I made it.... What now?

[Sonrisa]

Sonrisa paused for breath, nearly at the top of the rough path. The sky was still dark from night with barely a tinge of gold to warn of a morning. Her small, lithe body was tensed for balance but exhausted nonetheless. Just a short way left to the top...

Sitting down slowly, she closed her eyes and caught her breath as she let her mind wander. These lonely trips through vacant areas were becoming ubiquitous in her agenda, as though coming where no one was likely to be made it more bearable to be alone. But there is a difference between being alone and isolating oneself. Perhaps I am going about this the wrong way.

Opening her eyes, she shrugged back onto her feet and took another breath before returning to her climb. Stretching her legs to reach footholds, she gradually progressed to the top and stopped to glance around. Of course there's no one here...

Sighing a little, she sat down and curled herself into a relaxed position as she looked down, back to the empty earth. If they're not out there, where are they? How could the world empty so completely without any warning? Why are there so few of us left?

She then realized her mistake. Instead of looking for the ones she had lost, she was running from loneliness, forcing herself into even lonelier situations to convince herself that when she got back there would be a mob of friends to greet her. As though giving loneliness an excuse changed it into something that wasn't loneliness. But how could she change this? How could she look for others when they were likely to be hiding as well? Maybe I should go back, find Valand and ask what he would suggest. Surely he hasn't gone too far from where I saw him last...

Shaking her head, she rested her chin on her paws and looked out at the sky, waiting for the sun to rise. At least one thing hasn't changed. I will always be the first to see the sun rise.

[Felix]

"Now that looks like fun!" the young rogue announced to nobody in particular as he surveyed the great mountain. Maybe there’d be a rockslide, could be a few snakes roaming about. Heck it was pretty dark, he could loose his footing and fall if he was not careful. The possibilities were endless, rocky mountains high in the sky usually provided to be deadly. Felix loved it, anything that could get his heart pumping interested him. His attitude did not mix well with harsh environments, he enjoyed the rush way too much for his own well being. He began to scale the mountain, pushing hard, challenging himself to race to the peak as quickly as possible.

All along he imagined how much fun it would be to race down the mountainside, gravity speeding his way down. A few times on the way up he’d slip a little, nothing serious, just a scrap on his chin. He was about to the top when he caught two scents. One was obviously another wolf, yet he couldn’t quite figure out the other. He smelt out the scent, which was coming from a entrance into the mountain. The smell was much stronger here, yet he couldn’t see the source through the darkness. It was a little odd that another wolf would take out the time to climb this mountain, perhaps they were as adventurous as himself. Better yet, they might want to explore the cave with him. He rushed up to the peak, eager to meet the other wolf. “Hey there, you look pretty glum…what’cha doin’ up here all alone?”

[Sonrisa]

Alarm. Now why is it that whenever I'm thinking about being lonely, another wolf shows up?

He seemed quite harmless, though, so with minimal effort she calmed and put on a smile. "Well, hello. It seemed that no matter where I was I'd be all alone, so I didn't see much difference in being here. I suppose I was wrong." Tilting her head, she looked at the hyper young male. He definitely seems the type to casually walk up a mountain for fun. And he sounds nice.

Her smile eased into a more genuine form as she relaxed a bit more, returning her chin to its resting place on her paws. "Don't worry, I won't push you off." The low horizon was turning faintly purple, and she didn't want to look away. I hope I don't seem too aloof... I'm just not used to having company.

[Felix]

Felix decided to climb closer towards the top, talking as he eyed out firm rocks to step on. "Worry? Me? Nahhh...I don't bother worrying about things. Stay young forever, that's my motto! Not a care in the world, that's how life should be right?" he said, noisily kicking rocks out from behind him so that they thumped down the mountainside. He gracefully leaped from one rock to another until he was face to face with the fae. "Well that sounds grey, all alone wherever you go! I don't like grey things." he shook his head, "I'm alone too, but I keep myself entertained. I climb mountains, jump ledges, anything I probably shouldn't be attempting. You should try it some time...errmm..." he put on a stern face, and lowered a brow. "Hey I don't know your name yet...mine's Felix, gave it to myself."

[Sonrisa]

Sonrisa smiled again, tilting her head but not quite looking away from the sky. She liked his attitude and perspective. "Yes, I do think that's exactly how life should be." He must never look behind him to be that carefree.

She found his face in front of her own and blinked, finally unable to see the sky. He was obviously young. "But I'm not grey, see? I'm all white all over... not a grey hair on me." Somehow his attitude, though he'd been there for perhaps a minute at best, brought out a bit of humor in her. They always told me not to put too much faith in first impressions, but he's not wearing a mask.

"And clearly," she continued, "I have tried it. I'm here too, remember? My name is Sonrisa, Felix. My parents gave it to me." And it's the name I'd give myself, too.

[Felix]

That's good, she didn't disagree with him. Leave it to some boring old wolf to enjoy nagging and worrying about things. Don't do that, do this, keep away from that, might be dangerous, we have to find shelter. Yuck, he didn't want to be hanging around anybody like that. Probably why he hadn't joined a pack yet, the freedom was much more rewarding.

Realizing that she was looking at the sky, he dodged off to the side. Taking a quick glance before loosing complete interest. Not a grey hair on her eh?, he thought as she displayed her white coat. "I don't think that I completely believe you" he smiled, pouncing down the rocky mountain-top. He didn't climb the mountain for the view and he wasn't getting any younger standing around. "Tell me, Sonrisa, do you know what a bear smells like? I think there might be one sleeping in this cave. I hear they get pretty moody if you wake them up." He kicked a rock, rolling it down into the mouth of the the cave. Nothing happened, further investigation would be needed.

[Sonrisa]

Sonrisa wasn't proud of it, but strange bears frightened her. Once, a long time ago, she had met friendly bears who were close to Valand. Today she had come up a different way than Felix and hadn't even noticed any scent. She was a small fae, and quiet, and even if she had noticed the scent of the bear--which she now thought she might, although the other wolf could be pulling her tail--she was sure she could have made a discreet exit and let the tired beast lie. That smell couldn't be her imagination.Oh, dear. I might have expected this.

Standing up slowly, she looked at him carefully. She had always been too quick to trust, but she'd really believed him to be harmless. This was just his way of having fun, obviously. Clearly he isn't afraid of anything....

"You tell me, Felix," she said softly, keeping herself calm. "Is there a bear in that cave?" Her mind analyzed her situation quickly. It wasn't a large rock, but it could wake a bear. The sun's rising... and I'm going to miss it.

Disappointed, she shook her head. Valand's not here, but he'd know what to do. I, however, have never simply befriended any bears. I run from them. That is all.

[Felix]

The young wolf looked over his shoulder, concerned that he was upsetting the fae that he just met. "Don't worry about a thing, nobody is going to get hurt. Trust me, I know how to handle these things." Truth was Felix had no clue how to handle things, he survived everything by dumb luck and a bit of skill. However, in his mind there really was nothing that would go wrong. It was all a part of staying young forever.

He didn't want to upset his new friend, however, the pup in him could not pass up an adventure. He laid down over the cave entrance, front paws dangling off the edge. Looking down so that he had an upside down view of the entrance. He still couldn't see anything, drats. His mind started to wonder how big the bear was, how fast it could run. This could be the biggest adventure yet. He didn't just yet shout at the top of his lungs to echo through the cave.

[Sonrisa]

Shaking her head, Sonrisa turned the other way and sighed. Males could never be reasoned with, and always thought they knew what was best. "Well, then handle things. I don't know a thing about wild bears." But how does throwing rocks help our situation?