Instead of following the creek toward the mountains like she normally would have done, Fox decided to take a different route. The girl moved to the side of the peaks that were closer to Mount Apikuni and began to head into the valley where two of the small ranges met. It looked like a nice little nook, and the yearling was curious to see if there was anything interesting on the other side of the peaks that created the falls on the other side.
The Alpha traveled at a leisurely pace, allowing herself to enjoy her surroundings. It was chilly and overcast, but Fox was used to that. It seemed to be the case most days. She had come the cranny which had piqued her interest in the first place. At first, there seemed to be nothing particularly special about it. It wasn't until she drew closer that she realized there was an opening in the side of the mountains. Not only that, but there was
light inside. Even more curious, Fox took a few ginger steps forward before entering the cave.
It looked like something out of a long-forgotten fairytale once she was inside. While most caves were damp, cold, and cramped, this one had ceilings that seemed to stretch on forever. And at the top, there was a hole for the light to shine in. Only seconds after Fox had stepped into the cave, the clouds broke and allowed a brilliant ray of sunshine to light up the airy cavern. A small pool of water sat on one side, and in front of her was a giant mound of mossy rocks, carved by years of rain falling through the opening above. Fox was not a sentimental being, but even she felt her breath being taken away.
Njal sought out the Alpha for a particular conversation, but even as he caught upon her scent and took to her path, he found himself stumbling over the specifics of that conversation. Despite an even and powerful stride, Njal felt more like a fish out of water; but he pursued her regardless, eager to get the topic of children in to the air and his desire voiced. It wasn't until Fox's scent slipped from the territory boundary that Njal slowed, and for a moment or two he forgot all about his potential future family and the plans he shared with Tuwawi. It was curious that the nimble leader would abruptly change her path in such a manner, and out of curiosity - and the need to keep the yearling protected - Njal followed.
The path that Fox left behind was a winding one. It led in to the crook of the mountains. The man observed the surroundings with a careful eye; seeking out erroneous scents such as cougar or lone wolf, but all he could find was Fox. As he caught up he also caught her, at least a flash of her, as she so calmly wandered. Perhaps his guarding was not necessary - but it was safer in pairs, at the very least. The mountains were not their territory and the creek wolves were each at their strongest on flat land.
With the mountains rising around him, Njal found his mind wandering. He thought of the Sunspire and how beautiful it was; of the cavern where the Walkers would commune together. Sterntooth and his little family. Njal nearly tripped as he walked, and came to his senses - in time to see the ruddy figure of Fox vanish in to a sudden wave of shadow. Pierced by a fatherly panic, the man was off after her - and was met with an abrupt spectacle that stopped him in his tracks.
He nearly walked in to the standstill Alpha, but caught himself in time. Golden eyes grew wide as they took in the great chasm and it's inner light; and he passed a glance to Fox, with his own breath taken straight out of his lungs. There were no words for this - it was beautiful, but more than he could voice. A great find indeed.
Fox sensed Njal's presence with his scent and breathing, though she did not look back at him. “I don’t usually say things like this, but this place is beautiful.” Fox felt as if she was in some kind of strange dream where she was not meant to be. Perhaps it was like being in somebody else's dream. Whatever the sensation, it was certainly an odd one. The Alpha took a few steps forward, sniffing the water (to ensure it was not filled with something foul), and then took a few laps. It did not taste like the creek's water in any way. Instead, it tasted of moss, mud, and stone. It certainly was not an unpleasant taste.
“The water tastes like this place looks,” she added, turning back to give Njal a glance. Whatever bad feelings they'd had were pushed far back in Fox's mind for the time being. Even though Fox was hot-headed, she did not linger or hold grudges. Being as young as she was, that was likely a very good thing.
Fox voiced what had been going through the man's mind, and he absently gave a small nod of agreement; although she did not see it. The chasm was so immense - it reached up inside the mountain as if to hollow it out, with gaps for light and tiny gaps for dripping water. It must have been the fluid that carved this ancient place over so many years. Njal found his mind wandering a little, even as the Alpha wandered physically towards one of the many pools. He thought of Tuwawi and their family, and imagined that one day their ilk would have a great impact upon the world. Tiny drops in a larger ocean, carving a living and making a name for themselves. Somehow Njal connected this with the lair that Fox had found; although, his thoughts quieted when she turned and made a quip about the water.
