Greatwater Lake i was scared of dentists and the dark

all welcome :D backdated to yesterday at the eclipse! 
also im sorry this is really bad lol

riptide - vance joy

For some reason that defied all logic, Remi had woken up early that day. He had stayed curled in his den for a few minutes though, his eyes fixed on nothing really as he meditated silently for a couple of minutes. His eyes had opened but his brain was still half asleep so while the little wheels inside his head began to turn and cognition began to be a thing Remi simply laid there like a useless cream blob. 

Finally, after resigning to the fact that he could not fall asleep again and gathering the motivation to go do something productive with his day the Ostrega slipped from his den and without breaking his highly elaborate routine (wake, piss and go find something to mess with) he headed out the pack's borders and into the Flatlands. 

Quickly, he arrived to the edge of a lake unlike any he'd seen. It was really big, and aside from a lonesome duck that floated near the middle it was pretty desolate. Tentatively he extended one of his paws and dipped the tip in the water, it was certaintly cold but not unbearably cold so after a quick sigh, the Delta began to work his way onto the water, stopping brusquely as the water reached his chest for the sky suddenly became dull. 

"what the hell..." he barked to himself, his ears splaying back in complete confusion but something in him telling him it was better not to look for answers in the skies this time.

*steals* Hello nephew it is time.

Andalusia felt like she'd returned to the Caldera, only to prance a full circuit and shoot right out again, with a momentary pause to catch her breath, gather up news, and keep on running. So their prey had fallen scarce - seemed their numbers had grown too large. The land couldn't hold them any more. The solution raised, to look for food outside the Caldera, was a pleasant thought, but what would they do once they depleted that source, too? The pups needed feeding, but feeding meant growth - something the Caldera couldn't handle now, or ever, unless they expanded or dispersed.

But dispersal would be for those of age, and unless Sebastian left, Andalusia would stay - barring her excursions, of course. And after the fiasco with Nova and Pearl, the Ostrega made doubly certain to alert @Elwood, @Finley, and @Sebastian with a pointed howl of her intended whereabouts, and the projected length of her leave. She had considered taking someone with her, in case she found a wandering buck or doe, but had opted for the room to breathe. Today, she would track, an art rusty from lack of use, but one that stuck enough from her training with the nomads to still be of some use to her today.

Yet in the moment, thirst parched her throat, and she bypassed a particularly promising berry meadow - a likely feeding ground for the likes of what she tracked - to crest toward the expanse of a lake. From her vantage she could spot the lone shadow of another wading a fair ways in the water, and she skirted sidelong in caution not to spook him from coming up completely in his blind spots. But before she reached the bank, she froze, paw half-raised, head tipped to the side. Her ear twitched, and Andalusia stole a squint skyward to catch the sun in her peripheral, only to lower her gaze with a frown. Odd. The skies were clear, far as she could see, but everything looked like a cloud now covered the sun. Or more like, the sun was setting, despite still hanging a fair distance over head.

Maybe something was wrong with her eyes. She was getting older, after all, but she wasn't about to fret herself by jumping to conclusions. Instead, she barked out to the wolf in the water, who had stopped with his wading and seemed, perhaps, as confused as she. "Hey, you seeing this, too?"

auntie !! i've been waiting for this moment aaaaaaaaaaaaaa

In the midst of his confusion, the cream Ostrega, like a deer caught in the headlight remained frozen to the spot, with the lake's water up to his chest and his tail, flopping anxiously on the surface. Though he considered himself a brave guy - cuz duh he was the Vale's own and only self proclaimed stuntsman after all - it was much harded not being a bit frightened by what he couldn't understand and was bigger than him.
Natural phenomenons for instance.  

Then, another called out to him, and with a brief jolt Remi turned to face Andalusia's confused face. "yah... what's going on??" he pressed, his ears twitching a bit nervously on top of his head as he decided to make his way out of the water. Worst case scenario, he did not want to die in the water. That, to him, was a far more terrible death than being murdered in battle or anything really.
Since Rilke, the young Ostrega's relationship with water was one of love (still), respect and underlying fear.

<33

She shared his confusion and a thread of fear, but outward, Andalusia held her composure. The wolf in the water both looked and sounded but a boy. To lose her head in her own uncertainty would do neither of them good. "I've no idea," she said and shook her head. "But I don't like it." In a way, the Ostrega felt relief the darkening wasn't a product of her age, but that only put them in a situation they both had to address, and fast. Water and open places were the last areas they'd want to be if something went freaky in the skies.

