Moonspear you can see it in my eyes

set for whenever the heck this superbluebloodmoontotallunareclipse thing is supposed to take place... i should not be allowed to write posts about things i know absolutely nothing about

he could just barely see it. out on the horizon, covered partially by the pine trees that littered the cliffs. it was beautiful-- no, magnificent, and terance needed to get closer. he dodged around some boulders as soon as he became aware of it's presence, beginning at full speed towards his favorite cliff-- as high as he could go. this was so cool!! so cool! he couldn't wait to get closer to observe it.

he ran and ran and ran and ran, jumping and dodging little territorial obstacles until-- whoops-- he came across something that wasn't as simple as a stone or tree. in fact, it was much more complex, and appeared out of practically thin air. it was @Liffey, leaving her den for-- for who knows what-- and terance crashed right into her, tumbling overtop and a little distanced off from her. "oof..." he grumbled, raising himself, slowly, and shaking out his pelt. it took him a moment to realize what happened, but after he was fully standing and decided he probably wasn't injured, he padded over to the probably dazed she-wolf. "shit, liffey, my bad-- are you okay?" he asked, ears dropped with concern, "if you are though, you gotta like, come with me! look at the moon!"

Liffey had to pee. That's why she was leaving her den that night. And that's why it was so much more uncomfortable for her when in leaving her den, she was sent tumbling to the ground by an unexpected collision. She oofed more in surprise than actual hurt as she landed, looking round quickly to figure out what in the heck was going on. Her eyes landed on Terance's black form and her hackles sprang skyward with alarm as she thought for a moment that it was one of the cerberus, come to end her at last. But he turned, and it was just Terance, thankfully. Curse these Moonspear wolves for all being black-furred. Her paranoia and anxiety would be the death of her long before Alya and her clan ever got around to it. Though maybe that was the plan...

"I'm fi--" she began, only to be cut off by his excited invitation. Her head canted as she pulled herself back up, ears perking at his words. The moon? Liffey was thrown. She was very accustomed to being the only one particularly excited about the lights in the sky, so this was rather unexpected to her. But, not being one to turn down a chance to stargaze, she nodded with a smile. "Uh. Yeah, sure - lead the way, then?" she said, intending to make just a liiiittle pitstop to relieve herself before actually heading off after him.

OMG our post counts match :O
Right. Well. It did before I replied to the rest of my threads lol.

she agreed! and with that the pair set off again-- terance moved a little slower since he wasn't sure if liffey was down for a full out sprint... but he was still moving. they stopped once so liffey could powder her nose, terance waited as patiently as he could but he was pretty damn antsy. and then, by no time, they were at terance's favorite cliff-- as far up as he had gone. he'd tried not to star at the moon as he walked-- the cliffs were dangerous!-- but he stole a glance whenever he could.

and now that they'd settled, he could stare fully at it, his dark tail wagging quickly. he sat slowly, green eyes staring up in awe. "look at that," terance muttered softly, stealing a glance at liffey, "ever seen it that big?"

Liffey recognized the path that they took, and she was glad to be taking it. As an aspiring astronomer as well as accomplished ranger, she had scouted out many of the good stargazing spots the Spear had to offer - and there were a ton of them. This one was a particularly good one, and the moment her eyes fell upon the moon, she was made very aware of the need for a particularly good one this night.

It was huge. She'd stopped walking momentarily when she'd first gotten a full view of it, struck by the size, the brightness and the color. She was quick to start again, eagerly trotting along behind Terance until finally they reached their perch. She planted her bum hastily upon the ground and craned her neck skyward to stare in awe and curiosity.

"No, never," Liffey answered, not tearing her eyes away for a second, "I wonder why it's so different tonight. I mean, it changes every night, but subtly, and in a recognizable pattern. This is totally different..." Her scientific brain was reeling at this new development, trying to piece together an explanation with zero evidence to work with.

osprey had told him about one of the phenomenas happening now, and he shared it. "mom called it a supermoon-- i saw it twice before. it just means the moon gets bigger... but i don't know why," he told liffey, gaze flitting from each individual crater. but that color... he couldn't explain it. "but i've never seen it that color before, it's so bright..." he trailed off slowly, falling silent again to stare up in awe. so many thing to consider... he wished osprey was here right now, maybe she'd know.

"why do you think it happens?" he asked softly, green gaze glued to the big orange cheese puff in the sky.

A supermoon. Well, that definitely seemed to fit. Liffey hadn't had anyone in her life to teach her anything about being a naturalist. All she had learned, she had come up with on her own via observation. She looked at Terance for a moment before looking overhead again, wondering what else he might know that he had been taught.

"I have no idea," she answered, "I can't think of any explanation. How long does it stay like this usually?"

he felt her gaze on him-- even though it was fleeting. in that moment, for a few heart-wrenching seconds, terance pretended it wasn't liffey beside him, but lyra. and that they were watching the moon together, and she was looking up at him with that pretty sapphire gaze of hers. his throat felt tight.

"it builds up," he said, forcing himself to swallow, "like, it gets bigger and bigger and then goes back to normal over time. today's gotta be the biggest day-- i mean look at it, but i think it's only like this tonight." that sounded right to him, but if liffey had been tracking the moon she might've noticed it'd been a bit bigger than usual lately-- thought today certainly took the cake.

vague lyra comment lol

omg trying to hypothesize why the moon is so big without using any human knowledge is HARD and yields absurd results

Liffey gave her friend a curious glance at his words. It builds up? She looked at the moon again thoughtfully, trying to recall how it had looked in the previous nights. Though she spent each clear night stargazing, she had apparently not been paying much attention as of late. Some nights had naturally been clouded, of course, but others had been obviously clouded by her mind and her own heavy thoughts. She frowned softly at herself for being so distracted, but she let it go quickly enough. It wasn't as though she didn't have a good reason to be so.

