^^
He had always been enamored by the highest of peaks - in this life, and in however many others he had lived. (The exact number of lives was to be determined still - Element had come to accept this one as at least the second, but had spent enough time cooped up in his den wondering if wolves perhaps had as many lives as cats, or more, or less. Nine felt like two many, but he had not been expecting even two, so the whole ordeal was a philosophical quandary he was just not ready to solve. This did not even touch on how many lives other creatures perhaps had. If cats were nine, and canines had at least two, what of birds? Fish? Caribou? It was all too much). But number of lives being beside the point, there was a common factor that he'd always been drawn to the mountains.
There had been a spire that had caught his attention far to the north, the peak usually obscured by thick clouds despite the weather. He'd felt a hunger to go explore it; to find himself finding a path up the slopes that would lead him to the magical point where the mountainside met the heavens, and you could take a step through the clouds and into the heavens. He'd convinced himself something about the adventure would be symbolic - a breaking of barriers, a transversal of the soul - any number of poetic and beautiful descriptions he could think of to describe the journey.
The reality was a little different.
The lands surrounding the mountains had started to become crowded with scent trails and border markings. The trip from the Nameless Mountain to... well, these other peaks, which also he had no name for... had taken more time than he had anticipated having to swerve in and out of claimed lands and disturbing no fresh borders. He felt weary, and not to mention rather peckish, and the slopes were steep, the air thin, and the rockface slippery with dew thanks to the proximity of the clouds. He thought he'd caught the scent of borders on occasion, but they were too scattered for him to be certain. As he'd grown closer to the cutoff between above the clouds and below, he'd felt a moment of hesitation - as if passing through was something he'd built up to mean something greater, and perhaps once he did, the letdown would be too great if reality did not meet the standards of what he'd built up in his head. Element caught himself pacing for some time until he sucked in a thin breath, steadied himself, and pressed on - through the cloud cover, and to the sights beyond.
He emerged without disappointment. What greeted him were jutting expanses of stone, scattered in ways he had not ever witnessed. Large, towering, somehow arranged as if they had intended to be placed as they were. Also to his surprise, was the fact that he was not alone. She appeared small beside the formation, but contrast of her coat against the rock was unmistakable. She appeared to be studying the rocks herself, or at least paying them some attention, so instead of approaching he offered a timid bark to announce his presence.
^^
+2 Discovery Points
the staff team luvs u
