Mountains Aren't Fun

Balanced on a thin branch hundreds of feet in the air was not Moonriver's idea of a good time.

Their claws scrabbled desperately at the barely stable branch as they inched along, heart all the way up in their throat.

Why  had Marblestep chosen this as a good idea? Why had they even thought  joining Marblestep in their quest to make a new clan was a good idea?

"Come on, Moonriver, you can do it!" Marblestep said encouragingly, having already passed over the branch.

Moonriver's  shoulders tensed, and they made the terrible mistake of looking down,  down, down. They couldn't even see the bottom from here.

"It's so  far down!" they said, screwing up their eyes in terror. Their legs  wobbled, barely daring to make a move in case the branch slipped and  fell.  

"You'll be fine! I did it after all!"

"Not! Helping!"

Okay. Time to do it. Time to take a big step.

Aaand... nope. Not doing it.

"On three, Moonriver!" Marblestep said, impatience in her voice.

"O-okay!"

"One, two, three!"

And with that, Moonriver swallowed back fear and took a big step forwards.

Immediately,  the branch began to wobble violently. The end began to slip off the  gorge. A scream escaped Moonriver's throat. They were going to fall!

"Moonriver, jump for it!" Marblestep yelled, panicked beyond all measure.

As  the branch wobbled and fell, Moonriver shoved off with their hind legs  desperately reaching for the edge, wide eyed and busy tailed.

And then they were falling, falling, falling... until they felt teeth in their scruff hauling them up to the edge of the gorge.

"It's okay, Moon, I've got you." Marblestep's voice was soft.

"P-please, never make me do that again!" Moonriver said, their voice trembling.

"Don't worry, you won't have to." Marblestep gestured with their tail to the beautiful valley ahead. "We're here!"