Come down, come down sweet reverence

The clouds grew thicker and darker as they descended the burning mountain. Jynn was relieved to arrive at the base and into a dense forest. Large oak trees, some standing and some fallen stretched out across the rocky surface, their green leaves in full display. Ivy covered the forest floor and snaked its ways up the trees. Jynn jumped suddenly as a golden bolt of lightning darted across the sky, followed by a commanding boom. Through the treetop she could see the silhouette of the mountain they'd just descended. Moments later it started to rain. The rain fell in sheets straight down and she quickly moved toward the fallen oak in front of her, immediately scooting her way under. "Oh rats! I hope this isn't too bad of a storm. At least it seemed like the wind wasn't bad."

Duchess let Jynn lead for now, she was a bit more exploitative anyway while Duchess had lived here and even in the southern lands her whole life.

When the storm started to roll over, she hadn't even noticed while the skies had been clouded by the oak's branches. But she too flinched with a tingle in her spine as lightning and a loud crack of thunder flew over them.

She ran after Jynn under one of the fallen oaks for shelter, she peeked around as Jynn spoke, trying to look up at the skies above but fled back more in shelter as another crack of lightning fell overhead. She noticed the marks on a few of the trees around them, "This seems like a hot spot for lightning." But she didn't know if that meant the storm would pass quickly or linger around.

"Duchess"

Come down, come down sweet reverence

Jynn carefully peaked out from under their shelter, her ears grazing along the log. A raindrop collided with her nose sending her back under the log. The lattice of branches overhead helped to shield them from most of the rain but it wasn't enough to prevent it completely. When Duchess mentioned lightning, Jynn flinched. Oh crap, she hadn't thought about that. "Maybe the storm will move through fast since it came up so fast? Otherwise we could try heading northwest to the canyon. I've been wanting to explore that more. There are little caves here and there near the rim." As long as they didn't get too close to the bottom they wouldn't need to worry about flooding. Well, assuming this storm was that big. She suspected it was a squall and it was heading south so it likely wasn't covering a huge area.

Because of the situation they were in, Duchess was able to ignore the distant memories she had with Indigo here. They weren't necessarily bad, in fact they were good. But she was starting to fester a resentment towards him even while she wouldn't admit it, even to herself. There was a lot going on for her emotionally, and she was starting to avoid just about any real emotional moment she shared with Indigo.

Jynn mentioned the canyons north of here for shelter, and Duchess nodded, "Yeah, I've spent a night in the cave ledges there." Again, another memory of Indigo she had to shake, "We should be able to run along the fallen trees here and into the wraith's woods before getting into the Canyon." The storm was fast, yes, but it didn't seem like it was letting up anytime soon. It could have lasted all day. She would wait for Jynn to be ready before heading off though.

"Duchess"

Come down, come down sweet reverence

It was rather unfortunate that the storm chose that moment to go sweeping through for the old oaks that stood here would've been quite a sight to see and explore if the weather had been a bit more cooperative. Duchess mentioned running through the woods here and into the Wraith's Woods before making their way to the canyon. Her stomach dropped a bit at the memory of the eerie place and the thought that she might've seen a ghost. However, she knew that Duchess was right. If they tried to reach the canyon by avoiding the woods it would be a steep climb down into the lip of the canyon. The canyon opened naturally into the wraith's woods and would be the most logical path. "Yea, I think you're right. Lead the way!" She said, trying to sound braver than she felt.

-end?-

Duchess nodded as Jynn had offered her the lead, but they both had a sense of direction at least. They were both avid navigators, they both liked to see what the land had to offer them. Duchess was just a little more reserved than Jynn, not that she really knew much about the manned woman.

She moved forward north, traveling under the giant fallen oaks and making a quick rush under the less protected areas of the forest. She wondered if the lightning really even made a dent to the ancient trees. They had scars, but the forest hadn't burned down yet, the scars made little impact on the giant trees. She only observed briefly while they were under safety, but they had to make way through the woods and to the canyon as fast as they could.

"Duchess"