[PRP] The Road Less Traveled (Renzi x Damu)

[Hopefolly]

She confessed: Damu was nice to have around.

Renzi hadn't expected her to be bad company, per se, but she had given herself an estimated five days before it got tiresome. That anxious feeling never set it -- and you wouldn't hear her complaining. She hadn't noticed she was lonely until she no longer was.

Along with the social benefits, Damu had skills that were a great asset to Renzi's curiosity. She planned to make use of them that morning and led them both to the side of a rocky hill -- or was it a mountain?

"Do you think you can climb it?" she asked, looking up.  

[CaliWolfe]

Hopefolly

"Of course." Damu repiled to Renzi, tilting her head towards the sky in curiousity of how high the mountainous cliff was. Certainly it was large, but nothing Damu couldn't handle, why, she could climb it in a matter of mere mintues if she tried!

Of course, cockiness towards how well she'd fair during adventures is what often lead her into small situations of trouble. Nothing that couldn't be avoided or easily fixed, but any amount of trouble was still trouble in the end. Still something that was placed in one's way in order to prevent them from achieving their goal.

Falling off a cliff might have been one of the overused means of explaining trouble, but it got the basic point across. That getting into trouble and danger was like digging your own grave. Even with that said most reckless children and thrill seeking adults often ignored this and kept at what they were doing. Such as what Damu was about to do, climb a mountain.  

[Hopefolly]

CaliWolfe

Arrogance had no place in Renzi's world, according to her. In truth, she was fairly egotistic -- enough that she didn't recognize it for it was. Her? No, no. She was too good to be so pompous. That was just confidence you were seeing, nothing more.

When it came to Damu (or anyone else), things were different; Renzi found an answer delivered with such certainty troubled her. They needed far more information on this situation before they could be sure. She could probably climb up the cliff.

Probably.

Renzi stretched far as she could and placed one heavy paw on the stones. They gave way and tumbled down.

"We'll have to find a good jumping point for you to start out with. Do you see any?"  

[CaliWolfe]

Hopefolly

The leopard cast her gaze from side to side, examining what she could of the mountain. Doubt had already begun to flood her mind, causing an array of questions to enter her thoughts, and many Damu knew she could not answer.

However, although she had appeared to have spaced out what Renzi said did not go un-noticed. In fact she had pondered over it shortly before mauling over other questions that left her more uncertain if she was able to complete the task at hand.

Ignoring all other questions and focusing on the more important one of where she was to start climbing the mountain, Damu took a deep breath. Glanced at her surroundings again. She carefully observbed every fine detail before voicing her conclusion.

"There." She guestered with her paw a few feet above Renzi's head to a more secure looking ledge. "Since there's a tree nearby I could always jump from one of the branches to reach it."  

[Hopefolly]

CaliWolfe

Renzi's eyes followed the direction Damu was pointing and soon her paws did as well. She patiently observed the ledge from every available angle before giving her opinion.

The outlook was good. "You're right. Good work." But it would be even better if the hypothesis was confirmed for certain. "Climb up and get ready. I'll catch you if you don't make the jump."  

[CaliWolfe]

Hopefolly

Renzi needed not to speak any more, for before long Damu was up the tree and prepared to leap. This was exciting after all, even if it was a mere jump. Prehapes it was the height that added enthusiasim to the situation, or maybe it was what came after the jump, her endless climbing to the top. Whatever it was, Damu was happy. She had completely forgotten any remote sense of fear in the last few mintues and now that she was confident, this small leap would be easy to complete.

"Are you ready down there?" She called to Renzi. Even if she was confident and had left behind her slight worries from just minutes ago, it never hurt to ensure you were safe.  

[Hopefolly]

CaliWolfe

Renzi cast no blame for wanting confirmation. There was not a creature alive she trusted enough to not ask the same thing -- not her siblings or her own mother, if that said anything. "I'm ready."

The lioness stood and stared up, waiting. She wanted to be ready to hit the deck and catch her belly-up. Leopards were no light weights, and if something must break, better one of her ribs than her back. That's how she killed most of prey and they sure didn't seem to enjoy it.

"Go ahead."  

[CaliWolfe]

Hopefolly

Damu nodded (or at least attempted) while mantaining an easy grip on the branch she was standing upon. Her claws lightly tapped against the bark as she allowed anticipation and fear to temporarly consume her, only to rip free from such emotions and surge ahead at full speed.

She landed on the small piece of stable rock at ease, and then quickly examined her surroundings before turning her attention back at Renzi. Damu was fine on the ledge, although tiny it supported her weight without a single sound of it breaking. And Damu could climb up the cliff too, but how was Renzi going to get up? She was a lioness and if Damu knew anything about lions and lioness' they lacked the skills she did in the climbing department.

Renzi was bound to have a plan though. Or at least Damu comforted herself by saying so in her mind. If Renzi did have one then the leopard felt compelled to wait for an instruction of some sort. And so she did exactly that, stood there and waited for words to emerge from her companions mouth.  

