When one was born without a voice, they fast became accustomed to the surprise that accompanied others when they realized. Badar had long since stopped being offended, but she could not help but shake her head and roll her eyes to herself when the boy’s ears flickered here and there to catch a word that most certainly had not been spoken. In any case, their bridge had a voice loud enough for both itself and Badar – it said what needed to be said. Get a move on! He seemed to understand the language of the logs, at least. Even Badar had to grip just a little harder to stay steady and confident as another surge of water raced through the tangle of wood beneath them. She could not agree more with him about getting off the damn bridge, that was for sure.

It was steady work to navigate the bridge, and she was sure it took far longer than it truly did. Her eyes had been focused on their path and the boy the entire time, unwilling to venture back towards her father or sister, or even to Diveen over her shoulder. She wondered if anybody from the ravine had come to see, or if somebody had come to find the boy himself. She’d have to wait though – when he leapt to the ground, his weight pushed back against one of the logs and caused it to shift ever so slightly. Of course, even the smallest, weakest link had an impact in a structure so complex, and Badar immediately felt the bridge jostle and shift beneath her. Only a few feet from the edge and she suddenly sunk down onto her belly, her mouth a wide ‘O’ of surprise as her eyes widened. She bit down hard suddenly, her lips taut as her heart pounded wildly against her chest...

But the logs did not move, at least not any differently. They settled, whined, and left her stranded atop them looking perhaps even worse than Cassiel had at first. The realization that she had been holding her breath and that her instincts had gotten the best of was frustrating! She snorted and rose suddenly, throwing herself forward at a run before she jumped from the ledge and landed with a hard thump, sand kicked up around her as her paws hit the ground. She tried to stand proud, her tail curled as she flicked her head and huffed again, as if to say easy! Maybe if she impressed them with her finale, they’d had forgotten her...faux pas. A quick glance around made her think that perhaps that wouldn’t be the case, after all.

In any case, it felt good to be back on solid ground. Even though she stood firmly, it felt as if she were still on the logs. She peered over to the boy with a sheepish grin, steadying her legs though they did not need to be steadied – she wondered if he felt it too, as if their legs were made of jelly rather than flesh and bone.

Not too bad for a ravine wolf! She raised a brow, her grin full of mischief and then, she shrugged. It was okay, her body said, while her face wore her typical, challenging grin. She wasn’t so concerned with those kinds of thoughts, anyway. Ravine wolves were just like seashore wolves or mountain wolves, but she did have to admit he had done far better than she had expected. And so, she gave him a wink and a wave of his tail. But he had reminded her that he wasn’t their kin and so, she approached suddenly and sniffed over him, checking once – twice – for any injury before she sighed (one of the few sounds she could make, in truth) in relief and permitted herself to fall back onto her haunches and relax. Ah! If he had been injured, they’d have a handful to deal with.

But, that did make her think, and she beat her own father to the question. She looked at Cassiel hard, with probing eyes and a slight frown, and then motioned to the bridge with a sharp jerk of her muzzle. Her brows furrowed, her head tilted, and she waited expectantly for an answer to her unworded question. Why? Why had he wanted to climb across?