And that's exactly where they were. She paced. Thankfully, the boy made haste to pull himself from the water without a prompt, and when he drew close enough, Andalusia flicked her head in the direction of the nearby mountains. "We gotta get somewhere sheltered. Let's head over there, find some trees or a cave to wait this thing out." Strangers they were, but now wasn't a time for that. He looked a normal, frightened boy, and she decided on a snap judgment she could trust him. Of course, she knew he could trust her, too, and hoped he'd come to that conclusion quick enough to move his paws toward the mountains with her.

Once out of the water, the creamy Ostrega crept closer to this stranger, who was in fact the least strange thing happening. He was drenched and so, without much grace, he began to shake his body energically, flinging water in all directions probably including Andalusia. oops. He flashed an apologetic smile, his head then bobbing up and down as she suggesting getting cover.

"quick" he mumbled as he flashed past her, as much as he wanted to hide his fear he could not help but give through his eyes glimpses of it. He reached a group of trees and inched closer to the roots of the largest one. There, he waiter for the strange lady to join him as the sun shone dark light over the Teekons. 

The boy sprayed water against her, to which Andalusia gave a hasty shake, the least of her concerns. She took his apology with the slightest nod. "Right behind you." She had already turned to follow, paws quicker than her mouth, and Andalusia tore after the fleet-footed stranger.

They found respite in a cluster of trees. She glanced up and slipped beneath the cover of leaves to join the boy nearer the trunk. All about, the landscape shifted to dim hues of darkness, and the sun - while still in the sky - pulled back her warmth. A soft rustle trifled through the heavy canopy, and a remnant of sunlight found a way between the branches.

"I've never seen anything like this before," she mused, still glancing skyward before she turned to the boy. Back at the lake, he had held himself with a semblance of courage, but she had seen the nerves and uncertainty wrought across his body and etched in the flash of his eyes. Both a mesmerizing hue, bluer than her own - and now, even bluer than the sky. "Whatever's up doesn't seem to be doing much more than turning everything dark, but it's probably best to wait this out." She lowered herself to her haunches, then stretched sphinx-like on the ground. Intrigue shone in her silvery eyes, fixed on the stranger. "Your eyes. They're an interesting colour," she gave a casual gesture of her snout toward him.

lol sorry he's so anxious

She was right behind him, quickly settling under the tree he had chosen as cover and offering her thoughts about the phenomenon. As Remi was no naturalist, nor had he ever been interested in the matter, he simply had no idea of what could be going on with the sky. For all he knew this could be a premonition about the end of the world as he knew it, of the way days were supposed to develop, and of his life- but before he could begin to panic, her words calmed him down though, she didn't seem to thing it would bring any harm, just darkness. 

"do you think it'll pass?" he asked, though she spoke of 'waiting it out' there was no way of knowing whether this was temporary. Again, fear climbed up his stomach towards his chest. What if this was to become the world's 'normal' state? Remi squirmed in place, not caring what the stranger would think of his 'crazy talk' for the situation they were in was crazy enough on its own.
It'd be crazy not to be scared, right?

Anxiously, he casted a little peek at the sky before turning his eyes back to her as she made a comment about them. "huh?" he mumbled, his attention and thoughts still on the questions surrounding the sudden disappereance of the sun. "oh, yours too" he barked back in an almost incoherent mumble, his mind trying to keep any trace of his fear at bay and mimick this female's serene composure by offering a small smile. Her eyes, like his own, were clear, crystalline with a tinge of blue in them. Like the sky.
The normal sky.

"sorry.." he barked, his head shaking softly as if the movement alone would be enough to dilute the anxious thoughts of his mind. "are you from around here?" he barked, his nose telling him she was not a lone passerby but not being able to pin point just which of the many packs he knew lived in the Teekons she belonged to.

No worries. I love all states of Mouse <3

"Let's hope so."  Quite frank, Andalusia hadn't the slightest when the darkness would lift, or if the light would return at all. It seemed strange to her that the sun would suddenly darken, and a thread of anxiety wormed in the depths of her. The world continued to dim, and this was concerning, but she chose not to linger on the what-ifs and unknowns. In due time they would find out whether this darkness was their world now. She saw no pleasure to dwell on the worry now.

The boy seemed less able to keep his fears tethered, and his words seemed spacey, like his thoughts were not all there. Understandable - and she vied to keep conversation turned to lighter matters, and away from the source of the boy's fears. Training a gentle smile on her lips, Andalusia countered the other's anxiety with the loosing of her own shoulders.

