Wolf RPG

He'd been gone from Morningside for about four days now and unfortunately found the aching inside to be getting worse, not better. Being Isolated in his grief, being tossed out where he had nobody to mourn with, it really sharpened the hurt. He'd originally thought that if he kept moving and kept pushing onward that he would be distracted enough to not focus on his pain but it wasn't so. The only things on his mind were how alone he was and how much farther he was getting from home. He wouldn't be able to see his father's body put to rest, he wouldn't get to be near Aliac, he wouldn't get to help his pack through the tough times. Worst of all was the fact that it was his own fault and he knew it. He'd pounced on Dawn for something as small as a dirty look and then he'd taken it farther by hurting her.

As he just got done musing over this fact he came upon the lake which he walked right over to and sat down by, staring into the water. He sighed at his own reflection, hating how he looked like his father yet he was so much different inside. He was nothing like his dad and no matter how hard he would try to be he probably never would be. Lowering his muzzle he began to drink deeply, filling his stomach up with the liquid.

When Wraen thought that she knew most of what Sunspire had to offer, it surprised her again. While following a little group of mountain goats, she had stumbled upon a ledge, which offered a clear view over the most interesting landmark she had ever seen. Numbers and numbers of redish-yellow and purplish-brown sandstone cliffs and peaks located on a valley, no, an island that was wedged between the tall walls of the Sunspire mountains. The sight was splendid and it was only too bad that her viewpoint stood so high above the place that she could not climb down and have a better look. 

The sight of the place was not one she could easily forget, therefore, when time permitted her a trek down the path that led to the Rising Sun valley, she went, determined to find out, if there was any other way of getting to the hidden gem. Getting past the claimed lands of the pack, whose name she did not know yet, was a bit of a challenge, but after some struggle, tactical thinking and a lot of fast running she got to the Arrow lake. The banks of which were already occupied. Before Wraen managed to say a mental darn!, she recognized the figure and approached him with a happily wagging tail. 

Whether Sunny was on business or not, he would have to help her out. "You are not planning to turn to a fish, are you?" Wraen asked him from afar. "Because you will be more useful to me with four feet than with fins and scales."

When he had lowered his head to drink, he had not expected to be approached. What was even less expected was for the voice to be familiar to him. Even so he startled and choked on the water, coughing loudly as he lifted his head and stared at her. Once he could breathe he gave a half hearted smile "No. But I Sorta wish I could turn into a bird and fly away" he said not entirely joking. Before she could comment on his somewhat depressing tone he flashed her a forced grin "And I'm sure I'd better use to you not dead. Jeez, you scared me" he said and wagged his tail. She looked the same as when they'd last met, even if just a bit older.  He probably looked about the same too. He mused on how funny it was that they kept running into one another, wondering if it was something like fate that made it happen.  "So Wraen, How can I help you?" he asked in a friendly voice.

Wraen had not meant to startle Sunny, therefore she watched him with an apologetic look on her face, while he coughed out the water he had choked onto. Finally he seemed to be doing alright, he even managed to smile and she reflected this with a kind smile of her own. When had they last run into each other? Few weeks ago, few months? Due to extensive and frequent traveling Wraen did, she had very hard time of keeping track of the timelines, therefore the fact that she could still recall faces and names that came in combination with them was a sufficient success to her. 

"Well, I have a handful of ideas, what we could do, now that you are on my lands, but you look like a person, who needs some help yourself," she said, trying to find out, what he was doing here, so far away from, where Morningside resided now. "Anything I can do for you, before I selfishly drag you away?"

He wasn't aware that he had passed into a pack, as he took her words to mean he had done so into the pack he recalled her mentioning once or twice a long while ago. What had it been called again? Sun something...Sunspire! He gave her a startled look and an apologetic wag of his tail, ears flicking backwards. She thought he needed help but he shook his head "I'm fine" he said a bit more short in tone than he had actually meant. He sighed and frowned, looking at his paws "My father died suddenly and I lost it, fighting my sister. I was told to leave till I felt better so I'm just roaming until I can handle my grief better." he explained assuming it woukd come up eventually in the conversation anyway.

"I am so sorry for your loss," Wraen told Sunny right away. Leaving one's family behind was hard enough - she knew this from experience, but the idea that they were happily living out their lives somewhere was soothing. If any of her parents or family members perished... her grief would be immense. 

"And how have you been holding up?" she asked, deciding not to pour salt in the wounds, by finding out, why had he fought his sister. "Has roaming helped you?"

