that on the hormones. "What a waste of an adventure." She joked half-heartedly. "This place is definitely not worth your future potential castration." He realized her thirst, frowning and offering to test the lake's water. Her ears pulled forward and she watched worriedly as he lapped at the water, imagining him just dropping dead at the instant it touched his lips. Lucretia was going to kill her. The two of them were going to return to Ashen with a plague or something, and infect both packs. Hari's words confirmed what she expected about the water, but he was still standing so that was good. He showed her to a different puddle, and then claimed it safe to drink. "Thanks Hari." Zee jogged over to it, bent her head and lapped up the water gratefully. Once her thirst was quenched she looked back to him, and to the volcano-torn land. "Home sounds good, this place is depressing." He offered her a ride, and Zee let out a laugh in response. "Good idea, I'm sure it will look much less like kidnapping if Sirius sees you carrying me home." Sarcastic, of course. "Besides, you'll definitely need all your energy and strength for the warm welcome back. I'm sure I can manage the walk." WORD COUNT: 1379 / 1500 "Speech"

Harbringr grinned but he felt a touch of sorrow in his heart for what had happened to this land and he nodded. "Yea, its a shame but there's nothing to be done. At least we know the lands in this area are pretty well shot. Guess we'll see if the Shrine is any better." He still wasn't thrilled with moving closer to the bloody volcano but at least it was somewhere other than the Redwater Rocks.

Hari kept an eye out while Zee drank, more out of habit than concern. While his first journey here led him right into a bears path he doubted they'd see much wildlife. Even now as he stood there he couldn't see many signs of life. No birds, no small animals. Even the insects seemed few and far between. With lack of vegetation there would be a lack of prey. With a lack of prey there would be a lack of predators. He doubted a bear was going to come for him this time around which was a small blessing he supposed.

Harbringr chuckled. "If you're sure, though if you change your mind just let me know. It would be worth it just to see the look on Sirius' face!"

-exit-