Challenging Myself (Closed)

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This was a place the rest of her tribe couldn’t follow her, full of challenging climbs and jumps and a landscape unlike any she had seen before. Sure, there was water. Too much water. Still, it wasn’t enough to make her avoid the place, which meant this land suited her very well.

River had spent the better part of her morning studying the landscape and climbing down to the bottom of the canyon. Now, she was working her way up, taking the most difficult route she could find that still seemed manageable. She leaped from rock to rock, climbing when the jump seemed too far for her abilities and enjoying every pawstep of her adventure. It felt wonderful, pushing herself in this way, and it gave her no small amount of satisfaction to know she was somewhere the others in the tribe couldn’t be. She loved them. She really did. She was also jealous of them for evolving ahead of her as they had, and was happy to find any bright side to being an occult among absconding.

Besides, since she was stuck in this form for now, she may as well take advantage of it and explore areas she wouldn’t be able to access once she evolved.

She reached the top of her climb and leaped from her current rock to one higher up. A few more smaller bounds got her back to the top of the gorge, on the opposite side. She looked down at the path she had taken, allowing a small purr to escape her. She was a little tired, but that had been fun. Maybe after a short rest, she should try it again, or maybe an even more difficult path…

[Meesh]

Oh, well this was great. He was stuck.

Shadow had been out of pack territory for days, not for any particular reason, just to explore and discover as much of this strange land as he could find. His travels had been inconsistent to say the least, but a few days trek north had finally brought him here, the Gorge. Climbing down had been fun, if challenging enough, but somehow in the middle of climbing up, Shadow had managed to get himself onto a Ledge he could neither jump to another ledge from nor climb back off of.

He sighed. He had been doing so well too! He had been granted a decent jumping ability from Antares, felines had always been good climbers, and had much of Silva's balance, but he doubted anyone or anything his size could make a leap from here to the nearest ledge, several feet up and a few yards away. I should have just gone up from the same route I went going down. That was tough, but manageable, even uphill

Pacing had done him no good, so he settled down, determined to conserve energy. Now just how do I get out of this one?

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She hadn’t seen him at first, but – now that she was paying attention – she spotted a familiar shape on one of the ledges below. She frowned – was that Shadow? He was far from home, wasn’t he? What was he doing here? Well, exploring like she was, no doubt. Did Silva know he was here?

Well, only one way to find out.

She picked her way back down the ledge, jumping and climbing from rock to rock until she was close enough to easily speak with the mix. “So it is you. Does your mother know you’re all the way out here?”

[Meesh]

A noise made him jump, and he turned to see a black and white shape making its way towards him. A few more seconds revealed it to be River, the feline he had met a few days before he had left. His welcoming halfpurr/tailwag caught in his throat at her words, followed by a (unusual) flash of annoyance. "I am not an infant" the mix said, bristling, before catching himself, and dipping his head politely. "Sorry for the outburst. Silva is my mother and I love her, but that does not mean she needs to be aware of my every move every second of every- gosh, I guess that's not polite either" he sighed, looking down in embarrassment before finally answering. "She knows I'm out on my own, but not where."

His mind wouldn't quit nagging at him, however, before he added tactfully. "Though it wouldn't hurt to mention I'm not much younger than you. Just smaller is all"

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Her lip began to lift in a snarl at his words, though it lowered again with the apology. “Can’t say I know your mother too well, but she was the first creature to greet me when I hatched, and she seemed nice enough. Don’t want her in a panic, that’s all.” She blinked at him. “If I had evolved and produced kits, I’d be worried to know they’re here where I can’t get to them if they need me, no matter how old they are.” She stretched. “I assume you’re out here to see the world like I am. If that’s the case, you’ve stopped at a rather strange spot. The best views are at the top.”

[Meesh]

Shadow nodded, now embarrassed out his outburst. His temper was random, to say the least. Questions about his species didn't bother him at all. Comments about his age. Well, that was another matter. Just because Shadow knew who his parents where and others didn't, he was always assumed less mature than others, even those similar in age to him. Newborns were able to care for themselves from the moment they set paw in the world, why couldn't he? - well, this didn't matter right now, did it? "I'm sorry for snapping" he said more sheepishly. "Silva does worry about me, but I needed to prove- to myself more than anyone- I could manage without her" Blushing, he added "Pretty good job I did, considering I'm stuck"

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“I about snapped, myself. My temper does get the better of me when I don’t want it to…” She sighed. “Almost cost me a couple friendships. That’s in the past, though.” She blinked when he talked about proving he could manage without his mother and then the fact he was stuck. She studied his perch a moment, and then jumped over, landing neatly beside him. “Could have said something about that earlier, and I would have helped you down straightaway. I figured you were just having fun like me.” She studied their surroundings, trying to find the best spot to jump to that would put Shadow on a path he could follow. “There’s no shame in needing other creatures. It’s the ideal situation for everyone, regardless of how well they can handle themselves.”

[Meesh]

Shadow nodded, carefully making his way after the black and white occult down the path. "Thank you" he said, sheepishly, bending down to give his chest fur a couple of quick licks, smoothing it down. "I suppose so- and I am having fun, really. It was just a bit more fun before I got stuck" he gave his odd half-purr of amusement, grinning. "The sites here are beautiful. It's sad to hear that Absondings can't come, since it's so beautiful." He gave the Rocky Area around him an appreciative glance.
Deciding that small talk was the best way to apologize for snapping earlier, the mix asked offhandedly. "Have you been around this area before?"

