The caves were huge, but with a friend, she had quite easily managed to scamper off to the far reaches. For now, she had bolted away from her big adorable deaf friend-- he would be easy to find later, and she knew he didn't eat cave mice like she did, so she "told" him she'd be back sooner or later. It was a reasonable enough request... But she wanted to see that big scary wind machine up close, and she didn't want her friend to be put in danger because she was curious of all of the noise he couldn't hear.

Of course, Monoceros was not a place one traveled lightly. Her father, if he had managed to keep her pinned down for more than a day, would have probably told her about the dangers of folks like the Merrymen-- but he hadn't. She was free to be blissfully ignorant about the giant rhino and the thieving mongoose and the corrupting fox. A tiny, innocent little babby she was-- eager to explore.

And make new friends, of course. No one would be as good as Eos, he read her movements like he had been born to, and she doubted she would find anyone quite like him. That was alright though. She needed someone she could prank without feeling too guilty, after all. Her siblings and Giggle and the others just wasn't enough. She needed someone who couldn't tattle on her.

That was why she was there, padding down the worn, dusty windswept trail. Her ears twitched now and then, her wings tucked at her hind legs. What a curious place-- but the wind caught her attention the most. She wanted to climb to the top of the ledges and leap into the wind, to fly like a real... bird... mustelid... critter. Perhaps she could! Grinning, the tiny, weasel-like hybrid began to dart towards a wall, and started to try and climb her way up.

@Ruine

Ruine felt like a bit of a walk around what she guessed she could call her home. She did enjoy looking for little treasures like little bits of bone, interesting rocks and broken stalagmites. The still small caracal padded around the cave, heading towards the platforms, last time she found a metallic beetle hidden in a rock, keeping away from the wind.

That was what she really loved about this place, the wind. The feeling of a gust tickling through her short fur was so pleasurable. She did a silly little jogging dance of happiness when she got that. She hadn't been far away from Monoceros, but lack of breeze made the air so stale and heavy. But also the wind moved the dust around, which helped reveal little precious things that she had started to collect.

As she reached the platforms, two things snagged her eye. One being that a rock, about the size of her had shifted in last night's strong winds leaving a strong trail in the dust. This movement had uncovered a Ruine-sized hole that snuck into the wall of the pearly rock. She giggled with excitement but turned her attention to the other thing.

It looked like another creature, but it was pretty strange looking. Not at all like her or the gentle white dog she had met so far. It had a long, almost snake-like mud coloured body that was scrambling up the wall, its shoulders was patterned with orange, strangely. The paws looked similar, but the claws were out, like the wispy dog. She looked closer at its body, Ruine tilted her head in confusion at the saffron back, it had wings?! It was so interesting!

Ruine forgot the tunnel and dashed towards the... thing? It had been trying to get up the wall, but kept slipping and sliding. As she approached the critter with a skid and a puff of dust, she croaked, "He-y the-r". Ruine still hadn't mastered talking.



@Ashtoreth

Ash lunged upwards, trying to find purchase with her claws in the rock face, but no matter what angle she tried, she seemed to always slump back down the bottom, nails a bit sore from dragging down the hard surface. She grunted, tail swishing, when a voice called out to her, a croaking pair of words.

The mustelid craned her head towards the feline, blinking at the new gembound. Who was this, she wondered, raising a forepaw into the air. Not everyone seemed to understand her at first, but this little one seemed to have trouble with words-- unlike her horse friend-- so hopefully the stranger would take to her form of speech a bit better.

Ash lifted up both paws now, her wings spreading out behind her, and began to flail her forelimbs through the air, though to what purpose perhaps only she knew. She opened her mouth in a wide, slack jawed grin, and turned her attention back to the cliff face. The long, noodly creature dropped back down on all fours, backing away from the wall, and wiggled her behind, wings flapping tentatively. She glanced once more at Ruine, ears perked, muscles tensed as if ready to leap once more.

@Ruine

The fuzzy red feline shuffled a little closer to the gembound. Ruine decided the creature looked like a large ferret with a more dog-like face. The deal with the wings and feathers were beyond Ruine's limited experience of the world, they just made her more intrigued by the soul that was perched in front of her.

At first the lack of vocal reply to Ruine's greeting made her feel uncomfortable, did she do something wrong? She dipped her head in embarrassment, it was probably something to do with her speech skills, or lack of. But then the creature raised its paw into the air, exposing its small cushy pad and fluff that ran through its toes. The young gembound smiled and affectionately moved her head to nudge the paw with her moist nose.

Before her head reached the paw, the creature reared up and indicated towards the wall and ledges beyond. It tensed up, flapped those weird wings around and poised for a leap. Did it want to play? A race up to the ledges?

Ruine's eyes glinted with eagerness. No ways was this small animal going to beat her at anything! The feline launched her body, forepaws first, propelled by the strength of her hind legs up onto the rock wall. She gripped into the texture of the wind-beaten stone, and looked downwards to her new friend, about one pace-length below her. Her tail teasingly lashed from side to side.

She turned her focus back onto the wall and attempted to scramble upwards.

@Ashtoreth

The cat didn't squeak out any more words, instead seeming to catch that gleam of eagerness and for a moment they shared a brief understanding between them. She bared her teeth in what could have been a grin or a snarl-- no sound accompanied the expression.

