Sig's howl was drawn out and yearning, signifying the quiet desperation the males were holding deep inside of their respective chests. Neither one wanted to reveal to the other just how eager they were to find Eivind, and Blue certainly didn't want to allow himself to fall to pieces in front of the wolf, at least not before Eivind's body was even found. He didn't want to think about what he would do if their search came to an unfortunate end, the crushing, inconsolable mess he would be if they came to discover his mate's body, lifeless and broken. He didn't want to believe life would be so cruel to put him on such a torturous path, enduring pain and the constant wish for death only to reawaken in his lover's arms and then have that same lover be maliciously torn away from him after they had gone through so much just to be together. It didn't make sense, and it wouldn't be fair, but Blue knew nothing about life was fair, and simply because he wanted Eivind,<i>deserved </i>Eivind, that didn't mean the world would be kind enough to keep his wolf safe until they found him. All the more reason for them to continue pushing forward despite the burning pain in Blue's arms and legs and harsh ringing in Blue's ears from the gunshot.<br/><br/>Blue's human companion had been replaced once more by the beige and brown wolf, and he followed the beast slowly as his large paws tread lightly along the rock. There was nothing for a short while, at least nothing Blue could hear with the constant buzzing in his head. His eyes kept drifting to the edge of pathway knowing Eivind must have slipped somewhere close. Depending on precisely where he fell, his tumble could have been long, or he could have crashed against the ridges below, but either way his mate would have sustained some kind of injury. The blood didn't lie, and Sig had confirmed it definitely belonged to his mate.<br/><br/>A slight twitch of the wolf's large ears, a bowing low of his head. Blue noticed, watching as Sig sniffed along the ground. "What is it?" Blue asked, tiptoeing behind as Sig searched around, though after a few minutes of turning up nothing of note, the wolf began to turn back. Blue sighed, his shoulders sagging his he reluctantly pulled his eyes away so they could return to their original route.<br/><br/>The sound of the rocks crumbling beneath Sig was loud enough for even Blue's aching eardrums to catch. "Sig!" he screamed, rushing to the cracking floor beneath his friend and throwing himself down on his belly, swiping dangerously through the air in a futile effort to grasp onto the wolf's fur, his fingers only finding air. He watched with wide, terrified eyes as Sig struggled to catch himself, but the wolf's claws caught the rock and slowed his descent, his legs spread and his body low as he balanced himself on the sloped surface.<br/><br/>"Sig! You okay?" Blue yelled down, not daring to take his eyes off of Sig's lupine body for one second. The wolf didn't respond at first. His ears were pointed again, and he was slowly, carefully creeping down along the rock. "Sig?" Blue asked, taking the chance to ease his long body over the edge so he could look farther down the side of the mountain. A low whine came from below him, and Sig was still moving forward, down toward something Blue couldn't see.<br/><br/>"Hold on, Sig, I'm coming." Blue took a deep sigh, staring at the steep wall he was going to have to find his way down. He slowly turned around, easing himself over the edge, blindly finding his footing. Although Blue wished he could simply slide down the mountain, he had seen how precarious the rock could be. He tested each crevice, hoping his weight wouldn't cause the cliff face to disintegrate beneath him. Luckily, he was significantly lighter than either Eivind or Sig in their wolf forms, and though Blue's fingers were aching by the time he reached more solid ground, he made it down without incident.<br/><br/>He waited for Sig to ease his own way down, harder for him without fingers to grasp onto the rock. Blue helped the wolf best he could, reaching up and leading the large body down to a thicker part of the rock where Sig could stand safely. At their feet was a deep, dark crack in the rock that opened up into nothing than blackness. Blood splattered the jagged rock. The sight of the red splotches sent Blue's heart racing even faster than the snail-like crawl down the rock had.<br/><br/>"Eivind!" Blue screamed, his cries ear-splitting and urgent. "Vin! Are you down there?" He got down on his knees, inching to where the blood was thickest. He squinted as he looked into the rock opening, thinking he could see movement down below, hoping his need to find his wolf wasn't waltzing him into hallucinations. "Vin, it's me! Are you down there? Are you okay?"