the days had blurred in to weeks, the weeks in to months. months. months. asteria still could not erase the sight of her husband and son tumbling to their assumed deaths -- she had returned more than once to haunt the shores, to seek any sign of their survival. the rocky ground had given her nothing, though, and eventually she stopped going. if they had lived they would have returned to her. she shifts her focus to the girls, the twins that she tried so hard to show joy. attempting to teach them the same zest for adventure that she had had while at the same time deathly afraid any time that they left the jungle. thankfully they did not seem inclined to go far, and more often than not asteria was not far behind... this particular evening she slips away while they sleep, turning towards the river and her favorite log. it's the one that stretches over the rushing water, and it is there that she hops up, reclining right over the middle. her head lowers to her paws but her eyes are on the stars, and for the first time in those many days her heart feels lighter.

archer is not a stranger to aimless wandering in the dead of night.

his solitude is tenfold here in the jungle. the wilderness has taken on an eerie silence. the birds have hidden in their nests; prey has nestled among the roots of trees and foliage. alone with his thoughts and the sound of his own heart beating in his ears, archer feels lonely. the rogues he had spent his life with were nasty company - selfish and greedy, hungry and all consuming. but still, their presence had given him purpose.

the river's trickle grows louder as he stalks through the jungle, pupils blown wide as he traverses through the darkness. as he edges down the riverbank, the sentinel comes across a natural bridge. its a weathered log that has withstood the test of time and become one with the earth itself. its hardly enough to hold his weight, but archer tests it, a paw coming up to press and creak at the wood.

in the darkness, he hardly notices the ink furred woman and the violet eyes that are locked onto the sky. again, he rocks at the log, bulk presses forward as he wonders for a moment if perhaps he could cross here.

a swim or a potential tumble into the churning river: archer is willing to gamble.

@Asteria

art by belka-1100, code by javs

at such a late hour she would never have expected her wandering thoughts and repose to be interrupted. during the day there were others than often crossed the natural bridge, but at night most creatures in the jungle were tucked in and settled down for sleep. at least most creatures that would choose to cross the log without their sight to guide them, anyway. but asteria feels the familiar shift of wood beneath her and jolts back to full awareness, claws instinctively gripping the log. before she can inform the shadow-swallowed stranger of her presence there is another shift, more significant this time, and the reverberation is nearly enough to unseat her. her back claws slip and she scrambles to hold on, shouting out to make sure she's heard "hey!" a warning that the log was occupied, though she had every intention of getting the heck out of the way once it stopped shaking and she could move more securely back to the bank. @Archer

he holds a keen distaste for water, especially in the gloom where he cannot see. the log creaks under his weight as he settles both paws upon it. it stirs, too much for comfort, and the male's ears and eyes dart upward at a voice somewhere along the bridge's center. he can hardly spot them, scrabbling against the log after he's rudely shifted it. there's an amethyst gleam of eyes, he imagines, from a pelt that's equally dark as the night surrounding them.

the log teeters to the left beneath him and archer makes an attempt to stabilize it now that he's disrupted seasons and seasons of natural growth that once held it steady. the golden giant leans forward hoping to stabilize it so that whatever unfortunate creature could right themselves, but his dark paw crumbles through the wood with a resounding crunch!

he buckles forward in his own weight and a strangled sound of surprise leaves his muzzle. if he dislodges himself, they are sure to plummet into the snowmelt and rain churned river: a fate that he had sought to avoid himself. it had been a silly idea, he knows, and chastises himself silently.

"come," he calls out to them, ignoring the splinters that jab at his pad. hopefully, they would be able to return to the bank without the log shifting too much and tossing them both underway. archer prays that they are smaller than him, at least.

@Asteria

art by belka-1100, code by javs

for a brief second the log stills, and then it jolts again with a sickening crunch of wood. the sound sends a shock of fear through the black lioness, who had little desire to take a swim in the middle of the night in a raging river. it occurred to her that it could very easily be a stranger who wished to cause harm, the type that got their jollies from creating chaos, and -- "come" a cautious relief sinks in to her bones, for his voice goes along with a tentative stillness from the log she clings to. with little in the way of options she scrambles to stand on top of it, and though it is a wide tree it feels significantly more precarious than it had when she first stepped out. as she returns to the shore she can see why it wobbles even now, and her eyes widen at the sight of the beast with his snagged paw. @Archer is several times the size of her and while he is clearly doing his best to hold the bridge still she can see that it must not be overly comfortable. "i'm .. i'm going to jump." she informs him of her plan, for it seems the only safe way to reach the bank of the river without stepping on him. without giving him a chance to protest she gathers her hindquarters beneath her and attempts to leap nimble to solid land -- unfortunately the log jolts with her own shifting weight and she stumbles. scrambling to make sure she doesn't fall in to the inky depths she more than likely does exactly what she was trying to avoid doing and steps on him. tumbling on to the soft dirt of the shore she turns quickly to face the stranger, hoping she had not left any marks and that he was able to get himself free of the log without falling in himself.

for a while, all he can hear is the river's churning - fat and swollen with water. momentarily, archer wonders if they've sought to avoid the problem entirely with a dump into the dark, sweltering water. before long, his hears twitch as they announce that they're going to jump. his beckoning has reached the ink furred stranger, it seems, and archer grunts his acknowledgement as he braces himself.

the cat propels themself off the log with feline strength, though the precision is lacking this time around. did all cats land on their feet? well, this one, in turn, lands on him. his eyes narrow and widen as their trajectory reaches him. the gildest beast is able to dislodge one paw now that she's careening and in his haste, he narrowly avoids colliding with her. paws skitter over his shoulder and despite their size difference, he buckles. the one freed paw is his saving grace as he shifts his weight back, sending himself and the log flying in opposite directions as it catches in the current.

everything happens so quickly and archer's golden bulk is sent thrown backwards ... right in the direction of the concerned bystander.

one caution after another tossed her way - tonight was full of hazards in the shape of one golden rogue. @Asteria

art by belka-1100, code by javs

inevitably, chaos erupted. it is the churn of water and stumble of paws, the wrench of wood and explosion of splinters. most of it happens behind her (she caught in her own chaotic tumble towards the ground) and by the time she can make sense of up and down it is too late to avoid further disaster. even as she turns to set eyes upon the beast whom she had become all too personally acquainted with she realizes he is not where she had expected him to be. not at the edge of the river but looming closer (too close!) with an obvious path of collision laid out before him. it is unavoidable and so there is only a muffled "oof" as his bulk crashes in to hers, asteria neatly dwarfed by the golden colossal. bruises bloom where flesh impacts flesh and she once more finds herself on the ground, shaking her head and attempting to silence the ringing in her ears. and when it does quiet she finds a jest on her lips, despite the lingering pain. "remind me never to stargaze near the river ever again." lesson learned. @Archer