There's something new about you

their talk of plans drifts for hours, before he knows it, the sun is setting and the wind is picking up. winter chill bites at their heels. the Wayfarer is used to lacking sleep, constantly on his feet in efforts to evade, yet a silly little part of him finds comfort in kei’s company.

 her suggestion to look for a place to shelter for the night leaves them descending the peak they’d climbed earlier that day. more jungle, more fog, more slick rock and the roars of a waterfall—multiple?—grow with every step down a new pathway.

 they curl close enough to one of the large falls that he hears nothing except its loud thunder. his eyes are peeled on the rock and kei and he only looks to the side to ensure his footing when it catches his eye.

 reaching forward, teeth attempt to graze the tip of her tail—just to catch her attention, as he throws his head over shoulder in a beckon towards the cave.

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for @Kei

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It was easy to forget it's winter when the sun bakes overhead and the wind is cut by jagged rock, but now that the heated ball grew ever closer to caressing the horizon, the chill was beginning to feel more apparent. So much for making it to the mainland today. The mist from the falls they passed was enough to tell that the water was nothing less than freezing. There had to be something along the key though. The island was too big not to offer relief from the sharp winds that would surely come on the ocean breeze once the sun had set.

No sooner had the thought graced her head had she felt Kyo's nip. At first, she thought the wayfarer was messing with her. The dragon's head whipped, a glare set in her eyes as Kei flicked her tail away from his offending teeth, only to soften when she realized what he was looking at. Perfect. Kei quickly turned for shelter, padding past the falls until sand slipped between her toes. That was...strange. They weren't exactly at the shoreline yet, and the waves definitely did not rise this high up the mountain. “Sand?” She glanced Kyo's way, wondering what he made of it.

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 kei looks five seconds away from throwing fists until she realizes why he’s beckoning. the Wayfarer quirks an eyebrow at her nonetheless, and lets her stroll into the cavern—ladies first or something.

 he comes in after, flicking water droplets from the nearby spray of the falls off his spiky red fur. the ground is spongy, soft underfoot and… well, more fucking sand. he’d expected cold stone. can’t say he’s… completely mad about it, though. it's quieter inside, too.

 “seems so,” he pauses, eyes keeping steady with hers, “not a fan?” it reminds him of the pit in a way, made of dirt and grime and what was probably sand at one point. even it wore into nothing. this? soft. cushy. maybe how royals slept.

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“No— no it’s not that. Just…odd.” Was she a fan of sand? It was fine until you go to clean your fur and find coarse grains on your tongue, but the sensation of soft sand was nice in the moment. “Unless the falls used to run through the cavern it just doesn’t make sense. Nothing to cause it, nothing to bring it.” Unless whoever lived here last spend moons shoveling the beach with cupped shells to make… a den??

Another glance around the hollowed room showed it to be a single cavity, but deep. There was plenty of room to house more than a few wolves. “Could be a den site... Providing the wind doesn’t cut the falls.” That would make sense actually. Less so for the light colored sand in a dark rock cave, but as to how the cavern was made in the first place.

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phone posting

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 rright. odd.

 “think it’s odd that we spawned in this place outta thin air,” kyo has to rib at it, “don’t think a lotta this place has to make sense. if you ask me, i wouldn’t be surprised if shit’s backwards here.” would he still be startled by cats raining from the sky or giant beasts that ought to be in a fantasy novel? hell yeah. but some sand in a cave? pfft.

 he flexes his toes, and goes onto stretch his limbs forward, then lean back—tail curling with the motion like a cat. feels nice. he likes it. in theory, den site could work, like kei said, considering it’s tucked away and it's big enough to fit a sizable amount of people.

 “could make for a good training spot, too. ‘n less likely to worry about tryin’ to escape since there doesn’t seem to be another exit.” he squints through the darkness, sniffing the air, as he trots forward to investigate further.

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“Fair 'nough.” The words are muttered under her breath as she idly follows Kyo from a distance. A dedicated training spot wasn't a bad idea, especially for the Shinobu and Ronin. Most of what they had seen so far was slippery rock and dense jungle. There was the beach, but that was also fairly open.

A cave offered one more thing consistently that out there didn't. A darkened environment. “Not a bad idea. Mistakes will hurt less and you might not be able to rely on your vision.” Especially when most of the old Order's moves happened in the veil of night. “What are you worried about running for? It's training; they aren't going to go fleeing from a fight.” If they tried, then they picked the wrong path to follow.

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