Up And Above

"Have you been up here before?"

"Of course not, I'm just following what the old man told us," Tiramisu grumbled, clambering over another steep incline. He turned back to help Foxglove climb after him but Thistle forged ahead as she usually did, without help. She was waiting around the slight bend in the path for the two of them, staring out across the land.

"It's so strange up here," she said quietly. The mountains had never held a great call to her, but Tiramisu had been talking to one of the old heads in the city and heard about the view one could see this far up. The older raptor hadn't exaggerated, he rarely did, but Misu was his usual suspicious self and had to see it for himself.

"It's cold too," Foxglove shivered, tucking her arms close to her chest. 

"It wouldn't have been this cold if we'd come in the summer like I wanted to," Tiramisu interjected.

"We were busy exploring the opposite extreme," Foxglove teased with a sharp grin. The joke failed to land and Misu's face clouded over at the thought of Atlantis. Panicking, Foxglove's eyes darted over to Thistle for help but her purple friend was still enchanted by the view. Curious, Foxglove shook her embarrassment and joined Thistle where she stood, following her eyeline down into the forest below. The trees that seemed unfathomably large from the ground looked like little florets of broccoli now, floating in a soup of mist that moved slowly through it like the world's laziest river. She was struck by the height suddenly, wanting nothing more than to grip the stone beneath her claws and hold on tight.

"It's like a different world," Thistle noted softly, her breath coming in puffs of fog as she spoke.

"Imagine living up here all the time, you wouldn't even know about all the stuff going on down where we live," Tiramisu added, coming to join the other two. "Do you think anyone up here knows about the labs, even?"

"They'd have to, everyone knows about the labs," Foxglove frowned.

"Maybe not, look how far away we are," Thistle observed, "Should we try climbing higher?" Tiramisu nodded and Foxglove did too, reluctantly, her feathers still puffed against the cold. As they climbed, the ground grew colder and they began to see thin coverings of frost that hid in the shadows of the rocks. Their breath now left a trail of steam consistently, following behind them and hanging in the frigid air. At the next peak, Thistle hurried to peek over and her face pinched in a frown. Foxglove followed, looking down towards the woods again but seeing nothing but heavy fog that completely blocked the view.

"Aw heck, it wasn't even worth it," she whined, making a point of fluffing herself further.

"Just think about it like winter practice," Tiramisu offered charitably.

"Winter practice, I'm moving to Pera by the sea, you two can stay here and freeze if you want," the pink raptor huffed. The three of them stared into the fog for a while, letting the cold seep into their little bones as the gentle undulations of the fog below barely moved.

"We should head back down, let's come back in the summer next time," Thistle said eventually, breaking the trance they seemed to be under. "It's probably clearer when the weather's better."

"Probably, we'll have to climb up all over again to find out," Misu reminded her.

"Then we'll climb it in better weather too, it'll save us from Foxglove's bellyaching," Thistle finally shifted her expression for the first time since locking eyes on the view. Shifting into a sly grin of course, which only made Foxglove rankle further.

"Just because I'm not a cold loving freak like you two," she pouted, turning on her heel to start descending the mountain. "Which way is it again?"

"You just walked up here!" Tiramisu said incredulously.

"I was following you!" Foxglove protested. Thistle watched them bicker as they all climbed down, much more careful on their descent to avoid the shifting stones under their feet sending them back to earth far quicker than they would want. She couldn't help but stop and stare every so often, afforded plenty of time by their slow progress.

"You really like it up here, huh?" Misu asked, interrupting her thoughts.

"Yeah, don't you?" she asked, certain Misu had seen the beauty of this elevation too.

"Kind of. It's really pretty and kinda cool to be up this high, but I dunno. Something about how quiet it is up here makes me uncomfortable. I miss hearing bugs and birds," he admitted. Thistle hadn't noticed, too distracted to miss the silence left behind by the usual late autumn bird song. Now her attention had been drawn to it, it began to unnerve her too, something about the mystical view turned cold and she began to shiver like Foxglove.

"And it's cold," she added, "It's definitely better in the lowlands." She hurried past Misu, not missing his concerned look.