ANDIE!
age. 3 yrs . role. the tenacious . where. canyon . tags. the six ; nef . words. 1072
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- lol
the words of the others followed andie into the darkness, simultaneously renewing the danger of the situation but also lifting her up.
indent spunky riko's light, melodious voice floated down to her floppy golden-red ears──"be safe, andie!"──and she almost faltered when gunnery's gravelly bark bounced off the colorful layers of rock around her──"andie! if you get hurt, you better hope i don't get ahold of you!" the retriever's heart swelled a tenfold at these phrases, happy that the grumpy old sire seemed to harbor feelings towards her other than annoyance and sourness after all. their chatter continued on aboveground as they awaited her return, eventually fading to nothing, at least to the tenacious' ears, for she was deeply focused on finding safe footholds down to the canyon floor. she'd be lying if she said she hadn't expected it, but less than a few moments into her cautious journey down the tumbling red rocks and dusty pathways, grainy pebbles skittered from above to dust her coat and plummet to the depths below. the shower of dirt was quickly trailed by: "i'm going to help andie. i don't like waiting idly." of all dogs, of course nef had ignored her, the stupidly brave goof. andie shook her sleek head in a mix of fondness and annoyance as she looked back over her shoulder to see nefertiti hopping down the rocks after her, small brown body poofy as ever and a daring expression on his little maw.
indent andie loved the fiery pomeranian, so she didn't mind his company in the least. if anything, she'd counted on him debasing her words and following her like the rebel he was. nef had been the first of the six to show up in the laboratory after her, so she'd spent the longest time with him, and felt most comfortable in his presence versus that of atlas or riko or keno. not to say she disliked any of those dogs, just that the rough-and-tumble male trotting along at her side now had a ring of familiarity about him that no one could exactly replace, him being the first canine friend she ever truly made. the toller woofed as she bunched her muscles before making a leap for a rock a little ways beneath her, "glad to have you along! it'll be good to have our fiercest warrior at my side if we encounter anything down here." she landed and grinned at him briefly. then, with hazel eyes narrow in concentration, she returned to her careful navigating down the steep canyon-side. the golden-red female did not look back to view nef's chest puffing at the words; she was sure that it did regardless.
indent they continued on in companionable silence, nails clicking on dusty rocks, sharing a few chuckles and scares here and there. eventually, they were deep enough into the wound in the earth that they were completely cloaked in shadow. the remaining four above were just ants milling about, and the sun was rising faster and faster; they needed to hurry and get the others down here so they could evade the sun's rays, which were surely getting to hairy atlas and keno by now. already, the canyon's temperature was worlds different than the one they'd faced in their brief time on the sun-scorched terrain overhead, further hastening andie's desire to hurry. still, though she was anxious to check the place out, she did not rush herself, continuing with the slow pace she had set out of fear that she would slip into the gathering shadows otherwise. their main problem slowly shifted, however, and the lower andie and nef went, the more she could see the first of their dangers: the gravelly pathways and rocks were thinning out to form rusty red, orange, and cream shelves of stone, steep and crumbly.
indent closer to the bottom of the canyon as they were, it wouldn't be easy to get to the canyon floor or leave it. stunted, thorny trees and bushes clung to life on the shelves, and they were pretty much the only purchase their paws could find as the retriever and pomeranian half-slithered, half-scrabbled their way down to a shelf big enough for both of them to stand on.
indent there wasn't much further to go, so the pair caught their breath, noses dry and tongues lolling. so close, andie thought as she leaned over the shelf, taking a peek at what yawned below. a few more dog-lengths beneath them, the shelves molded back into dusty, gravelly ground punched through by tussocks of──surprisingly green──vegetation. a stream trickled along the middle of the canyon floor, stretching for countless paces in both directions; above the noise of the whistling wind, andie perhaps heard a waterfall, supplying it somewhere in the distance. water. thank goodness. we have to find the source. plant life, prey, and more shelter will be there, the toller thought. "come on, nef, not much further now," andie said encouragingly, scooting back from the edge of the shelf and twisting about, eventually locating a shelf next to them that could take them down even lower. a few more shelves and one sturdy branch to lead them safely to the canyon floor, and they'd made it. it was dark, but as the sun rose──slanting into the canyon in some areas──and andie's eyes adjusted, she was able to glean more of her surroundings. after glancing around and once more catching her breath, the golden-red dog stepped up to the bubbling stream, sniffed it, and then stepped inside to cool off her aching, calloused feet and quench her thirst.
indent she barked, lifting her snout from the chilly water after drinking so much she thought she would burst, "let's drink as much as we can. hydration is important out here, after all. then we should sniff around a bit, see if there are any dangers lurking about. we'll split up, meet back here, and then we'll bark to the others together. they should hear the echoes. sound good?" things came to her mind, creatures she'd seen in simulations: coyotes, poisonous lizards and snakes, birds of prey . . . it was possible this hidden oasis was too good to be true, so it was the duty of andie and nef to scour the land and make sure it was suitable for resting. andie tilted her floppy ears to the pomeranian at her side, wanting to hear what he thought.