Solar

She'd wandered over much of the Mountains now. There still wasn't anything familiar. It was unfortunate. But Cadenza went with the flow as she usually did. She still traveled alone. It didn't seem like the end of the world. At some point she'd choose to settle down, but this wasn't quite yet. No, this was still time to be a solitary inkblot.

It was late morning. Cadenza had found some breakfast earlier and had just finished devouring it, a few tufts of rabbit fur had blown away down the hillside in the breeze. Little fluffy tumbleweeds. Cadenza herself, though, had moved slightly farther uphill, from the nice shaded spot where she'd eaten to a rocky outcropping. She sniffed around a moment, then lay down on the stone, stretching wildly out in the warmth of the sun. Perhaps a quick nap before she continued on her way? She rolled back and forth, looking for the best view to enjoy as her pre-nap vision.
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Ace was exploring the mountains some more, trying to get familiar with the place, wondering where he should lay out his territory- once he got some extra guinea pigs to keep him company. During his exploration, he came across the remains of a rabbit, a small creature, just like him- but a little bigger. He sniffed and his face crunched heavily in disgust at the scent of death that surrounded it. It smelled fresh, too. That might be a problem.

The guinea pig looked around him, making sure the coast was clear, before he went on his way. A wolf that had already eaten was less of a threat, but if its prey had only been a rabbit, there was still a chance Ace had to run and hide somewhere, if he came face to face with the predator.

A little absentminded he went after the wolf’s trail. As long as he stayed behind the wolf he had the upper hand when it came to response and action. He would be quicker to avoid the danger. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer, sort of? Not really that. Ace was just trailing to make sure the wolf hadn’t turned around and wasn’t on his non-existent tail or anything like that.

A rocky outcropping came into view, and with it appeared the wolf, clearly resting, or about to rest. Hmpf, Ace stopped and stared for a moment, then went to find the nearest hiding spot. A crack between some rocks boded well for him, for now. He had a habit of observing his enemies, and he became a little less frightened around those that had already eaten. They seemed less likely to try and eat him, he had learned. Not all wolves apparently were as bad. But Ace of course made sure to be careful.

---

‘’Guinea pig speech’’
‘’Wolf speech’’

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It was nice. The radiant heat off the rocks wasn't too harsh at this point. It wouldn't burn her paws or something, but right now it was just a low warmth that made her a bit sleepy. Her fur was going to draw a lot more warmth than the rocks ever would -- it'd just take a bit more time. And by the time she'd feel uncomfortable from the heat, she'd head away for the shade, but not yet. Not yet. First, enjoy the warmth.

Cadenza had stopped flopping around, having chosen her view across the mountains. She hadn't spotted the other creature nearby -- maybe that was a good thing, maybe she wanted an additional snack -- she just lay there, sprawled out across the stone, stretched out like she was in her longest stride, blue eyes half-lidded. At least right now, this seemed great. A perfect little holiday.
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Sorry for the wait!

---

Huh, that wolf was just getting comfortable. After it had eaten the creature that was a little bigger than Ace, it had simply gone and laid down. Did that mean it was not going to chase him if he got out there? Ace squinted at the wolf and started to carefully sneak past her, still no high alert. He’d spotted a small berry bush somewhere behind her, and if he could make his way over there without getting spotted, he could hide under the berry bush and get a little snack before heading on his way.

And Ace – well – food was kind of important to him. Especially if it was something sweet; he was a little roundish, after all. This boy liked to eat. Eyes on the wolf for a moment, he kicked himself into high gear and did the zoomies for the berry bush.

For the love of god don’t wake up- He wanted snacks, he didn’t want to be anyone else’s snack.

---

‘’Guinea pig speech’’
‘’Wolf speech’’

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It's no prob! Cadenza's not my fastest replyin' char. As you can see, haha.

---

A quiet sigh. Yeah, it was nice. She'd probably have like.. What? Two hours until she was gonna cook out here? Something like that. That would be plenty. Her eyes closed a second.

But the skittering that she heard did catch her attention and brought an end to that: first an ear titled, then her head turned almost upside down to look behind her, still lazily. She was mostly looking because she wasn't too keen on getting bitten by something if there was some angry rat or something lurking about. Cadenza might be feeling lazy but sometimes rodents got a bit nippy because... Oh heck if she knew. If it was some little ground bird scampering around she would feel like it was far less likely to be up to trouble.

Movement or something that didn't match the stone and brush, either one would catch her gaze. Look, she just wanted a nap...
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He reached the bush and looked to the side to see if the wolf had noticed. And then two blue eyes were staring right at him. Shocked, startled, the round guinea pig froze in place, body refusing to move. Whenever he got started and the thing that startled him did not move, he froze.

He remained alert and stared back at the big predator, hoping it would not move. If the wolf would get up he would run straight up into the bush and find a hiding spot. If the wolf decided he wasn’t worth it – well – then at least he would be able to calm his racing heart and take it a little easier.

Ace wasn’t staring into the face of death, was he?

He swallowed down a lump, and then mumbled softly. ‘’Just berries.’’ Yeah. He just wanted the berries from the berry bush. Sleep wolf, sleep.

---

‘’Guinea pig speech’’
‘’Wolf speech’’

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She saw the stripe first, blearily. That was such an odd band -- it couldn't be snow even if it was the right color. Nothing was that perfect in life. She blinked, turning a bit more to get a better look and clear the sleep from her eyes. Eventually the creature seemed to form out of the ether like a Magic Eye image -- the smaller blotches that had seemed like granite and snow (or bird poop) were doing a good job hiding an eyeball and nose...  Wait. Yeah, that was a critter. What kind, she wasn't sure. Some kind of oversized bean-rodent hybrid maybe. Kind of was missing a tail and pointy face most had, and wasn't as pissy-looking as a gopher. And even more weird -- “Talking dinner?” Which was a little bit funny, honestly.

But at least so far, she hadn't acted on making him dinner. She was more perplexed-amused at the whole thing. Like what the heck. Maybe she had fallen asleep and this was some kind of wacky dream. Maybe he'd sprout wings and start shrieking like an angry bat and then explode in a ball of fire. She'd have to be really deep asleep though, she was pretty sure she was actually awake. But apparently that was enough -- a sudden skittering and the creature had ducked off into the brush and likely into a tunnel beyond.
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