Sunset Valley the dog days are over

If she could not find a mountain, then the next logical thing to do was to gravitate towards its nearest opposite; or so it seemed that was what Muses wass doing. She returned every evening to the safe little valley, brightly coloured by what little orange, yellow, and brown leaves desperately clung to the trees. The rest provided a technicolor carpet with an excellent crunch, the very kind that the cream furred wolf loved trotting through during the early autumn months. Although the trees were slightly different than the ones back home, it was enough to seem familiar, and to provide her with some comfort. Not everything was alien and terrifying.

The setting sun cast long shadows behind the innumerable trees, the black tendrils reaching out further and further as night approached. Muses found that she was full of energy, eagerly anticipating the temlerature drop that would happen as soon as the sun disappeared beyond the valley walls. Although the dull sense of hunger nagged at her, she ignored it, knowing she would have no luck stalking any prey when every step she made was accompanied by the merry rustle of dry leaves. With a gentle, complacent sigh, she made her way to her favourite little treasure trove. It was nestled some way into the valley, within a little thicket of trees. It was an old area, Muses had decided. A little creek ran along the southern end, while almost dead in the center was a mossy tree stump that made the most comfortable bed. With a sheepish grin, the she-wolf stepped onto the pedestal, and turned about several times before curling herself into a happy little Muses ball.

(@Nassim?)

Reminder to self: set before he meets Articuno (no... that's not right...) ARTURO thats the one.

It had been many days since he'd seen the faces of his beloved family. He could remember small details of each of them though, which warmed his heart as the season began to turn towards winter. Nassim plodded along without a care, weaving a path through the valley with his mind set all the way back in the far north where his family remained. He thought of Hakon's stern-but-kind face, of how jealous Sushila had been when she'd learned of his desire to travel; even the shy Angam, his darling baby sister, had seemed adamant that he not leave so suddenly. It had been sudden — but he'd needed to go.

The south did not seem so bad. It was bright, even when night began to fall. Nothing seemed entirely dark, and Nassim had survived a few dozen nights on his own by now. Each one seemed brighter than the last. Evening was beginning to fall now and the sky was streaked with familiar tones. He watched it, going a steady but lethargic pace, and sighed. The colors spanned the entirety of what he could see, reaching through the clouds and into the horizon; but he saw something in his periphery which caught the colors too, a girl.

She was circling carefully upon a raised section of the earth - no, on a stump - my, what finesse! He watched her dance like a real creeper, shifting slowly closer, until realizing how bizarre and awful this would look from an outsider's perspective. When she plopped down, he picked up his pace and made sure to make some noise; while Nassim did not want to bother her, he didn't want to scare her either. As he popped his ruddy face out from behind a stand of young elm trees he smiled, gave a little nod, and held his ground just in case she wanted to be left alone.

Just as she had found the sweet spot - the position that elicited utter comfort and relaxation - Muses became acutely aware of a pair of eyes on her. She had been so focused on her spinning, and quite frankly of not falling off the stump - that she had blocked out all other distractions. Unable to freeze in time, she allowed her body to curl, eyes opening owlishly as her nose touched the tip of her tail.

It was no wonder she had not noticed the ruddy creature! He embodied autumn perfectly, with his hues of rust and shadows, and eyes crisp as an October day. Noting his warm smile, Muses was quick to return the gesture, her tail giving a little wave, the long, bushy thing rubbing against the ebony tip of her nose.

"I'm sorry I don't have any more room on this nest, otherwise I'd share." The young wolf apologized before catching herself. It was an instinctive response, offered by a creature who was not habituated to dealing with strangers. All she had ever known was her family, and they had all been close and affectionate with one another. To provide a space where another could curl up and cuddle was simply the natural progression of things in her world.

But the longer Muses contemplated the male's bright coat, his deeply pigmented eyes, and the overall strangeness about him, she more she began to question how appropriate her offer might be. "Oh, is this your stump?" She jerked up, hit by the sudden revelation that she could be tresspassing. After all, she was a stranger in the land. In her panic, she tried to unfurl, but managed only to gracelessly tumble from her pedestal, rolling into a pile of crunchy leaves below.

Well, she didn't scream and run away! That was a plus! The boy's tail fanned out behind him and wagged softly, a pendulum of thick fluff. He couldn't stop looking at her big pretty eyes, and almost forgot to respond to her initial comment, because he was just so overjoyed at having found another living being. And to have found such a pretty one! Ooh, his luck was great today. The offer to join her in the nest was peculiar, but in a good way. Nassim felt a bubbly laugh creep up from his belly and he giggled a bit, finding the concept of a wolf-in-a-nest to be pretty funny. It was adorable how at-ease this woman was.

But then things changed. She said something else - he waddled closer in time to hear something about the stump in question - and she uprooted herself from comfort, taking on a startled expression. Oh! He exclaimed, his eyes mirroring her owlish gaze briefly, No, nono, it isn't mine. I thought it was yours? He hadn't meant to disturb her in such a way! Oh no. Wasn't that her throne? You look like the queen of the fey, sitting there! I bet you've made friends with all the little birds and have mice for minions, too! Maybe if he just kept... talking... she'd settle down.

