She was making her way slowly back towards Lirim territory. The past few seasons had been... difficult to say the least. There was a small light at the end of the tunnel: the pack was starting to feel like a real home. For that much she was grateful. Rags must have taken a wrong turn somewhere - this wasn't like any place she'd ever seen before. There was an eerie glow deep within the caves that had caught her eye. Curiosity had gotten the better of her and Rags had ambled far deeper than she'd meant to. Typically she considered herself a fair navigator, but there was just something particularly exciting about an unexplored cave. Especially one that was glowing.

The walls of the cave were slick and there was a musty smell all about. Luckily it didn't seem like there were any other creatures lurking within the cave's depths. Rags lowered her nose to the ground, her limp ears flopping forward over her bi-colored eyes. That smell was familiar. She could tell a fungus from a mold any day! With renewed interest, the piebald female ventured further into the cave, careful to maneuver her stiff legs over the slippery stones.

1/3 navigating a new area

He needed to get away and Boreas seemed the best place to go. Maybe with a little luck he could straighten himself out. Besides, he figured it would be worth investigating how the northern region had fared during the volcanic eruption and it certainly didn't look good. Aureus went where intuition led him, having no real destination in mind. He turned to look at Kali who trotted along behind him. It was the panther's turn to carry a piece of deer hide that held various items he'd taken along on the journey. Some items he'd just found and figured he take back to Risen. There was also some dried meat. While the duo could hunt pretty well, prey was proving scarce. Spring was here but it seemed slow to start. The days were still cool and the sky still hazy. Aureus longed for the warmth of the summer and the long days that came with it.

The cavern was an unusual place for him to go but curiosity got the better of him. There was a mysterious glow and he carefully moved down into the cavern then stopped when he saw an unfamiliar woman there. "Oh! Hello, I… didn't expect to find anyone down here."

Spelunking wasn't her strong suit. Rags struggled to keep her feet underneath her as the ground grew slicker and more treacherous the further she ventured into the cave. Hopefully this venture would be worth it, but curiosity had made things difficult for her before. Oh! Hello... That voice sounded vaguely familiar. Rags turned, leaning her shoulder on the cave wall to support herself. The sound of his voice carried further into the cave before echoing back towards them both. Hello, hello hello... Water trickled somewhere deeper in the cave system and softened the acoustics until finally his voice was lost in the depths of the cavern. "Hello there," Rags replied, squinting in the bleary darkness. Was that a big, fierce cat behind him? Just her luck. This cave was as good a place to die as any, she supposed.

2/3 navigating a new area

The woman replied and her voice echoed across the cavern walls but he couldn't help feel that he voice was familiar in someway. He moved closer into the eerie glow of the mushrooms until he was able to make out his face. "Ragnheiðr? It's me Aureus. What are you doing down here?" He found a somewhat flat place that wasn't covered in mushrooms and settled down as Kali set down the deer hide full of items. The cat then settled down to lick his paws and rest his jaws. The light wasn't great but Aureus felt he ought to make use of his time. He reached down to paw at an unusual amount of clay soil before he started scraping it up into a little ball. Perhaps he could make something out of this though… now that he thought about it there wasn't a great way to transport it.