Firefly Glen skyward

@Wraen! <3

Firefly Glen was quite possibly one of the most beautiful little forests she'd ever seen. There was a magical, fae-like quality to the way the sunlight filtered in golden beams down through the Spanish moss, scintillating on the dew-kissed lichen that clung to the ancient tree trunks around her. Birdsong tinkled across the still air, and the soft susurration of the breeze through the trees sent a thick flurry of autumn-colored leaves cascading to the earth beneath them. Raven found it absolutely enthralling in its beauty, but the best part of it -- the fireflies that made the glen their home on summer nights -- remained hidden from her for now.

She had come here to explore the area with medicine in mind. It was getting too late in the season now for many plants to still be green and lush, but she knew what different growing areas should be for each of the plants she used so it was still helpful for her to map out these areas and get to know them. Walking through the ethereal woods, she regretted that it wasn't closer to her own packlands and thus easier to visit frequently.

Company was a great thing for the social butterfly Wraen usually was, but now and then she needed time of her own - to collect thoughts, sort out problems that had emerged and simply be with herself. Some wise person had said that there was not a more intelligent company than your own (or something along the lines). Therefore with one part of her brain occupied by food hunting and the other dealing matters of mental kind, she wandered as far as Firefly glen. 

"Not your lucky day, fellow," she said, when she made a swift leap, pinpointed a mouse under her forepaws and then with a quick movement of her muzzle, caught it and swallowed it whole. It was then that she wondered, if she had actually killed the little thing, before it's journey to her stomach and, if she had not, would it now cause ruckus in her belly. A minute or two passed with her standing, waiting and listening, but nothing happened. 

"Oh, well..." she shrugged and spotted a dark figure in the distance. It did not look dangerous (though you never knew) and Wraen moved carefully closer to the other person, curious to find out, who it was and what it was doing here.

I only just now realized that Raven and Wraen are cousins, and both with history in Donnelaith. Cool! :) Sorry it took me so long to get a reply up.

Raven had already found a number of interesting groves where, in warmer months, certain plants she used in her medicine would grow. They were now brown and dried-out, of course, but she'd make a mental note to come back here next spring to explore more and perhaps add to her already rather extensive collection. After some time, however, her attention was distracted by the presence of another creature in these woods. She heard the sounds of sudden movement -- loud, rustling leaves, twigs crunching underfoot -- along with the pained squeak of a mouse whose luck had clearly run out.

It only took a few moments for the mysterious figure to emerge from behind the shaded trunks, and they spotted one another at the same time. It was a beautiful she-wolf, draped in hues of tawny earth, warm russet, and glistening silvers, trimmed in soft cream and downy white. The sunlight danced along her back in gleaming shards of broken light and her eyes, sizing Raven up with mixed wariness and curiosity, were a sharp and unusual shade of green. The medic smiled, waving her tail to let the stranger know she wasn't a threat. The other wolf advanced slowly, and when she was within easy earshot, Raven offered the first greeting. "Hello!"

"Hey!" the other's politeness was all of the encouragement Wraen needed, she greeted the dark she-wolf in an excited manner, tail wagging happily behind her. Upon closer inspection, it felt as if the person was vaguely familiar. Something about the facial expression and form, but her sharp mind and memory was 100% certain that she was seeing this person for the first time in her life. 

"What are you doing here?" she asked curiously, sitting down and preparing to listen, only realizing a second later that she had not been exactly polite. Having not offered her name or anything. "I am Wraen, by the way," the girl added quickly to mend the situation a bit.

Raven took no offense at the she-wolf's failure to provide her name upon first greeting. She was glad to know the stranger's name, and she was particularly interested that she too shared the name of a bird. She wondered if they were kin somehow. Ever since discovering that Tytonidae was her half-sister, Raven had wondered how much more family she had that she didn't even know about. "I'm Raven!" she replied to Wraen's introduction, grinning happily at the friendly response she'd gotten. "I'm from Redhawk Caldera. I was just exploring these woods to see what sorts of plants grow here. I'm a medic and I use a lot of them in my work. How 'bout you?"

"Raven, how nice," Wraen replied having the very same thought the dark she-wolf had about her name. From her experience it was not very usual for wolves to have bird names and, while her other siblings had taken after Dante's family tradition, Osprey had insisted on calling at least one of her kids in honor of her family members. 

Redhawk Caldera? That is, where the rock-eating wolves live, right?" she exclaimed sooner than she had time to think, because this was the only association tied to the aforementioned pack. The most vivid though. "I have a dead uncle living there," she went on, realizing a bit later that this also did not sound good. "Well, he is dead, obviously, but - well - he is... was my mom's brother and best friend for many years. A Peregrine - happen to know him?"

Ugh, so many apologies. College kills. >_<

Raven grinned a little confusedly at Wraen's comment about the "rock-eating wolves". She didn't know anything about that, though there had been the occasional, odd rock fixation here and there among some of the pups that had come up in their pack. But rock eating? She couldn't recall such a thing. Then again, though, her memory was pretty bad...

But her newfound friend's next comment made Raven's eyebrows shoot up, her mouth forming a small "o" of surprise. "Peregrine was my dad," she replied after a few seconds of stunned silence, her gaze intent as she looked at Wraen from a whole new perspective. Her heart felt like it might beat out of her chest if it pounded any faster. She couldn't believe she was looking at yet another family member she'd never known about. "That means your mom was my aunt -- we're cousins!"

"You are kidding me..." Wraen said incredulously, though that sentence happened to pop out just before the excitement of meeting a relative of hers began to boil and spread and finall burst. What were the odds? Would be the second thing she would have asked, but a voice of reason and logical sense reminded her kindly that a given the fact that her uncle had had quite a few kids before Osprey had joined the wagon, it was quite possible that there were more wolves in caldera related to her than she knew. 

"That is amazing, Ter..." she had been about to tell that Terance would be happy to know about this as well, but she recalled well that he had not been too impressed with the caldera wolves to begin with and therefore she could not say for sure that he would be just as excited to meet Raven and the rest of the crew as his scatterbrained sister was. "Anyway. Nice to meet you and I know for sure that I have never, ever seen you before. How old are you?"

They spoke for a while, exchanging details about their families and then left for home.