Mountain Exploration (Open/tagged)

[bluekachoo]

Orion:

The sun was just cresting the horizon, the sky a beautiful mixture of purples, pinks, and orange, when Orion had woken up. He usually slept later but he’d had a bad dream and couldn’t fall back asleep. He stretched languidly, then padded out of the cave where he and his friend, Gale, had been sleeping.

He and Gale had set out on an adventure to see the mountains this summer, and pair had traveled long enough that the seasons had shifted from warm summer to chilly early autumn. So far their journey had been the best time of Orion’s life. Before he met Gale he had been on his own for nearly half a year and had been very lonely. He was glad now to have a companion, someone to hunt with, to laugh with, and to snuggle close to when the nights got cold.

The young wolf wandered a few paces from the cave and jumped up on an outcropping of rock. From this height he could see the trees in the valley below turning magnificent shades of red, orange, and yellow. Orion lifted his head to catch a crisp breeze as it ruffled his tawny fur. He closed his eyes and breathed in the scent of the mountains. Damp rocks, cool water, a few trees and... a marmot. I guess there is an upside to getting up at the crack of dawn thought Orion.

Cautiously, he leapt off his rocky perch. He and Gale were far from starving, but it had been a while since their last hunt, and their two growing wolves needed all the food they could get.

Orion prowled around the rocks slowly, his light belly fur brushing along the ground. Following his nose he rounded the bend, and there it was its back turned to him as it scrounged for its breakfast. Orion crept as close to the marmot as he dared, then sprung into action. It tried to flee, but it was too late. Orion closed his jaws around his throat, feeling a spurt of blood as he punctured its jugular.

With a rush of triumph, Orion lifted the brown furry creature still in his jaws and trotted back to the cave.

((Blood sorry it’s so long lol))

[Blood]

GALE;

Something slowly lifted Gale out of his unconscious sleep. It was a gentle stir, a barely noticeable shift of presence. His silver eyes flickered open and his still misty gaze saw the shrinking figure of Orion walking towards the mouth of the cave. The two of them had been touching at the hip when they went to sleep the night before. This wasn't an uncommon happening especially with the season of autumn drawing much nearer. The nights were expected to get much colder and sleeping against each other was therefore a regular action. The comfort of such an action was drawing Gale closer and closer to the other young male wolf. Orion was proving to be a very enjoyable companion, and Gale wasn't going to stop anything from making that grow.

Gale kept his head resting on his paws while he dreamily watched Orion slip out of the cave and disappear in the early morning light. He didn't want to follow after his friend and make him feel bad for waking him up so early, so Gale let his eyes close again and continued to rest. His subconscious state took his mind through swirls of interesting dreams and thoughts before his reflexes thought it was a great time to make his muscles twitch and snap him out of sleep. The sky seemed a little brighter, and Orion was still not back so Gale let out a huge yawn and poked his rump in the air for a much needed wake-up stretch. He lifted himself up and let his body appreciate a few further stretches before he shook out his fur and pranced out of the mountain cave.

The morning sunlight, the fresh crisp air, the mountain scents, Gale took it all in with closed eyes and a deep sigh of contentment. His life was beautiful, he didn't want any of it to change, at least not yet. He wanted to enjoy this part for a little bit more. The adventure, the thrill of exploration, the wonderful companionship. His eyes opened with a spark and he glanced around at the mountain landscape, looking for the familiar image of Orion. The search wasn't successful so Gale decided to take a little climb further up the mountain slope. It was rocky and littered with sharp edges, but it seemed sturdy enough, plus the climb was a good morning workout. Not that both him and Orion had extremely muscular and built legs and shoulders already, but it was a good energy outlet.

((No worries, I absolutely love long posts!))

[bluekachoo]

Orion felt a tinge of anxiety when he returned to the empty cave. He knew Gale wouldn’t leave him, but a small, irrational part of his brain always worried that something would happen and he’d be all alone again. He shook the thought from his head. His friend must have woken up after he left and gone looking for him. He wouldn’t be far.

Orion set the still-warm marmot on the cave floor and licked its blood from his jaws. He briefly considered staying put until Gale came back, but decided against it. Gale would want to know that Orion had found breakfast, and besides, the cave was boring without company. He stowed his prey in an alcove, safe from the few wolves and other predators that roamed the mountains, and left the cave once more.

Orion followed Gale’s scent, out of the cave and up the mountainside. After a several minutes of clambering over the rocky terrain he spotted him, clearly enjoying a trek up the slope. “Gale!” He called, climbing faster toward his blond-and-green friend. “Hey, Gale! I caught us some breakfast!”