Lone Star Mountain obloquy of newness

she didn't know how long she'd been walking for.

heck, she didn't even know where she was. her family never traveled farther than their homeland, so she didn't have a mental map of this area. her legs ached as she carried herself forward, the night a low hush on the spring air. the day had been clear; perfect travel weather. Bee would suddenly find a burst of energy as she rushed forward. careful of the edges of the mountain, she'd run into the open and stop. breathing heavily from the thrill, her eyes would stare almost lovingly at the vast stars.

the sky was a breathtaking sight indeed. the stars lit up the otherwise dark landscape. lil' dipper was on fire, Polaris a clear sight. Bee breathed in the crisp mountain air, giggling to herself. she was away from her family for the first time ever! she had so much to see and so much to do but the stars... oh the stars... they were a forever constant in her life. she may not rightly know what to do first but at least she had her little sparkly friends to keep her company. the girl would recline, staring openly at the landscape below the mountains. new place. new lands. new friends...! lots of potentials here! she wasn't ever going away now.

He marveled at the night sky. He always did, how could one not look upon such a night from atop such a grand peak? He half hoped he could convince The Sky to make this their territory, yet it wouldn't be the best for him, he supposed. He liked solitude when he was slušanje. 

Often though, the ex-druid found himself teaching those who didn't know. Himself didn't know many Druids so considered himself gifted. Not smart, but gifted.
'Otići' they say, whispering in his ear, 'pronaći suprug'.
The stars spoke to him in a language they taught him. Sometimes, he found he could speak it. Mostly when alone yet in his dreams he conversed with others -- other Druids -- freely in full understanding of the Star Language.

The sound of paws made his rise to a sitting position, turning to see who approached. He decided he liked what he saw for they seemed full of life and joy. he waved his tail and stood, chuffing in greeting. Myrto perched atop his head, clinging to his furs. She squeaked softly, greeting too.
"Hey there!" He called out, hoping to catch the attention of the other, before padding towards them, his tail swishing in greeting.

ooc; welcome! thanks for joining!

hey there!

Bee's eyes would shift from the sky to the pale form nearing her. she'd bounce to all fours, tail wagging happily behind her. wow, her first encounter with a stranger! they seemed nice, but you never knew. Ma would always tell her to be careful when meeting others, that people weren't as friendly as they seemed. but she always did a pish-posh to that; everyone had a nice side, surely? there was no reason to be rude or cautious. "hi!" the girl would bark excitably. blue eyes would find the creature on his head and she gave a tilt of her skull.

"oooh, what's that? er, who's that? your friend?" her eyes hadn't really adjusted to his mainly white form. it was a sense of vertigo; having looked at the dark sky before shifting to his body. Bee lived a mainly secluded life. she didn't know much and right now her interest was on the man's little friend. "I want a little friend too" she'd comment with a short pout. it'd be so cute. having a familiar or a companion or whatever you called them here. she wondered if everyone had one. "I'm Bee! who you?"

He lifted his brows, then realised she was talking of Myrto. "She is Myrto, a Deer Mouse. She is my familiar, a soul bound companion I went on a quest to search for guided by the stars." He smiled softly in his cool, charming way. Something in him half wondered if she would be confused, but he didn't mind. He was always happy to answer questions involving Magick.

"Perhaps one day you will find your familiar. You will know if you're right because you feel stronger, fuller. Like they've always been there." His eyes seemed to reflect the speckled sky above, Myrto scuttling down his side and leg as if she'd always sat atop him and scampered towards the merle female, sitting up and sniffing at her paws.
Sheigrim chuckled softly like a breeze through oak leaves. "She likes you." He commented, glad for it too. It meant she was a good one. "I'm Sheigrim, but you can call me Sheri."

"the stars?!" Bee would reply with a gasp, amazed that the stars spoke to the other in such a way. they were always very quiet with her, acting as a guardian as she traveled. did they not like her or something? she wanted to hear the stars talk too! "they talked to you? wow! how do you make them? I always talk-talk-talk to them but they never answer me back." though she looked less than sad about such a thing. surely, the night sky would speak to her one day.

and just like the other wolf said she might get a familiar. one day. Bee would nod her head vigorously along to his words. familiars... companions... soul bound... it sounded complicated but fun. said deer mouse slid from the other's head to skitter up to her. she barked in welcome, dropping to her front legs like a playful pup to better view Myrto. "I like her too" the mouse was adorably cute. her own blue gaze would lift to look at the other. "its nice to meet you both! do you live here? where is here, though? I'm, uh, new."