"It's alright," she reassured, "I'm with a pack just South of here, Redhawk Caldera. But am I from around here?" Her smile crooked into a sideways grin. "No. I was born far from these lands and came here the winter after my second birthday to look for my siblings. I've seen and lived many places since, but this is home enough for now." She rested against her side and tilted her head to get an easier look at the boy.  "And what of you?" He, too, smelled more than a vagrant, of wolves she didn't know - but she trusted he would amend this soon.

<3<3<3

She seemed to understand, offering a small smile to reasure him and light up the darkness that had fell upon them, literally. She mentioned her pack, the name ringing a bell almost inmediately. He had learned about the Caldera whilst chatting with Liffey. "oh, i've heard of the Caldera" he barked, his own lips curling into a shy smile as his nervousness was shred to nothing but. He hummed when she clarified that despite being with the Caldera she had not been born there. She had stumbled upon it whilst looking for her siblings.

"and did you find them?" he asked suddenly, the question escaping his lips before he could bite his tongue. "oh well, i wasn't born anywhere near here either - my parents lead a pack near the coast, Havana Pier, and..yeah" he barked, his shoulders slumping a bit as he did not think he had any other accomplishments worth mentioning. "Now im with a pack right near here, Northstar Vale" he added, his body posture again filled with pride. Somehow it was easier for Remi to speak of his present, as uncertain as it was, than of his past. 

Her brow raised. "You have." But really, should she be surprised that he'd heard of the Caldera? The pack had been established well before her arrival, and from the brief history she'd gleaned from Towhee, along with the fact that she herself had encountered the Caldera multiple times during her first foray into the Wilds at least eight seasons before, she'd have been more surprised if they hadn't made for themselves some form of reputation or recognition around these parts by now. Whether they'd continued in what she'd seen as a negative course she'd yet to find out.

His question to her siblings came with a certain suddenness, which he covered with his own brief history - of more worth to her than her own breath, but the give and take of conversation demanded that she sate his curiosity as he did hers. "Never heard of Northstar Vale," she mused (though she should have, for there had been a time she and Sebastian had set course for the pack), "Though it seems like they treat you well," - clear in the way his body lit when he spoke of them. She quickly bridged the gap, "Some of my siblings were easier to track than others. My brother, in particular."

Andalusia couldn't stop from grinning at the memory of Ciervo, the times they'd found each other, though short and now amounting to nothing more than dim hopes of reunion she'd long left behind, relations reserved for the annals of remembrance, "Figured he just couldn't get enough of me," her laugh came with a sigh, "I do miss him, though. Miss them all. But that's the way the world seems to turn." And she eyed the boy, having built herself to pose the real question on her mind: "The way you looked when you mentioned your family... makes me wonder if you've felt the same. Or, perhaps, not."  For this much, she couldn't read, whether his deflation came from having loved them too much, or from the memory of them not loving him enough.

sorry ive kept this so long --- i want to keep going forever or until they find out they are related lol
even if mouse isnt even in nv anymore i dont care haha
also sorry if this post makes no sense

When she spoke of his brother and joked about him missing her too much and then admitted to missing him right back, the young Ostrega could not hold a little pensive sigh slip through his lips. He missed her own sister very much. No, not Karma, or Dharma.
Rilke.
He missed Rilke and he always would.

"Why'd he leave if you had found each other?" he asked, not thinking to much about the option that just because they were related they did not want to be with one another. If he found Karma, or Dharma he would not mind to stick around them, no doubt that if it was Rilke he'd stay until he died....yeah, maybe if it was Tango instead who he found he'd think twice about staying. Dude was always picking fights with the wrong crew.

"never mind, i just though about my brother, Tango" he barked with a badly contained laugh. Despite the strange shit that was going on with the sky Remi was finally beginning to loosen up and be less of a scaredy mouse and just well... Mouse. "my twin sisters Dharma and Karma aren't too bad though..." he added with a little shrug of his shoulders, suddenly wondering if the twins would even want him around. He was about to make another joke, another stupid joke when she voiced a question he never saw coming.

Blood turned to ice in his veins and his crystalline eyes grew wide. "i-i miss them, yeah of course...." he barked, the enunciation of the last syllable making it a quwstion rather than a statement. "my siblings and my mom......" he blurted out, now unable to hold the word vomit. "guess they miss me back... well my father, um my father i don't know, just whatever" 
Oh but it was not 'just whatever', he did care, he did care a lot.
And the thought of having dissapointed him and his sister ( for he still blamed himself) haunted him every night in his sleep to make sure he could not forget to care.