With his ears fanning either side of his head, a small physical display of apology, he murmured, I didn't mean to bother you, please forgive me. By this point the girl had dislodged herself and was crunching against the piled leaves upon the earth; Nassim crept over to her with a curious expression on his face. It was one part worry, three parts compassion, and ultimately he looked like the saddest little boy in the world for having ruined the moment. Are you okay?

Muses, feeling as thoughg she was tumbling to the ground in slow motion, hardly registered what the stranger was saying. Some kind of kind protest reached her ears, but she was too focused on her impending doom to comprehend. With a soft thud, and a cacophonous chorus of crunching leaves, she rolled once, her thick, ivory pelt becoming entangled with flakes of orange, yellow, and brown. "You know, I think a queen would be far less clumsy than I!" She chuckled in attempt to hide her embarrassement, turning her face away sheepishly. "No harm done," In an instead, her tail was thumping from side to side, as she attempted to reassure the male of her wellbeing. "Just an awful lot of leaves in my fur."

Bracing herself, limbs squared, she shook her coat out in a vain attempt to dislodge the dried bits of leaves. The leaves stubbornly clung to her, forcing the young wolf to accept defeat. Sighing, she flicked her ears, and grinned at her company. "I'm not used to having much to myself, even if only temporarily." She shrugged, indicating towards the stump with her muzzle. As her family had grown, the available space had shrunk. Everything was to be shared, and so, it was only natural that Muses would assume that she owned nothing, and everything available to her must also be available to everyone else.

"I'm Muses!" She offered in an attempt to dispell any lingering tension. "Been traveling a while, and this place is so strange, I can never really be certain if I'm tresspassing or not." Everything was so different and overwhelming; anything could be occupied territory. As she was quickly begining to learn, the wolves of the south did not do things as her family did.

Sorry for the delay!! omg !!

She was just so charming. As soon as the girl began to speak, Nassim's face broke out with a great big grin. He had finished inspecting her for damage by this point, and now looked with a bemused expression down upon her sprawling figure, resplendent with the gold and crimson wreath around her. When she began to pick away at the bed of leaves, Nassim carefully - gingerly - attempted to aid her. He tried not to tug too hard because he didn't want to pull her hair; that would be rude! 

I'm Muses! proclaimed the wonderful girl next, as she elucidated upon her life, and the forest within which they now found one another. There was a certain level of enthusiasm - shy cheer, perhaps - which seemed both out-of-place and perfectly natural within her. Nassim watched her eyes light up, although the tone of her words suggested she was embarrassed, or at the very least apologetic.

Me too! Erupted the boy.

I mean, the travel. And the not-having-stuff. He was similar to her only because of a shared simplicity, but beyond that, she was his superior. Beautiful, enigmatic, and charming. Not haggard, bumbling, or childish. But oh, it was Nassim's way to place his friends upon high pedastels! Acquaintances too. Perhaps he held a low opinion of himself? Or maybe he was just apathetic about himself and hopeful (to the extreme) of the goodness of others. His smile grew wider and with a huff, the boy blew a leaf off of his lip and watched if float back down to earth. I'm Nassim. It's good to meet you.

Hearing her company's enthusiasm, Muses stifled a giggle. He was an endearing creature, of succinct speech and open honesty. For the most part, he reminded her of how wonderful the wolves in her family were, and in that moment she was put at ease. She made no move to shoo him away when he approached, front teeth gingerly grasping at the crumbled bits of leaves that nestled in her coat. "What a mess!" Muses sighed, nibbling away as well, pulling out shedding fur and dead plant matter alike. Despite enduring the eternal struggles of having an extremely long and extremely thick coat, she did not seem too bothered by it. In fact, she seemed to brighten all the more, touched by Nassim's aid. "Thanks." She cooed softly, a hint of sheepishness in her tone as she struggled to remember that the young wolf really was a stranger, and not someone she had known all her life.

Finally, she took pulled away, taking several steps back, bracing herself for another mighty, albeit futile shake. Debris went flying from her coat, and although it did not seem to make a significant difference, Muses seemed satisfied with their effort to rid her fur of foreign objects. Flicking her ears defiantly, as if she had just proudly defeated some sort of enemy, she turned her pale, lilac tinted gaze back to the male. "And you as well. From where do you hail?" She queried, just as eager to converse with a fellow traveler as she would have been to pick the mind of a local. He did not look like a winter wolf, from what she knew of them, although his heavy double coat seemed to suggest that he was favourable to colder climates. In fact, he did not look at all intimidating. She suspected he was fully matured, yet there was something about him - perhaps wide eyes, soft ears, or downy looking fur? - that reminded her of a puppy. It was cute, regardless, and she liked him all the same.