Stone Circle Healing Incantation

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It was seven weeks to the day since Steph had gotten injured by the angry bison. As she laid outside the den, waiting for the sun to completely rise, the thought back to the past month and a half and how so many things had changed. She gained a new friend in @Poppy, and made up with @Murdock and @Clary. She was glad she and her sister had made up. They had been close before that altercation, and Steph could not imagine it being any other way.

Sighing in boredom, she rose, stretching a bit. The pain continued to lessen with each passing day. She could walk easily now, stretch to a degree, and even lay on her side. She hadn't tried running or jumping yet, and to be honest, she was a little scared to. But, since walking didn't cause her any pain, she set out to do that. 

The river came into view, and Steph lowered her head to drink from it. Fish swam by every few seconds, but Steph didn't bother to go after them. While the cold didn't bother her much, she didn't want to add getting wet to it. Then her day would just be over. Her eyes glanced around, hoping someone might happen by to hang out with her.

Today one rabbit less saw the sun set in the evening, because it's life had been ended by the hunter, who had happened to be nearby at the right place and time. Birk had pondered a little, how much of it to eat (probably all) and how much to bring back to the pack (nothing, maybe?) and eventually he had settled for the golden middle road. After all there was a good impression to make in Easthollow and what could be a better than a fresh contribution to the food stash. 

He was trotting through the forest, when he spotted a dark figure of a young wolf standing in the vicinity of the river. Since acquaintances he had made in here were just as many as toes on his hind foot, he decided that this was a good chance to shift that balance. With the remnants of the rabbit still in his jaws, he approached the packmate in a confident, yet friendly manner. Once within the distance of having a comfortable conversation and leaving enough private space for the other, Birk put his kill down and greeted the girl: "Good morning - who do I have the pleasure to meet?"

Her head popped up and swiveled in the direction of the sound of his voice. Her ears perked, her eyes startled for just a moment before they turned curious. Her tail wagged in a friendly greeting as she responded, I'm Steph. What's your name? she asked, turning her body towards him.

She hadn't met him before, or anyone who looked like him. His pelt was void of color, as white as the snow she'd been seeing all winter. The more she looked, though, she could start to see the different shades in his fur. Her gaze went back to his golden eyes, as she tried not to be rude by staring at him.

"Steph - one of Valette's, right?" Birk pretended not to know, although upon a closer inspection the girl's size, age and looks without doubt told of her origins. She was a pretty little lady with her coal-black pelt and the beautiful hazel-green eyes of her mother. Though, when they met his, for one uncomfortable moment the male had a feeling that the kid was seeing through all the careful masks and layers he had woven around his true self. Which was a nonesense, of course, but he broke the contact and looked briefly away. 

"May I interest you with food?" he asked her, happy that there was something to distract them from another staring contest. "There is not much left from the rabbit, but it's still fresh and all yours, if you want it."

She nodded, confirming his guess. Yeah, the oldest, she replied, a little proudly. She was only the oldest by a few minutes, but it still counted, right? Steph was bold enough to keep the eye contact, but the male looked away. 

Her attention went to the carcass of the rabbit, and her tail wagged. Steph was not one to pass up food. Sure, she responded, her mouth already watering. Thank you, she said before taking a few steps forward. She was close enough now that she got a good inhale of his scent. That was not one she would soon forget, if ever. She felt a little odd taking the kill from where it lay at his paws, so she hesitated, her eyes going to his once more.

Birk noticed Steph's hesitation to take the remnant of the rabbit from such a close vicinity of him, therefore he took a step to the side and looked away, giving the girl a free pass to take the food. He then settled down at a comfortable distance away from Valette's eldest daughter and watched her eat (or whatever she had chosen to do with the food now) ready to resume the conversation, if she showed any interest. If not, then he had plenty of things to busy his mind with.

Her tail wagged when stepped aside, and she was quick to take hold of the carcass. She chomped down eagerly, and her canines ripped flesh and she could feel the bones snapping under her force. It always gave her a sense of satisfaction to feel that. She made quick work of what was left of the rabbit, and then looked over at Birk.

Licking her muzzle clean, she went down to her stomach. Thanks again, she said. She realized then, that he hadn't given his name. What was your name? she inquired again. She supposed his interest in who she was overshadowed who he was. But, she wondered.