Abruptly the kitten leaped up on to the cliff side, her tail swishing behind her like a playful toy, and the mustelid was left behind. Her jaws parted and she wheezed, air escaping her throat in a silent cry. I can't let her beat me! The child thought, her tail lashing back and forth.

The brown noodle rushed at the wall, lunging up after the feline. She hit the wall with an airy squeak, her claws scrambling to find purchase in the hard rock once more. She nearly slipped, but finally her paws found firm ground and seemed to stabilize on the wall. She flashed a grin again towards the feline, spreading her wings. She scrambled up a bit further, trying to get to the top first-- but she slid back down to her first foothold.

A snort escaped her nose; she wasn't a master climber yet... But she would put up a challenge for the strange, new gembound-friend!

@Ruine

Ruine failed to reach her next foothold, lost her balance and ended up slowly sliding down the wall. She clung on for dear life and mewed in fear. A soft thud marked her return to the ground. The other gembound was doing a better job than her and although not a mountaineer, wasn't slumped on the ground like she was.

Her opponent smirked down at her. Ruine started to giggle innocently. It was on. Ruine sprung up onto her feet and shook off the dust that had buried itself into her fur. She glared back and forth at the long bodied animal and the goal. Why doesn't it use those wings? It didn't matter, Ruine was going to win anyway. The rusty-furred Ruine leaped over to an adjacent section of the wall, there was a small ledge that had snuggled into the vertical rock, mostly hidden. She remembered that she had found a rather shiny and green feather on that ledge a few days ago, it now sat in her sleeping nest.

If this doesn't work then I'm just going to have to give up. Ruine lunged her body into the air and towards to the rockface, bumping her nose into the rock by accident. She failed to clinch into the craggy surface, and fell down again. A puff of dust swallowed her up, she coughed away the dirt and gasped for some air. Annoyed that she couldn't do it, Ruine planted her butt firmly into the ground and watched the more agile critter.

Ashtoreth clutched the wall as she heard a mewl behind her, frightened and-- a thud. With a curious twitch of her ears, her pointed muzzle turned downwards, her bright eyes seeking what had befallen her new friend. Her tail twitched, swaying back and forth-- but she didn't move from her perch, only opened her jaw to let out a tiny exhale of air. It was no fun if the other couldn't progress, so she held out a paw to the feline, and gently batted her wings.

Although her wings moved the air a bit, it seemed her magic didn't want to respond. She was, after all, still a baby, and while she could occasionally get the wind to lift up her hind quarters under her wings, doing the same for someone else was a bit too complicated. The mustelid huffed again, squinting with the effort of trying to cast. She sent a glare down her side, baring her teeth in a snarl towards her wings, and wagged her tail a bit more. It seemed that if Ruine wanted to climb, she would have to do it on her own. Though, judging by the brown noodle with wings, Ash wasn't going anywhere without her.
@Ruine

Ruine stared up at the long bodied friend, it extended a paw and focused heavily. Then it started to flail its wings, conjuring the air around them to nudge Ruine's little butt. It was faint and only had a wisp of strength behind it. Ruine giggled at her friend's frustration towards its own ability, it seemed so annoyed. Even though the creature's effort had failed, Ruine understood the idea.

It was a bit silly to give up so soon. After all the noodle didn't look like it was going to climb if Ruine didn't try as well. But this scrambling up vertical surfaces really wasn't Ruine's forte. She preferred to scramble up less vertical surfaces. This brought her attention to her memory of the small black hole that dug itself into the rock. It was a bit of a long shot, but maybe the hole had a path to the top of the wall? It would be more fun than repeating-ly falling off a rock.

Ruine jogged on her tip toes and mewed at her new idea. She would try and catch up to her new friend first, then run off to the hole to have a look at it. This time, instead of running then leaping up at the wall. She padded up to it, flicked her tail in determination and placed her forepaws strategically in small crevices, grabbing with her claws. Then with a hop, she bounced up and tried to find stable locations to plant her hind paws.

She had just about clutched on the wall. Looking rather silly with her legs splayed out in all sorts of directions, but she had not fallen. She felt her claws slip a bit, and dust was displaced into a small cloud. This sent the young feline into a coughing and sneezing fit.

@Ashtoreth

It seemed like the feline had found something else to explore, but upon noticing Ash waiting for her, she came back over and mewled again. The mustelid tilted her head, waiting for the feline to give it another shot-- even though her magic had failed.

Ash watched as Ruine tried, finally, one more time. Her jaws parted in a joyous, silent cry, her slim body squirming in place as she awaited her new found friend's try once more. The cat leaped and the brown noodle's heart stopped for a beat as time seemed to slow down-- and then... Success! Ruine seemed to clutch at victory, if only for a brief moment.

Abruptly, dust seemed to spill into the air and the noodle scooched down the wall, eyes locked on the feline. Something was wrong! The cat began to cough and sneeze because of the dust, and in a rather careless act to try and save the gembound's lungs, she flapped her wings and tried to gently blow the dirt in the air away.

With the efforts of her wings and her magic, the mustelid seemed to blow away what dust had clouded up around the feline without making too strong of a wind. With a sigh of relief, she looked back towards the top, eager to continue climbing... If her new friend could make it.

@Ruine