"The water tastes like this place looks."
He approached and dipped his own head, sniffing at the surface but not drinking from it. This place was so old - it seemed like a holy sanctum, just like the one in Kindred. When the man lifted his head next, his eyes caught upon the glimmering sun above them. There was enough of a gap for the light to filter in, the way it had when Fox had entered initially, granted now it cast a warm glow to Njal's pelt of platinum. "What will you call it?" He queried, as a small smile appeared upon his boxy mug, "You found it after all."
“Is that how it works?” she asked, obviously still distracted by the way that it looked in here. It had a vibrating quality to it that she could not quite comprehend. It almost felt as if there was something in there with them, although she had no idea what that could be. Fox could have sworn that there was somebody looking at them, though every time she looked over her shoulder, all she saw was Njal and the cave. At first glance, everything looked sparkly and innocent, but the longer she lingered, Fox felt there was something inherently spooky about this place.
“Do you sense that, too?” she asked, continuing to look behind her shoulder frequently. “Do you think maybe something is here?” Fox was not a superstitious being, but she could not help but feel whatever it was. But nothing was there. Just her, the rocks, the moss, the water, and Njal. No beast lingered nearby, and no sound was made. “I think I’m just imagining things.”
With a shake of her coat, she settled down onto her haunches. “We gotta name it something happy… but also spooky.”
The air was
cold which made him uneasy, but the beauty of the cavern was enough to distract him from it; whatever fluid lay still within the great expanse, it probably aided in the cooling of the area. Njal imagined the sunlight from above would be warm and inviting, but as he passed beneath the rays the sky shifted. A cloud drifted in to place and, as if on cue, blurred the light. He broke his attention away from the gaps in the ceiling at that point. Fox was talking and he, suddenly aware of her voice, scooped at it with turned ears; he gave a brief nod. There was something
ominous about this place. Something sacred, maybe.
"Kholodnyy svet," He murmured as a response, and for a moment Njal slipped back in to his old tongue; with the droop of his head he began to explore the area more intently, nosing about the dry rock and taking few steps as he sniffed, probed, and came up with nothing. "The light is cold but the earth is warm. It is strange." The man's tail whisked as he lifted his head again, resting it with confident poise. He looked to Fox now, finally. "It is too big to be a cave," the man remarked with a flick of his tail, "But I cannot imagine another word for it."
Fox did not know the words that Njal spoke, but she did not bother to inquire about them. “Mmm,” she replied when he commented on the lack of word. Lightly, Fox stepped over to a larger boulder and hopped up on it. From there, she could look straight up and see the sky overhead. It truly was a beautiful place, even if it was a little creepy. Moving her gaze back to the darkness of the... not quite cave... Fox's eyes searched for Njal. “I think it’s more of a lair,” she said.
With a shrug, she jumped off of the boulder and back on to the main level of rock that covered the bottom. The way sounds bounced off the walls was quite strange, due to the moss. It was almost as if her voice got trapped instead of echoing as it would in a normal cave. “But a lair isn't supposed to have all this light, y’know?”
Njal nodded at her words; however, due to his placement in the creeping dark along one wall, he realized she probably couldn't see that. The light flickered back in to its full power a moment later, bathing the boulders in an inviting glow - but Fox was not there. The man searched for her, expecting it to be easy to find the vivacious red of her coat, but there was so much more to look at - to be distracted by - that his attention waned once more. Instead of finding Fox, his eyes latched upon the moss. Unknown to him, Fox was also thinking about how it muffled sound; but Njal was more interested in the earthy smell it held. The brightness of the greens, even in the shadows. He had seen a few caves in his life but none like this; and the ones he had seen usually held some kind of night-glowing plant. A luminous and creeping
thing that attached itself to the walls. But as he peered through the darkness - creeping along the natural incline, disturbing a few rocks - he could see nothing really
glowing save for the light that shafted through the ceiling.
