Great Bear Wilderness Autumn arrived in colorful hues

Thank you for the thread, @Sialuk vague as the one thread isn't done yet.

Rodyn walked along the spine of the ridge, long black footfalls tearing up the ground. It was wet and swampy here, he could see a large body of water from where he walked. It had been only a few days since his conversation with the moon kissed she wolf that guarded her mountain home. A moon wolf, he still marveled at the white sheen of her coat, where he had been from most of them were darker.

She had mentioned her daughter and her sister, but she hadn't shared their names. And he wondered if they were kissed in snow like she was, or if they were darker hues. It had been a nice reprieve from walking, that introspective conversation the two had. It had made Ro miss his family, just a little more. Mostly the pups that he had left. His little siblings, the sweet things that they were. Aldith had been quite cross with him for leaving her behind.

He stared sun kissed eyes at the area around, at the steepening shadows, night time was a good time for him. The shade settled around him like a cloak, heavy and warm. And he continued on his journey, hopefully that soon he'd meet another, and have just the same type of conversation.

Sialuk made her path back to Moonglow, coming from the spear where she had spent much time as of late. There, the spirits spoke to her. There, she felt at home. Moonglow became less and less a frequent haunt as she continued to explore every nook and cranny of the mountain where she had been born into this world. Soon, she knew she would relinquish her right to claim the Moonglow title.

But not just yet.

A dark figure moved ahead and caught her eye. It was not a wolf of Moonglow, she knew. Those she would know by sight and movement alone. The dark coat sent her heart thumping, fearing it would be Raimo come to claim what he thought was his. The girl stilled herself and tried to steady her breathing.

Hello? she called out.

Rodyn heard a soft hello on the wind. He turned his head and his gaze caught the pretty little femme in front of him. Though it was dusk, the sun was falling below it's earthen shadows. She was moon kissed as the femme he had seen days before. He wagged his tail invitingly, and moved closer to her though he kept his distance respectfully.

Rodyn had been unsure of the mountainous area, having grown up in the forests of his youth. However, he was fast finding out that mountains had their own beauty. It still made him feel small, and slightly safe, as it pushed in on all sides, like overbearing mothers and fathers, staring down at him as he grew. 

Hello. I'm Rodyn. You look like the moon woman I met the other day."

As he drew near, she noticed his gait, his stance, and his finer features. This was not Raimo. And he spoke of another. There was only one moonwoman: anaa.

You greet her daughter, Sialuk Ostrega. The name she had held on to, even after her father’s death. You are new here? she asked. She had not seen his face before, and it reminded her of the question her mother had asked. Of hunters she did not know.

Had anaa told Rodyn of the star? Of her search?

Ro shifted as she perused his form and his shape, a crease in her brow. Had she thought he was someone he was not. Or was she merely curious as to who he was.

Ro perked his ears forward and listened as she spoke. Well met Sialuk Ostrega. I am Rodyn Ardeth. She voiced her name with gentle reverance, as if it meant more to her than he imagined it would mean. It was a beautiful name, though what it meant he wasn't sure.

He had passed a gentle evening with her mother, she had spoken of many things, though of what it all was, even he couldn't fully realize.

It's beautiful here. I'm used to forest and loam.

He shared his own family name: Ardeth. This name was soft, like the forest and loam he came from. Forest and loam is no less beautiful. She found his nickname surface to her mind—Sanigavinik. Here, on the mountain, he was away from the tree of his family.

Moonspear is air and stone. Sharp and unforgiving. It was how her dear aunt had been. How her father had been when he was not with anaa. How many of the wolves of Moonspear had been conditioned. So unlike the island where anaa had come from, which was a place of mystery and folklore.

He dipped his head at her words, and curled his tail tighter with a small smile. He wouldn't lie he missed his forest and his loam. The soft footfalls when he ran along the moss. The trees that he could rub against to get the winter fur as it turned to hotter days. Mud and grass and little animals amongst the trees. He missed something bigger than himself, where he could remember that the world was large, and he was small. Keep himself in perspective. He noddded. 

"It truly is. Though your majestic mountains are no less. If you climb them high enough, it would make you wonder if you could touch the sky. Yet it also reminds you, that there is a long way to fall."

Here the mounts were unforgiving, and they put his thoughts into perspective much as the forest had done, but where the forest made him think of large and small. These mountains made him think of hard and soft. Like River against stone, or moss against tree. Unyielding, firm, yet bendy and gentle.

"What brings you out in the night, Sialuk? Besides letting the moon lick your fur?"

Sanigavinik spoke once more, and the star listened. Having gained her footing on the mountain, she knew how far one could fall. Many spirits had been lost to the cliffs, and she was lucky to be omitted from their numbers.

Through Moonspear, spirits have words for me. When time is right, it will again be home. The night she spent with anaa on the spine were precious to her, even more so now that those nights would be fewer and further between.

Took first breath here, she clarified. Strange storm forced us to Moonglow, but it calls for me. Her mind wandered, thinking again of what the spear had said of sons and daughters. She would have to hear what anaa had to say about Rodyn.

Rodyn had not yet learned the dangers of the mountain. Though despite his limitations he was aware it was dangerous. It made him curious yet wary. And it was beautiful, he had not misspoke.

Ro tilted his ears forward. He wasn't certain of what she spoke of, but clearly it meant a lot to her. These spirits.

Your mother told me you were starting a pack there and your auntie in the forest? His own accent came out full bodied and warm.

Rodyn gace a soft laugh. My first breath was between the ground and a tree. Sounds like it's a special place. Mama birthed all of us beneath that tree. And I imagine she'll continue.

He looked back to the mountain. Sometimes home calls us and holds on tight.

where does the time go???

Sialuk nodded at his retelling of Kukutux’s words. Again, Sialuk would call the spear her home. Rodyn spoke of his own mother, her name soft in his heart. Sialuk knew it was good for a hunter to speak of his mother this way. It showed kindness of his person.

Do you think home will call to you, too? Or will you stay in these new lands? she asked, testing the waters gently.

It flies in a blink of an eye :)

Rodyn missed his mother more than almost anyone, except his sister Bula, and the younglings, but he hadn't known them long before his father had sent him packing.

Rodyn shook his head. No, I will stay here, and I would not be welcome home anyway. My father is the patriarch of the woods. Once the males turn 2, he chases us out of the pack lands and we are no longer welcome.

He sighed and scuffed the dirt, the thought in his head. I would never do that. Here just from the few wolves I've seen, it seems that my father's way is a bit harsher than it should be. Though I love him and he has helped to shape me. I will not follow his example.