She nodded and smiled, looking up and pointing with her nose towards a ledge above the trees but not terribly high up on that cliff. "See that? A long time ago, before humans ever started visiting this place, that was an old tradition of my kind. A sort of 'initiation'. Any pup that wanted to earn their place in the pack would have to first climb up to that ledge at sunset and then spend the night up there, high above the trees and completely alone until the first sign of morning when they would climb down. Granted it was slightly easier when there were more hand and footholds, but most of them have broken off or been worn down as years go by." Selina glanced over at him and looked for his reaction to her sharing a piece of her kind's past, "I thought you might be interested in hearing that, even though it's not a tradition we continue anymore due to many reasons."
”Really?” Frankie said impressed, raising a brow scanning the cliff intently. Looking for still stable grips, the ledge wasn't that high… ”I think I can see why you stopped doing that but did you have to sleep up there when you joined?” he asked looking back at her.
"No," She said, looking over at him and shaking her head before smiling, "I did watch some older pups do it though." Selina looked up at the ledge and then at him, her tail wagging, "So, do you want to stay here longer or go to where I want to take you?"
He nodded. ”That is pretty interesting. Thank you for sharing this with me.” he smiled. ”We can keep going. I can't wait to see the hidden secrets of this place.”
(sry its short and it took so long for me to respond, i'm exhausted since I spent the past few days with my best friend (she moved away and I haven't seen her in forever))
"You're welcome, I love sharing stories from the past," She replied, nodding and going silent for a moment, "I might shift to my human form before we continue on though, if you have any extra clothes I could borrow? If not it's alright." Selina looked over at him and then around, figuring out the prettiest and most scenic way to where she wanted to bring him next, even if it wasn't the fastest way.
(It's cool. I understand.)
”I’m glad you do cause I really like hearing those stories.” he smiled at her. ”Uh, sure. I wasn't sure if you were going to change or not, but I did bring some clothes for you just in case.” Frankie nodded and started digging into his bag to get them out for her.
Selina watched him with a nod of thanks, "I'll try to think of more stories to tell you throughout the day then, interesting ones that won't bore you." She let out a small laugh and just waited patiently for the clothes.
”Ah, here.” he smiled as he handed the clothes to her. ”I don't think you could ever bore me.” Frankie told her sincerely.
"I'm not sure, I can be very boring," She replied before gingerly taking the clothes in her mouth and padding off to go change. She found a hidden spot behind a tangle of bushes and quickly started to shift and change.
”I'll have to see it to believe it.” Frankie chuckled as he turned around to take in the view as she changed as well as to give her some privacy.
It took her a few minutes but when she came out she was dressed in the clothes and smiling at him. "How do I look?" She asked somewhat jokingly, walking up to him and once again glancing up at the cliff.
Frankie turned back to face her when she spoke again. ”You look pretty good considering my clothes are a bit big on you.” he teased with a playful smile.
She laughed and kept smiling, looking at the borrowed clothes, "They're comfy, and definitely big on me, you got that right. I like them though."
”They definitely are comfy.” he agreed, glad that she liked them. ”I kinda wish I had a pair of shoes you could borrow too, but I’m wearing my only pair of hiking boots.” he smiled a little awkwardly as an apology.
"It's alright, I'm used to walking barefoot," She replied, waving a hand dismissively and offering him another smile, "I just have to be a little more careful as to where I step. Now let's get going, to the next spot."
Frankie's smile turned a little more relaxed at her causal dismissal. ”Lead the way.” he said ready to follow her… and help her out if she needed any.
Now in human form, it was much easier to keep pace with Frankie as she made her way back down the hill and towards the main place she wanted to bring him. It took her more effort to walk down though as she glanced down constantly and had to be careful so she wouldn't step on a sharp rock or pointy stick.
Frankie walked alongside her, actually just a step behind her so she could lead. He could find his way back to his camp but once they reached the bottom of this hike he didn't know where she wanted to take him. He honestly didn't mind not knowing but he didn't want to get lost either. This was her home, she no doubt knew it better than he could hope to.
"What's your favorite place so far that you've seen in this park?" She asked, leading him through the woods like she'd been here hundreds of times; which she had. They continued down the sloping hill at a casual pace, though they were going away from where she had first brought him from.
”So far?” he hummed in brief thought. ”Well, so far, I love the whole park even if I won't get to see all of it. But my favorite place…” he paused. I can't exactly just say ”with you”… That might sound kinda creepy… Especially so soon… ”Honestly, it changes with every new place you show me.” he decided to say.
Selina nodded, smiling in agreement, "There are so many cool places in the park that it's hard to pick a favorite. I think you might like this next place though, it seems like a place that you would love."
”Oh, it is. Definitely.” Frankie smiled sincerely at her. It was so easy for them to understand each other. The closest thing he had come to this was with his family but it was still different from this. This… was really nice. ”I'm sure I will.”
Her smile grew in response and she continued leading them along, knowing that with her now in human form and taking the long path that it would take a while to reach where she wanted to bring them.
Frankie continued to follow her, very excited to be with his new friend, if it wasn't too soon to call her that, again. As they walked, he kept looking around at the beautiful scenery and trying to remember his way back… He was fairly sure that they would walk back to his camp together but it was better to be prepared.
"So, what's your favorite color frankie?" Selina asked her new friend, curious about what his favorite color was and what his favorite of a hundred different things was. She would ask them little by little though, not too many at once.
”Hm? Oh… My favorite?” he said as he realized that she had asked him something. ”Huh, it's actually a tie between earthy brown and that mix of blues in the sky at midnight that you can only see out here.” Frankie admitted with a faint blush. He wasn't embarrassed by that fact, it was how he sounded like he was trying to be poetic or something as he described the colors. ”What about you? What’s your favorite?”
"The colors of the sunsets and sunrises," She answered almost immediately with a smile, "The deep reds and pinks, beautiful oranges and the change to violets and purples." The sunrise and sunset were her favorite time of the day for that exact reason, they were the most beautiful to her and always cast a darker shadow to the ground so it wasn't as bright out.
Frankie nodded with a smile. ”Yeah, those are beautiful. Especially the transition from light to dark… Or vice-versa.” he chuckled. ”Maybe if you ever find yourself in a town or a city… Maybe you should stop by an art gallery. The few I've been to have had a lot of paintings of sunsets.” he offered.
Selina smiled as well and nodded, "I'll have to do that sometime if I go back to visit a city." She hadn't visited a city in a long time but maybe she could give it another try, maybe the noise and smells of the city wouldn't bother her as much.
”I could show you around if you like.” Frankie offered. He knew that it had probably been a long time since she had been in a town or city. It would probably be a little intimidating… or overwhelming. ”No pressure to go if you don't want to. As nice as the paintings are, there’s no real substitute for the real thing.” he smiled.