Sunny wasn't sure how to respond to her sympathy so he just nodded "Thank you" he said softly and then lifted his head. He realised he was being kind of rude and distant, he had wanted to be near a familiar face and here one was so why was he being so weird. Trying to shift his own mood he shrugged and looked at her instead of the ground "It's been hard. I'm lonely. I don't have my family and pack to mourn with. Everyone else has comfort but I'm left to grieve alone." he said and thought back on what happened. Maybe this was actually  a good thing, he needed to get a handle on his grief before returning home. "Um...Not really. It's distracting me from the pain but every time I stop it hurts again. I haven't actually allowed the grief to happen" he admitted.

Wasn't it a little confusing that, while Sunny complained about being alone during difficult time, he had been the one to turn against and leave the family? But Wraen reminded herself that she was hear to listen and support, not analyze and judge. Having never experienced any of her closest relatives dying, she could not possibly step in her friend's paws and have a feel of what it was like. 

"My mom used to say that pain needs to be felt and not kept at bay. You have to sink to the very bottom to resurface again," she said after a moment of contemplative silence. "And talking helps as well. Tell him everything that you wanted to say, remember the best and the worst, all of the ups and downs along the way. I can lend you a pair of ears, if you want to do this now?" she offered.

"But what if I sink into my grief and never resurface? Or if when I do, I come out someone I don't like" he asked, ears flattening slightly. The next part, about talking to his dad, made him perk up. He did believe that wherever his dad was, he could hear him and see him. Hadn't he went to Keoni's grave and said how sorry he was and how he would miss her?

When Wraen offered to listen he gave a single shake of his head but wagged "No...I think that'll be just for my dad wherever he is. Thank you though. So Wraen...what is it you want me to do?" he asked, feeling ready to move on from the subject with the positive and comforting thought that he would talk to his father's spirit.

"I don't believe that you can become worse by letting go of the pain," Wraen objected, but did not push the matter further. Sunny was a grown up person, not only he knew himself better, but he and he alone was entitled to make decisions. 

"I was in the process of looking for a new passage to a place I saw from the mountains," she began, "but now that I am down here I do not particularly fancy going up again. Let's simply have a good time together." As much as it would be possible.

"We could go to the meadow there," she offered, beckoning towards the Wapun meadow, which was now in full bloom of various flowers. "Could have lunch and have some rest afterwards."

He listened to her explanation expecting her to ask him to help her find a better passage. When she instead suggested they have a good time together he nodded, brightening at the thought of another happy and relaxed few hours spent with Wraen. He looked off to the meadow and began to wag his tail slowly "Perhaps some rabbit hunting?" he asked in a hopeful voice.

"Well, if there are any left - then sure," Wraen nodded in agreement. "There are forests full of foxes on either side of the meadow, two wolf packs as well - I would not be surprised if the population numbers had dwindled, since I last went there," she explained, leaving out the fact that she too had contributed to this. 

"By the way - have you heard the tale of how the first rabbit came to be?" she asked, as they made their trek towards the "restaurant".

Sunny flicked an ear as they both began to walk toward their destination, following Wraen's lead. He wondered if Fox could be eaten, he'd never really seen one that he could remember though he knew what they were of course. Maybe he'd suggest it if they ran out of luck. 

The question about the rabbit gained his curiousity, it was the type of question asked as a prelude to a story and despite being a grown man, he absolutely adored stories. "Gotta say I haven't heard that one. Can I hear it?" he asked with a boyish grin, tone a sort of sheepish hopefulness.

"Well, then I will fill that gap in your knowledge. I wonder, how have you managed to live this long and not know this," Wraen teased him a little bit, but it was evident that she was almost too glad to have caught his attention and interest. 

"There is this old tale, where the great god of all things - don't ask me, who he is, all I know that this is something some wolves believe in - created the world first. A beautiful thing it was, but empty still. Therefore he found clay and with the help of bit of magic he created the grass-grazers - deer, goats, moose, elk and such. Lively and amusing as they were they soon began to destroy the beautiful world the god had built.

Therefore he picked up some more clay, sand and rocks and created hunters of various shapes and sizes, including us, bears and cats. They went into the world and, while the grass and the trees of the forest began to recover, the number of grazers dwindled to very few. This was also not quite right, so the god thought and noticed that there were several small pieces and scraps of earth left from creating the previous masterpieces. 

He picked them up and with words - "Go, live and keep the balance!" - he threw the bits of clay, rock, sand and whatever other material there had been in the world. And thus the small prey - including rabbits, rodents, reptiles and amphibians, and also bugs, though they don't end up on my menu, came in the world. That way the hunters did not have to live on big game only, but could choose. And keep things working like they are now ever since," she finished - the actual story had got longer than she had thought it would before.

By now they had arrived at the hunting place and spent the next few hours in delightful activity of mousing.