[Hopefolly]

CaliWolfe

Renzi's plan was more practical than glamorous, unfortunately. If you asked her, that was the downside of being a genius: Everyone expected a new ground-breaking idea every day. Before she determined if it was worth it to waste time trying to scale this mountain, she first wanted to know what awaited her on the other side.

"Can you get all the way up?" Renzi asked patiently. And, evidently assuming Damu would, "Let me know what you see from the top."  

[CaliWolfe]

Hopefolly

Damu attempted yet another nod before she turned her back on Renzi to focus on her climbing. She outstretched her left paw and clutched one of the more stable looking rocks, after giving it a shake to ensure it was secure she pratically jumped on it and the surrounding rocks.

After that climbing was easy.

She simply focused on moving foward and making it to the top, not on the possibity of falling and breaking her back. Besides, Damu appeared to be having fun. Even if the wind picked up and was trying to pry the leopard off the mountain, she kept at her usual pace not paying heed to the threats surrounding her.

She managed to get to the top effortlessly, or at least seeming to be effortlessly. When she did manage to find her footing on soild ground again, Damu gazed breathlessly at the scenery around her. After a mintue of staring in awe, she quickly spun and began shouting down to Renzi in hopes that she could possibly hear her from afar.

"There's more mountains! It's a valley, but surrounded by more mountains!" Her voice echoed around her, bouncing off of walls, carried by the wind to the other hills in the crater of a valley directly below Damu, awaiting on the other side for her and Renzi to explore.  

[Hopefolly]

CaliWolfe

Some of what Damu called was lost in the distance between them. Renzi listened for keywords -- valley, mountain, river, fire, so on and so forth. She was certain she'd heard one ("mountains") and mostly convinced she'd heard another ("valley"). The how was just as important as the what.

How did Damu sound? Not threatened, and that was good enough for this lioness.

Now, it was a matter of how to best this hurdle with her own four paws.

Renzi could be inconsiderate at times, this being a prime example. She didn't bother to inform her companion of her intentions to find a way around the mountain. She started off at a leisurely gait in the direction opposite the one they'd come from.

Damu would wait for her on the other side, right?  

[CaliWolfe]

Hopefolly

Damu gazed breathlessly at the sight ahead of her. It was beautiful to the leopardess, something mere words could not capture the stunning imagery of. Something that only one who had the chance to admire the sight for themselves, would recognize the amazing qualities it possessed. Because she was witnessing the sight of it with her own brown eyes Damu could not feel but help lucky that she was the first to happen upon it. It certainly would still be just as admirable as it was currently if she was the second, third, even one hundredth being to see it; but the idea of discovering it prior to anyone else provided Damu with a sense of accomplishment.

While continuing to gawk at the scenery in front of her, Damu still listened closely for signs of a response from Renzi. Seconds, minutes, (what felt like extremely long minutes at that) passed on as she waited for a reply. When it became evident that no respond was coming Damu had made it her priority not to jump to drastic assumptions. For all she knew Renzi had decided to attempt in climbing the mountain after Damu and was hoisting herself up to the top that very moment.

Then again she didn't hear anyone climbing...

Of course, Renzi was a lioness and that mean't climbing wasn't something that was easily done and over with. Damu could climb forever if she had to, but Renzi- that was a different story. The idea of her companion being injured without rescue upset Damu in the sense that she would be of little help, and so she turned her body around and looked towards the earth. "Renzi?! Are you alright?!"  

[Hopefolly]

CaliWolfe

Oh, for the love of...

At first, Renzi didn't so much as hesitate. She had time to roll her eyes and think of how ridiculous it would be for her to trace her steps before turning around and doing just that. The concern -- the near panic -- from the leopardess compelled her to adhere to something she normally wouldn't.

Manners.

Manners and empathy.

Renzi was not one to deny even unsavory facts. Alas, it was a fact she'd felt a little pang in her chest hearing Damu's outcry. Guilt, they called it.

Right back where she'd started, Renzi called up, "I'm alright! I'm just going to walk around to get to the other side. I can meet you over there."  

[CaliWolfe]

Hopefolly

Damu sighed a breath of relief in hearing Renzi's voice again. She felt a little silly now pouring so much concern into the situation, for she had forgotten a fact that was important to know.

Renzi thought logically.

Damu pursued adventure and most of the time did not notice the danger of her position until someone pointed it out or until she had made an attempt to move elsewhere. Renzi on the other hand was (as far as Damu had observed) aware of her surroundings, or at the very least pretended to be. Though Renzi never really stuck Damu as being someone who lied commonly so that was an unlikely scenario.

"Alright!" She called back, even if it wasn't necessary at this point. She had delayed her response since she had been caught up in her thoughts again, so it was likely Renzi was already trying to find a way around the mountain. This didn't bother Damu much though, since the leopardess was comfortable where she was sitting, and could find her own ways to entertain herself.

Most of her life prior to meeting her lioness friend had been spend alone after all.