The crisp air breezing from the cavern had drawn the yearling in, coaxing him toward the cool reprieve it offered from the intense summer heat scorching his island home. The relief was near-instant, soothing his overheated body the moment he took to its shade, and invigorated by it he followed its winding path deeper. He hadn’t the slightest idea where it led—he’d never been too keen to dive into dark places—but curiosity had him by his toe, beckoning Jet onward…

He regretted following it.

He stood, frozen (ha), in the center of the opening where the cave ended, depositing him into a world…entirely unlike the desert he was familiar with. Lavender eyes stared widely ahead at the snow-dappled landscape, snow still being an entirely foreign concept to the boy, while the chilled air drew out a soft shiver from his dark, lanky frame. “What…?” Jet couldn’t even finish the question. He wasn’t sure what he was asking.

He had no idea where he’d ended up.

@Fearne

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Fearne's fur buffered him from the cold save when a good breeze drove in the chill like a knife between the hairs. It was familiar, this feeling. If not the cold on his home soil then memories of traveling up here in the morning to share a sunrise with Mummy, or to see on his own this magical sight again and again. There were things up here worth fighting the cold to witness...

Among those sights usually though Fearne did not find another. The tundra would not offer much cover as Fearne approached @Jet, curious what lion had found his way through the caves today. "Hello." He approaches, traversing harsh rocky dirty and through the most hardy of tundra plants, to come a bit closer. "I'm Fearne, you look a little lost."

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He couldn’t have been standing there long, but it certainly felt long enough with the way the cold seemed to grasp at his toes. Jet wriggled his paws indecisively, hesitant to go forward into the snow, hesitant to retrace his steps back to the heat. He hadn’t yet made up his mind when he spotted the figure of a lion walking his way.

Round ears raising attentively, he felt honestly surprised to find another lion here, particularly one who seemed so at ease in this terrain. No shivers, no hopping steps. Jet stared in a puzzled sort of wonder.

Thankfully the lion was friendly. The cheerful greeting Fearne offered was answered with a sheepish smile, unsurprised to find he’d perfectly expressed his indecision so plainly on his face. “I think I might be,” Jet chuckled, sweeping his eyes over the snow-dusted tundra once more. “I only meant to get out of the heat…but this feels like an entirely new world.”

Which made it a mercy he’d been found by someone so accustomed to it. At least if he stuck close to this @Fearne he wasn’t likely to lose himself and freeze to death. “I’m glad I ran into you before wandering off into this place on my own. I’m Jet. It’s nice to meet you. Much warmer greeting than the land, for sure.”

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He wanted to get out of the heat? Fearne warmly laughed and threw his head back a little bit with the good chuckle that the statement gave him. "Well you are definitely out of the heat." It's a bit of an extreme shift from the warm summer into the freeze but the reprieve from all of summer's worst parts was definitely a perk of this place. But surely shade would work as well? Why has fate tugged him along through he passage in the mountains to bring him out here?

"I'm Fearne." The scruffy brown furred lion introduced himself with a tip of his head. "She'll grow on you. Promise." He says of the land. "Give me a chance to show you?" Up for an adventure?

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A laugh! Oh, a right and proper laugh. The grin on Jet’s pale face widened, shrinking his lavender eyes into happy crescents as his tail gave an excitable wave. The boy didn’t need an audience to entertain himself with their reactions, but the thought egged him on regardless. Jet had spent too much time around adults—not all of which took themselves so seriously to ignore the silly child—but he also hadn’t spent enough time around his siblings. It was nice to be around someone close to his own age.

He returned the polite head tip, hunching his shoulders in the same gesture in an attempt to hide a shiver, and was honestly grateful when the young lion offered something that sounded very much like a guided tour. While he had a strong feeling this place was going to be too cold for his desert heart, Jet wasn’t eager to return to the heat. He could stand the chill for a little while longer.

…right?

Nodding again, the charteux boy swept his (mostly) maned head upward, gesturing at the expanse of snow-dusted rises around them, cheerily stating, “By all means, do your worst.” He didn’t entirely believe @Fearne’s ability to change his mind on the snow—how could he, when Jet had been made for the sand—but he was pleasantly willing to let him try.