He smiled almost sheepishly. He'd not really spoken about the stars to anyone outside his Coven -- not even his blood relatives. However, he wanted to teach. Perhaps he could even recruit the girl, or get her to stick around with him for a while. "I'm a Druid, traveling with the Coven Arenraith. We are hoping to make a claim here, perhaps I can help you find your gift of Magick, if you have it." He hoped so. She was the curious type, like him and he wanted nothing more than to learn about his gift. 

Besides, if she stayed he'd be able to teach her what he knew of the stars whilst being taught of healing and herbalism. The problem with Sheigrim was he didn't fit with being a Shaman nor Faery. He was a Druid through and through and called himself such, however, he supposed if it really came down to making a choice he was sure he'd have to make, it'd be Shamanism. That way he could continue the teachings of his Mentor.

"I have always been able to talk to the stars. It's strange. I go into a sort of trance and I can hear voices speaking a different language. Soft and wispy voices yet I understand what they're saying, though not consciously. I just know." He almost grimaced, wondering if he was making any sense at all. Erianthe understood, of course. She was The Sky. "As for here, I'm not sure. The stars, their position tells me we are not far from an ocean, it seems we are pretty far North too, probably why it is so damn cold," He chuckled, gazing at Bee softly. She was cute, he had to admit to himself. It brought a grin to his face.

a... druid? what was that? the girl's eyes focused on the other, widely in amazement. so many words she didn't know. so many meanings behind it. she didn't want to be rude and bombard him with questions, even if her mind buzzed excitably with wanting to learn the meanings. "I can have magic?" she took only that away from the conversation right now. her head tilted to the side, a thoughtful furrow of her brows. Ma and Pa never said she had magic. maybe they didn't know? maybe they were non-magic peoples and she was the special one? naw, that couldn't be true. her parents were very special.

he seemed so sure it was the stars and not other aspects of nature though. "how do you know it isn't the flowers that talk to you? or the trees? do stars have a special voice?" Bee would ask, brimming with excitement. her gaze left Sheri's face to look at the night sky. he said the stars sounded wispy and soft... she squinted her face at the sky, tongue rolling from her lips as she attempted to induce a vision for herself. but try as she might, all she could do was hnnnngh! before giving up. "maybe I don't know enough about the stars for them to talk to me." she'd say almost regretfully, turning back to the mortal realm.

"it's cold?" she would blink a few times at him, not really noticing before now. her thin coat she got from Pa but maybe due to her excitement and constant moving, she never really cared to think it was cold. "so we're north... that means... uh... Polaris will guide us!"

"Of course, however, some find it harder to find the connection between themselves and the Earth than others. Give it time and patience." He hoped he could help her if only to spend more time around her. She was the sort of person Sheigrim liked to be around. 
He lowered himself to sit, letting feather-soft baritones roll a chuckle from his chest at her trying to talk to the stars. 

His tongue snaked out, dampening his lips as he too looked up as the words rolled from his lips like second nature, "Razgovaraj s njom, molim te." He'd never freely asked the stars to do anything of the like before, but if he only had one chance to ask for something he decided it would be now. Just so Bee could have an insight into his world, or even be welcomed into it. He hoped they'd do so.

He tilted his gaze back her and nodded, already grinning. "Indeed. The pointer stars help you always find it. Dubhe and Merak outline the Big Dipper -- if you can find that you can find Polaris." Bee likely knew that already but he couldn't resist repeating what he knew it made him doubly assured he knew the night sky and perhaps there would be some kindling of information in his words that Bee didn't know.

"how do I do it?" Bee asked instantly, chalking away she had to be patient for it to happen, but knowing she could probably set herself on a nice little path to the goal. she leaned forward to study a pebble on the ground. "I heard folks can talk to stones and hear the wind whisper if they try" did that mean she could sit in nature forever and ever until they decided to speak to her? that wasn't a bad thing, nope. her eyes returned to Sheri's face, tongue rolling from her mouth. "I hope not a lotta time, though! I wanna share stories with the earth."

it had been around a lot more years than she had. so it probably had a lot of cool stories and wisdom to share with her. Sheri would look to the dark sky, uttering a phrase she didn't know the meaning to. Bee didn't want to be rude and ask; if he wanted to speak some cool druid magic language, she wasn't going be mad. "Big Dipper..." she'd muse, her eyes taking a faraway look as she gazed at the stars above. she really only knew the Lil Dipper. knew that somewhere in it was the north star. "oh, okay!"

if she could find Dubhe and Merak... it'd make finding Polaris easier. "is it above or below the Lil Dipper?" she'd ask Sheri, wondering where to start mapping out this new constellation. Pa had taught her only enough to get her following the northern stars, so Sheri's information was precious to her.