"I wonder if the moon just regularly changes size, albeit really slowly. You know, like how a frog's throat expands and shrinks when it breathes," she said thoughtfully, in spite of how unconvinced she actually was of this theory, "Maybe it just takes a deep breath every few years..." On some level, it did make some sense. Especially considering how it changed its own shape from night to night. Maybe it breathed as well as blinked.

LMAO oh dear

the sky was the only place that terance felt whole with. he could stare at it for hours upon hours. so even with all that was going on, he found plenty of time to sit and observe-- dave for all the cloudy nights. but liffey's comment did earn her terance's full attention. he turned his head to look at her-- his ears cupped forward, his brow quirked, and a small, closed mouth smirk graced his features.

"you think the moon is a frog?" he said teasingly, though there was a fondness in his voice that suggested he agreed. her answer was something that osprey or wraen might say... and he truthfully quite liked that. "i wonder why we've never heard it ribbit," he then added in one final jab at her brainstorming... but in case liffey couldn't pick up on his friendly teasing, he nudged her shoulder with his nose before looking back up towards the sky. "kidding," he mused softly, ears pricking towards the sky, "better than anything i could come up with."

Liffey busily debated her theory further inside of her mind, so much so that she nearly missed the look that Terance gave her. She squinted her eyes scrutinizingly up at the moon, as though if she just focused more, she'd be able to catch it in the act. His comment brought her attention back though. She gave him a sidelong glance that was momentarily confused, but she caught on soon enough that he was teasing her. She tilted her head slightly and frowned, though a smiled shined through the expression.

"I know the moon isn't a frog," she chided him, grinning and giving a small roll of her eyes before she paused thoughtfully, "But then again - How do we know it's not a frog? Maybe the whole night sky is a huge black bear and the moon is its eye blinking, and over the past few nights, something has startled it and it's just widening its eye at us. And in a few more nights, it'll calm back down and go back to blinking."

Yeah, that sounded ridiculous.

he eyed her, amusement written on his smug features. she handled it smoothly, but terance would be the first to admit that he felt no comfort in thinking about the sky as a black bear. in fact, he preferred it was anything but. his gaze fell quietly to his shoulder, very briefly, before it stilled again on that bright moon. "does that make stars dandruff?" terance asked, playing along anyway-- he didn't have anything better to contribute.

"lyra and i decided they were rocks-- i know that's not exciting but... like live rocks-- does that make sense?"

Liffey snorted with laughter at Terance's response. Seeing as she knew her theory to be absurdity, she wasn't bothered at all by him poking fun at it. The idea he proposed was far more believable, but Liffey still wasn't entirely sure she believed it. Plus, the mention of Lyra had a sobering effect on her. She often forgot that Terance was so close with the cerberus... That everyone was, except for her.

It bummed her out, but she tried not to show it. "It makes sense, but I don't know," she commented, "I mean, rocks aren't alive. They don't change or morph the way the moon does. And they don't shine either. The shape is right, though..." She frowned thoughtfully and canted her head. "Though I suppose there could be rocks in the world that do all those things and I've just never seen them before... The world is a big place."

liffey's demeanor shifted. it was subtle, something he might not have caught if he hadn't glanced down in time to see the dull in her expression. she perked right back up too, quickly, like whatever he'd said had triggered a brief memory or emotion. he stared curiously as she spoke, listening but also trying to remember what he'd said. lyra. he realized with a prick of his ears-- easily interpreted as a response to whatever she was talking about. he looked back up to the sky for a moment quietly. "i guess we'll never know," he said with a soft sigh. he wished he could, the sky was so nice, he wanted to know every little thing about it... but they just didn't have that kind of privilege as mere wolfish mortals.

"hey... liffey?" terance then said after a small lull in conversation, staring at the sky before slowly bringing his head down to look at her. "i think you're a valuable member of moonspear. i'm glad you joined us." and then he offered her a small smile. he was a branch of the cerberus, sure, but he thought for himself. and as much time as liffey took from rannoch-- terance still liked her.

Liffey pursed her lips at Terance's final comment regarding the supermoon. There was so much about the world that she wanted to know and that she likely never would. There were so many mysteries to solve, and no tools available with which to solve them. The Frostfur was armed only with her mind and her sharp observations. Maybe she'd solve a few mysteries. But she'd never know for sure when she actually had. There was a lot she might never know.

Terance spoke again, breaking the comfortable silence that had decended between them. She turned to him, canting her head slightly. There was something serious about his tone and it concerned her that something was the matter. His words took her by surprise. Actually, that's putting it lightly - she was shocked. Not in a bad way, though. The sentiment was just so unexpected, and so deeply touching. She didn't know what to do for a moment. She simply stared at him, blinking steadily. Until suddenly, tears sprang to her eyes, and she ducked her head in embarrassment.

"I'm sorry.. I... What I mean is..." she said hesitantly, swallowing thickly and taking a breath before daring to peek at him and say in the tiniest voice, "Thank you, Terance."

feel free to archive this or fade out w your post :o but i think this is a good stopping point.

ternace stared at her for a moment, smiling at how genuine her reaction had been-- even though it was sort of a mess. he leaned over to nudge her cheek before staring back up at the sky, letting her have whatever space she wanted for the moment. "don't mention it," he said softly, green gaze hovering on the orange moon. he felt so content here. he could stare at it forever, really-- and he would stare at it for as long as liffey remained, and when she left, he'd stay a little longer just to bask in it's beauty.