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A challenge of sorts then. Fearne will "do his worst" and try to win over the tundra in Jet's mind. Or at the very least redeem the cold landscape enough that maybe he'll come back and give it a second chance. Fearne grinned, an air of mischievousness in his features while a plan formed quickly. It was too far from sunrise to show him the way the light danced through the glaciers but maybe there was somewhere else nearby that something similar in glory could happen? "C'mon." He says with a growing grin and then racing off further into the tundra at a quick jog. It'll keep them warm. But not too fast because Fearne needed time to concoct the rest of his plan.

Hopefully something will jump out at him as they move along. "Let me know if you get too cold and want to turn back " He glanced over with a wink- the offer both serious (he didn't want Jet to be uncomfortable) but also a small challenge for the other young lion to try and mentally beat the cold.

@Jet

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The smile on the other boy’s face was almost enough to help Jet forget the temperature, and was absolutely enough to get him to follow deeper into the cold. Not the smartest thing you’ve done, he chided himself, even as he smiled and leaped forward in quick pursuit of @Fearne. The air felt as if it burned his lungs, completely different than the arid desert did, but it wasn’t so bad. Yet.

His lavender gaze traveled as he followed the earthy toned figure deeper into the frozen territory, picking out hardy pieces of green vegetation that hadn’t succumbed to the cold as he would have otherwise expected. It seemed the higher up along the peaks he looked, the more snow there was too, as if it just loved to pile upon itself in an effort to touch the sky. Surely these peaks were even taller than the one in the center of the island?

An ear jumped over his dark mane upon hearing his guide speak, leaving an offer open to leave should the cold become too much though the tone carried what Jet took to be a challenge. He raised a pale brow with a smirk. “Think I’ll get cold feet so soon?” he shot back—and tried not to think about how chilly the stones and little pockets of snow beneath his toes actually were. Maybe literally he could have cold feet, but metaphorically? Nah.

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Think I’ll get cold feet so soon? Fearne chuckles at the clever use of words there. It's good @Jet has some humor. That means he's probably mostly enjoying himself. Right? "I guess I'll find out soon if you'll get them." From the sounds of things Jet is determined to stick it out and see Fearne through in this adventure. Which the young Valour appreciates- but in the end he really doesn't know the yearling or his conviction to follow through.

Fearne gradually leads them to an area of the tundra that is fairly rocky, more void of snow than others, and had plenty of jagged and broken pieces of rocks strewn about. For as far as the eye could see there's nothing but more of the same. Grey, white, the occasional speck of brown or green. "Find some rocks you like." He says aloud and begins to wander slowly in a twisty path to find rocks of his own.

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Gods, it was lovely to have time with someone his own age. The playful quips and banter made the young lion miss his sisters dearly, the close bond they used to have as children sharing the same den. You will see them soon, he reminded himself, hoping they could be found. Garnet and Lazaris couldn’t have gone too much farther afield than he had, right?

The thought lingered with him, a somber distraction, as they came upon the rocky field. As @Fearne offered a new set of instructions, Jet blinked and panned his gaze around them with a confused expression. Rocks? Surely there was a point to this? But what in the world could it be?

Some rocks I like… Well, that one looked kind of pointy. He picked it up in his jaws and kept walking. Oh, and that one, that one had a pretty gray color to it. Jet set down the rock he carried on top of the second, scooting their neighbors aside with his pale toes. And there, a little further out, that one had a lovely shine to it.

Fetching the third, he peeked back at Fearne, trying to gauge what his rock collection looked like in comparison. “What are these for, anyway?” he asked, hoping the nonchalance of his tone would mask his deep underlying curiosity. How many did he need? Should he be looking for a particular kind? Color? Size? Shape? But he couldn’t bring himself to ask for specifics, lest he appear to be overthinking…whatever this was.

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Rocks couldn't have been the strongest start to this all. But Fearne was glad to see that @Jet was humoring him and seeing it through. Rocks weren't everyone's favorite thing and even for those who did enjoy their beauty they could be found in far more pleasurable places than the tundra and the cold. Fearne flashes a grin over his shoulder at Jet and scoots together into one not so neat pile a few rocks he's picked out.

"They're for stacking." He begins to use the ones he's gathered up to try and form a large, solid and flat sort of base. Something they could build up on and give the tower height. "It's called a cairn- you can use them to help navigate." His mis matched eyes wander around the harsh and formidable landscape around them. Across the horizon there were few identifying markers one could use to help get around especially compared to a wooded or even mountainous area. The freeze was flat, stretching on and on in all directions.

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