He smiled, loving her enthusiasm. She was just like him and he was glad to share.
"I did it by being completely blank. My mind washed clean and I was alone on a mountain top much like this." He sighed softly, remembering the day he'd seem the stars wink at him, the wind picking up through his fur and he felt at peace. At home. Then he spoke, and he got a reply that did not scare him, the voice tender and soothing. "I looked to the sky and I followed them. The stars. I made patterns with them, connected them, and it was like I was being told the names as I did so yet I couldn't remember them. Not until someone mentioned them again, then I could put the name to the constellation." He probably sounded like a mad man, yet Bee didn't seem to be the sort to mind.

Myrto seemed to have gotten brave enough to start climbing Bee. Sheri smiled fondly, watching the mouse make herself quite at home. Bee was something else, it seemed. Sheri knew he'd trust her with anything. He cupped his ears before rising, pulling small pebbles to the pair. "Let me show you," He took a pale pebble, placing it between the pair, "If this is Polaris," he arranged more to form the little dipper she spoke of, "and this is the little dipper then," he made a line from Polaris up to where Dubhe was, "this is Dubhe and Merak."He placed the two other stones in place, making a straight line from Polaris to Dubhe to Merak, just like the sky. He placed other stones to make the shape of the Big Dipper and looked to her, a soft smile painted on his expression.

she would hum thoughtfully at Sheri's words. Bee didn't think she could keep still long enough to listen, but she'd try her best. sometimes she went into her own little trances without knowing; whether this was a connection to the earth or just her daydreaming... she did not know. she'd sigh wistfully. "oooh, that sounds so lovely" she really wanted to try now. maybe when she went more north, the stillness would come over her. she'd focus entirely on the vast expanse and learn so much more. and one day, one day over the horizon, she'd hear the stars talk to her.

the mouse would meet no resistance as she climbed. Bee's look was far away again, and even if she was in the present, she didn't care if Myrto did this. little paws would briefly apply pressure on her thin coat, shaking back the girl's focus. "let me show you" was enough to shake her as Sheri pulled pebbles together. she'd carefully drop her front legs - mindful of the mouse - to hover inches from the stones as he gathered them. "oh, it isn't very far!" she'd exclaim, now knowing how to connect them without searching for hours. "I wonder what'd happen if I followed the Big Dipper instead..."

because so far she was traveling by way of Polaris like Pa had told her to. but now she knew, and she could follow anytime she wanted. "thanks, Sheri!" she'd beam at him "for showin' me" she wished her knowledge pressed further, for she would have liked to repay him somehow. her time in these wilds would be one of self-discovery and learning. she'd straighten back up, though her blue gaze focused on the stones to commit them to memory. "maybe next time, you can teach me about druid-y things." aside from stars. like plants and talking to the earth.

He smiled back at her, his heart seeming to leap at her smile. Was this was the stars wanted?
No, he wouldn't listen to the stars for finding a mate, would he? They were his guides as much as Myrto was, he'd never deemed them wrong before despite others doing so. Was he delusional? 
He knew what answer the stars would give.

"Of course, Bee. Anytime." His head tilted with fascination for his new friend. "Perhaps if you find a place to stay we could meet up and I'll teach you everything I know. Hey! Perhaps you could teach me things too," He stood quickly, Myrto scuttling back to him and running up his leg to bury herself in his thick ruff, "that would be totally awesome." His ears tilted, casting his head towards the Vale. He should get back, but he wanted to find herbs. If he started a garden he could gift plants to Bee, he was sure she'd love them. His tail waved hard enough his butt wiggled in the puppyish way he often did when he had an amazing idea.
"I better be going. I'll see you around, Bee. If you need me, just call," He gave her a lopsided grin, winking. He turned eastwards, wondering what was in the rolling valley below. He hoped he'd find something cool.

ooc; cute thread! i'm going to mark it as a naturalist trade thread thanks!

it had been a nice, refreshing conversation. she knew both of them needed to move on soon, though it was hardly a parting sorrow. she'd been traveling for months without much sign of life; she was just happy her first encounter in this land had ended positively. then again, Willoughby never really did expect trouble. naive of her, yes, but she tried to see the best in all.

"sure!" she would bark back, grinning. Bee didn't really know what she could teach him; she'd have to think on that. he knew of the stars and of plants and of the earth. she was just learning as she went along. there wouldn't be much the druid didn't know that she knew. common plants were enough and she could name one constellation. that was it. but far be it for her to get discouraged! she'd just have to learn lots in a short amount of time. "bye, Sheri! bye Myrto!" she'd call after them as they disappeared.

now it was time to resume her travels, to follow the stars as her Pa had instructed her. without another word, she'd turn and follow the path down to the vale.