Hideaway Strath he walks the field at night

i edited in a quick wrap-up conclusion but if you'd like to continue this feel free to poke me on here or discord and i'll gladly revise the thread and take the conclusion out so it can continue. :-)

she has his rapt attention — though in truth she's had it since she first melted out from the shadows of the strath — as she explains to him the complexities of her name. and it is complex. he struggles to understand, at least in the beginning, if because he changes his so frequently and freely — though the change to wintersbane and it's tundrian variant are more or less permanent given their true significance to him. it doesn't have to mean something bad if i don't want it to, she tells him. though he doubts she meant to he inadvertently feels like a bit of an asshole for giving her his opinions on name changes and telling her that she didn't look like an 'omen'. it's the tundrian's turn to be sheepish then and there's an apology written across the lines of his face and muzzle, heavy in his eyes.

someone, somewhere would always known them by their given name. he tried to go by 'roarke' for a short period of time but the name felt like a heavy, dead weight on him. it'd been a long time since he'd been that carefree boy and it was like a snake trying to fit back into shed skin that it knows is too small for it. he could never truly go back to being 'roarke' and trying to almost felt like he was disrespecting himself and the memories of his lost and scattered family. "omen is a pretty badass name." he says then offering her a slightly mischievous and slightly lopsided grin. she was right, he decided. when it wasn't said like a curse ( and when he didn't associate the word with being a word but a name ) it could easily take on new meaning; and not a bad one.

wintersbane gives a pause and takes a few steps away from his mother's grave. he's found her again. the hemlocks would ensure that no one disturbs her eternal rest without the consequence of poisoning and thus there is no need for him to stand sentry. it was obvious that his father and teaghlaigh'd felt no need to continue on here, either. while he doesn't necessarily want anyone to settle the strath — selfishly he doesn't want to be denied visitation access to lotte's grave even though he knows the likelihood of him visiting it again isn't overly high — he knows he won't stay here. "are you heading anywhere in particular?" the tundrian asks of his companion, thinking that he might like her prolonged company if she accepted his offer to stick together, of course.

she gives an answer and he accepts it with a sage nod and a roll of his shoulders before offering her good luck on her journey and parting ways with her.