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“No problem.” River looked around as she helped Shadow to a place where he could manage on his own. “Everyone needs help at some point. I’m the primary hunter for my tribe, but the other two had to do all the hunting themselves for a few days when I was bitten by a snake…” She shook her head. “Not the happiest of times, but we made it through. It was Ebony that made sure I didn’t die from the bite to begin with. If I had been alone, I would have been in real trouble.” Granted, if she had been alone, she might not have encountered the snake to begin with…but that made her story needlessly complicated.

She shrugged when Shadow said it was sad to hear that abscondings couldn’t come here. “I suppose so. They had plenty of opportunity before they evolved, though, and I’m sure they have places we can’t reach that are just as beautiful.” As for herself, he wanted to see as much of the land as she could before evolving, just to make sure she didn’t get barred from anything before having a chance to see it.

She shook her head at his question. “Never. I haven’t been this far from the plains since I moved there. We have plenty of prey stocked up, so I decided it’d be fine if I went off on my own and saw what I could before they started to miss me.” She purred. “Somewhat similar to what you’re doing, really.”

[Meesh]

Shadow nodded at River's words. "Ebony was mentioning something about herbs when I came to visit your territory. Is he your tribe healer or something? Starpack doesn't really have a healer yet, though Mother-Silva says she suspects it may one day be Antares, if he chooses to declare a specialty." He glanced around the area for snakes almost instinctively, bristling at the thought of the scaley reptiles. "Forest Vipers are fatal to Aboriginals- I was almost bitten by one as a newlyhatched, but Antares caught and killed it before it got the chance" The memory was now dim in his mind, but having been taught from birth the dangers of reptiles, Shadow was very careful of them.

He grinned at her comment about exploring, purring. "That sounds like quite the plan. Do you do all the hunting for your tribe?" The mix scanned over the area, an irregularity in the rock formations catching his eye. "Oh, down there! A cave" Shadow called, pointing with his nose at a small opening in between the rocks a few feet away from the two.

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River nodded. “It was something of a position he gave himself, since we didn’t have a healing rank before he arrived. They are useful to have around, though it’s hard to find a creature peaceful enough to want to spend most of their time poking at leaves.” She nodded at the mention of the snake. “Good thing he did. What got me wasn’t a forest viper, since it was in the plains. I’m not sure on the breed of it, but it doesn’t’ matter. I’ve taken to avoiding snakes as a whole.”

“Most of it,” she responded to his question. “I try to do it all, but Kayalee does some of her own hunting, despite being the leader. She enjoys it or just never got rid of the habit. She was the only member until I came around.” She shrugged. “My role as hunter is temporary, anyway. I’m working toward becoming the tribe diplomat. It’ll give me an excuse to travel more often.”

She blinked when the cave was pointed out. “Shall we see what’s inside?”

[Meesh]

Shadow shivered "Reptiles in general are far from my type." he replied, remembering the strange creatures he had passed while arriving here, particularly, those in the Eight Lakes area. He nodded at River's words "Ebony did seem like the peaceful sort to me. I'd personally be bored with hanging around one area all day. For me, I like learning new things. All knowledge, any knowledge, is precious to me" his eyes sparkled. "It's partly one of the reasons I love exploring so much" he admitted.

His ears flicked in interest at River's goal. "A diplomat? What's that do?" Nodding at her, he bounded forward and towards the cave. "Anyway, speaking of exploring, yes, let's go see!" He paused at the entrance to the cave, a small opening, nearly a crack, between two rocks. The mix carefully squeezed his way through- it wasn't too tight, thankfully, and looked large enough to squeeze an Occult like River through. "I think you'll fit in here" the mix called from inside. "Hmm, it smells odd in here. Earthy, like"

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River nodded as Shadow talked about enjoying learning new things. “I’m the same way, in that regard. That, and I like seeing how different or similar various parts of this world can be.” As for reptiles…she had no problem with most of them, but she wasn’t going to say anything about that. It wasn’t an important enough subject to argue over. It was okay if he didn’t like them, and it was okay that she did.

When he asked about diplomats, she purred. “They go out into the world and discover new lands and groups and interact with said groups on behalf of the tribe. Ideally, they form alliances and things, though I suppose they deal with less friendly situations as well.”

When they reached the cave, Shadow entered first. She had hesitated, unsure of whether she would even fit, but – at his prompting – she forced herself to squeeze through. It was a little cramped, but she could move. “We are surrounded by earth, so that makes sense.”

[Meesh]

Shadow's eyes widened in interest. "Discovering new lands" he breathed. "Now that sounds like my kind of adventure" he paused to glance at River thoughtfully. "Kind of like what we're doing now, right? Just exploring, learning new things. I know there's a diplomat type rank in my pack, just never thought much about it. It sounds like fun!" The light was dim to see by, but he squinted anyway, trying to make sense of the area around him. What looked like a small path sloped downwards and deeper into the cave system. Shadow tentatively padded forward his dark coat making him nearly invisible in the dark area. "Wow, what a place. What do you thing is down there?" he asked, pointing with his nose

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River purred. “That’s why I’m working toward that rather than, say, deputy or captain. Maybe once I’ve seen what there is to see, I’ll be content staying home and barking orders, but for now, the diplomat rank is much more appealing. This is the sort o thing I live for, and I’m only sad I didn’t start sooner.” She listened to Shadow talk about the ranks in his pack. “Go for it, if you want it. Keep at it, and nothing will limit you.” Or make him stuck again…she knew better than to say that out loud. She shook her head when he asked what she thought was down the cave, keeping close behind him as they walked. “Could be anything. Maybe even another world.” Probably not, but it would be fascinating to discover such a thing.