The area behind the massive boulders narrowed considerably, with forking paths naturally cut in to the rock. "I wonder what caused this." Njal mused aloud, more to himself than his companion; although a moment later he caught her comment about lairs and turned his head, pivoting his ears like radar in order to find Fox's location; he should have been paying more attention. "But a lair could be the home of a great beast. And I imagine a great beast would have to have lived here at some point. Perhaps it is still here?" Maybe only in spirit. But it was enough for the two wolves to notice something off about all the splendour and beauty around them.
With a lift of the eye, Njal could see the shifting and dusty light from over the hill-like rocks; particulate floated through it, like dust through the open mouth of a fresh den. "It is the lair of the sun." And for a moment, as his comment registered fully within his own mind and was sucked in to oblivion by the muffling moss, Njal thought of Kindred - and he felt absolutely content.
“Sun Lair just doesn’t have a very good ring to it,” she replied, unsatisfied with that particular name. “Sunshine Lair?” she tested on the air, not quite liking that one either. “Sunstream?” She huffed, moving away from the light for a moment and into the darkness. When she looked back, the name hit her like a ton of bricks. “Sunbeam Lair,” she stated with contentment in her voice. “That’s what we can call it.” Briefly, she wondered why they were so obsessive on giving things names. They named birds, themselves, trees, flowers, mountains, forests, and apparently lairs as well. Perhaps it just made things easier to reference.
Refocusing her attention on Njal, she addressed him more directly. “Did you follow me here?” she asked. Fox had not asked him to come along, and she wondered if he had simply stumbled across the lair as she had. Or perhaps he had been looking for her to speak about something in particular. Whatever the reason, she was glad he had shown up. While she still lacked trust in him, as long as he remained a valuable asset to the pack, he would regain it in time.
With the past on his mind, Njal's face creased in to an easy smile. This faltered and slipped away when Fox began to speak, but only briefly. A little bit more nosing amongst the mossy rocks, and the man was content once more. It was an unnerving cavern but also a beautiful one; and Njal couldn't help but find
some level of peace as he wandered, probing the soil.
"Sunbeam. It is a good name." He murmured in response while following the natural curve of the sloping ground; crawling over some of the lower boulders and then climbing atop a section of rock that protruded in to the empty space above; from that vantage point he loomed, casting a blurry shadow when the light caught upon his back.
"Did you follow me here?" Fox queried towards him, and Njal sank to a precarious laying position atop the high rocks. He was quiet at first, suddenly nervous about the topic that lingered within his mind; yes, he had followed her. He had pursued her out of a sense of care, but when the two wolves were secluded here in the lair, his mind ticked away about other things. As Njal watched Fox he did not see her - instead, her features briefly shifted to the figure of Tuwawi. The shadows played tricks, warping bits of the girl so that she resembled his wife. Yes, he had ulterior motives.
The man shrugged with a small motion of his shoulders, and then began to explain.
"I was on patrol and saw you wandering. I thought to follow for your own protection, since you are our leader now," His voice rumbled quietly, slowly, as he tried to pick out the right words to use. Njal did not want the girl to feel weak or inferior. He had only been looking out for her. "And, well.." How hesitant and silly he was being now! Was he really so afraid of asking a simple question? Given how close they had started out, he and Fox, did he really ruin everything with that stupid stunt days ago, when he brought Tuwawi in to the territory?
Perhaps now was not the time to ask. But he had started, and now he had to finish. "Tuwawi and I have been thinking about.. Building a family." He carefully outlined, and lifted his head with a glimmer of pride in his eyes; the sunlight casting him in a warm glow. Njal was tentative. "We would like to try in the spring, but only with your blessing." There, he said it. Now all he had to do was sit and hope Fox would understand their wish.
He seemed to like her name, or at least not dislike it, and Fox wagged her tail in response. Njal hesitated at answering her question, and Fox cocked her head to one side, wondering what was going on with him. She smiled when he spoke of protecting her, if only because Fox never felt like she needed it. Still, she could not deny that having backup wherever she went was a pretty sweet deal. Not only that, but her followers had started bringing her gifts on occasion, something Fox adored. She was greedy, and those who fed her greed would certainly be rewarded.
