When she was young Justice had dreamed of adventure, addicted to the adrenaline and the devil-may-care nature, but the darkness and despair of real life had dragged her back, dragged her down and chained her to a grey, dreary reality where her father was killed and eaten by another wolf, where her mother chose to die of grief for her failure rather than stay with her children, where her brothers disappeared. That was reality, something she had long learned to accept was all she was going to get from life. She was not meant for the golden, gleaming peaks of adventure, as much as she longed for it. That sunlight shone on other wolves, but not her. Hers was darkness and blood and the thrill of battle and pain, and loneliness. She'd clawed a life out of the fire and death that life had given her, and she could sometimes even be content with that.

Still, sometimes she got days like this, when the crisp, blue-tinged freshness of the world lifted her so that she remembered what it felt long for your soul to soar. Her claws dug into the slate cliff face, pulling up away from the safe path. Her hindlegs kicked, propelling her upward as she made her way up the far less safe path before her. Clawhold by exhilarating clawhold brought her closer to the top of the falls, showers of slate pebbles falling behind her when ledges crumbled beneath her weight so that she barely caught herself on the next before she would have tumbled to certain death, until finally she pulled herself onto the final ledge, where the icy waterfall originated from within the mountain. Only sheer, impossible walls led up to the peak; this was the farthest anyone but an eagle could possibly make it up the mountain. She laughed aloud in sheer pleasure at the adrenaline still coursing through her veins and let out a wild whoop that echoed down the falls. She'd probably take the safe path back down, but for now she stood at the very edge of the cliff where the falls tumbled down and leaned out with her eyes closed, enjoying the cold spray of the mist off the waterfall that coated her black pelt with icy droplets.

The sound of a distinctly canine cry echoed through the mountain peaks, bouncing beautifully off each slate cliff until the sound pinged into nothingness in the far distance. The source of the sound was close, but given the vastness of the mountain range it was difficult for Kai to tell just how close. He could relate to the sound, a wild cry of joy and abandon that mirrored his own current mood. He was free, at least, fully and truly. There would be none of Acere's little minions looking for him now that he'd paid his debt. As far as he was concerned, those days were far behind him. Kai knew now that he'd be more suspicious of others in the future, less willing to help other wolves as his younger self might've been - but more than that, he had no wish now to do anything but live his life exactly how he wanted to. He'd do what he wanted, when he wanted, and no one would tell him otherwise.

Today, mountain climbing was on the agenda. It was a crisp spring day, which for the north meant something quite different than it did for the rest of Boreas. Given the altitude, the air up here was still bitterly cold, and he felt a shiver crawl through his spine as he began his ascent up the side of the falls. He'd been here before, but that didn't make the climb any less thrilling. This wasn't a climb for the faint of heart; these cliffs were steep and unforgiving, and one wrong step could mean certain death. By the time Kai neared the top he was even colder, and his legs were quivering from the strain of the climb. At the very least he hoped he might get a good vantage point up here and search for the source of the sound, but he was pleasantly surprised to find that he was not alone up here - no, in fact he quickly grew to recognize just who it was, standing precariously at the edge of the falls.

A loud laugh fell from his parted jaws as he padded over toward her, still half-panting as he tried to catch his breath from the last stretch of the climb. "I didn't expect to find you up here," he greeted her with a wide grin. He hadn't expected anyone to be up here, to be honest, but he wasn't at all opposed to company right now, especially hers. "Strange place for a pack wolf to be," he commented conversationally, hardly making a judgement call. He'd pieced together that she was a pack wolf that belonged to Valhalla, after meeting Aurielle so long ago, and he had little reason to believe she no longer was one. "Though I don't blame you. Nothing quite beats this sight," Kai said, sighing almost dreamily as he neared her and gazed out across the falls and all the land that stretched infinitely beyond. The view really had a way of reminding him just how beautiful their world was, and that he shouldn't take a moment of it for granted.

Justice didn't move from her cliffside perch at the sound of a voice behind her, but she did turn her head to grin back at the familiar wolf. "Hey there, Snaggletooth," she called playfully back to him, then turned back into the wind, eyes half closing in pleasure. "Mmm, its exhilarating, isn't it?" she said in agreement with him. "Reminds you that you're really alive. Like you could soar on the wind and nothing could hold you back." She hummed a deep appreciative note at the play of the wind theough her fur. "Reminds you to take time to really enjoy living while you have the chance."

The name earned a low chuckle from him, a noise that sounded foreign to his own ears. It'd been so long since he'd truly enjoyed life, let alone laughed... he was long overdue for a moment like this, and he wouldn't complain about sharing his view with a lovely lady. There was more than enough to go around, after all. "I've been called worse," he admitted in regards to her nickname for him, her tone nothing but friendly. "It really is," Kai agreed, breathing out a contended sigh as he moved to stride closer to her, and recline back onto his haunches when he was at her side. He appreciated her sentiments, and even more so appreciated the steep drop beneath the two of them - one wrong step could send them both tumbling to certain death, and so far she hadn't moved away from him, which demonstrated a level of trust her appreciated. It'd been so long since he'd been around wolves who he felt he could relate to; Justice was a breath of fresh air. "The fear of falling is just as thrilling sometimes," he admitted, his tone hardly threatening in the slightest. He extended a paw toward the edge, watching the way the stray rubble fell with ease, tumbling down into the falls below. There was something intoxicating about the danger, at least to him - it definitely had a way of reminding him he was still alive, and to not take that for granted, given how quickly it could change. "Have you been enjoying life, then? Or just taking the time to today?" Kai asked, leaning over to nudge her shoulder gently.

Kai's words earned a purring hum of appreciation as he settled at the cliffside, and she tilted her head to watch him with a half-smile on her scarred face, her eyes practically all pupil, amethyst-rimmed beneath half-closed lids. On a whim, high off the freedom and the danger, she reached up to nibble sensually at his ear. She could hear the blood throbbing in her own ears, the wild tempo goading her into more and more of a rush. "Looking to feel the thrill of a fall, are you?" she growled throatily in his ear, moving her nibbling along his throat. A husky laugh. "Just today, unfortunately. All the more reason to make the best of it, hmm?" Pebbles clattered down the cliff-side as a piece of the earth beneath a paw crumbled, the sound driving the adrenaline higher. "I want you to fuck me," she purred, a laugh bubbling up out of her chest and wrinkling her muzzle in mirth, "if you aren't too scared of falling. I dare you." The last was a whisper in his ear as she pressed against him on the cliff.

-fade?-

Now this was living - it was nothing at all like sitting by idly in Winterfell's lands and waiting for what was to come. Life was too short to not take risks and chances, and to do whatever the fuck you wanted to. Which was precisely why he didn't bother question it as she leaned into his touch, moving to nibble at his ear. Kai let out a low purr at the unexpected touch. "Something like that," was all he managed to stupidly mumble in response, suddenly quite distracted at what her touch implied. Though they were likely around the same age, he was wildly inexperienced, even in all his confidence - but he wasn't one to back down from a challenge, just because of his naivety. He let out another low laugh as he heard the sound of something crumbling, breaking first and then pinging far below as it echoed down the falls. It sparked another surge of adrenaline through his veins, and her words only exacerbated the way his heart was beginning to strum more rapidly. "If I fall, so do you," he reminded her under his breath, moving against her until it was hard to tell where either wolf began and the other ended, quite cognizant of their precarious position but deciding that this moment was undoubtedly worth the risk.

-fade!!!-