[PRP] Adventure

[Suudonym]

"Giant, look after the Rufflet, okay?" Shoyo requested of the black Hawlucha standing by - he just sort of naturally counted the smaller bird as a part of the group and assumed that it would be accompanying them. The Rufflet, fortunately, seemed to have similar ideas, either because it wanted to stay with them or because it simply highly suggestible after being so shaken up. The Hawlucha gave a stoic nod in response to the command and gestured his charge to follow as he leapt upwards and began to cruise closely above the human pair.

Shoyo didn't have much of a better idea as to where they should be going, but he knew that downwards and away was a good bet and thus traveled down the trail in a diagonal, holding firmly onto Nicolette as he picked his way across the earth. "The ground's all soft and loose, right?" he said. "You don't want to stay at the site of a landslide because you don't know when it might start moving again. Next time - if there's a next time," though hopefully there wouldn't be, "just get as far away as possible as soon as you can. If there's someone else and you don't know where they are, call 911 and they'll send professionals over."

Not that he wasn't grateful that she had stayed, but what if there had been another motion and she'd gotten hurt, or worse, just because she wanted to find him?  

[BlackFireKitsune]

It seemed down was indeed where they were going, so Nicolette followed after Shoyo carefully as she held tightly onto his hand. She nodded at his assessment of the ground - it did indeed feel that way, and she felt rather uncomfortable walking on it after what had happened - but her brows raised in surprise. "It-- it could do it again?" She asked, feeling her face pale by a shade or two. She assumed that once it had stopped, that would be it - but to think it could have happened again, while she was looking for him... The thought made her feel sick with worry. "Okay, I will," she said finally with a nod, committing the instructions to memory should she ever encounter this sort of situation again - which, hopefully, she never would.  

[Suudonym]

"It's probably safe if it hasn't done anything by now," he said, looking to her with a reassuring smile. "That might not be the case if it were still raining, but it seems pretty stable for now." He began to realize how damp and muddy his clothes were and wondered if it would just be easier to tell his mother that he had slipped in a mud puddle... "Oh yeah, I'm just heading back towards town for now, but where do wanna go? Home?"  

[BlackFireKitsune]

The knowledge that it was likely safe at this point was reassuring, but she was still quite shaken and distressed by the entire incident. "That's good," she said regardless of how she was feeling, because at least they were both safe and it wouldn't happen again - or probably wouldn't. Where did she want to go? "Oh, ah.. Yeah, I think so," she said rather uncertainly. Mostly she just wanted to go somewhere that wasn't the site of a recent and terrifying mudslide.  

[Suudonym]

He nodded his understanding, keeping his voice upbeat and cheerful, "I'll walk you back then!"

He passed a while in a silence that was penetrated mostly by their own footfalls sinking into the ground and the flutter of feathers from above before speaking once more, this time less confident and more subdued, "Sorry about this... I thought it would be fun to go out hiking, but I guess it just became a bad experience, didn't it?"  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Okay," she responded more positively, glad for his company, "thank you."

The more she walked, the better she felt, though she didn't feel completely better just yet. His sudden apology was unexpected, and she looked at him with eyebrows raised in mild surprise. "Oh, it wasn't your fault at all," she assured him with a shake of her head. He couldn't have known they'd get caught up in a mudslide the one day they decided to go to the mountains. He seemed less upbeat than normal, and despite still feeling somewhat shaken by the experience, she attempted to be more positive, "I still think hiking sounds fun, and we should do it again sometime - but, maybe not when there could be a mudslide," the girl ended on a less confident and more uncertain note. As much as she regretted the both of them getting caught up in a landslide, she didn't regret going on an excursion with her friend.  

[Suudonym]

"Really?!" he exclaimed suddenly, both relieved and excited. "We should definitely try again! Not after a big rain, but sometime! I grew up around the mountains, you know, so sometimes I'd go hiking and stuff with my family, especially once my little sister was old enough to go. It's a lot of fun when it's not... like this." He gestured around with his free hand. "I guess it's going to start getting kind of cold soon, though... Say, does it snow a lot around here?"  

[BlackFireKitsune]

His sudden excitement was unexpected, but she was glad he didn't look so sad anymore, and as usual, she began to get a little more excited from his excitement. "Yeah, we should!" Not after rain - maybe rain made mudslides worse? That would make sense. "Snow? Um... I'm not really sure - I've only been here for about a year, but I left for a couple months in winter," she explained apologetically, feeling bad that she couldn't really answer his question.  

[Suudonym]

"I see... I guess we'll both find out then!" A broad grin came upon his features, and he forged ahead more brightly than before. "If there's no snow, hiking! As long as it's not below freezing, it's cool and refreshing with the right kind of clothes! And if there is snow, sledding! Snowball fights! It'll be great either way!" Nicolette didn't seem as shaken and upset as she had earlier, and Shoyo felt satisfied with his efforts.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Okay!" She exclaimed, getting more excited the longer Shoyo was excited. Cold weather hiking sounded not as pleasant as hiking in warmer weather, but if he said it was fun, then she believed him. Snow, though.. "Sledding?" She echoed curiously. "Snowball fights? Are those things you do in the snow?"  

[Suudonym]

"You don't know?" he replied, slightly surprised. Maybe she'd grown up somewhere that didn't get snow? He would have thought it easy to learn from stories and the media, but maybe that wasn't the case. Nonplussed, he offered further explanation, "Yeah, they're like activities! Snow is all slippery and icy, right? So you get a sled and go to the top of a hill and then whoosh!" He cut his hand through the air in imitation of the racing sled. "And it packs together and forms shapes well, but it's also pretty soft and falls apart easily, so you grab a bunch of snow and roll it into a ball and throw it at your friends! Some people build snow fortresses and stuff and make it like a battlefield! And then once you're all wet and cold, you go inside and get a cozy blanket and a hot drink until you're warm enough to go out again!"  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Ah, no," she admitted, her muddy, tear-stained cheeks flushing a little with mild embarrassment. Should she know? It certainly seemed like Shoyo expected her to. His explanation made her think - it all certainly sounded like fun - and mild realization crossed her features, "I think I've seen snowball fights before, sometimes, but I've never been in one," the girl offered thoughtfully. At least, she assumed she had seen at least a couple snowball fights before - she'd seen children doing some of the things he had described almost exactly, but hadn't ever played in one herself nor knew what they were called at the time. "Those sound like fun though!"