But it seemed there was more than just his desire to protect. Njal began speaking once more, and Fox perked her ears forward to listen. It was no surprise to her that he and Tuwawi would want children. Njal (and perhaps Tuwawi as well) had a few years on her, and she imagined their urge to procreate was one that could not simply be willed away. That was assuming they wanted to will it away in the first place. “Hmm,” she mumbled, contemplating on how best to answer him. On one hand, there was a pang of jealousy that she would not be able to continue her own line this year. It was yet another two or three seasons before her body would be ready for such things.
“Let me think on that one,” she replied, neither giving him a yes or a no. Swiftcurrent still felt marginally unstable since the loss of Lethe, and Fox did not want new life coming into the pack until she was certain it was steady. Not only that, but she was hesitant to give permission due to Njal's ranking. Sure, he was among her most trusted and respected, but she felt she wanted more than that out of those who wished to be parents. Perhaps if he stepped up into more of a leadership role... when she decided it was time, of course. Then again, she had those same plans for Jinx. It was hard for her to determine which of the two she saw as a better fit for helping her rule the creek.
Njal respected the role of leadership in the pack, even if it was held by someone younger and less qualified than many other wolves may have been comfortable with. Fox had a level head on her shoulders (most of the time) and knew what to look for when it came to the power of Swiftcurrent. He waited for her to give the go-ahead (and dreaded the possibility of a refusal), but she did neither. Instead, the girl remarked that it would take more time to come to a decision. It was a neutral response, one that on some level, bothered Njal. But he would accept it; there was no point in pushing the issue if Fox required more time. He understood. And with a dim look of unhappiness he gave a little nod, and let the expression pass.
"Thank you." He commented next, although there was a lacklustre quality to the man's usual timbre. "Just to have our desires considered is.. Good." There was no ignoring the fact that Njal was dissuaded by her response, depressed by it, but he knew it would take time. Work had to be done, and the man would happily prove his worth - and Tuwa's worth - to the rufus girl. The happiness of their growing family was tantamount to the Delta.
Taking on a more pleasant expression, Njal began to climb down the rest of the way from his perch. He stumbled awkwardly, but managed to reach the bottom without harm; and then began to scout out the rest of the cavern. It was dark and deep, with few trails of light to help him where the boulders naturally blocked it. In an effort to move past the topic of children, the grey man poked his head over some of the smaller boulders and watched Fox, chuffing playfully. "Do you think there are beasts in here? Maybe I should root them out."
While Njal did not seem overly thrilled by her response, he took it as gracefully as anyone could. Fox believed that time would determine whether or not Njal and Tuwawi were given permission for their children. She was leaning toward "yes," but considering Njal's misstep in bringing Tuwawi in unannounced (which she would likely never forget), it was harder to give that answer right away. She had not really interacted with the girl much since that day, though Fox had seen her near-twin in passing.
“Not sure if there are, but if so, I don’t want to be the one to find them.” If the lair had been in her domain, Fox would have explored it to the fullest and "rooted out" all the creatures within it. However, she was unwilling to put herself in that kind of danger for neutral territory. If some beast did still live here, she did not want to be the one to awaken it.
“So, you want to escort me back to the creek, Mister Bodyguard?” she asked, grinning as she did so. Obviously she did not need a body guard, but she welcomed his company anyway.
She had a point. This area wasn't exactly claimed by the pack, which meant there was little interest in scouring every nook and cranny. Fox's refusal garnered an abrupt lift of his head, a shift of his body towards her. He stood at her side when she asked him, in the playful manner that was rather charming, to escort her home. Njal dipped his head to the request. "I'll keep the monsters at bay if they are here." He commented. So far there was no trace of life within the massive cave. The man took a few steps towards the mouth and paused, ushering the red girl out in front of him; and with his senses alert, he began to trek back to their home. There were many things on his mind now - some which Njal could bring up to Tuwawi - and they kept him from being overly talkative on the hike back.
[exit]