Huckleberry had been padding along the slopes surrounding the volcano, flipping over sticks and stones, searching for precious gems. He'd heard that sometimes the volcano spat out such things and they could be found in this area. Curious about all things, Huckleberry didn't stop to question if such a rumor was true and instead had made his way out toward the volcanic lands in a hurry. His golden fur was dulled gray and sooty black, filled with dirt and ash. Everywhere he stepped there was burnt embers and little clouds of ash drifted into the air with each foot-fall. Even the air itself was dirty! Ash fell slowly from the sky above, which was a murky gray color and filled with clouds. It was definitely a dreadful place, but Huckleberry didn't much care. There wasn't too much to look at here, aside from glowing lava that flowed down slowly from the peak of the volcano. And all the ash around made the air quiet. Dreadfully boring. he decided. But still, he trotted along hopefully searching for his trinkets and stones. A noise rose up through the murky air, drawing Huckleberry's attention away from his travels. A voice. It was a a voice! A howl, in fact. His head popped up and nose tilted upward to see a figure up on a ridge a little higher than he was. A great dark-colored beast of a canine, with two long black horns spouting from his head. What was he doing here? Who was it? Huckleberry definitely had to go check this out. Maybe they'd know where these crystals were that Huck was looking for! Scrambling along, Huck began making his way higher. He couldn't walk on lava the way the other wolf had done, and instead made his way up the rocky slope. As he haphazardly climbed, his paws sent rocks and dirt tumbling down the hillside below him. He made no attempt to be quiet and the sounds of falling stone surely must have been audible to the other canid. "Hey up there!" Huckleberry called out a greeting joyfully, hoping to get the others attention before losing sight of him. "Wait up! I'm coming." He said it as though the two already knew each other and obviously the male must wait for him to catch up. The terrain certainly was steep around here! He finally found a path of somewhat flat ground and his paws hit the earth hard, sending him into a full-on gallop toward the other. His tongue hung out of his mouth as he came sliding up, skidding to a stop when he'd closed the distance between them. He was panting hard. That little climb had been tougher than it looked. "Phew." He panted, his voice huffing and puffing. "A nice voice you got there. Whatcha doin out here?" |
The Dark Prince