"How impolite I have been," Birk noted, but a good-natured smile and unaffected expression told that he was not bothered much by the fact that he had not introduced himself properly. "I am Birk - born and raised in the far North - and taking a lifetime of vacation down south," he said, returning to his old habit of talking too much and too complicated for his own good.

His smile charmed her, and Steph found herself returning it unconsciously. Birk, he said. She liked the name. What's it like in the North? she asked. The furthest she had been out of the territory was on the side of the neighboring mountain, and that hadn't lasted too long before she and Clary were caught and sent back home. 

With everything else, her broken rib, the big, noisy, birds in the sky, her brother and sister leaving on adventures... Steph just hadn't thought about going anywhere else. But, she could live vicariously through Birk. What made you come here? she asked, curious.

"Very, very, very cold," Birk explained nonchalantly. Compared to the weater he had experienced there, life in the wilds was a constant vacation. Even the food here was less scarce during the winter months than it had been in his homeland. 

"And very aggressive, angry and grumpy wolves," he went on exaggerating his family members just a little. "Though I would like to think that, if they lived here, their character might improve," he mused. "Or not."

"I was in need of home for the winter months and you were the first pack, who did not try to eat my face, before asking any questions first," he chuckled. "And I quite liked, what I saw."

When he admitted how cold it was, it was hard for Steph to imagine just how much colder it was than her home. Since she had never been anywhere else, it was up to her imagination to see it in her head. Is there snow all the time? Is all the water frozen? she inquired. She remembered a small lake in the forest being frozen during the past winter, and she went sliding on it. That was fun!

She frowned when he said there were angry, grumpy wolves. Why are they like that? Steph didn't think she'd like living with a bunch of angry wolves. She liked the lightheartedness that came along with Easthollow. Even when bad things happened, when they lost loved ones, there was always an underlying kindness under the mourning. This is a pretty friendly place, she surmised. It would be hard to be angry when everyone else is always so nice. At least, it was that way with Steph.

A worried look crossed her face when he explained that others had been mean to him. Is everyone like that out there? she asked quietly. Steph wanted to venture out at some point, but if all the wolves outside of Easthollow were mean wolves, then maybe she would just stay within the borders of her home. She never thought about leaving, but she did think about short adventures.

"Most of the year - yes - there is snow and all water is frozen," Birk explained, realizing not for the first time that, what he had considered being very normal for a big part of his life, was an entirely different world for those, who listened to his stories about the North.

"I never asked them - but I suppose that they were born that way," he really had not given his aggressive relatives much thought, but he believed that they would not be much different, even if they had been born and grown up in a place like Easthollow.

"Well - there are decent folk out there too, but if you ever have your heart set on wandering, then I advise you to be very careful of whom you meet and talk to," though - perhaps - if she was a girl - she would be treated differently.

She listened intently as he described the world in which he came from. You must not do a lot of fishing there, she said, grinning. With all the water frozen, it must have been very difficult to catch fish, if there was any chance at all. Steph hadn't tried her paw at it in some time, and made a mental note that she should.

She wondered how much wolves were born the way they were, and how much was because of what they'd been through. Steph looked back on her short life, and thought it was mostly her mother that made her what she was. Steph looked up to Valette, and did her best to mimic her. 

She nodded to his warning. I don't have much of an inclination to leave Easthollow, she admitted. She had ventured to the mountain that neighbored their territory when she was younger, but that had been her only excursion outside the borders, and it had been very brief. I guess that's a good thing. The only bad wolves I'll ever run into here, would just be chased out by everyone else, she guessed. Steph didn't think Valette would allow anyone bad to linger too long here.

With Birk being dead, this will be my last post here. Thank you for the thread!

Birk thought that Steph's mind might change, when she became older, but did not say anything now. It would be met with protest and he did not want to argue with a kid. He grinned at her joke though and would have said something very witty in return, but there was a sudden and very urgent sounding howl from the borders. He was up and ready to go in a moment. "Sorry kid - see you another time," he told her and was gone to investigate, what the trouble was.

Thank you! I'm so sad for Birk :-( I'll archive this here

Their conversation was cut short by a howl, and she watched as Birk was up and gone, heading towards the borders to see what was up. Steph let him go without protest, understanding the safety of the pack came before anything. Little did she know, she would never have another conversation with him. Whether she was aware of what would happen between he, Valette and Stark, only the future knew.